A genuine question.
Does gold have any use that justifies it's value?
I can see that commodities go up or down based on their usage, but from where I'm looking, gold itself, like paper currency, isn't actually worth much money as a commodity.
It seems to me that gold works not as a commodity but as a currency - except it tends to go in the opposite direction of whichever is the powerful 'holding' currency.
Gold goes up or down based on market fears rather than it's own intrinsic 'value', doesn't it? That would make it a great 'hedge' in troubled times.
Is there any other 'medium' that works in a similar way or is gold unique? What about silver and platinum?
For clarity, I'm not saying it's wrong to buy gold - quite the opposite given current events - just wondering if I'm missing something....
Does gold have any use that justifies it's value?
I can see that commodities go up or down based on their usage, but from where I'm looking, gold itself, like paper currency, isn't actually worth much money as a commodity.
It seems to me that gold works not as a commodity but as a currency - except it tends to go in the opposite direction of whichever is the powerful 'holding' currency.
Gold goes up or down based on market fears rather than it's own intrinsic 'value', doesn't it? That would make it a great 'hedge' in troubled times.
Is there any other 'medium' that works in a similar way or is gold unique? What about silver and platinum?
For clarity, I'm not saying it's wrong to buy gold - quite the opposite given current events - just wondering if I'm missing something....