TrueRange, in remarking that gold's price has been sideways for over a year, you misunderstand the viewpoint of us gold bugs. We don't CARE about the relatively short term. We put maybe 5% of our liquid assets into physical gold in a regular buying program as a hyperinflation insurance policy. The chart WE see looks like the attachment. Buy-and-hold sucks for stocks, but not for gold. In a hyperinflation, the government can tax the shit out of what they can find, or confiscate it. But in the absolute worst case we will walk away looking like shabby drifters with nothing but the clothes on our backs and a heavy backpack with enough REAL wealth to start over when the entire country is impoverished.
Investopedia explains Deflation Declining prices, if they persist, generally create a vicious spiral of negatives such as : falling profits, closing factories, shrinking employment and incomes, and increasing defaults on loans by companies and individuals. Who's the idiot ?
Aug 25, 2009, 4:11 p.m. EST Staples profit drops 38% as big companies pare back While small businesses are feeling better, large accounts still trim costs. Current profits are nothing but: COST CUTTING. Can't last...second wave down coming soon....
http://www.mineweb.co.za/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page34?oid=88066&sn=Detail So.. what's up here? Smart money?
I have found that most anybody that goes against the gold crews mantra of "to da moon" gets a virtual beatdown. I`m not saying gold plummets or goes to the moon. I think most "normal" GC holders just want price stability...which is what they have had for awhile. But for a trader price stability sucks. Thats all i`m saying Gotta agree about having a portion of net worth in Gold or tangible assets in general. And in fact I had been a buyer of k-rands and some silver eagles until June from a few years back on BD.com. I`m in the money a bit. For this investment all I hope for is price stability as this will mean a stable dollar that stops falling. And that is good for all of us in the USA. But please, take that chart back another 15 years and repost. As another poster remarked, regardless of the asset, your entry and exit makes all the difference. The guy who bought gold in 88` for inflation protection has held dead money for a couple decades.
Here ya go, TR, the chart back to the previous historical high. I never thought about gold as a medium for stability. An interesting notion. A means of preserving SOME purchasing power, yes, if not exactly at par. To me it's more like a whole life insurance policy.