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BS: We buy gold??
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Subject: BS: We buy gold?? From: Wesley S Date: 19 Apr 12 - 01:53 PM Just about every little strip mall I drive by nowadays has a "We buy Gold" sign outside. I even saw a sign for dental gold. All of the AM radio conservative talk shows have ads pushing gold. It's all over the TV and newspapers too. The conservatives seem to love the idea that they will still be rich when { not IF } the economy falls apart. That's enough to make me stay away from it. If it's good enough for Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh then it's not good enough for me. Your thoughts? Hysteria or sound financial planning? |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Jack Campin Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:12 PM The neatest placement of that sign as something I saw in Glasgow years ago. A "We Buy Gold" sandwich board near the court buildings, which are beside the river in the city centre. Just divorced? Don't throw his ring in the Clyde, sell it to us! |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: frogprince Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:17 PM I have a couple of questions. First, why wasn't I smart enough to buy all the gold I could afford a few years ago. Second (my real, multi-faceted question) can gold at the current price make sense as an investment? Can valid market value actually keep climbing, or is gold "value" one more bubble that will burst? Is even the current value sustainable? My "helpful thought" is, I don't know enough about this stuff to have a clue. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Rapparee Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:18 PM Let's say that you've had, for good and sufficient reasons, a gold crown removed. The gold is yours; you paid a dentist for the crown. It should be returned to you. You'll never be able to use it again, and unless you have some deep emotional attachment, why not sell it? I do draw the line at digging up old bodies or using your mother's wedding ring (especially if she's wearing it), but if it means nothing to you personally OR to your family OR as an historic artifact or work of art, do what you want. I'd just shop around for the best deal. But remember that these guys aren't in it to lose money, and you might get a better price for your collection of old gold Double Eagles from a coin dealer (after all, that's what these buyers do). As a hedge for the future? Well, let's assume that things REALLY REALLY collapse. I mean dead flat collapse, not these little "oh my the economy has collapsed" scenarios Rush and Glen talk about. Who's gonna BUY your gold? With what -- more gold? Besides -- it will belong to the first person who knocks your head in and takes it, along with your family and your possessions that still work. In this situation I'd train 100 tons of pure gold for a decent plow, ox, and a hundred pounds of mixed vegetable/grain seeds. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Bill D Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:18 PM Oh, they DO buy gold.... but the % they offer sure varies! One needs to go to an established dealer who gives the best deal. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Bill D Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:20 PM BTW... IF you sell gold, they do a chemical test to determine the purity. Be sure they are not telling you 14 carat when it's 18 carat...etc. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:40 PM Here is my 2 cents worth. Gold will always increase with inflation but the past few years have been exceptional. Three things have driven up the price of gold since 2008. Uncertainty about financial markets, Deliberate devaluation of the US dollar by the Fed and other government entities. Remember "quantitative easing" and Obama's promise to "double our exports" Fear mongering and hysteria by right wing nut jobs. Keeping that in mind, should you invest in gold? will it outperform the stock market in the medium term? If any of the following happen, the US economy recovers and gets relatively high and sustainable job growth The European banking/sovereign debt crisis ends The Republicans get elected in the House, Senate and Exec branches making the fear mongering counter productive, then the price of gold is likely to fall or at least to stop growing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 19 Apr 12 - 02:51 PM Bill D gives good advice. Get multiple offers, and talk to your local jeweler. Gold, like any commodity (copper, wheat, etc.), will vary according to demand. Look at historical charts for the last 10 years to get some idea of the highs and lows. I have a friend who is building his retirement account. He has his savings placed in several different areas (various stocks and bonds, etc., so if one collapses, he has others that may be steady or increasing. One is gold bullion. When everything dropped in 2008, he rode it out, and his investments have recovered. Some years ago, my Canadian bank was selling British soverigns which I bought and gave as Christmas presents (they were very attractive, with St. George and his dragon on one side). I occasionally buy some of the smaller Canadian gold coins, but the high price of gold scares me away from investment buying. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 19 Apr 12 - 03:36 PM Seems strange to see notices reading "We buy scrap gold". Sign of the times. I can stand in our town centre and see five pawnshops within a couple of hundred yeards. And there are others round the corner. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Little Hawk Date: 19 Apr 12 - 03:38 PM Hard to say. I've invested in gold repeatedly over the past 20 years, and it's always paid off rather well in something like 3 to 5 years of patient waiting. I always sold it when it went high, not that I was ever able to time it perfectly, but I never made less than 20% on the investment, sometimes as much as 40%, and that's not bad. But the thing is, you've got to buy it when the price is low. And I wouldn't call it "low" at the moment. I'd call it pretty high. Could it go higher? Sure. But there's no guarantee as to when that might happen. And it could go quite a bit lower too. If it does, that's when you buy it...at a time when people in general are feeling unexcited about gold. The reason all those places are advertising "we buy gold" is this: they know the middle class is hurting, and that people will be scrounging around for whatever they can sell to make some quick cash. That can include family heirlooms and jewelry. And those guys who put the signs out are going to give those hurting people WAY LESS than that gold (or silver) is worth. They're mostly just sharks...circling the embattled middle class, and looking to bite off a nice profit for themselves. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 19 Apr 12 - 03:40 PM Seems strange to see notices reading "We buy scrap gold". Sign of the times. I can stand in our town centre and see five pawnshops within a couple of hundred yards. And there are others round the corner. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: jimmyt Date: 19 Apr 12 - 06:40 PM Right before the Millennium, someone told me he thought it a good idea to buy gold as a hedge. I thought it might be a good idea so I started purchasing it at $340 oz. I continued buying it up to $450 an oz then sat on it for several years. I had lots of beautiful coins, China, AUstralia, Austria, France, UK etc along with lots of antique stuff ( which can be had at almost spot by the way) I just thought it was a beautiful thing to hold. WHen the price reached $1000 I sold almost all of it, and that is probably the only good investment return I have made. THe thing is, Gold is a HEDGE, it is a risky investment. Had I held on I could have made more but I got conservative and took my profit and ran. Personally I would not buy gold at this price. My gut says there is a much more liklihood if it will drop to $1000 oz than continue to rise, and if you are like me, you can't afford to buy it at that price anyway. Everyone has been watching gold and ignoring silver. Silver has gone from $3.75 oz up to a high of $45 oz rising 1300% in the same time gold has gone up 500%. This is a realistic bet over time, but it is still too high for me presently |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: jimmyt Date: 19 Apr 12 - 06:41 PM by the way, before it is brought up, I return dental gold to my patients or give them a scrap envelope to sell it to a reputable dealer! |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Rapparee Date: 19 Apr 12 - 06:42 PM There's also gold in electronics parts -- it's an excellent conductor. It's salvaged by some some firms which "buy up" old computers and other such devices. You can make enough from the gold to be profitable, but you'd better have a good story when your friend catches you scraping the gold off the contacts inside his computer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Georgiansilver Date: 20 Apr 12 - 02:01 AM Anyone remember this thread? I advised people many years ago to invest in gold as it was on the up. There were of course a few scoffers but ~I made money from it.. anyone else? |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: jimmyt Date: 20 Apr 12 - 09:55 AM I do remember your thread, and at the time I was delighted to already have a fair amount in my possession at a much lower price. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Little Hawk Date: 20 Apr 12 - 10:09 AM Yes, the rise in the price of silver in the last few years was extraordinary. Too bad I didn't invest in it! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Rapparee Date: 20 Apr 12 - 11:36 AM You can get silver off old photo negatives. If you want to do this I strongly urge you to use your own. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: kendall Date: 20 Apr 12 - 02:30 PM It grieves me to know that so many old pocket watches are being melted down for their gold content. There is no return from extinction. I can understand anyone buying gold, but selling gold for paper money? Does that make sense to anyone? |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 20 Apr 12 - 03:30 PM People ignorant of value sell off old family pieces; a knowledgeable shark (buyer) puts these pieces at auction or with an antiques-fine jewelry dealer, but an ignorant shark goes for the melted value. I. too, wonder, how many collector-value watches and pieces of jewelry are lost this way. Gem value is often lost to the seller. Older cut, mined gems are receiving renewed interest and prices are up. Good Victorian and older jewelry is bringing premium prices, the market little affected by the financial meltdown in 2008. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: Little Hawk Date: 20 Apr 12 - 03:58 PM A whole nation of ignorant sharks melted down a simply vast amount of beautifully crafted gold objects when the Spanish conquistadors invaded and conquered the Aztec and Inca lands in the 1500s. And what a loss to the world it was! They destroyed an immense cultural heritage for the sake of a quick financial gain. The art objects they melted down, if saved for posterity, would eventually have been worth tremendously more than the mere material value of the gold they were made of. And they also burned virtually all the records left by those civilizations on papyrus scrolls. They also tore down the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, a beautiful city, wall by wall, filled the many canals with rubble, and reduced the place to a featureless desert. Mexico City was built on the stone foundations that remained. The thirst for gold was the primary thing that drove them. Fanatical religious zeal was also involved, but the hunger for gold was paramount. And the only thing you can say in their defence is this: The Aztecs themselves were a vicious and ruthless society dedicated to human sacrifice, a plague upon all their neighbours in that region. This was not the case with the Incas, who seem to have had a pretty reasonable society by the standards of the time. The Spanish victories over those Indian civilizations indicate that utter moral barbarianism does not necessarily mean you won't win. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: kendall Date: 20 Apr 12 - 08:25 PM The love of money is the root of all evil. |
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Subject: RE: BS: We buy gold?? From: jimmyt Date: 20 Apr 12 - 09:04 PM That is a fact, Kendall |
