if worrying about something going to 0 is a part of your thought process then you need to reevaluate your views on things. are you a trader or just looking for something to invest in?
I trade XAU/USD pair on oanda using 50:1 leverage. I'm not sure if there any other forex brokers that allow you to trade gold, but I like my current setup.
Quote from piezoe: Buying gold is a defense against inflation. One can make money short term by trading it, assuming you know what you are doing, but long term very little money in constant dollars can be made buying and holding gold. (At least that's the way it's been in the past) To make money over the long haul you need an a return above inflation. It's difficult to achieve that with gold other than on a short term speculative basis. Ignore [the above] post completely, it's wrong. According to that great market sage Kudlow, if you'd bought gold three years ago and held it until now you'd have made in constant dollars roughly 5.5%/year. That beats inflation! Unfortunately, this has been a period of speculative excesses in gold and over the much longer haul you would have kept pace with inflation, but not much more than that in constant dollars. Gold is a good hedge against inflation but not a good long term investment, unless of course you will be content with a 5% or less real return. But that beats a negative return any day! And too, there is something to be said for gold's "safety". After all You could have been in Bear Stearns instead.
Like a great wise old man once said ..."They invented paper money to take my gold, and then they invented plastic to take my paper money." The Federal Reserve is a system that transfer real wealth created by the people to the creator of money (worthless paper). They feed on us like parasites. i can never get ahead of the game lololololo...
Quote from piezoe: Buying gold is a defense against inflation. One can make money short term by trading it, assuming you know what you are doing, but long term very little money in constant dollars can be made buying and holding gold. (At least that's the way it's been in the past) To make money over the long haul you need an a return above inflation. It's difficult to achieve that with gold other than on a short term speculative basis. Quote from PaulRon: Ignore this post completely, it's wrong. Frankly, his assessment was rather correct. Try studying the issue without blurting out what floats through your mind
Investing in Gold over the last 5 years would have demolished investing with the DOW. WTF are you guys talking about? very little money? The value of gold has <b>tripled</b> over the last 5 years and this guy is saying there is little money to be made buying and holding gold. Correct me if I'm wrong but the 300% return made with gold completely demolishes the rate of inflation over 5 years. <b>FRANKLY</b>, you guys have never looked at a gold chart in your lives.
Don't get upset, we basically agree. If you pick a particular, 3, 5 or what have you, period you can find periods where gold has outpaced inflation. No problem. It's just that over the very long haul, and not picking particular periods, gold has tended to return, in constant dollars, less than equities, and essentially kept pace with inflation.