Comments on: Weekend reading: Peak gold or peak gold price?

By: cab

cab — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:05:21 +0000

Funny to read these old posts, a year or so and gold is at $1,850. LOL… And they call us gold bugs! Greece, spain, Italy in the tank, US, still spending like a drunk sailor and ole Ben Bernake is printing money like the new york times prints news papers.

Buy as much as you can!

By: The Investor

The Investor — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:26:41 +0000

Yep, it’s been an incredible run — and it’s occurred in less than three years… in fact it’s less than two years! But this stuff is always trivially easy to see in hindsight.

The following article closely matches my own view as to what will happen in the next few years with gold:

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/08/30/gold-and-stocks-a-prediction-and-a-challenge.aspx

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:12:55 +0000

Its three years later and the price is currently $1882. I would say it was a very good ROI, a %70 increase.

By: Enquirica

Enquirica — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 04:08:05 +0000

Ultimately, the question is not how high gold can go, its how low fiat currency can go. While the debate about whether gold is in a bubble or whether we are in a deflationary or inflation environment continues, the monetary authorities in the developed world have embarked on a well-publicized campaign of currency devaluation via low interest rates. Central banks can control interest rates or exchange rates – not both – and they are opting for record low interest rates with little concern for the debasing consequences. There should be no debate on this matter – central banks have a perfect track record in one area and that alarmingly is in currency devaluation. The US and Canadian currencies have suffered a greater than 95% loss in purchasing power since the inception of their respective central banks. Enquirica Research has published a report – “Guide to Inflation Hedging 101″ go to http://www.enquirica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=19 and signup for access.

By: The Digerati Life

The Digerati Life — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:23:27 +0000

I look upon gold as “insurance” for my portfolio: I don’t expect it to do well (or anything for that matter) unless times are uncertain and everything else is considered “upside down”.

By: The Investor

The Investor — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:39:28 +0000

Hi TheBigMan… Maybe (and it is only a maybe!) because established companies do bold, radical things at exactly the wrong time. For instance, here in the UK the mighty GEC turned itself into a dotcom and blew through billions in the dotcom era. Another example from the US is when AOL merged with Time Warner in a merger of equals that proved idiotic and value destroying. Ask anyone under 30 who AOL is today and you’ll likely get a blank look.

Another example: RBS buying ABN Ambro at the height of the banking boom / credit splurge. At that same time, private equity companies were stalking the very biggest names in the market, having already swallowed some middle rankers. At the time it looks like a sign private equity is in the driving seat – in retrospect, it shows the market was overblown, as all this debt blew up when the tide went out.

It’s only a hunch re: Barrick. Nobody rings a bell at the top!

By: THEBIGMAN

THEBIGMAN — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:38 +0000

Why would Barrick winding down its gold price hedge be a sign we’re approaching the top of the bull market for gold? Surely this means they’re not going to be giving away tomorrow’s gold at today’s prices!

By: The Investor

The Investor — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:13:36 +0000

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:34:01 +0000

Not sure if you saw, but I sent a shout out to you in my weekly recap, whoo hoo!

By: The Investor

The Investor — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:33:15 +0000

Great price Rob! I think gold will remain a portfolio diversifier but unfortunately it seems more likely to diversify in the wrong direction from here!

By: Rob Bennett

Rob Bennett — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:17:31 +0000

I pretty much share your take, Investor.

I bought a small amount of gold (about $10,000) a long time ago, when it was at a far lower price. I don’t feel comfortable putting too much in gold for just the reason you cite — it doesn’t generate a regular return so you need to have big price increases to make up for the opportunity cost of not being invested elsewhere.

The plus on gold is that it adds lots of diversification to a portfolio focused on stocks or even TIPS/IBonds (this became my focus in 1996, when stock prices went to levels I view as insane).

I’ve earned a handsome return with my gold investment. I would have been richer today had I made a bigger bet. But there were many years when gold went up not at all and I question whether I could have stuck with gold through those years had I put a larger percentage of my portfolio in gold. I don’t feel too much regret (I do feel some) over not having given in more to my enthusiasm for gold at the prices it was selling for in earlier years (my recollection is that my buying price was around $340).

Rob