grumpy-old-man

do you get the feeling that even bloomberg enjoy when gold drops ? I do. I presume because they are also a trading platform & have lots of services hooked into trading stocks & shares rather than pm's ?

US housing starts (existing home sales) were out today, they were unexpectedly lower. not sure about employment figures though ? edited

useful site for checking sovs you lot probably already know all this, but I though I'd post it anyway. I am a newbie to coins... edit - even gives the grade of gold & how many were made for the year. more sov info sorry to detract from all the big G20 stuff etc....

when is that ? today ?

I have 3 different designed coins. the one on its own (posted a seperate post for that one), the other 2 types have a younger & older queen vic I presume but both have the same St george slaying the dragon on the back. Sorry if I am being clumsy explaining, but I haven't ever seen a real sov up close to be honest.

can I ask a question about this one. If you have queen vic facing you & upright, when I spin the coin around exactly, should the coat of arms be upside down,with the crown at the bottom & upside down ? edit - some of the other sovs are like this also, with upside down st george .....some are the same .....h'mmm

GF, they have St George on the back slaying a dragon, but without the words around the edge, there is nothing else just St George. On the front I assume the 2 types are of Queen Victoria, just different designs. I find a link..... I haven't got our camera today as Mrs GOM has taken it into school. here's a better one, front & back: this is the sigle one on its own: ah ha, here's the other design:

don't know tbh....I think even if he was lying (which he prob was), let's say it was 4-5 million of 2007 peak worth, I am guessing he is very leveraged. The place I am in was on the market. He bought it as a flip, but couldn't sell it. It was up for rent for months apparently. yes, that's the one on it's own. This one has the laurel. St George eh, showing my education there, or lack of it. I feel like scrooge at the moment, lining up ma sovs (remember where he is stacking up his coins) a range of dates, 1898, 1896, 1872......just picking a few up.

this topic has been discussed on many an occasion. I only recently allowed sharp knives back into the kitchen. on a serious note, it is a joint decision. warnign GOM anecdotal alert: I am having a classic car restored for Mrs GOM (not expensive one, under 10k) & we seriously discussed waiting until next year to do it because it just seems wasted in Wakefield. The problem is I don't want any cash in the bank, so we have decided to go ahead now. The house I rent has an unlockable sh1tty garage, the landlord has said that he can't fix it because a lot of his renters are not paying their rent. He has told me that he has a 7 million pound portfolio (so he told me), he does not know my stance on all things economic/financial. he was telling me a story about 2 friends of his who are very big in property. One guy had a huge mansion near Harrogate iirc, own helicopter pad etc, acres 7 acres of land. He had been in the property game for a long time, very experienced. He said he was made bankrupt last year (might have been this year actually, I can't remember that bit exactly). The bit that really stuck in my mind was that he was now living in a 2 bed rented terraced house. I kid you not, he lost everything. In his 50's iirc. I could tell by the landlord's face that he was feeling his friends pain. I am very sure he is in the same boat. I can't tell you his business as it might give a link back to me, they (him & his girlfirend) drive the usual his'n'hers black Range Rover Vogues, kids @ private school etc.........he sounds very street wise but uneducated. Good people skills though imo, very user friendly, until you actually need him to fix or pay for something that is. I reckon he will be bankrupt next year.......or well on his way. He told me way too much about his business & his friends business. I didn't know this guy at all........he was very worried, I can spot the signs. I think that when it does happen it will be lighting fast & almost everyone at the same time, that's how over leveraged people are, living off credit cards etc. I am actually having to rent my neighbours garage as she doesn't use it & lives on her own. edited - to keep on topic my victoria sovs arrived today, all the same bar one, which has a different design on the back. They are a nice looking coin aren't they ? edit 2 - on closer inspection (as I type) there appear to be 2 types of queens head on them, but the same design on the back. (a sword clasping soldier on a horse). But 1 coin is completely different to all the rest, with a coat of arms on the back

I presume you are not from the North then ? edited - sorry guys, I know I keep going on about the North, but it's sh1te, cold, miserable & most of the people are thick......I am counting down the weeks to our relocation, ala prison style on an imaginary wall.

btw, I have noticed that my (& many other blokes, c'mon own up you all know it's true, much the same as the cowboy gunslinger one ) long standing twice a year dream of finding a suitcase full of money, has now changed to finding a hoard of silver & gold. have I entered a new dream realm ?

so let me get this straight. this metal detecting guy finds a huge hoard of gold & silver & the first thing he does is contact the authorities to tell them ? totally speechless. :blink:

Realist Bear's old dollar: http://i36.tinypic.com/123b0cx.jpg edit - can't get the image to post. I can - Steve

best book you will ever buy RH :

nope.....don't think I ever will tbh. I don't like buying things that I don't have possession of, just doesn't sit right with me. edited - was that an attempt at humour btw ? just re-read you last reply.

you 2 day traders need to buy physical silver'n'gold & hold. I have made my choice, & as cdswamp said "all my chips are in, good luck".........I am not all in silver but about 70%. I have made my choice & I will stick with it. I think when the next stage down happens, everyone will pile into pm's. I feel safe, I have something I can see & touch, that'll do me....... edited - please remember to apply humour when reading this post.

I would argue that stagnation is by definition impossible as it implies all parties are complicit in any agreement. Whether you define stagnation by VI stats I don't know ? Inflation is always stealth robbing is it not, so the stats never tell the real story ? this is happening right now. Stagnation can't happen due to power & greed.

I'll raise your Hoye with a Butler. I presume & appreciate that Bob Hoye's latest was a reply to the Ted Butler link from 9th sept above, but I think there are some very believable & tangible points made, especially the China Card: "The China Card As powerful as those forces are, they are not the main factors of the perfect storm and coming bubble. A force that threatens to profoundly disrupt the silver market is China. After 60 years of it being illegal for Chinese citizens to buy and hold silver (and gold), it has recently become legal. Not only that, the government is actively encouraging citizens to buy silver, allowing it to be sold by banks. Early reports suggest that the Chinese government is succeeding, with stories of bank lines developing for people waiting to buy silver. With the world's largest population that has an established and ingrained propensity to save, and with an historically attractive asset suddenly available after a void of 60 years, it's hard to imagine how a rush into silver won't develop. In addition, reports of pending export restrictions from China, the world's largest refiner and third largest miner of silver, threaten to create a one-two price punch never witnessed before. Years ago I wrote, at the urging of my friend and mentor, Izzy Friedman, how China was likely the big silver short, depressing the price to pick up refining market share and dominance in the world production of silver. After the low price drove out world refining competition, China could then be in the position of controlling the price and driving it as high as they desired. I can't help but think that not only was such analysis by Izzy correct, but it may be about to be realized." he also makes a point that because of the newly tradeable ETF's, (since 2006 iirc from that link) that silver & gold are more tradeable for investors/corperations who don't fancy physical buy & hold stance's. The world needs a new bubble, there always HAS to be one, what if the banksters start using their age old weakness & hatred of metals to their advantage ?

hasn't chris ct just done it iirc ? quick edit, no-one noticed.....

I noticed that, as well as openly laughing at the UK's debts etc...

has this been posted yet ? I appreciate it's from yesterday. http://www.marketskeptics.com/ "Scary developments in gold Gold has broken above $1020 (again during Hong Kong hours). I have been expecting this all year, and now that gold is finally hitting new highs it is fairly scary. With the $1000 barrier broken, there is no telling where or when it will stop. What makes gold rising over $1020 even scarier is what is happening simultaneously with open interest on the COMEX. In the table below, you can see how the quantity of COMEX gold futures contracts has begun spiraling out of control since the end of August." "Open interest on gold futures is EXPLODING, yet gold prices have broken over $1000 and are still going up! We are definitely nearing the beginning of the real financial crisis. I expect gold to continue inching up until the dollar’s fall start accelerating towards the end of the year."

indeed Wren, I have been very lucky with both my gold & silver purchases. edited - although late to the party...obviously.

I want to buy some sovs as I haven't got any, but I have gone over the allowed requirement now though. iirc, that message flashed up when I tried to add some, telling me I was over.

I found them through a couple of recommends through here. Ziknik & fwiw iirc ? Yes I have found them very good. Sara & Sonia are very nice to deal with. Any small issues we did have were organised very quickly. I won't tell you about the 2nd delivery of 3 parcels, one of which was wide open & you could see the coins/bars. I kid you not. That was why I posted that picture of a couple of those bars as they sent the wrong ones on that delivery (just the bars), coins were fine. They offered to replace them instantly (I would have had to ship to Germany though). No problems with any other order. I have placed a lot recently. Just make sure you specify exactly what you want first imho. edited - I decided to keep the bars btw.

buy & hold strategy....until 2050 if fooken need be so that profit is realised.