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dietcolaaddict

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Posts posted by dietcolaaddict

  1. Still waiting to see if Mr Smackdown makes an unwelcome late appearence.....

     

    In the meantime...

     

    China’s insatiable appetite for gold underpins market

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle6829932.ece

     

    Article begins:

    China is underpinning the gold market with a surge in demand from newly rich Chinese consumers for jewellery and gold bars and official encouragement for private purchases of precious metals.

     

    The recent surge in the price of bullion to $1,000 per ounce is occurring during a slump in demand for gold jewellery in every country except China.

     

    While consumers in traditional gold-buying countries, such as India, have kept a tight grip on their purses because of high prices, a poor monsoon and the recession, Chinese consumers are following their central bank and hoarding the yellow metal.

  2. OK, here are the kitco charts for the two past attempts on $1000:

     

    5vt98m.jpg

     

    Note that this year's attempt is at the start, rather than the end, of the annual gold season.

     

    I see this as a more progressive move on $1000 - in March 2008 the London fix was >$1020 shortly after crossing the $1000 barrier, for example. We are now trading in a far narrower range around the magic barrier.

  3. Here is a signal that the bull trap in UK house prices is close to an end!

     

    Former maths teachers sell their property empire as prices creep up

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/pro...icle6819301.ece

     

    Fergus and Judith Wilson, 793rd on The Sunday Times Rich List this year with a combined value of £70 million, have decided to call it a day after almost 20 years of property investing.

     

    At their peak they owned about 900 houses but their portfolio has been badly hit by the downturn, falling from an estimated value of £180 million early last year.

     

    They have now decided to put the whole lot on the market to take advantage of a recent rise in house prices in Ashford, Kent. Mr Wilson said that they had already received a number of approaches from investors wanting to buy the whole portfolio, including a consortium of professional footballers and funds from Russia and the Far East.

  4. OK, I have a dilemma here - any advice appreciated.

     

    I'm heavily invested in gold and silver + a little 'flirtation' position in platinum (total 85% of savings). Things look bullish for the months ahead in PMs and August is not the time to sell. However, I have a lot of life changes in the months ahead and need to liquidate some cash to pay for them all.

     

    Am I best to use my remaining cash (£) savings (15%) to do this, or to sell off some PMs and keep my cash emergency fund?

    I feel a little uncomfortable having all my eggs in one basket and being 100% PMs, even if only for a few months.

     

    Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I may have to sell some of my Au+Ag here, but will delay as long as possible to catch as much seasonal gain as I can.

     

    The reason I am 85% PMs may be a little unusual and worth explaining (although I am bullish long term on PMs, negative on sterling and heavily influenced by the UK houseprice-to-gold ratio work of Goldfinger). I am attracted to a rarely discussed benefit of gold in bullion form - it allows you to avoid government methods of means testing which only seem to disincentivize the act of 'saving for a rainy day'. Any money kept in shares and cash accounts for bad times is simply counted against you in the UK system no matter how much tax and National Insurance you have paid over the years (in the belief this will provide a short-term safety net).

     

    Two scenarios I have had to plan for in recent years:

     

    Redundancy - I have poor job security - UK government would deny me benefits until I had eaten through all but £6k of savings/assets. Gold is an untraceable asset in this circumstance that will preserve hard earned savings made from putting aside some of my wage and living prudently within my means.

    Retraining - I have thought a lot about a switch in career - UK government would expect me to fund my own fees from my savings/assets rather than pay any costs themselves, once more removing the incentive to save for this circumstance through cash or shares.

     

     

     

  5.  

    OK, I have a dilemma here - any advice appreciated.

     

    I'm heavily invested in gold and silver + a little 'flirtation' position in platinum (total 85% of savings). Things look bullish for the months ahead in PMs and August is not the time to sell. However, I have a lot of life changes in the months ahead and need to liquidate some cash to pay for them all.

     

    Am I best to use my remaining cash (£) savings (15%) to do this, or to sell off some PMs and keep my cash emergency fund?

    I feel a little uncomfortable having all my eggs in one basket and being 100% PMs, even if only for a few months.

     

  6. I’ve got my last units of Sterling for the year loaded in to GM and I think I will spend it today. Price is currently £8.01 - which is quite a long way below my average buying price for this year.

     

    I don’t think we will see £7… but I am only guessing. £8ish is a good price and I am happy to pay it.

    I'm going to be patient a bit longer, but might average-in a bit today. We are hopefully close to the bottom for silver in GDP terms.

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