lifechooser

Are they having shortages of big heavy bars, or just coins? I'd be surprised if they had no big heavy bars.

Well someone must be selling to the mints.

My current theory on gold is that it's being sold by banks and governments to raise cash, however the only people who can buy large bars are the mints, who can only process a certain amount as they only have one machine which slowly goes thunk, psssssht, thunk, psssssssht (see youtube). As a result, the price of gold is not going to the moon, as the mints are limited in the quantity they can process, and hence the lowish gold price, despite the huge retail demand. It's all down to a bottleneck at the mints. Now apply this to silver. Are the mints going to bother using their one machine or finite members of staff to process silver, when gold is in such demand? If not, then who is going to buy large bars? Result - you have to wait ages, but at least it's cheap.

Someone should post a kitco screenshot, it does seem to be properly vertical.

My thoughts; Gold is being heavily sold by banks, who need cash to keep themselves afloat. This is suppressing the price on the global market, as the mints (representing the private buyers) can only process a certain amount each day into coins and small bars, so will only buy a set amount. Soon, there will be a complete detachment of prices, and dealers will offer to buy coins for more than spot. As soon as the bank crisis is solved either one way or the other, the forced injection of large gold bars onto the market will end and we will get a moon shot in the spot price.

Don't panic, we'll be at $3,000 / oz before long, according to scary botox woman and faux news. http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/pop...&ch=1316259 I hope that is the right URL, it's in a little popup window on the front page of Yahoo! finance. It's a good listen, but the guest is one of the scariest looking women I've ever seen. She's 95 going on 32, and obviously on first name terms with her plastic surgeon.

No it can't. I can smack my coins around with a hammer if I like, and they will still be worth $879 each.

OMG THE PRICE OF GOLD HAS FLATLINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Either that, or their feed is broken.

When Kitco shows 'last 769.60' on its 24 hour spot chart, but 'last 777.60' on its New York Spot chart, what does that mean the price is? Confused of internetville. Edit - It means my 24 spot chart image is cached.

It don't mean a thing til the americans have eaten their lunch. Or something like that.

I tried studying charts. All I saw was a very pretty explosion, as though there was a large tesla coil around the $817 / 10am mark. I think I was right the first time. After I bought my gold I should ignore all charts and figures for at least a year. They only confuse.

I don't get it. War breaks out, team america try to pick a fight with russia - Gold plummets. Eurozone economy shrinks for the first time since the eurozone exists - All european indicies rise. US inflation data is scary bad - Gold plummets again. Could someone explain this economics thing to me please?

I've spent enough time in casinos to have learnt that you've never made money until you cash out, and you've never lost money while there are still small round things to play with. I bought my gold 2 weeks ago for prices ranging from $955 to $910 retail. When I got back from the US, I showed a coin or two to some trusted and interested collegues, who are now pointing and laughing as the price drops towards $800. The thing is. I don't care. I bought gold expecting volitility. 80% of my savings are counting against a 10 year fixed rate offset mortgage. 10% are going into banking shares, and 10% is in gold, both as interesting and risky investments to counter the boring predictability of saving against the mortgage. I won't have stops on either investment. I will sell them both when house prices have bottomed, as I will need the money to move up the property ladder (hopefully the rungs will be spaced more closely). If gold or the shares are worth a pittance by then, then I will hold them until they are worth something, possibly decades later. I am interested in why gold is moving so much. Who is selling and why? It seems odd for the market to drop so much with so little reason. Another gambling tip - gamble only what you can afford to lose. I don't want to lose 20% of my savings, but if I do, then it won't really affect my life. My final gambling tip. Professional gamblers lose a lot of the time, but slightly less often than they win. To profit, they need to know more than the bookmakers, and be able to better predict the future by doing lots of research. That tiny edge is how they make their money. If you <s>think</s> know you know better about an investment than everyone else, then go for it. A lot of the time you will lose, just make sure it's less often than you win, and don't listen to everyone else (remember that bookies just follow what the other punters do) and you should make money in the end. My prediction? High but not hyper inflation. Gold to $1500. Peak in 2011. Richard