Highest gold number since 1980.

China, the largest single holder of US dollars is dumping them and buying gold.

World markets are not happy with the cowboy in the Whitehouse, the instability in the middle east and US debt. The dollar's value is dropping.

Aren't we investors supposed to buy high and sell low?

Dang, it. I shoulda sunk all my $ into gold at $300 a couple of years ago. By now, all that money would have grown to..... let's see.... about $3000!! (enough to heat my house all of next winter) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I doubt the China's divestment of U.S. treasury bonds has anything to do with the fact that the President owns a Stetson. More likely, it seems that China's reserves in federal currency were maintained for the purpose of deflating the yuan so that China could develop its export lines with the benefit of cheap capital. Now that it views its export business as more stable, it can divest itself of low-yield treasury bonds and increase the value of the yuan relative to other world currencies and reap the rewards. Regardless of what is behind the move, it is not particularly comforting.

I've doubled my money on Kinross Gold Inc.

But my father in law bought around 50,000 shares when it was trading at 50 cents a share. Today it's at just under $13, you do the math.

You'd never know it to look at him or even spend a few minutes talking to him but the old coot is pretty dang shrewd.

yes, you don't make money buying gold itself, but in gold producer's stock. Your dad in law picked a winner there!!

Brad,

Like the mainstream media, you are pretty clueless regarding the real reason for the price movement in commodities, especially gold and silver.

When you and the mainstream media figure out the real reason, I'll be selling you and the checkout person at the grocery store my gold and silver shares.

Later spot,

Tony

PS : For the record, I have been invested in gold and silver since 2001...... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Owning a piece of paper is great when its shows the right numbers but when things go bad what do you have? A worthless piece of paper? When you buy an ounce of gold bullion you own an ounce of gold no matter what. I started selling American Eagles about three years ago. You can not go wrong owning bullion IMO. I would never replace my 401k but I would never completely rely on it either. We have had several runs on the $700 mark lately and with the price of oil etc. who knows where it will stop.

Careful there Brad. You're giving cowboys a bad name! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'm showing $693 and $13.99 as spot at the moment.

www.thebulliondesk.com
www.amark.com
www.kitco.com

I trade bullion all day, every day. I use "the bullion desk" as the most accurate spot price.

Somebody should tell the Dow the sky is falling, because it's up again and bumping against the all time high. And that Haliburton I got last month is bumping $82. I blame Bush. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Steve, "the sky is falling"... huh? I offer a few sentences and you create a novel... interesting.

"China, the largest single holder of US dollars is dumping them and buying gold.

World markets are not happy with the cowboy in the Whitehouse, the instability in the middle east and US debt. The dollar's value is dropping. "

Brad---That's your post, not mine. I thought "the sky is falling" was a pretty good summary.

I wouldn't mind buying one of the gold or platinum newly minted U.S. coins. I think they are really beautiful.

But, they cost more than I got! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If commodity gold is at $700, nugget gold should be running about $2000 to $2600 or more per ounce, depending on the size.

Not necessarily so. I have a nugget thats a wee bit under 14 grams IIR and I'd make anyone here a real good price on it. I'll dig it out of the safe if anyone is really interested. No matter what having some amount of your net worth in precious metals is a wise move. You don't have to buy platnum 1 ounce coins to get started. Try staring with 1 0z Silver eagles or 1/10 Oz gold eagles. Put a little up now and then and in a few years you might be suprised at what you have. I got interested because all of the 401k's/stocks were performing so poorly. The Bullion Eagles look exactly the same as the Proof Mint Eagles except they are not double struck and lack the proof finish. The Mint sets can be bought direct from the mint but IMO bullion Eagles are a better investment.

Stetson, we're a bit more bullish on silver rounds as the Eagles carry a premium because of the US mint cache.

Pardon my yawn. That was 26 years ago!

I bought gold in 1980 and consider that to have been a great investment, but only because it was in the form of
two wedding rings. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Goldie has been a hot date Brad...guess its time for you to take her out for a while, I need a rest <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

+1 Walker.

Sounds like a smart move to me.

Turn in something not worth its face value and get back the amount on the front in gold.Instant profit.

The dollar is backed by gold and a dollars worth of gold is ALWAYS worth a dollar whereas the currency value fluctuates.

Maybe the next time I cash my paycheck I'll say "I'd like that in gold please"

The Gold market closed yesterday a little over $703. It will certainly be interesting to see if it rises, falls or holds steady. I'm not about to speculate about the countless reasons for it but it certainly does not say good things to me about the future of our economy.

It's not just gold---silver, copper, aluminum are all at or near historic highs----not justified by supply issues.....I guess its speculation. Brad knows this stuff....what do you think is driving the metals prices?

Steve,

It isn't speculation that is driving the prices of comodities....

Much more involved than that.

Tony

Steve, I think there are way too many factors to pin the whole shebang on one. Whats happening in Iran and high oil prices are not helping keep prices down. Brad also mentioned demands placed by higher foreign government consumption. They all weigh in IMO. To me overall a increase like this indicates a lack of confidence in the economy but I'm certainly no expert. I sell gold/silver Eagles as a hobby because I believe in the value of having hands on wealth. I think about the folks in Naawlens when tragedy struck with their money in the banks and 401k's etc and no way to get that money in an emergency. I believe that even in the worse tragedy gold or silver has monetary value that possibly exceeds cash. I just like to be prepared for life.

I'm sure there is....this is one of many subjects about which I know little or nothing.

284LUVR
Way back in the foggy past the US dropped the gold-backing on the dollar. The value of the dollar fell like a stone and oil-producing countries decided they needed more US dollars per barrel of oil. The world-wide price was set on the US dollar BECAUSE it had been backed.

Oil companies did not run right out to buy the higher-priced oil, but rather hedged and delayed until there were supply issues. These issues were in no way ever related to any hesitation on the sellers to sell the oil, just price speculating.

Somehow the US media decided that was an oil embargo... well, actually the goverment had sold it as such, blaming someone else for US policy ripples.

China has been holding their yuan strictly tied to the US dollar for quite some time and recently disconnected it to float. Many claim their manipulations caused an undervaluation of the yuan of about 40%.

The US dollar has many worried because of extremely high fakery rates. I am surprised we have not seen bigger changes in our currency patterns/colors/tracing systems/etc.

Holding silver and gold is a fine move as long as you do not hold much. The chances of needing it are slim, profits slimmer and the technology in place for dirty bastids to take it away from you if they find you have lots.
art

Big Brother doesn't have a clue if your holding unless you buy 10k at a time. I just went to the bank and got a new ten dollar bill that almost looks foreign with all them colors. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Wasn't there a time in the late 60's when banks were buying pennies for two or three cents each??

The dirty bastids referred to were not g-men... there is more than one kind of dirty bastid...

AHHH. I have a low tech security system for them dirty Bastids. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

All of my Au and Ag holdings are miners.....seniors, juniors, exploration and royalty cos.

There are way of owning physical without taking delivery, BTW.

Big players are what is behind this move in Au and Ag. Specs. are a small fraction of the equation. The "fear factor" over Iran is a part, but not as big as the clueless media makes it out to be (spin).

International investment banks are moving things, acting as agents for some very big players, who BTW are pretty much calling the shots right now.

And NO, it isn't Bush's fault, nor does he or the Fed have any control any longer.

Part of the cause is the fiscal mismanagement of the US and world over the past 30 years.

It IS time to pay the piper.

Tony

If people can make money trading in gold and other metals, good for them. Other than that, I fail to see the value of gold in a real meltdown. You can�t eat it, get food with it, heat your house with it, pay taxes with it, etc. Its only true value is in the products into which it can be incorporated. Other than that, it�s all psychology on the part of the person who would give you something of real value in return for it, just like paper money. In a meltdown, I don�t see the clerk at the mini-mart giving me a tank of gas for gold if he wouldn�t take money, and I can�t imagine what would possess me to give anything of real value in return for gold. I'd rather get cows, land, etc.

Down 130 points today <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Chinese demand. At present China is consuming 1/3rd of the worlds steel and cement. I'm confident that their industrial awakening is consuming it's share (and then some) of the copper and aluminum also.

Bush's fault.

Cheyenne,

I think you are missing out on what is really going on.......

Think about this : Gold is the ultimate currency, has been for thousands of years. When the preverbal chit hits the fan, it is what people run to. It has no debts, no IOU's. It is also the ultimate barometer of the fiscal management of a country and inflation...........................Think of it as an un-spun statistic.

In terms of gold, the dollar and all other fiat currencies are tanking, as are the markets and real estate.

Clinton via the Fed, tanked the price of gold in the 90's in order to create the illusion of low inflation and promote a strong dollar policy, which BTW killed the USA mfg. base and pumped up the Chinese mfg. base. He created price deflation, ala the low Wallmart prices of goods mfg. in China, and pumped liquidity into the world's economy which we are now seeing return to roost in commodity prices.

He cooked the books via the way the CPI is calculated and backed that up by artificially depressing the price of gold to create the illusion of low inflation, thereby screwing millions of elderly people out of what would have been higher SS payments. Ah, remember the "surplus" that wasn't ?

Remember all the stink over Gore's back door dealings with China and the Clinton/Gore campaign contributions from Chinese businessmen ? In short, he sold this country down the river and the sheeple don't even know it.

Bottom line, the gold spring was compressed for over 20 years and it is in the process of being let loose.

Tony

hicountry, I don't pretend to know anything about the relationship between monetary policy, exhange rates, international commerce and commodity prices. My point is only that gold is the ultimate currency largely because people believe it to be so, and have for thousands of years, not because it has that much more inherent value than fiat money. It�s still only worth what someone will give up to get it. At times, even worthless fiat money can have more intrinsic value than gold, because it can be used for kindling and toilet paper. For people looking for a hedge against a meltdown, it seems to make more sense to be holding stuff that people really need to live when the chips are down. I doubt many people in N.O. other than looter types were thinking about gold after Katrina-they needed food, potable water, water transportation and a means of protection. If I had been down there with a boat, water, food, gun and ammo, all the gold in the world probably wouldn�t have convinced me to give them up.

Besides, I've watched Gold Fever on the Outdoor Channel and know how to get my own. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It seems to me I recall more than a few Jews buying their way out of Nazi Germany about sixty years back with gold. They had money by the wheelbarrow but since they didn't have anything to eat they probably didn't need that much TP. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> What you decide to do is a very personal choice. Obviously no one is suggesting that gold would be "more" valuable than food or water if you were starving but I certainly think you will be very hard pressed to find a time when Gold will not have some monetary or intrinsic value. At least it has in every war and disaster thus far in the history of the world. I'm thinking if you would have been in Nawlens you could have gotton a boat ride out for a Double Eagle. If I have to choose between paper money and some precious metals I prefer to have..... Both. I like to cover all the bases. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

And the market continues to climb with spot closing at $719.80 today. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Cheyenne,

I am not an expert economist, I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express !!!

I am fortunate to have hooked up with the right advisers way back when, who really know what is going on. I just try to read and digest what they are saying.

The problem with fiat currency, is that the source of it is infinite. Without a backing such as gold, governments can print out as much as they want in the most irresponsible ways. Not just the US, BTW.

This slug of liquidity is constantly looking to be parked somewhere in order to make money. Clinton primed the pump and it showed up as the Nasdaq bubble, which then turned into the real estate bubble, now commodities. Our bud GW is certainly doing his part in keeping the pump running ! Not sure if he had another choice, especially considering what happened on 9/11/01.

The smart money in the world knows what is really going on and also know the fact that fiat currency is getting more and more diluted due to the quantity being created.

While I agree with what you said in principle, that something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it, the problem is that it is taking more and more fiat currency to buy things. I.e the buying power is being reduced.

If you look at the charts of the dollar, other fiat currencies markets, housing vs gold, you will see what I mean. In reality they are all tanking in intrinsic value.

The shift we are seeing into gold and silver is a move to protect wealth and buying power.

Ultimately, you are correct, you need some form of currency to pay for goods and services. By hedging the value of the currency, you can at least maintain your lifestyle and buying power.

Me, I would gladly accept my pay in that shiny metal !! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good luck,

Tony

I knew an old fisherman who claimed he got his pay in Krugerrands.... wish I had some. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

When I first got hired by IBM back in 1977, I met some of the old timers in the machine shop we had at our facility (Burlington, Vt.).

Some of these guys had 40+ years in with IBM at that time. I was told that they were on a first name basis with T.J. Watson (founder of IBM), due to the fact that during the depression, they received IBM stock in lieu of pay !

WTF were these guys working for !!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

Pocket change no doubt......

Tony