Investing in gold
Discussion
hotchy said:
My local costco was selling small gold bars for around 5k in the locked cabinet. I really want one, and I dont know why. Its just cool.
It is in our psyche I think, and also bank faults by the tonne.......I'm going with it's history and who owns lots of it and as that is always/often the powerful then they always find a way to look after their interests and I might ride the coat tails? Also perhaps less 'bubbly' than most things currently?hotchy said:
My local costco was selling small gold bars for around 5k in the locked cabinet. I really want one, and I dont know why. Its just cool.
the same bar could probably be delivered to your house for £4.5k.It's probably 100g...
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/100g/
Throttle Body said:
The coins help me sleep at night knowing that whatever crisis arises, I have purchasing power. Buying and selling is a bit expensive compared with the other forms of gold, and you need to pay someone to store them safely for you - you don't really want to keep them at home.
Not sure you’ve really thought this through …pingu393 said:
the same bar could probably be delivered to your house for £4.5k.
It's probably 100g...
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/100g/
Baird and Co 100 grams is £4349.99 at my local Costco.It's probably 100g...
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/100g/
Malcolm E Boo said:
Baird and Co 100 grams is £4349.99 at my local Costco.
When I looked at Costco Derby a couple of months ago, they were about 10% above spot price.I suspect they don't change the price with the market, so if the market has risen to a point higher than their profit margin, there's a bargain to be had.
Would the Royal mint digigold thing be a good one just to keep £8k in? It's just been sitting in a crappy santander savings account as an emergency cash fund for years incase I have a big bill to pay/break a leg and can't work for 6 weeks.
Sometimes I need quick access to it if a car dies or something in the house breaks but I can afford to win/lose £500 out of it and I always feel like it's wasted money just sitting there.
Sometimes I need quick access to it if a car dies or something in the house breaks but I can afford to win/lose £500 out of it and I always feel like it's wasted money just sitting there.
Joey Deacon said:
wastedyouth86 said:
just invest in a Rolex you have a far prettier box and money just as secure... just a longer waiting list to get the investment.
Fair point, but from what I understand it has to be a Rolex that is in demand and not all of them are. Basically anything that is in the window of a jeweler is not in demand, I believe they are only really going to have Datejust models that nobody really wants.The ones that are worth money are the Batman, Pepsi, Hulk and Daytona models. I am sure someone from the watch thread will correct everything I have said as I don't actually own any watches to give wrist time to.
Gold doesn't need any servicing or looking after though, you could literally bury it in the garden and dig it up 30 years later and it would be fine.
Gold & Silver - not the fake paper ETF kind that doesn't exist - have 5,000+ years of inflation-beating & wealth-preserving history.
I would ensure you own it / hold it - not just a note of external warehouse.
Also be cautious what you buy, loads of fake pamps about - https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/pamp%20gold%20bar... stuff like that could terrify you depending where you buy
Also be cautious what you buy, loads of fake pamps about - https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/pamp%20gold%20bar... stuff like that could terrify you depending where you buy
Malcolm E Boo said:
pingu393 said:
the same bar could probably be delivered to your house for £4.5k.
It's probably 100g...
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/100g/
Baird and Co 100 grams is £4349.99 at my local Costco.It's probably 100g...
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/100g/
jimmythingy said:
I have been buying a few gold coins over the last few years, I’m buying them for two reasons really, first being that I’m starting to put dates together on the sovereigns - it satisfies the OCD/collector in me and I see it has something to pass onto my granddaughter when she is older.
There’s better investments out there I’m sure and have noticed gold reacts very differently to the rest of the markets and is very volatile but I think long term I should be ok.
But first and foremost to me it’s a hobby but unlike my other pastimes there’s a chance of seeing some return at the end.
Same here. Although I switched to silver Britannias as a 'hobby' because they're cheaper!There’s better investments out there I’m sure and have noticed gold reacts very differently to the rest of the markets and is very volatile but I think long term I should be ok.
But first and foremost to me it’s a hobby but unlike my other pastimes there’s a chance of seeing some return at the end.
Reginald Molehusband said:
It's clearly a very long term investment.
Looking at the performance of gold over the long term, it has (roughly) the returns of global bonds with the volatility of equities - not sure I understand the long term argument, either as a growth or a defensive asset.Derek Chevalier said:
Looking at the performance of gold over the long term, it has (roughly) the returns of global bonds with the volatility of equities - not sure I understand the long term argument, either as a growth or a defensive asset.
That volatility means at some point it must over and under perform bonds. Some think where it is (and where everything else is) at now means it might be due an over perform.Gold miners have taken a recent hit (with everything else) but are making good money at the current gold price, these could be good value now (they are also very volatile!) regardless of a lack of price movement upwards.
Not sure how relevant they are, but some use metrics like the Dow ratio (gold has been 1:1 a couple of times in the past etc) and the historic holdings of it being at multi decade lows etc (it's about as unloved as possible on here (everywhere) it seems, seen as largely pointless/ineffective?). So there is a chance more money might move into the metals if just to get back to the historic average some say this would double the holdings, with bonds at 3% and inflation +7% the argument from some is that the longer inflation is persistent the more likely some money will find it's being put elsewhere where it 'might' make a real return?
It's held up well so far in 2022 when there has been some carnage out there, it'll never go to nil, long term bond performance isn't so terrible (it suits the bond buyers/holders for whatever reason) so if you can hold on through troughs it can work out?
The more tin foil hatted (to some) points are that it used to back our Fiat money, again not perhaps relevant now but with the amount of money out there people make a case for a huge gold price. Also recent banking rules put it, in physical form as a "tier 1 zero-risk weighted asset" but under the new rules, paper gold would be classified as more risky than physical gold, and no longer counted as an asset equal to gold bars or coins. The argument here being that banks have to hold more physical gold which, they do already hold some (as they do, is their reasoning unsound, or should we all hold some on that basis?)
There is a huge paper/derivatives market and so you effectively have fractional reserve gold/silver, like the very old days when paper notes first started (for ease of payment ie you didn't have to fetch gold from the bank to give to someone that would put it back into the bank - possibly the very same one) but then banks just issued too much paper? Once you have too much paper then not everyone can reclaim their gold, but then not everyone does it at the same time so it's all good?
Some etf's aren't physically backed, some state you can't redeem your purchase for real silver/gold, so what are you buying , just a vehicle for price movement? These arguably suppress the price of the physical metal.
Part of the Bitcoin narrative is the ledger and proof of your unique bitcoin/satoshi, I don't think owners would put up with a fractional system on that but it's endemic on almost everything else?
This video is from nearly a decade ago! but I found it very interesting........US debt nearly doubled since to 30 Trillion,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0
As the video states there is no incentive to stop the setup (evidenced by the doubling since) as it'll be carnage and so we get the can kick and so far it's all been resolved. Arguably the US's continued dominance is down to it's reserve currency status (and huge military might?) it doesn't operate a trade surplus anymore (trade deficits from the 90's) and so it's kind of like the bully in the playground, swanning around nicking al the lunch money and living the high life from it? (we aren't much better?)
We have to work/operate in the system we live in, and perhaps new monetary issues will be resolved the same as before but the idea is that Gold (and Bitcoins ideals?) represents insurance outside of fiat. Also to me as banks hold it and operate in the fiat world says it may be insurance for them? I struggle to see why else they buy/hold it?
It's all a bit negative! but it's a reason to perhaps hold it, not like all your wealth but at least part?
Derek Chevalier said:
Reginald Molehusband said:
It's clearly a very long term investment.
Looking at the performance of gold over the long term, it has (roughly) the returns of global bonds with the volatility of equities - not sure I understand the long term argument, either as a growth or a defensive asset.pingu393 said:
I agree. Other than the "it will always be worth something" argument, I just don't get it. Why would anyone consider it an investment to buy at the highest point a product has ever been? If it really is an investment, shouldn't you be selling now?
But that logic doesn't work for the dow, or Tesla or Bitcoin? don't things needed/desired tend over time to make new all time highs? Especially commodities in inflationary times.Gold 2005 to 2011 made a few new highs only the last one would have been wise to sell at (took nearly 8 years to get back to that high, if you sold at the feb 2008 all time high you've have missed a 100% gain and never had the chance to buy back in lower. Who knows where we are right now but to say it's a definite sell at an all time high is proven not always to be true?
pingu393 said:
I agree. Other than the "it will always be worth something" argument, I just don't get it. Why would anyone consider it an investment to buy at the highest point a product has ever been? If it really is an investment, shouldn't you be selling now?
Someone on PH was asking me why I wanted to buy gold at the then ATH of £500/oz or so.I agree now isn’t the best time, but gold is unlikely to go down significantly in my view.
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