Newbear

(Coinciding with moving to a new job) I sold my house in 2006 and have rented ever since. But I have now bought again. I don't regret the time renting at all but I do have reasons for buying now: a) prices have fallen substantially in the north of England in both nominal and real terms - 20 to 25% nominal, more in real terms; the money made on selling in 2005 has been invested and has been increased significantly - quite a lot of luck involved there admittedly; c)although there may be further house price falls to come, now I have retired cash flow is more important. By buying now (in the north where i have always wanted to return) I can be rent and debt free. For many STRs (remember them?) it will still not be the best time to buy. I certainly wouldn't buy as an investment. But as a residence, that depends on a lot of circumstances and for me the buying decision adds up well enough right now. My sense having spent the last few months on the housing market is that there has been a bit of a wave of renters/STRs back into buying.

Yes I agree. The 144/150 day MA is important here. Currently around 1580, which it dipped below yesterday very briefly then shot back off like a scalded cat. I think we will see a few weeks of base-building now, maybe retesting the 144/150 day MA along the way. I hope so as I hate these spikes and am much happier with the more orderly progress we usually see. Ross Clark has support at around 1547: http://howestreet.com/2011/09/precious-metals-body-evidence-parameters-monitor/

I don't think it was - though close it was £1 off the previous high. Neither has gold in $ touched its 150 day ma, which has been a reliable place for a new leg up to start since the start of the gold bull.

Yes it shows the general public as clueless about gold as real money or gold as a hedge against the depreciation of fiat money. But still significant in my view as an indication of a changing tide that will see more and more people work out what governments and the central banks are trying to do. But by the time the majority work it out it will probably be too late for them and they will wish they bought that little gold bar instead of the perfume they chose at the time.

Ian Cowie in the Sunday Telegraph reports that the last UK budget contained an obscure change to UK Stamp Duty legislation that will allow reduced payments on bulk purchases of BTL properties. Aviva and others are saying that they intend to become big time BTL landlords to take advantage of this, he says. Three thoughts: i) is this yet another attempt to put a floor under house prices; ii) will it work; iii) if it doesn't and prices continue to fall what will the likes of Aviva do? Sorry I don't have a link to the story yet.

I've just listened and thought it was really enjoyable - a big success and much appreciated. It got me much more interested in the the Idler too. I thought you made intriguing connections between monetary policy and the Idler's ideals, which I begin to see in a new light. It made me remember Marshall Sahlin's book "Stone Age Economics", which among many other points argues that prehistoric people did not have to work too hard to meet their needs - in fact they could get work out of the way fairly quickly and devote themselves mostly to ritual. Also connects with your theatrical interests perhaps? http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_qPSLy9...lt&resnum=4

Gold hit a new all time record in £ today: http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/gold_reco...rates_100820082 Apologies if someone has posted this already.

I've been away and have not had time to catch up on the whole thread so forgive me if this has been mentioned before but... Bob Hoye in a CW radio interview on 6th Feb suggested a gold price retracement to $750-775 (the bad news) followed by the good news (though I don't think he says when) - a new and powerful up-leg. He's also bullish on juniors when this occurs. http://commoditywatch.podbean.com/ I didn't blieve it at the time of first listening but in hindsight it appears powerfully argued. He is, however, sceptical of the Puplava/Turk/Schiff hyper-inflation prognosis - arguing that the German-style hyperinflation will be prevented by the large bond and money markets. Worth a listen.

Maybe but why not just relax and accumulate. By the end of this mess micro-second timing will look irrelevant.

Gold was Fed-whacked too in the last 30 minutes of London trading.

For a fund you might like to look at Ruffer Baker Steel Gold Fund. It's quite heavy with juniors compared with, say, Blackrock Gold and General. For this reason it has not done so well over the past year - but of course that could change.

It coincided exactly with the opening of the New York market. But the $ is mostly down today.

How about buy and hold until july/august 2012 at least? Otherwise I think CIGA's point about cost averaging is spot on.

Does anyone know the volume on this uptrend - strong or weak?

I agree...and enjoy your regular dividends whilst the natural gas price waits to rise.

Has anyone mentioned the effect of naked shorting on juniors? That must also be part of the picture when considering their underperformance last year, especially those on TSX. But relax guys. This is a bull market with a long way to go. The best is yet to come and the juniors will come good with patience. My approach: buy companies with rising resources, hold them, enjoy the roller coaster, wait - and sleep at night.

Here are the latest UN world population forecasts: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publicati...006/wpp2006.htm The interesting thing for me is that Asia (mostly, Japan is different) and Latin America are both now into the economically benign phase of th third demographic transition. But the time window is relatively short. By 2040 they are estimated to start the process of an ageing population.

James Lovelock seems to think so: http://www.ecolo.org/media/articles/articl...ep-24-05-04.htm

Any opinions about a uranium junior called Uramin? I've been having a look but am a beginner. The pros seem to be an experienced, well-respected and well-connected mangement and roving brief to find previously explored properties that fell out of favour when The con seems to be that their main property was left undeveloped for years because the grade is low and they are in a race with three other companies, one a major player, in Namibia.