dietcolaaddict

Countdown round one - the letters game. Anyone else score 6 ?

Maybe we need a Junior Goldthread. Actually - forget that it sounds a bit too much like 'singing pig'

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:

Well, I'm on for a bit of gold-watching this sunny UK afternoon as NY opens. I actually quite like this flirting around the $1000 mark - it's getting people familar with four figure gold. Familiarity leads to acceptance.

Gold is sneaking back up again. "There's some life in the old dog yet"

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

What happens to Gold if the stock market crashes? Lots of selling off by traders to cover their positions? Something tells me this is the 'joker in the pack' over the next month or two EDIT - SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE POST - overexcited I guess

What happens to Gold is the stock market crashes? Lots of selling off by traders to cover their positions? Something tells me this is the 'joker in the pack' over the next month or two

Just bounced off 1000! This is going to be a titanic battle this week.

Well, there are only a limited number of consortia of "professional footballers and funds from Russia and the Far East". Nobody else is buying. The high-and-mighty of the BTL world may well get a last escape opportunity, but "Average Joe-BTL" is still stuffed.

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

Wow! It's getting close to that $1000 barrier again.

Well, happy 'gold season' everyone Lets hope 2009 follows the seasonality script.

Gold has retraced half its rise this friday afternoon, but silver has more or less held all its gain. As pointed out on the Gold TreadTM, gold-to-silver now under 65.

Just no blatant rocket pics 'if or when' folks. IMHO they are a bad omen. Post something more subtle to express excitement this Sept - Feb season

My observation of this 2009 housing market remains that first time buyers are not participating or not able to participate. In fact, the politicians have stopped talking about FTBers any more. So who is propping up the pyramid scheme for now?

POST DELETED.

I only hold a very small amount of platinum. It's silly, but I loose interest in price movements when I don't hold a position in that marketplace, hence my small holding.

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.

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.

Gold up $10 in 10 minutes. Was that the last buying opportunity? Boat about to set sail ?

Very useful, thanks Zik!

A textbook friday afternoon smackdown. But September is fast approaching and gold looking well placed to break four figures in the near future

"The Delusion Index", courtesy of neon tetra at HPC (we need to invite this guy here!) Ratio of Rightmove Index to Nationwide Index! http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...howtopic=120428

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.