romans holiday

Have I got this right? You can sell gold for dollars at the spot price without a fee. You can then re-buy gold for a commission of 2.5% above spot. Is that correct? [i would be using the second range above US $10,000] So on a move of say 10- 12 % in POG it would be quite profitable [if accumulating ounces of course].

Or again, buy some US dollars and then use the volatility between it and gold. Only with a smaller percentage of your position of course. Also easily done on goldmoney.

Errr... cor blimey... read my signature... I see deflation everywhere you silly sod. [btw i was using "intelligentsia" ironically. Did not see the need to "interrogate" it]

An interesting thread for gauging sentiment towards gold among the internet intelligentsia.

It certainly seems to have mystical qualities.

Yep, I would like to see $800 again.

opps

I am a kiwi working at a Korean university [now holidaying in NZ]. As for Korea, Samsung reported a loss for this quarter, the first ever I believe. Samsung is a mega company comprising nearly 20% of the Korean economy. The Korean economy contracted nearly 5% in this quarter alone.

Same in the NZ dollar. In the weaker currencies, POG will hold onto their gains as those currencies continue to depreciate. In the few remaining strong currencies POG will continue to be volatile. Sadly, my family and friends own a weak and weakening currency and from their perspective gold is starting to look awfully expensive. I tell them not to think of gold as expensive but their currency as worth-less.

Thanks for the link Steve.

Was that just the briefest of spikes?? It is back down to $1601 today... the 22nd of January. :blink: [just checked on the price at goldmoney which they keep up-dated well I believe] Also, I think the author of that article is confused about how many grams there are in an ounce.

Yeah, it is great for the morale. That said, I am trying to exercise a certain financial discipline these days but not easy. I am trying not to think about gold in fiat prices ['cos they are just reflecting increasingly impotent currencies] but instead just focus on accumulating ounces of gold. Though it is difficult to do, being habituated since childhood to the current monetary system.... more of a "spiritual" discipline really.

Just a few days ago I had a sister keen to buy a few ounces... the price was at $1500 then. So up over a $100 in just a few days. I worry that family might start to feel priced out if it goes higher [actually it is just a case of weak currencies getting weaker] so I will have to try and convince them it is still cheap. Though I will have to be careful; after a conversation with another sister she asked how much she should by. I said maybe around 20% [of savings]. To which she replied hurriedly: "how about 50%!" Note to self; do not scare them too much, after all there are no certainties.

$1639 an ounce here.... Is that an all time high in sterling? In NZ dollars that is. I think it is an all time high in the kiwi... I am sure Steve will correct me if I am wrong.

No... not on the gold thread you apostate!

I think POG went up in most currencies.... went up in both the NZ and US dollar.

It is the fin[anci]al solution. Now on holiday back in NZ, I doubted my ability to persuade my family to buy a little... you know, for "insurance" purposes. No such problem, there is a deep-seated sense of unease, near anxiety, here about the economy and the currency which makes people very responsive to buying gold.... once it is explained to them.

imo gold will not perform as a commodity, as you would expect if all the printed money were to find its way into the markets. I think this is a very simplistic way of looking at things today. Rather, gold will perform as a currency as other debt-laden currencies further weaken. The only reason gold will double or triple its price is because the currency it is priced in has weakened inversely. Then factor in increased demand for a strong currency....... Don't look for markets to pick up because they won't once a deflation has set in. Rather look for currencies to buckle under their debt load and loss of confidence.

In a safe deposit box in a vault with a private company. The closest "onion ring" I have to my core position I guess ...... I still have a few ounces I can clink together from time to time... as Charleston said: "from my cold dead hands!" But then if it gets to that stage I will no longer be worrying about economics.

We have a monetary inflation..... within the context of a macro-deflation. The context is extremely important and trumps what is going on in money supply imo. That said, I believe the currencies of anglo economies will buckle under the amount of debt pressure building up. Theoretically, I see it in terms of a hyper-deflationary depression where all paper assets devalue/deflate including the currency [double whammy between a rock and a hard place]. This is what I see as the "low road" to [hyper] inflated prices. Hyper-inflated prices will not be caused imo by a flood of new money in the markets. When/if prices ultimately [hyper] inflate, it will be a secondary effect caused by a currency crisis. My macro view is that essentially investment in anglo economies is dead. It will be about capital preservation while all assets [including cash] deflate. Monetary metal looks to be the only way out of this and will in turn be able to once again buy assets once they have come back to Earth.

Yes, I agree.... which is why I am only using a smaller percentage of my metal. The rest is in physical tucked away in a safe deposit box. I will treat my goldmoney account as a cash proxy... if I miss the "to infinity and beyond" event... no great harm done... still have cash [i think a long drawn out process is more likely]. Also, if the trade is successful will skim of a few physical coins from time to time.

Do you have a silver fern [kiwi coin]? Very pretty.

I think we are more likely to see a long drawn out grinding deflationary process... with the odd banking shock.... rather than a sudden hyper-inflationary event. The hyper-inflationary event may come at the end, with a currency crisis, like an exclamation mark punctuating the complete collapse of the economy... or maybe not. In the meantime, we have a great opportunity to trade a portion of our metal on the coming peaks and dips. Why spend all those hard-earned wages when you can use the volatility to add to your position. As for dry powder, I plan to accumulate and then spend on mining stocks and emerging markets when the markets slump next.

I do not particularly like dogmatism towards the future wherever i find it, either for or against a position. And you would have to be extremely dogmatic with your opinions to write-off holding some gold for the future. Mind you, the same could be said for someone 100% invested in metal ... mind you that is a bit different considering they are earning another currency [besides metal] and metal could one day be hard to find.

I imagine this day will also see the goats separated from the sheep: those that understood the nature of not only fiat money but all money and its function [a means to an end] from those that didn't.