swissie

Looking at the past, some Empires have lasted for centuries. The Empire of the US truly only strated after WW2, with is's undamageged economic power, whlile the rest of the world lay in ashes. A short lived empire, historically. The Chinese waiting in the wings. Never mind. Half of my American friends did not vote for Donald. There is hope and the next congressional elections are only 2 years away.

The US is the largerest holder of physical Gold. 8133 Tonnes. Fort Knox. Anuual production of Gold is 3600 Tonnes. The US Gold is still priced at 42.22 $ per ounce. (bookkeeping price). Rumor has it, that some members of the current US Admistration are considering to re-value their Gold to todays market prices. Selling Gold to back some crypto currency. Needless to say, what would happen to the price of Gold, even if the promess of "gradual" Gold sales should hit the press. Unthinkable before, but within the erratic universe of Donald, everything is possible.

Finally it's official. US products in international markets are not competitive. Remedy: Impose tariffs. Indeed: Outside of Silicone Valley not much "innovation" had it's origin in the US. There is a Chinese Automaker that registers 45 new patents EVERY DAY. Without the steady stream of foreighn buyers of T-Bills and T-Bonds, the American Dream would have run out of gas a long time ago. Reserve currency etc etc etc...

Back on topic. The Dollar Index reached it's high at 110 this year. Currently at 103. Minus 7%. To remember: Along with tariffs, the current US administration has repeatedly declared that they want the Dollar lower. To bet against the ultimative player is not really advisable.

a) Can't be. The financial press is commenting the stellar performance of Gold daily. b) Technically "overbought" can range from "yearly overbought" to "overbought" in a 30 minute chart. Both are in overbouth territory currently. c) Most Gold-Gurus resemble your description of " The most common denominator was that it was usually some gormless neck bearded weirdo sitting behind some $100 Office Depot desk set up in his apartment bedroom or moms basement". I FULLY AGREE. d) Yes, the Swiss National Bank sold a good part of it's Gold holdings. The strict "monetary policy" made the Swiss-Franc" as good as Gold. Still in place. The Swiss National Bank is forced to buy massive amounts of $ and Euros regularily just to keep the Swiss-Franc from "overvaluation". e) If in doubt about the future price of Gold, look at the recommendations of my Romainian Clairvoyant Lady that I posted above.

Have you noticed? There is no international or local newspaper and all social media sources that do not celebrate the ever increasing price of Gold. I have seen this before. The "store of value" in troubled times. Silver also partially a "store of value", but lagging versus Gold. Technically, the price of Gold is in in a strongly "ouverbought" situation, by every technical indicator. Due to the high price, recycling of Gold is on the increase and most central banks (major buyers in the past few years) have indicated that they will pause with purchasing Gold at current prices. In such a difficult situation, I consulted my clairvoyant gipsy-lady in Romania. Her conclusion: a) Gold will skyrocket. Everyone not in the market will be cursed by their next 3 generations. b) Gold will pause for the next few years at this level. As happened before. c) Gold will correct some 10%. d) Gold will sell off to 1000 $, once humanity realises that Gold can not be eaten. That's all the advice a sophisticated Gold-Investor needs to know.

More food for thaught. An internationally competitve economy needs no tariffs to shelter the domestic economy from competition. Appearantly, the US does. Outside of tariffs, what could make the US economy more competitve in todays world? By lowering the value of the US $ by 20%. The current administration has declared this as a "goal". So, US $ holders may want to keep this in mind.

But surely you can see this as a beginning of a "trend". In 1933 there was nobody willing/able to stop the "trend". Quite the opposite. Most Germans hopped on the bandwagon. In the political/financial world, a trend can last for a long time. Feeding on itself, propelled by short-term benefits for "the masses" at first. The next few years will show if the US electorate can resist a few self appointed Gurus/Messiasses also known as "pied pipers".

The Tiger in the dark lurks here: The 3rd lagest expense of the federal budget is servicing the dept (interest payments).This at currently low interest rates. Imagine what happens if interest rates should rise. "Servicing the dept" could become number 2 of the federal budget deficit. By then, holders of US$ will run for the hills. Tiger Tiger in the dark..... Look here: https://www.pgpf.org/article/what-is-the-national-debt-costing-us/ Time for the financial community to start looking at the (overlooked) Tiger that is lurking in the dark.

- Waging war on the "unfriendly" press (only Fox News speaks the truth). - Replacing current employees in all "State Institutions" by staunch Trump loyalists. - Declaring any kind of opposition as "Enemies of the state". Just the beginning. More to come. According to the textbook of Goebbels.

Unfortunately you are right once more. Rumor has it, that in the current US administration not many like to read books. But surely they have read the writings of Josef Goebbels as he was the main architect when it came to turn a civilised society into blind-folded followers. The "Modus Operendy" by the current admistration is frightingly similar. It resembles a "copy cat" situation.

I coulden't disagree more. The current US administration is strictly following the textbooks of Hitler and especially that of Josef Goebbels when it comes to dismantle any democratic order in order to establish an autocratic regime. Step by step. It's like the current administration has decided that the pathway to "greatness" can be found in the actions/writings of Josef Goebbels. The similarities are absolutely mindboggeling.

To rearm Europe is high on the agenda. Unfortunately, even under the best of circumstance, this will take between 8 to 10 years. If Putin hungers for European soil, he is not going to wait that long. In the meantime, every European soldier knows that versus Russia they are "undermanned" and ""outgunned" for many years to come. These days (as opposed to soldiers before our time) they are well informed. Come war, will they head for the front to serve as cannon fodder or will they head for home? A grotesk scenario: Half of the soldiers heading for home, the remaining half being ordered to chase down "deserters", with nobody left at the front. Nothing surprises me anymore, considering the state of affairs in todays Europe. AND: Look at the youngsters. Spoiled by prosperity, cherishing their social media crap above any sort of "fatherland". Will they make for fearsome warriors, defending their soil and "western values"? I think not.

Definitely "dumb-luck". The God of coincidence is neutral. He just throws the dice.

Your picture shows "swiss" as a smelter. There is no such thing as "swiss" as a globally accepted smelter. You may want to verifiy your Gold purchases by buying a device that proves the Gold-Content, before you buy. Look here: www.gold-analytix.com The Bid/ Ask price quoted by you above is so narrow that nobody could make a long-term profit, especially as to "hedge" Gold for any downturns costs an average of 6% per year. What did your parents tell you before? "If it sounds to be too good, it probably is".

I myself give thanks to the most powerful God of all: COINCIDENCE.

There seems to be great confusion as to "when the boomer generation started". Here it is: The "boomer generation" started earlier in the US than in Europe. After the big war, the US as a country was not destroyed as opposed to Europe that lay in ashes at this time. In the US, in a very stable environment, the circumstances to "start a family" were favorable. As opposed to Europe, where people living in their devastated countries had other problems to worry about than "reproduction" and burden themselves with offspring. This is why the Baby Boom kicked in later in Europe than in the US.

Never mind when the "boomer generation" exactly started. We had 80 years of peace and a certain amount of prosperity for most. 80 years of this constellation is very rare in history. Since recorded European history, only in some 300 years Europe was totally free of any wars. Cumulatively. Historically, we have lived in a rare "peace bubble", combined with incresing prosperity for most. That is the essence of this thread. I personally am grateful that I was born at the right time at the right place.

Clearly, you are not a boomer. But, partially you are right. European Colonial Empires gave us the world on a silver platter. A good start. But everytime you activate your smart phone, you being engulfed in a functioning society etc etc etc. Who made all this possible for you? The boomers.

To me, true "boomers" were born between 1955 and 1970.

The "boomers" were too young for the Korean/Vietnamese war.

In order to compare spreads, one would have to compare spreads in "weight/purity". The standart measure is still 1 Oz in USD.The spreads can vary widely, depending on seller or even country. Hua Seng Heng sounds good to me so far. Question: Is "Hua Seng Heng" a public company (listed on a stock exchange) or is it a "Family-Business"? If listed on any stock exchange I would be interested, as I have some valuables to store. If not, I would prefer to stay away from any "Family-Business", especially in S/E Asia. As "Family-Businesses" and their assets in S/E Asia can "dissapear" overnight. Judicial/Police efforts to recover funds from dissapeared businesses are practically zero. Be careful!

So Hua Seng Heng stores it for free. Very nice. But there is no "free lunch" when it comes to store any valuables. What is the Bid/Ask spread of their Gold? Have you checked? There is a good chance that they finance their "free-storage" with a wide Bid/Ask spread. Again: Check it out!

I diden't know. I wake up once to go to the toilet. Conciously. PS: For the last 10 years, I have always gone to sleep with the radio on. Radio stays on all night. I choose boring "talk-radio-stations" at a very low volume. Any relevance?

Hello fellow "boomers". I think it's time for us to realise in what "golden age" most of us lived. An age where most "little people" were able to improve their financial standing. With the outlook of a financially secure old age. We diden't have to fight in any disastrous wars like generations before us had to. And we live longer than our grandparents. We should be thankful. The "new age" that is now dawning is more than worriesome. Generations can handle 1 or 2 major problems. But the multitude of problems at our doorstep will likely surpass the capability of humans to handle the multitude of major problems all at the same time. I myself find being an old man is not that great. But at least I have some sort of "solace". Hopefully, I will have passed the "pearly gates" before king Chaos will reighn the world once more. So, fellow boomers, thankfullness and gratefullness is in order. We were truly born into a historical "window of opportunity" that is rare in history.