Is Gold Good?

[Gumby]

I once read an article with colorful pictures in National Geographic, about some exotic culture where they were putting gold leaf on food for a celebration, so I think you can eat it. The article didn't say how it tasted.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I once read an article with colorful pictures in National Geographic, about some exotic culture where they were putting gold leaf on food for a celebration, so I think you can eat it. The article didn't say how it tasted.

Better to drink it...

and I assure you. In this case gold is indeed good.

Goldschläger is a Swisscinnamonschnapps (43.5% alcohol by volume or 87 proof; originally it was 53.5% alcohol or 107 proof), a clear liqueur with very thin, yet visible flakes of gold leaf floating in it.

 

[HFWR]

"No stems or seeds that you don't need; Acapulco gold is bada$$ weed..."

 

[NW-Bound]

University of Texas and Texas A&M are hoarding gold for their endowment fund!

From Bloomberg,

Dallas hedge-fund manager J. Kyle Bass helped advise the University of Texas Investment Management Co. on taking delivery of 6,643 gold bars, worth $987 million on April 15, now stored in a bank warehouse in New York.

“Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said April 15 in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”​

Note: A gold bar weights 100 oz.

 

[nbw888]

I maintain that gold and silver miners are going to be the best investments one could make in years to come as the price of precious metals goes up (or to be more accurate, as the value of the US dollar decreases).

The dollar will stabilize once the government stops incurring continuous debts and raises interest rates much higher to combat increasing inflation in the future. I doubt that will happen for fear that we will go into a massive depression worse than the great depression.

When the Cash for Gold style companies start SELLING the general public gold, rather than buying it from them, then we are nearing a blow off bubble top in the bull market.

The trend is your friend. Good luck!

 

[REWahoo]

The trend is your friend.

Until it isn't.

 

[nbw888]

Until it isn't.

The lesson here of course is to always keep an eye on your friends, as they can turn on you quickly!

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ed, I can't believe you'd say the lottery and gold are the same. ALL stocks are pure speculation by nature.

I disagree. Penny stocks are speculative. Growth stocks are speculative. I am currently focusing on stocks that pay dividends reliably. I am looking for income streams at a good price. I buy to hold.

Does gold produce an income stream? After you sell it, what do you do with your windfall? Now you have the problem of reinvestment.

You are clearly a gambler, not an investor.

 

[NW-Bound]

Soros said gold bubble to burst, sold all of his holdings.

Soros Sees Gold Prices on Brink of Bear Market - Bloomberg

I bought a bit of the gold ETF GLD in 2009, and sold it way too early in 2010 for a bit of gain.

A couple of months ago, bought a bit of the gold short ETF GLL as a lark.

Made a bit of money so far, not a whole lot, but just so I can say that I put some money where my mouth is.

 

[braumeister]

I've been reading items about gold for years now from all sorts of financial advisers. In general, they tend to say don't buy the metal, buy the miners, so you can leverage and multiply your gains.

The other day I was amused to read a piece in the WSJ saying that for 2011, the metal was up 12% and the miners were down 16%.

Me? I bought the metal a long time ago and have held on to most of it. Huge paper profit now. I wasn't interested in the miners, just because they have been much more volatile than the metal.

 

[Running_Man]

Where would you flee to? If the US collapses economically, there won't be too many countries that are safe havens.

Not true there are always safe havens. I am working with an individual from Vietnam whose emigration to Switzerland was paid with by gold held onto by his father and paid to the necessary people to get his son, then age 14 to another family. All of the families bank accounts had been frozen by the communists.

Gold is merely a universal form of currency. And the amount of goods any currency can buy is always fluctuating.

 

[clifp]

Not true there are always safe havens. I am working with an individual from Vietnam whose emigration to Switzerland was paid with by gold held onto by his father and paid to the necessary people to get his son, then age 14 to another family. All of the families bank accounts had been frozen by the communists.

Gold is merely a universal form of currency. And the amount of goods any currency can buy is always fluctuating.

Gold is a currency. Holding Gold is a form of insurance against economic chaos, and/or high inflation. How much should pay for this insurance policy is great question, and one I don't have an answer to. I don't own any gold, but I don't think holding up to 25% of your portfolio in gold (i.e. Permanent Portfolio) is a mistake.

 

[Koolau]

My reading (you need to verify for yourself) suggest that 3% to 5% gold in a typical stock/bond Port. smoothes the ride. Naturally, that could cost you some potential gains but may save you some losses. Seems to have worked well for me since I began holding some PMs. YMMV.