Anyone here buying GOLD online ?

Yanche wrote:Don't let your objections to the overspending of governments cloud your thinking on your investments. Clearly the price of gold is higher than the cost to produce it. What's pushing it higher? Investors. It's a classic bubble market, just like tech stocks a decade or more ago. Remember the Internet bubble bust? The recent housing price bubble bust? You can make a lot of money riding any investment bubble, up or down. The challenge is knowing when to get out. That's very difficult to know, especially for amateur investors.

On the other hand if you believe the world's future money exchange medium will be precious metals go for it.

Enron should have taught everyone not to put all your eggs in one basket. Things are just too unpredictable not to have something solid in one's portfolio. I also want to buy some land in the Philippines. You can't go wrong by owning land. Someone once said "They ain't making any more of it."

Cap wrote:So, what will hold value better? Diamonds or Gold? Which is more abundant?

Diamonds aren't worth anything now. It's an elaborate marketing campaign. A diamond dealer pays 10% of retail. Go to a pawn shop and see what they'll give you for a $2000 diamond. If you have anything under a carat, he probably won't even want it. I am acquainted with a pawn shop owner and he says you can go to the New York importers and buy wholesale stones all day for a couple hundred bucks.

The reason is that diamonds are subjective. At what point does the color move from one level to another? Clarity? Who says one cut is better than another?

Gold has value for a number of reasons. To the point, the quality can be accurately determined by an assayer. You know for sure if it is 10K, 12K, 14K, etc.

And as long as it comes from a reputable source, Krugerrands or gold Eagles for example, then assaying isn't even a question. Everyone knows what they are. That's why coins from a known mint are more "acceptable" than say a 1oz bar from XYZ mint. If I don't know the reputation on XYZ mint, and I don't happen to have an assayer handy, how do I know that the bar is what it's marked?

It's also why counterfeiting is such a heinous crime because it destroys the reputation of a mint and makes all circulating coins suspect.

I have some physical silver(wish I had more) and some "paper" gold. Only because I have a 401k that I can't get out but can move where I want. I have a bunch of foreign stock, some gold, and some other stuff. I've done OK as the market disintegrated. I worry about the paper gold but if it gets too high, I'll jump out(hopefully) like a lot of people did before the real estate market collapsed.

Oh, and to answer the OP, I have dealt with http://www.midasresources.com/ and they were great to work with. I also used http://www.rrbrokerageinc.com/ and they were also very helpful to a rookie such as myself.

Buying precious metals is a risky thing, particularly now with the price at historical highs. But like with any commodity or service, the price is not merely an extrapolation of production or labor cost. It is a matter of the market's value for the item. Gold and other metals have seen steady increases for years now as interest rates have been held abnormally low by national governments, while they have simultaneously been racking up more and more actual debt and future debt obligations. Stock markets are crap shoots these days given the economic uncertainties around the world. Bond markets are riskier than usual. You're lucky to find a cash investment instrument that offers a smidgen of interest accrual. Gold and metals are up, but there are rational reasons why they are up that extend beyond bubble market formation.

That said, it is very good advice to not get into metals too heavily. I believe the general rule of thumb is no more than 10% of savings or investment portfolio. Given that prices are at high levels, unless you're willing and able to keep good tabs on global macroeconomic trends and commodities/currency trends, you probably do not want to get in at more than a couple percent of savings. Depending on how much that is for you and how sensitive to losses you are, you have to determine how closely you need to monitor things.

If you want to buy some "just in case" gold/silver, no reason not to get it now, if you have the expendable cash. It is an interesting novelty to hold coins of gold and silver. Squirreling away some for a rainy day fund can be a way to scratch that pessimistic or conspiratorial itch. They can be interesting gifts to give to loved ones at rare events, to newborns (instead of the more traditional savings bonds), etc. And if you buy actual collectible coins (including proof bullion coins) instead of bullion coins, they have additional value beyond the metals markets, making them less susceptible to any bubble crash, less likely to be confiscated by a government if the *censored* does hit the fan, and making for nice inheritance fodder if you have a family to pass them along to.

This thing with the gold reminds me of the late 70s early 80s when the Hunt Bros. caused the price of silver to spike, people were sending in silver coins & sterling settings like they are doing with gold now. Silver never did go back up much after that, it stayed low for years. If you were buying for investment, its like any other, buy low & sell high IMO now is not the time to buy gold remember what goes up must come down. The collectable coins & such would be a better route if their cost wasn`t so high based on the gold price, in any event I think its too late in the game to be buying.

I collect copper pennies. lol

Bought 100 more GLD today. I ain't skeered

Gold is a long time store of wealth,it always has value.

Fiat currencies like the dollar are only backed by faith and

the creditworthiness of the issuer.

The Euro is even worse as far as the decisions the governments

are even more beholden to the welfare promises that they

have made over the years.

One rule I believe to be universal is that sooner or later all

FIAT currencies FAIL.

Gold doesn't really change in value its price is set,but the

fiat currencies move in price related to gold.The only

exceptions to this rule is when governments try to get

the ruled to turn in gold at their regulated price.Gold

does move in a channel so sometimes its cheap and in

other times its dear.

When gold was at ~ $35.00/oz about 12 oz would buy a

new car ~1920,with the current price of~ $1200.00 that

same 12 oz will still buy a new car,granted a small one,

but a model T was not large car.

Government issued gold coins are best because their

purity assured so are easy to sell or buy.I do not buy

any coins for numismatic value because of the subjective

nature of grading them and small increases in grade cut

or raise the price huge amounts.


BigBarney

I`m with Ken, copper pennies are my big savings but its even hard to find them in circulation anymore.

Here's a video to help better understand how the value of the

dollar has deteriorated in the real world.






BigBarney

I was looking at gold and silver charts for 2008/2009. When the stock market tanked, precious metals tanked with it. Food for thought.

Sounds like a buying opportunity to me!

The markets are down today. This MAY or not be a correction from a spike.

Gold is down $37.00 to 1332.00

silver is down $1.03 to 23.36

Platinum is down $28.00 to 1665.00

Palladium is down $19.00 to 579.00

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Some profit taking after the recent run up. Just wait for the pile of bad news that the media have been holding back on until after the elections is unleashed... that ought to get gold up over $1400.

pvolcko wrote:Some profit taking after the recent run up. Just wait for the pile of bad news that the media have been holding back on until after the elections is unleashed... that ought to get gold up over $1400.

Yes that is true, however if there is the republican sweep, then it may ease concerns over spending causing the price to temporarily drop thus creating a buying opportunity.