Why physical?Just this month a bank in the most important business street in Brazil(The brazilian times square if you will, usually has plenty of cops walking around) had their safes open and the contents stolen. A couple lost a few millions in jewelry I don't wear tin foil so I believe my money is pretty safe in GLD/IAU
He stated this with little conviction, so take it for what it's worth. Who knows how bureaucracy might react if things get bad. And who says it's even within China's power to keep the yuan propped up if a property collapse leads to a banking crisis? The greater point is there are no one way bets in this world. Can the yuan go down in value? Absolutely. If Ackman is looking for cheap bets where he can make several multiples his money, he might have a look at puts on the renminbi.
If people would have told you keeping a vault there isnt safe 2 weeks ago you would have laughed at the suggestion probably which just goes to show nothing is certain and risk can be everywhere.
Sorry, couldn't respond earlier. Yes, there is always some risk associated with physical - I agree. I have some physical in the house, and some in a safebox in a bank. Sometime in future, I will also get one more safe in another bank - not only to hedge against robbery specifically, but just in general to reduce different kinds of possible risks (bank goes down/robbery/natural hazards - flood, earthquake, fire etc. etc.). I am hyper-sensitive as far as hedging different kinds of life risks are concerned - however improbable they might be. Especially, those kinds of risks, which can knock you off the game of life or can seriously impact your living standard/conditions for a long period to come (a decade or more). Some of the precautions I take might seem downright unnecessary to many people - but to me they are worthwhile. For example, when I am travelling internationally, I don't go for cheapest flight route, rather I go for most reputed airlines - hoping that their planes will be newer on average, pilots better trained and technicians better able, in general. Anyways, one of the bigger reasons for me to buy physical instead of futures/ETF is that this is a good way for me to take some money out and put it in a vehicle for long term. If I buy an ETF or a future and keep rolling it, many a times, I will be tempted to close the position to free up the capital when I see a better opportunity - which might lead me to miss the huge move in Gold that I expect. Alongwith the appreciation that I expect, Investing in gold to me is similar to investing in long term interest bearing fixed income, land and house - which you don't sell every year (unless you are a flipper and a professional). In some sense, Gold and my house (which I don't own yet btw), represent a form of life security for me - which will allow me to pay bills, whatever happens in the world, including my broker going bankrupt overnight. If you think about it, however well diversified you might be, but your trading account will not survive a nuclear strike on nyc, because it will cause markets to gap 50% overnight. However, if you live in a smaller city with a house and some gold - it will give you a chance to have a decent life ahead, instead of going to collect food stamps. Thats the way I look at it.
I agree with this. One of my principles in life is 'never buy the cheapest product', yes sometimes you are starring at a bargain but the vast majority of time you are increasing your exposure to fat tails be it an intestinal infection in cheap food or electronic malfunction from in a cheap chinese tablet Sometimes its hard to emotionally resist the cheap product though, you feel like an idiot while everyone else is saying money, its the right thing to do though
I guess the very reason you like physical is the reason I don't like, the ability to sell. To me liquidity is very important, it lets me sleep at night
Gold being illuiquid is only one side of the coin. In a way it is probably one of the most liquid assets in the world. Hong Kong, Brussels, Laos, Istanbul, San Fransisco..... Basically you can sell gold everywhere both on or under the table and the price is the same globally. On the other hand ofcourse, you are correct. I have quite some exposure to physical gold and as it grew in value over the years the illiquidity of it has irritated me more and more. Especially when it drops.
The new amazon Kindle Fire looks really good for keeping up with news/manage trades while being in vacation or just out the office. It's has color(unlike the Nook and old Kindle), plus it has Android and the gazillions of apps that are avaliable for that OS I'm thinking of buying when it comes out
Looks like Kindle Fire doesn't run a real Android but rather an amazon layer in Android so you can only install apps that Amazon 'approves', not good news
7" screen sucks. Sounds like this kindle fire is little more than a transmission mechanism for folks to buy stuff on amazon. Why else would they essentially be giving it away (the cost of production has to be well north of $199). Shorting AMZN into this euphoria wouldn't be the worst trade in the world. I'm amazed at the size of an industry that's been built up in no time so that people can watch tv, movies, listen to their music and buy more stuff no matter where they are on the planet - it's a lot of fun, but doesn't exactly make the world go round. Doesn't seem a whole lot different than the late 90s when all of the internet start-ups were going to give stuff away for free, but make money on advertising/clicks/page views. In other news, the yuan was tested for the 2nd straight day at the boundary of its band (tested for weakening). Doesn't mean a devaluation is coming, but it is unusual for the yuan to trade right up against its limit. People want dollars when the going gets rough. If China has the kind of hard landing I'm expecting, the PBOC will have to move from holding the yuan down to propping it up.