Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Howdy,
Damn, couldn't resist. Been talking about this for some 20 years.
Scott really targeted some of the drawbacks with the 'buy and die' approach to investing. And mind you, there are simply some drawbacks to what is absolutely correct about…
Hi msf,
Thanks for your response. The Will will be shared with the heirs which have known for years that I was named in it as Executor. It's a 6 way split w/o issues. If any of them want a probate judge to name me as Executor, fine. Wait for y…
Hi Investor,
Sure, the premiums work both ways. For example, you can go in an buy 1 oz. plain vanilla silver rounds and pay a very small premium over spot - 5-6%. This compares to 11% for a 2012 silver eagle. Think of it as paying for Top Shelf …
Hi Investor,
What you ask about is the nut. The spread between paper and physical price of gold, silver, etc. This should always be minimal and the prices should mirror each other. Should. Ah, but there's many a slip betwixt the leap and the s…
Howdy,
Thanks all for the help.
Update: The lifetime gross estate exemption is $5M. So long as the estate doesn't exceed that, it's a straight up deal and annual gifting limits don't apply. In our case, we're avoiding probate via previous l…
Hi bee,
While I don't doubt the veracity of the article, I've always pretty much taken this sort of market 'manipulation' for granted. I don't see it as any grand conspiracy, as much as the nature of the beast. In actuality, you can insulate yo…
Hi Cathy,
Sorry it's been such a chore, particularly at your time of grief. I was Executor of my dad's estate years ago. It was peanuts, but there were 5 heirs - no will. I just documented everything and made copies and kept a completely open se…
Howdy all,
Much of the problem is the obfuscation created by special interests. I really don't see that as a conspiracy as much as human nature. If I'm in a position to rig things in my favor, and the risk analysis and cost/benefits numbers look …
Not sure Mark, but am positive they've got it worked out and fully disclose.
More to the point, while I do not authorize any automatic deductions, I have read several times to have it to a separately numbered account that can be insulated from your…
Hi guys,
Whelp, I can't speak for what has happened in Mass, but here in Michigan, until this coming Jan 1, ALL pensions were exempt from state income tax. Starting 1/1/12, 4.5% will be applied to all pensions - public and private. Wifey will hav…
Hi Gary,
Witness any of the Corzine testimony? He did a great job of taking the 5th w/o actually taking the 5th. 'having no intention of mixing funds' is hardly saying you didn't do it.
What I heard at the very onset was that he had taken some…
Great stuff. Love it. Tulip bloody mania. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Read it. Great book.
And this boys and girls, is why other than for sh*ts and giggles, I've stayed with mostly coins and a little stamps . . .…
Hi Mo,
As the author states, this is a known behavior pattern and therefor, we can anticipate and play it - often to our advantage. They not only sell their dogs but they buy flashy winners.
And, while it may be a little late to play the frontsid…
Hi Anna/all,
Yeppers, Anna, unemployment is horrid Up in Michigan. Lot's of very bad headlines. Datwah's probably going to have to go bankrupt or have the gov appoint a mgr with more power than a bankruptcy judge - legacy costs are hideous and th…
Howdy bee,
I agree, I've always liked her and she makes a great case that I've been preaching since about '02. The 200 DMA is still unbroken. Also, most natural resource bull markets run about 15 years or so and she notes that bear mkt in gold ra…
Hi ron,
Most of our stuff is on cruise control and I'm being very cautious overall. At the same time, I'm more than willing to take a flyer here or there for sh*ts and giggles. And in all honesty, it's starting to smell like things are going to …
Howdy all,
First to bee, the libyan doesn't matter so much as more and more countries around the world have been building up their gold reserves. This has been going on now for serveral years. I feel it's for a combination of reasons. A lesseni…
Howdy,
No doubt that the Fed and Treasury each do their own thing but you must realize that it's all in coordination with each other. That said, they buy or sell bonds to decrease or increase the money supply. In addition, if I'm a foreign tradi…
Hi bee,
My leaders were GDXJ (junior gold miners) - 7.1%, SIL (silver bullion)- 6.5%, TGLDX (Toqueville Gold)- 5.9%.
My losers were DBA (Ag commodities)0.7%, and PCRIX (commodities) and MERKX (hard currency) at 1.3%.
Hey, it was the perfect storm…
Howdy,
Sure it matters. The easy money policies coupled with either nil interest or too much risk, leaves few investment options that are attractive from a yield perspective. Hell, it's always searching for yield, but right now, dividend paying s…
Howdy,
The books will tell you that in an ideal world of monetary policy, inflation would be kept equal to the rate of growth in the economy. That said, it's hardly ever been the case, in this country since 1913, but everywhere else where there …
Hi ginkgo,
Right now the dollar is the least smelly fish around.
Sure, we can print dollars 24/7/365 like we've been doing, but sooner or later, the 'full faith and confidence' starts to erode. Since 1913, the dollar has lost 96% of its value. I…
Howdy,
I've got to go with Rickards fundamentally but can understand some near term relative strength for the dollar. But think about it. Look around. Do you really feel full faith and confidence in our dollar? Do you really want to get giddy …
Hi Mark,
This highlights the real price of gold around the world. We're looking at a POG stated in terms of dollars and it's been flat, soft or down. However, in terms of every other currency on the planet, it's been only UP. This is because th…
Mi Amigo,
While I don't have any great technical advice to give you like the others, and admittedly, speaking from the 'dark side', listen to my brother (Dr. and Prof) and his kids (one recently grad and the other a sr.) about techie stuff. They'…
Hi guys,
Yeppers, it's a fairly easy money play for someone that trades this stuff and why not? Sure, the politicians will squeal 'it's the speculators', but they only do this when they're the ox being gored.
Joe, with MM funds, think of mortga…
Howdy,
Nice topic, Investor. I liked in wiki where it said that the definition is very context dependend and therefore it varies greatly. I also like the broad definition that wealth is 'anthing of value'. That would include human capital things…
Howdy folks,
Hope everyone is doing well. The relationship between gold mining stocks and bullion has long been expressed, at least in part, by the gold/XAU ratio with the XAU being a market basket of miners - your DOW of the mining sector, if you…
Howdy,
I think most everyone is correct. There's been some generic rebalancing, some cash raising in europe and some further chinese rebalancing. The chinese were always going to arrive at a point, where their trade surplus dollar holdings became…
Howdy folks,
HEY!!, this is the Off Topic board and therefore we're able to talk about things that are not strictly related to mutual fund investing. Folks starting to protest against Wall Street I feel is very related to investing.
First off, th…
Hi Hank,
I feel it's over the top, but when you've been laid off because your job was shipped overseas, the market meltdowns melted-down your net worth, no one will even consider hiring you now because you've been unemployed for over a year, you've…
Hi guys,
One of the very first things people need to do when they start buying gold or silver or any sort of valuable - is to figure out how best to keep them safe. Normally, that starts immediately with ceasing to ever, ever talk about it - to an…
Howdy,
I'm basically an Austrian, but xorion is spot on about economics being a pseudoscience. I disagree that it has zero academic value, but it is a social science that really, really wants to be considered a hard science. They try, particula…
Hi Bob,
Are there that many individual investors left in the market? Go back to the '90s or even the early '00s, and there were a great many normal people invested albeit, mostly in 401K plans. Of the folk that weren't scared away by the dot.com …
Hi xorion/Mo,
Good articles and both very accurate. At this point, 1640 has held and I still feel strongly, that there is sufficient demand for physical metal to keep this floor in place.
As for the hedgies selling, sure. That's find and expec…
Hi Mo,
I believe you're correct on all counts. Sure, the hedge funds and even the major and CBs are probably using leverage. Most paper commodity trades are leveraged to a greater or lesser degree. The disjoint between the paper market and the …
Hi Nick/Max,
CPI and inflation. Sokay, 20% of the market basket of the CPI consists of housing as represented by rental rates - not home prices. Over 50% is subject to hedonic adjustments. Great word that means that if the product/service is 'ne…
