A little less than four years ago, the world looked like it was about to end and gold hit an all-time high of $1,895 an ounce.
The United States had manufactured a debt crisis, and Europe hadn't been able to manufacture a solution to its actual debt crisis, so panicky investors sought safety in the same place they had for 5,000 years: a shiny rock. The only problem, as you might have noticed, is that the world did not, in fact, end. It's still here, so gold prices aren't. The yellow metal has fallen 42 percent from its peak—and 8 percent in just the last month—despite the fact that the Federal Reserve has printed more than $1.5 trillion in this time. That, after all, is what gold aficionados said would make its price go to the moon, if not infinity and beyond. So what's happened? Well, exactly what economists said would happen.
Hah! God I love this!
The article goes on to point out that gold does not pay any dividends, or interest like other investments, however it does cost money to store. So not only were the conservative morons who put their life savings into gold about to go bankrupt but they are paying a storage fee for the privilege.
As I am sure most of you know Right Wing media outlets like Fox News and talk radio, have been awash in advertising urging everybody to put all of their money in gold before the zombie apocalypse, or something like that.
And of course like good little lemmings they have been doing exactly that.
Only now those golden parachutes of theirs are more like shiny anvils tied to their ankles as they struggle to stay solvent.
I imagine that pretty soon we will see elderly conservatives jumping out of windows all over the country in response to this news.
Not to worry however as most of them live in one story trailers so the fall should only result in a sprained ankle and some minor abrasions.
Unless they land on one of their personal mobility devices that is. Because THAT could really leave a mark.
Well, you know what they say--"Thanks Obama!"
ReplyDeleteWell now this brings us to rules and regulation. Weights and measures. There must be laws in place to protect "the dummies" !!!!!!! Seriously, we cannot have con artist takers taking money from those that are challenged. Anyone watching fox news on a regular basis must form a class action lawsuit against fox, fec, ftc, and several others due to their predatory behavior.
ReplyDeleteThe Obama administration is trying to put in place rules to protect retirees from bogus financial planners, but as you could predict, they are getting blowback from bogus financial planners and the Republicans they support with large campaign contributions (Primerica!)
DeleteElizabeth Warren schooled them royally. There is a video.
Now be nice. After all, it will be those of us who put our cash into stocks and the bank who will be paying for these good, if ignorant, people's medical care. We will treat them better than they treat us, even if we laugh as we leave their hospital rooms.
ReplyDeleteEver seen a gold cheeseburger?? HARD to eat that brick of fake gold that these puke-bags believe they have stored in the local store-and-walk… One small fact.. In the US, it’s AGAINST THE LAW TO HOLD PHYSICAL GOLD - THE METAL…. SO, whatever these hillbilly fools have stuffed away in the local orange-and-black always open, air-conditioned storage facility, IT AIN’T GOLD… Just thought you should know…
ReplyDeleteAnd...you are wrong, 4:55 a.m. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 made gold clauses unenforceable, and changed the value of gold from $20.67 to $35 per ounce, thereby devaluing the US dollar, since the dollar was gold-based. This price remained in effect until August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, thus abandoning the gold standard for foreign exchange (see Nixon Shock).
DeleteThe private ownership of gold certificates was legalized in 1964. They can be openly owned by collectors but are not redeemable in gold. The limitation on gold ownership in the U.S. was repealed after President Gerald Ford signed a bill to "permit United States citizens to purchase, hold, sell, or otherwise deal with gold in the United States or abroad" with an act of Congress codified in Pub.L. 93–373,[20][21][22] which went into effect December 31, 1974. P.L. 93-373 did not repeal the Gold Repeal Joint Resolution,[23][24] which made unlawful any contracts that specified payment in a fixed amount of money as gold or a fixed amount of gold. That is, contracts remained unenforceable if they used gold monetarily rather than as a commodity of trade. However, Act of Oct. 28, 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-147, § 4(c), 91 Stat. 1227, 1229 (originally codified at 31 U.S.C. § 463 note, recodified as amended at 31 U.S.C. § 5118(d)(2)) amended the 1933 Joint Resolution and made it clear that parties could again include so-called gold clauses in contracts formed after 1977.[25]
DeleteWas gold illegal to own at one time ?
Yes, in this country, from 1933 to 1974 it was illegal for U.S. citizens to own gold in the form of gold bullion, without a special license. On January 1, 1975, these restrictions were lifted and gold can now be freely held in the U. S. without any licensing or restrictions of any kind.
When were gold restrictions lifted ?
December 31, 1974 ended the era of private U.S. gold ownership restrictions which had begun in 1933. As of January 1, 1975, U.S. citizens were again free to own gold in any form, including bullion, and in any amount that they can afford, without restrictions or any federal ‘reporting’ of those holdings.
It's ironic that the pop.up ad on your blog is encouraging us to buy gold, silver, and platinum.
ReplyDeleteLand is the only thing that last.
ReplyDeleteSO you bought into the REIT - or the 50 acres "out west" most of it at at 45 degree angle? Land may last, but its value fluctuates drastically - and you have to have the equipment and be physically capable of "living off" the land. Not the panacea you think it is.
DeleteWhen the glaciers melt enough, that "land" along the coast will disappear completely.
DeleteMy little Ohio "homestead" will be beachfront property!
Re: land as a good investment. Out here in the west you may have property, and if lucky it's not vertical, but do you have water or mineral rights? Many investors purchased property only to find out there is no water access. Or if there is water it wasn't included in the sale.
DeleteInvesting is gambling. I've not discovered a sure thing that benefits all concerned. At least not yet.
Higher education - real liberal arts education, not job training,
DeleteSarah and Bristol must recognize the new grift, build their own Fort Knox and store the gold for these good flyover patriots at a modest fee compared to the fed and big fat banks doncha know.
ReplyDeleteDamn it only took 11 intelligent comments before someone had to throw Silly Sarah and Bristol into the conversation. Grow up. This is an interesting post, it has nothing to do with the Palins.
DeleteI'm so glad I avoided gold in my retirement portfolio. Instead I invested in Bradford Mint Limited Edition Plates, and Franklin Mint ceramic thimbles. The advertising thimbles are the best and I even have a shelf for display!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when the gold rush of 2009 happened and these idiots called themselves Patriots and Real Americans. Buying gold instead of investing in your country in tough financial times does not make you a fucking patriot!
ReplyDeleteActually, there were gold investors from all classes including the rich. Almost all of them are conservatives that watched Fox or listened to Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh.
ReplyDeleteBut a good number are also fundamentalist Christians. They were told that it is destiny to invest in gold since it is biblical and all sorts of other nonsense.
Anyway, investing based on fear never ends well as witnessed here. I know of one elderly couple that, in 2008, were convinced that the banks were going to fail, withdrew ALL their money, and hid it in their house. At least they still have their money (until someone robs them).
"...until someone robs them)."
DeleteOr it burns down!
If they didn't trust Glenn Beck I'm sure they listened to the advice of Pat Boone. Such an expert in gold futures.
DeleteWeren't we taught that investments should be diversified? Values on everything go up and down - don't put all your eggs in one basket, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt does work! Stocks, bonds, savings, various types of retirement plans, municipal bonds, savings bonds, dividends, cash, gold, silver, etc.
Research is required, of course!
These rubes believe that the streets of heaven are paved with gold, they just wanted to get a early start on paving their Cul De Sac in the sky.
ReplyDeleteWe shouldn't make fun of the gullible people who bought the gold. But we should certainly hold accountable all those who made money cheating gullible people, including Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and the folks at Fox. What contemptible people they are.
ReplyDeleteGlenn Beck is now claiming he has some mysterious, undiagnosable disease for years but in February claims he is miraculously "cured".
DeleteSo I guess it was the disease's fault he gave all that bad advice. (Which I'm sure he didn't participate in himself with his own personal fortune.)
But he's better now.
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ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is to buy what you know.....not because some hack on TV says you should. I can remember taking heed of what Jim Cramer said about emptying 401K...taking money to support 5 years...hah.
ReplyDeleteHere's an article in Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-26/gold-slump-not-over-as-speculators-go-net-short-for-first-time?cmpid=yhoo
By the time the average individual hears about a good stock, tip, or investment, that ship has already sailed.
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DeleteI wanted to buy Tesla in 2008. I think it was $18 a share or something ridiculous. I wanted to buy $2,000 worth. I was talked out of it by my broker (who is also my Dad's broker.) It was my first time buying stock and the only thing I followed at the time was alternative energy as I had bought a Prius and was closely following what Tesla was doing. So I played it safe and bought what they recommend. JPMorgan Chase, General Electric and BP. If you don't know what dogs they are google them.
DeleteNow Tesla is over $200 a share.
I wanted to buy Apple in the late 80s, early 90s too, around the time all the experts said Apple would go bankrupt within a decade. I didn't have a broker at that time and knew my Dad wouldn't buy it for me because he would have figured it was a poor investment. Apple stock didn't pay dividends at the time I believe.
I would have made $20,000 on Tesla if I had bought it when I wanted to.
Who knows how much I would have made if I had bought that Apple stock and just held on to it.
*sigh*
I really need to stop listening to people who are supposedly experts.
The adage "A fool and his money are soon parted" is so fitting. The poor suckers who fell for Beck and Fox New's "investment strategies" deserve what they've reaped.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who they'll "blame" when it sinks in? You guessed it, President Obama, for screwing up their plan to make a fortune.
Investment takes a lot of careful research. If someone has a magic formula for success with a one commodity investment scheme, why would they share the "secret" with anyone, at an affordable price or free?
There's nothing wrong with buying gold if you're buying it by the oz and not for coin face value or collectibles.
ReplyDeleteThe trick is to buy gold when the price is low and sell it when the price is high.
Like anything else.
I made $2,000 selling some beanie babies. I bought them to use for school (dinosaurs) and then stuck them away. A few years later the market went through the roof and one lady paid me $2,000 for my dinos and was tickled pink to get them. I got a trip to Europe out of that.
You never know what is going to go up or down so it's useless trying to predict it. Like gold.
But unlike beanie babies, gold will always have some sort of value. They make jewelry out of it and it's used for industrialized purposes. That's why you stick to the going rate per ounce, not collectible coins or face value Krugerands.