bitbigt

And I agreed some models had shafts. But what you said was that "they aren't going to put that much torque through a chain", ...and there you were wrong my friend. Shall we now complain about each other on Dr B's run to mummy thread :-)

Nope! All the Triumphs were given final chain drive when relaunched some 20 years ago. The Rocket III Classic model also had, and still has, a chain drive. http://www.hermys.com/triumph/rocketiiiclassic/ But admitedly, they did then start putting shafts on their range, and released a new Rocket III with shaft drive. I went for the Honda CB1000 'Big One' instead http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...000_Big_One.JPG And if gold keeps on doing what its doing these last 24 hours, we can all buy one of each!

Most recent USD increase in PoG was really just reflecting USD weakness. But today was all about gold. Today could be the day we stepped into mania phase. ...2 years before I was expecting it!

Nice 'bikes. But why the hell did they make them chain drive?

Great. I'm glad to be of service :-) But at least my views are 100% in agreement with Guru Marc Faber (even when it comes to Governments use of war as a final get out of jail free card for themselves) http://commoditywatch.podbean.com/2009/11/02/dr-marc-faber/ So perhaps Marc is also a contrary gold indicator?

2-4 years ago, I'd have said the smartest protection for US and UK citizens would be gold. Indeed, that is why I put 30% of my Sterling cash into gold. This doubled in nominal terms as GBP collapsed by 30% and gold rose steadily in other currencies. But I'm now down to only 6% in gold, because I am not sure it will anything like double again from here, and fear it may even have a serious pull back if/when deflation persists, the Tories get in, and some fiscal responsibility returns (once GBs scorched earth policy is no longer the key consideration) So today, and for next 2-4 years, I feel you need to get your GBP and USD cash into a spread of property, commodities, and energy stocks. A 'portion' remaining in PMs is obviously a good idea as well. After 4 years, I'll probably have upped my gold holdings (if there is a pull back), paid off my mortgage (high end UK, or certain places oversees), and hold a load of commodity and foreign stock market ETFs. ...as I think that the next 5+ years we'll experience an Asian-led bull market run which is accompanied by painful inflation in the West. Inflation linked bonds might also be a good bet - so long as you wait for the price to bottom first! At the end of that, we'll have a new global currency forced upon us all (so hold no cash then), perhaps some form of extension of the IMF SDRs ...but that might be too conspiratorialist for some readers

Not really. Since this gold price (like the oil price) is simply reflecting a weakenning USD and GBP (gold has not risen dramatically in most other currencies), I would say this 'big news' merely shows that these two countries are being very effective in executing a controlled devaluation of their currencies. The full implications of this are horrific for the people of these two nations, who just don't realise what is being done to them.

"The truth is out there" ...but its intertwined with internet content comprising 'basics', 'fact', 'analysis', and 'conclusion' My training/career is all about distinguishing these four; - basics: essential to learn and understand - fact: critical to keep up to date with - analysis: do your own analysis (think for yourself!), and use the analyses of others only as a source of possibilities - conclusion: ignore them all, as you will have reached your own conclusions by your own analysis This way, you'll not follow any Pied Pipers into oblivion, and you'll have a fighting chance of staying that critical one small step ahead of the herd

I guess we all know this - but I want to put it on the table for comment Gold is not rising significantly, the Dollar and Sterling are falling significantly. ...so far they have lost 30-40% compared to other currencies in the last year or so. I note that the Icelandic Kronor has only lost 50% as a result of its country's economic collapse. So unless you believe we're due full blown destruction of the Dollar and Sterling then one has to wonder how much further these two currencies will fall before finding a base.

Even though I agree with 90% of what you write, it could be that you say enough, loud enough, and patronisingly enough, for the rest of us feel its not worth the effort

Thanks My take on it is that the PoG increase in the early 70's was due to coming off the gold standard, and the brief spike around 1980 was due to high inflation coincident with someone trying to corner the silver market. In short, gold has on average kept its value over long time frame, and can spike up dramatically when inflation goes very high. Trouble is we do not have very high inflation in the near term.

Yes - at GBP 660, having doubled my investment [he said smugly] ...but perhaps just an educated guess, and also driven by other plans for the money. I've since put 50% of the money into property, 10% back into gold (at GBP 570) and am taking on a substantial GBP mortgage (long term, offset - so can reduce payments with the remaining cash). This way, if/when gold tanks down to GBP 500-550 again (not at all impossible over next 6-12 months) I will put the remaining 40% back into gold. If not, then I've got property and a lovely big mortgage that will become steadily eliminated by the oncoming high inflation. Win-win.

yes it is - but I think the message would be clearer if we saw the two components of 'real BoE base rate' [base rate & inflation rate] plotted separately

I agree - but I don't think anyone is now listenning

Click buttons 'Hard Currencies' and '5 years'

It is striking that GOLD IS NOT RISING AT ALL THESE LAST 6 MONTHS in most currencies. http://www.kitco.com/gold_currency/charts.htm?USD (click 'Hard Currencies' and '5 years') So all we are seeing this year is a steady devaluation of GBP and USD - the two places where QE is in full force

+2

Great. I'll offer you 1c higher than them, then they'll double it and we'll split the profit

I fully agree. The conviction just doesn''t seem to be there in the price charts these last few days, especially if you look at multiple currencies. I still suspect this is a fake upside breakout after the recent shrinking trading range. ...even some on GEI are thinking of cashing in at these levels, rather than buying more

The cliff that has been repeatedly carved out by the PPT and the deflation monster

Anyone else holding their breath right now, as the Yanks wake up with gold sitting precariously on the edge of a cliff and yet in striking distance of 1000?

I couldn't agree more - I really do think this is a 'fake' to the upside! Just as you reach back to throw a ball forward, the market could be reaching up 50 USD (now complete) to throw the golden ball down hard. I've made a nice quick 5% on my purchase of 2 weeks ago, and whilst I never generally 'trade' the gold market, I am thinking of selling hereabouts. It all depends on how the next few trading days pan out.

I'm going to remember you said that

I tried to be precise... "SLIDING" meaning gently, rather than FALLING, collapsing, tumbling "UNABATED" meaning steadily & without change, rather than erratically, mostly, generally But more to the point, I was trying to stress that gold is not globally on the rise. Instead, GBP and USD are (currently, transiently) on the fall

Let's be clear: gold has been sliding down in all currencies, unabated, for many months now. It is only GBP and USD weakness that has seen gold occasionally drift upwards as well. So most people across the globe are NOT running to gold at the current time. It might not take much for some of them to decide the cost of carry is no longer worth it, when the alternative of the stock market is rising by >10% per quarter. Also, governments might raise base rates sooner than we all expect them to, meaning that several forms of risk-free investment will become attractive again, perhaps sucking more money out of gold. Then there's the very powerful manipulators, who do not want the gold canary to get any attention. So I'm still open to the possibility of another considerable leg down in the price of gold. ...but yes, I did start buying again at GBP 568 - just in case I'm wrong