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 Replies: 132 / Views: 17,391 |
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
https://seekingalpha.com/article/41...d-investmentQuote:
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear from the evidence that gold is not an investment. It is instead a speculative asset people hold in an effort to play on the emotions of market participants that push the price higher or lower on the basis of fear in the world. I do not believe it to be a prudent course of action to put any part of your life savings in an inanimate object that has no intrinsic value, provides no income stream, earns no money at all, and in fact, can cost you quite a bit if you own physical gold.
History demonstrates that U.S. Treasury bonds serve as a far better-uncorrelated asset to protect against market distress. Real Estate and TIPS serve as far better inflation hedges than gold, and finally, owning gold as a portfolio diversification tool also makes no sense. It only serves to drag down your returns and expose your portfolio to the emotional whims of speculators in the gold market. If we follow the evidence we see that gold is not an investment and has no place in your portfolio. Well, you heard the financial gods. We better sell all our "worthless" gold and get into Treasury bonds. Also according to the article gold has no no intrinsic value and doesn't protect against inflation. I'm guessing gold has been around for thousands of years as money because it got lucky? While all man made currencies have returned to their true value of $0.00 throughout history.
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
"sucker born every minute"
our archetypal desires drive us toward gold always
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Valued Member
United States
381 Posts |
I like the stuff but its so expensive. That means other people like it more than me. Rule of economics working here.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6129 Posts |
When I was born until I was about 9 years old, I had a few relatives that bought me treasury bonds every year for Christmas. They were supposed to appreciate in value and "pay for my college".
When I was entering into college in 2008, they had appreciated enough to buy one semester's worth of books.
An ounce of gold (about $300 in the early 90s) would have paid for most of a semester.
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Valued Member
United States
410 Posts |
I don't think I would want to live in a civilization that has been destroyed to the point that you need gold to survive. Other than that, I have trouble seeing an inert lump of pretty metal as an investment that you can expect to generate wealth for you. Maybe it could conserve capital in disasterous economic times, but even that is theoretical as it is not hard to envision a situation where gold is no more valuable than a rock. You can't eat it. You can't make anything worthwhile with it. At some point in the devolution of society it will cease to be viewed as having intrinsic value. It could be completely apocryphal, but I have heard that during the California gold rush it could cost $3 dollars worth of gold to buy an egg. That seems like an enormous exaggeration given how much $3 was worth in 1850, but the concept that gold could be virtually valueless in a survival economy is persuasive to me.
I have never been able to understand how gold could generate wealth because it doesn't grow. An ounce of gold will always be an ounce of gold. Nothing more and nothing less. Stock in a profit generating business has a logical reason to increase in value. But you might as well burry gold in the back yard, because it will never be more than it already is.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
683 Posts |
Investing in something that has shown its value over thousands of years and has held strong, as opposed to buying government issue stocks which may or may not go up in value? Sounds like commie propaganda to me... /end sarcasm.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1800 Posts |
Quote:
It could be completely apocryphal, but I have heard that during the California gold rush it could cost $3 dollars worth of gold to buy an egg. That seems like an enormous exaggeration given how much $3 was worth in 1850, but the concept that gold could be virtually valueless in a survival economy is persuasive to me. I did a quick search -- couldn't find that specific $3 price, but there are several sites pointing out how expensive things were during the Gold Rush. That's not so much about the price of gold, but about the general cost of living in an area where lots of people came at the same time, supplies were limited, and other similar economic factors. That said, I think gold will only be valueless if society/civilization were to completely collapse. It has industrial uses as well as cosmetic/status. As long as people have a legitimate or perceived need for it, it will retain at least some of its value.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1199 Posts |
I just watched this episode of The Twilight Zone earlier this week. Quote:
The Rip Van Winkle Caper . It was a pretty good episode and might have potential 'truth' to the story. Aside from this TV show, I still think having a case of canned stew would be much more valuable than a brick of gold/silver/etc if the world ever went apocalyptic. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9395 Posts |
We can hope that gold turns out to be a poor "investment" over the coming decades. With any luck, the price of gold (in dollars, etc.) will languish while the economy and other investments flourish. This is the ideal case.
Hopefully our gold "investments" will turn out to be a mistake -- a waste of money, as the good times roll on indefinitely.
I view gold more as insurance, a diversification (along with platinum, palladium, rhodium, rhenium, silver, collectibles, real estate, etc.). Just as with insurance (especially medical insurance), I hope it's just wasted expense, and I never need to collect a payout.
Anyway, I try to keep about 10% of total assets in physical gold, despite the inconvenience of getting it and poor liquidity.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3957 Posts |
Gold is more of a store of value than an investment per se. There is no growth in gold, it doesn't produce income - those things are all true. Any increase in the value of gold tends to follow inflation or price increases in general, over a very long period of time. It does fluctuate in the short run of course.
Just because gold is or is not an investment does not mean it has no value. It is an excellent inflation hedge and store of value that can survive in tough times in a way few other things can.
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Valued Member
United States
410 Posts |
KenKat
Well thunk and well said.
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Valued Member
Canada
307 Posts |
I suddenly just got the itch to buy some shiny yellow stuff :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4282 Posts |
I just got the urge to go out and try and catch some with my dirtfishing pole.
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
I don't care if people say gold is not an investment. But to say that it's intrinsically worthless and nobody should own it is a blatant lie. What intrinsic value do bonds and stocks have? They are just paper.
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Forum Dad
United States
22365 Posts |
Gold will do me no good when the zombie apocalypse hits, it will be worthless.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3789 Posts |
I see gold as a commodity, a financial asset based on numbers that has trends and sometimes it does nothing at all.
I also see it as a material that looks great when made into coins to collect lol
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Replies: 132 / Views: 17,391 |
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Posted 12/15/2018 04:42 am
