I Hate My Freaking Bank

[StreetCowboy]

Given the record high price of gold, and its dramatic rise compared other assets, this would seem like a great time to sell. Perhaps you could off-load some to Radiola. he seems daft enough. Or maybe Gravion is looking to invest

SC

We are nowhere near the record high price of inflation in real terms. That happened over three decades ago.

You do understand the concept of inflation, don't you?

We are also nowhere near the nominal record price of gold, for that matter.

I think I employ people like you to understand that on my behalf.

SC

[bendix]

I think I employ people like you to understand that on my behalf.

SC

I'm sure there is a pithy insight in there screaming to come out but I'm afraid it's too obtuse for me to identify.

I'll keep trying though, and if I figure it out I'll come up with a good retort.

[exeter]

Just about all I know about Gold I got from Goldfinger! Apart from females wanting to adorn themselves with it, perhaps that is a good reason for me to avoid this area of the market there are always plenty of chics waiting at the entrance to help me with my decision.

[brit1984]

I think I employ people like you to understand that on my behalf.

SC

I'm sure there is a pithy insight in there screaming to come out but I'm afraid it's too obtuse for me to identify.

I'll keep trying though, and if I figure it out I'll come up with a good retort.

While you wait for SC to decide if he will honour you with a response, please could you come up with a good retort to my last post... cheers

Would be much appreciated...

Edited May 10, 2012 by brit1984

[StreetCowboy]

I think I employ people like you to understand that on my behalf.

SC

I'm sure there is a pithy insight in there screaming to come out but I'm afraid it's too obtuse for me to identify.

I'll keep trying though, and if I figure it out I'll come up with a good retort.

While you wait for SC to decide if he will honour you with a response, please could you come up with a good retort to my last post... cheers

Would be much appreciated...

I'm stood here waiting for a witty retort. Its what we call a 'retort stand'.

A bit like a long weight...

To be honest, Bendix' retorts are normally like water off a duck's back...

SC

[Naam]

I think Naam's point is an attempt to counter-balance the oft-heard view that gold is a rock-solid safe investment. That that view is usually propagated by those who usually support their theory by worrying about when the banks collapse and ATMs die is neither here nor there.

Gold is not a safe investment. There is no such thing as a safe investment, because the prices of all assets go up and down depending upon a range of factors. Cash is least safe investment class of all, because it's the one asset that is guaranteed to lose value over time.

Noone is deriding gold. Most sensible people think that a certain and sensible exposure to gold and similar hard metals is an important part of a balanced investment portfolio. I myself have around 5% of my total net worth in either physical gold or gold-related shares.

The problem with gold-bugs though is that they tend to be so drawn up into the mythology of gold that they expose far too much of their wealth to the asset; then they become emotionally attached to it and spend all their lives searching for articles on the internet - usually written by fellow bugs, doomsday predictors or Illuminati - to support their thesis.

And when any one questions them, they get defensive.

there's nothing wrong if they'd get defensive and present facts which can be verified and rationally discussed. the problem is that most of them get offensive, in some cases personal when facts spoil a good gold fairy tale and come up either with assumptions what will happen in future or with ridiculous parallels (like recently in the gold forum) such as

"2000 years ago a gentleman of the Roman Empire paid one ounce of Gold for a tunic, a belt and and leather boots (sic!). today a gentleman pays the same ounce of Gold for a suit and a pair of shoes."

[StreetCowboy]

...

"2000 years ago a gentleman of the Roman Empire paid one ounce of Gold for a tunic, a belt and and leather boots (sic!). today a gentleman pays the same ounce of Gold for a suit and a pair of shoes."

smirky

Out of interest, is that true? Its before my time; I suppose we should ask KennyK - he was probably there at the time

SC

[Darrel]

The only answer:

Edited May 10, 2012 by Darrel

[HardenedSoul]

I am not a goldbug; I am a gold bull. There's a big difference. I'm not emotional about investing and as soon as gold looks to be at or near its top, I'll have no qualms whatsoever about dumping the lot.

I've no interest in traipsing back through Thaivisa threads to look for instances where you've advocated holding gold. Frankly, to me, your opinion on the subject is about as relevant as Ben Bernanke's.

I'm commenting on what appears to be your predilection in this thread for slating other posters' suggestions without offering a sliver of useful advice to the OP.

no advice is any day better than shitty advice.

you did not just comment, you assumed and commented based on your wrong assumption.

what you call my predilection were nothing but postings of hard facts which anybody can verify and none of your yada-yada yakety-yak will change these facts.

Look, we'll agree to disagree because I think you're just one of those smug know-alls who just sits imperiously on the fence passing scornful judgment on others' efforts to help. You bring nothing to the discussion save that "I'm alright Jack, pull up the ladder" attitude as if you've got it SO right and everyone else has got it SO wrong

The advice given to the OP to buy gold is not "shitty" advice since its price is more likely than not to rise in the coming years as central bank devaluation of fiat continues. Maybe there isn't as much upside as there was when its price was $500 an ounce but then again, the same was said when it hit $1000.

I don't have to get defensive about gold from a wider perspective because, as I said, my holdings have tripled in value in sterling terms. It's done and is continuing to do its job. With that in mind and the likelihood of further increases in due course, I felt comfortable giving that advice

Edited May 10, 2012 by HardenedSoul

[Naam]

Look, we'll agree to disagree because I think you're just one of those smug know-alls...

who, pray tell, is interested in your thoughts, your tripled sterling value or "most likely" prophecies?

[Naam]

"2000 years ago a gentleman of the Roman Empire paid one ounce of Gold for a tunic, a belt and and leather boots (sic!). today a gentleman pays the same ounce of Gold for a suit and a pair of shoes."

smirky

Out of interest, is that true? Its before my time; I suppose we should ask KennyK - he was probably there at the time

SC

for the record: Naam didn't say it, Naam quoted what a gold aficionado posted. Naam's rebuttal was "a tailor and a shoemaker in London's Savile Row would roar with laughter if a "gentleman" demanded a made-to-measure suit and shoes for an ounce of gold."

[HardenedSoul]

Look, we'll agree to disagree because I think you're just one of those smug know-alls...

who, pray tell, is interested in your thoughts, your tripled sterling value or "most likely" prophecies?

You evidently, given your attempts to deride them whilst offering nothing by way of an alternative.

[ExpatOilWorker]

buy a 10 year us treasury. it will earn you 1.5% a year

i cant imagine prices rising faster than that

US CD yields at the moment:

1 yr .45%

2 yr .75%

3 yr 1.05%

4 yr 1.30%

5 yr 1.8%

[StreetCowboy]

Shatin Races

The margins are better in Macau, but the market is believed to be less 'honest' there... based on the extent to which the odds change after the race has started.

'Transparent' is perhaps a better word, meaning 'you can see what you're getting'; I've no reason to beleive that the Macau Jockey Club falls in any way short of the highest standards of ethical and legal excellence.

SC

[cooked]

well obviously I have to step in here and calm the panic. About 20 years ago you could buy shares and 'miraculously' you would be getting, sometimes, 10 - 15 even 20% comeback in a year. That is to say those among us that had the wherewithal to invest went whistling to the bank to collect. Well, the methods whereby you invested money in technology that was going to cost future generations a lot of money are now coming to roost. Japan has had to leave nuclear technology behind, at least for the moment. Oil companies that made enormous profits by dumping their gunk into the oceans and forests are being obliged, kicking and screaming, to pay their bill. Fish stocks are being seriously deplenished. Thailand is being flooded because of corrupt forest 'management'. Rant, drool, how long do you guys think we can go on doubling the population every 40 years without a serious belly up?

Gold: anywhere in the world you can use it as currency, for mystical reasons, but this is a fact. That is why the Chinese always head towards gold when there is a crisis. I also think that about 10 - 15 % of your investment should be in gold.

Comparisons with what happened in America with the housing market are preposterous, the guys weren't buying houses they were buying ridiculous credit. I built two houses in my youth and plan to build now in my dotage another one, just bought the land and built them, very little credit and they are still bringing in a steady income 30 years later.

[brit1984]

While Gold undoubtedly will continue to have relevance to this world (as a reserve currency, as jewellery for chavs and in some specific technological uses) that does not necessarily mean an investment in gold is wise.

The return you earn from gold is completely dependent on the price you buy and the price you sell (there are no ongoing cash-flows in-between as with stocks, bonds or property) so you are completely at the peril of the market.

Of course gold's relevance as a reserve currency generally increases in times of economic hardship, and most of us expect further economic hardship ahead. However, this does not necessarily mean its value will increase, as these expectations may well already be reflected into today's market price (hence the 300% increase in its price over the last few years).

The point is it is impossible to estimate the intrinsic underlying value of gold because there are is no stream of future cash flows to estimate (and discount today). Hence, you can never know if the price at which you are buying is too high or too low.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[Darrel]

The return you earn from gold is completely dependent on the price you buy and the price you sell ....

Minus inflation and minus the cost of ownership. So many gold aficionados seem to forget about these.

[cooked]

well alright, trust all your money to banks and really honest investment brokers.

[Naam]

The return you earn from gold is completely dependent on the price you buy and the price you sell ....

Minus inflation and minus the cost of ownership. So many gold aficionados seem to forget about these.

but isn't Gold always going up, up and up?

[Darrel]

well alright, trust all your money to banks and really honest investment brokers.

Investment brokers dont get much from me and never will. Do-it-yourself and cut out the parasites, most of whom are incompetent anyway.

[Naam]

well alright, trust all your money to banks and really honest investment brokers.

Investment brokers dont get much from me and never will. Do-it-yourself and cut out the parasites, most of whom are incompetent anyway.

but you can't do without banks.

[bendix]

The return you earn from gold is completely dependent on the price you buy and the price you sell ....

Minus inflation and minus the cost of ownership. So many gold aficionados seem to forget about these.

but isn't Gold always going up, up and up?

Of course it is, except for when it's going down.