Ed Shutlz is saying that Gold is a great investment now. Is it?

[maveric]

I have a few dollars that I have set aside for investment purposes. The stock market scares me and I'm looking for someplace to put my money.
Is gold that great of an investment? Its $570.00 an ounce and Big Ed is saying that in a year it will be over $1000.00. Three years, possibly $2000.00.
Is anyone here savvy to the gold market?
I need advice.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. metals & energy

copper esp

[electropop]

4. A guy at the office today said that in the past 3 years,

Gold has doubled, and Copper has TRIPLED in price.

Just sayin'

[BuyingThyme]

2. 87% of syndicated talk show hosts get paid to say that.

[electropop]

6. I have heard Ed shilling for gold before.

There's a particular commodities broker he's plugging, if I recall correctly.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. Yes....Buy Gold....

Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium....All going HIGHER!

[maveric]

9. Where would one purchase gold?

In coins? Bullion?
I know, I'm dumb and coming here for answers.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

26. Buying Gold

I've been getting more familiar with the metals markets. There are a variety of areas you can invest in.

For the ultimate in security, and a hedge against anything bad on the horizon, your best bet is to invest in actual bullion. I have purchased from BullionDirect.Com. They charge a little premium over the spot price, but they're reputable, and ship promptly.

Otherwise, you can invest in the market itself through the ETF's for Gold and now Silver. Also, once you get more familiar, there are plenty of mining companies which are starting to Boom, but you need to do some research before going that route.

[Taverner]

5. Buy land

They aren't making any more of it....

[maveric]

10. Land in CA?

I dont have that much to invest.

[LaPera]

14. Yeah they are...with all our garbage...landfills!

[Vincardog]

7. If you do get GOLD do not put it in a safe deposit box

The Feds have plans in place to loot the banks when the crash comes. You can buy coins for bulk prices. Check out S Africa.

[joeunderdog]

38. Any links on the "plans?" details? nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

41. lots...

some are actually from reputable sites...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=homeland+security+safe+deposit+boxes

[judy]

8. Makes sense that when things are getting really bad,

gold and precious metals are always the best investment.
My question would be: how does one go about investing in gold these days? Do you have to go to a bank, and buy a bunch of coins that you keep in a cookie jar under the bed?

Seriously...how do you do it?

[maveric]

11. I'm confused too. See post # 9.

[Vincardog]

12. Visit your local pawn shop. Look at plain gold wedding bands. Buy at the

bulk gold price $600/oz. Or get a coin collector magazine

[BlackHeart]

20. Where did you ever hear

advice like that?

[Vincardog]

35. OK where are you going to buy gold?

[BlackHeart]

36. You don't want to buy

rings because of the problem verifing their content. Stick to coins or bullion.

[Vincardog]

43. Opinions are like? WHY?

[LaPera]

13. Thanks Judy...My question too...How does one buy it securely without

being charged and arm and a leg by a broker...and can one just switch (sell) some stocks with just one broker doing the whole transaction?

[sallyseven]

16. Gold went from 240 to 360 a few years ago

Then I never knew what happened to it. Now it is very high. We are not on the gold standard anymore so I don't know if it is a great bargain or if it is even safe. Be careful. I put mine in certificates of deposit because I am afraid ot the skitzo stock market. Buy stock in Ven. Oil.

[brokensymmetry]

15. First question: do you think that * will manage our economy well?

Will he reduce deficits? Will he strenthen the U.S.?

I think we will not; and the dollar will decline, resulting in gold going up.

You have some choices:

Gold mining mutal funds, preferably no-load. Vanguard Precious Metals fund is good, but the high minimum (25M) may be problematic.

GLD is a gold trust - they own gold, you own shares of the gold they keep. It's convenient, cheap - but still a stock.

Buy physical gold - go to a coin shop, online or otherwise, and find the best deal you can. Storage can be a problem.

Good luck!

[maveric]

18. I'm afraid of getting ripped off.

Coin dealers are notorious rip offs around here.

[Fenris]

17. No.

Gold buggery is often advocated by economic libertarians because they think that because it is something concrete, it provides more stability than stocks. Gold bugs also believe that gold is a good investment because they predict that the market is going to crash, or certain sectors are going to crash, and gold will withstand such a crash and remain valuable. There's a bit of nostalgia for the old gold backed currency system in gold advocacy - many believe the use of fiat currency is simply dangerous in the long run.

People have been selling the gold line for a long time. Yes, it's around the $600 an ounce level, but it is far more likely that it will depreciate in value than appreciate. One cannot infer that because something has climbed higher in value it will continue to do so.

[CAcyclist]

31. Right, and that's an apt term,too - buggery.

I remember my mom buying a gold necklace at the high of gold fever in the late '80's when gold was $800/ounce . By 2000, it was around $200-some an ounce. Gold cycles, it never just goes up. When people are interested in buying, it's too late.

[catmandu57]

19. Well, for one thing, it's only a commercial

The same one is running on several programs, the pigboy is probably reading the same script, so don't put too much into it.
If you want to buy gold go ahead, you can go to a coin dealer, or you can go to a pawn shop.
Don't buy paper that says you own gold, because the only thing that would be good for is tp.

[Neil Lisst]

21. do you want to invest, or do you want to gamble?

If there's more war in the mideast, if the Iran situation gets worse, if Venezuela doesn't bring down the price of a barrel of oil, then gold will go up because oil will go up, and other things in the market will come down.

Gold is a crap shoot. If you want to take 10% of your savings and put it in gold, that is one thing, but precious metals are not for those who don't really understand what they're playing with.

IMO, you would do better to buy stocks that hedge one another, or buy down your own debt, if you have any. I'd eliminate all debt over 6%, first. I'm old school on paying down debt. If you owe debt, you don't really own it.

[DFW]

22. I bought some 2 years ago

I'm somewhat into coins, so I sort of know what I'm doing.

Being from Texas, I bought my gold coins from Heritage Galleries of Dallas.
Texas does not charge sales tax on such purchases if they are over $1000,
as they are then considered an investment, which is not subject to local
sales tax. They also wholesale to a lot of big retailers, so you'll get
a good price from them, but only if you make a decent purchase, although
I don't know of they have a minimum limit. Also: they don't fool around with
bullion per se, but they are THE biggest wholesaler of old US gold coins
in the USA. I mean the old one ounce (actually 0.9675 oz.) $20 coins that
were made from 1850 to 1933. Again, they usually don't sell the common stuff
to individuals, only to dealers that tack on a good markup, but if you ask for
the gold wholesale department and say you want to buy $5000 or $10000 of low
grade "XF" or "AU" $20 pieces, they'll quote you the wholesale rate--usually
$50 to $100 per coin less than the retailers, who often exaggerate the grade
of the stuff they sell, anyway.

I last bought in 2004 when gold was $410 or so. I spend much of my time
working overseas, so I don't have a lot of time to check up on what is
going on with what meager investments I have. When Smith Barney bought
me 1000 shares of Worldcom at $71, and didn't sell me out when it went
to zero, I figured, hey I can do better than that blindfolded. And so I
did.

[maveric]

23. If the price goes up to say,$1200.00 oz. Would I be able to sell/cash out

easy enough?

[RobertSeattle]

24. I'm not savvy, but diversification is always good

Gold coins are perty.

Buy directly from Uncle Sam - avoid the middle man.

http://catalog.usmint.gov

[gulliver]

25. Hey, but they'll buy the gold back from you any time!!

...At whatever price it is at that time.

[CAcyclist]

33. you forgot the sarcasm smilie

some people might actually believe you

[DFW]

27. cash out?

they are liquid anywhere any time
Any dealer who sells them buys them, too (except the government)

Uncle Sam will NOT repurchase from the public, and the government places surcharges
on the stuff they sell. Often the surcharge is less on the secondary market, so often
the "middeman" takes less of a bite than Uncle Sam, who has no incentive to be efficient
or competitive. Also--uncle Sam does not make a market in the 100-year-old stuff.

[CAcyclist]

32. Right. Sure, whatever you say - sold any back yourself ?

Sure, the dealer will buy them back - at a much reduced price. Liquidity means getting them sold for a good price, not any price.

[KAT119]

28. Buy gold & silver coins in 1oz American Eagles=easiest & most popular

Look in the yellow pages under 'Coin Dealers'. They charge $20.00 extra per coin over the day's coin 'Spot" price as listed at: http://www.thebulliondesk.com or:http://www.kitco.com The extra cost includes the minting of gold bullion into coins.

Best to take physical possession of the coins (keeping them unscratched in the containers they come in=must be in'mint' condition for resale top price).

It is true per a recent article, and my asking my bank teller, that Homeland Security assumes the right to open your safety deposit box & steal your valuables-leaving only 'certain 'unspecified papers behind.

Best, therefore to bury valuables in back yard- take a photo of the exact spot- or in your wall, as they reserve the right to come into your home and collect the guns & gold as well. Standard dictatorship actions.

Coins are the only real money-paper is a' promise' based on your faith in the gov't. as it backed by nothing but faith.

WH looking for next 9/11 to increase their control on US. and oil-global empire(PNAC).

When that occurs-or war on Iran-all metals-oil & gas soar thru the roof.

Kitco sells coins-or google for coin dealers -they all insure to the hilt & shipping is safe.

[CAcyclist]

29. No. Bad investment

The time to invest was in 2000 when no one wanted to buy gold. This cycle will be like it was in the '80's and unless you time it perfectly, you're going to be losing money. Plus, gold is not that liquid and you have to pay rent to keep it in a safe.

[cosmik debris]

30. Gold to oil ratio

Typically over the last 50 yrs, one ounce of gold buys 10 barrels of oil. When Saudi Arabia was selling oil for $3.50 a barrel, gold was $35.00 an ounce. The only time anyone made any real money on gold was when it temporarily got out of line with the price of oil. For example when gold went up to $300.00 in the 70's it was a result of oil going up to $30.00 a barrel. Gold kept going up above $400.00, but oil leveled off. Money was made, but ultimately the price of gold went back down to 10X oil. Now oil is up around $60.00 a barrel, so it is safe to assume that gold should be at $600.00 an ounce. If you expect to make money in gold you will need gold to break out of the ten to one ratio.

[catmandu57]

34. Another thought

You can't eat gold, well they do make edible gold leaf for rich piggies, but if things get so bad that we're relying on gold and other metal for hard currency. Then having a good store of non perishible food stuffs would far out value any metal that you have stashed, that and canned goods.

[GOPisEvil]

37. Gold is not an investment. It's a hedge against inflation.

So, if you feel that inflation is about to get out of hand, buy some gold.

[Garbo 2004]

39. He's not giving out free investment advice, it's an ad he reads. n/t

[mmonk]

40. Gold really has jumped because of current policy.

I won't buy it this high. I was thinking of buying silver. I also decided to buy euro currency shares a couple of months ago and when they offer Swiss Franc shares, I may do the same as a monetary hedge (diversification). The euro currency trust pays interest on the money at the euro bond rate (which helps since it can still pay you something even when the dollar rallies).

[A HERETIC I AM]

42. Asking for financial advice on a message board is ill advised.

Seek the counsel of a trained professional Financial Consultant. Commodities are risky no matter WHAT the commodity. If you have only "a few dollars set aside for investment purposes" putting all of it in precious metals is a mistake.

Again, seek the advice of a professional.