Gold

[fuzzbox]

Gold is a hedge against inflation and / or currency debasement.

As I've said previously - in a world of negative bond yields, trillion dollar national debts, dividend cuts and zero interest rates you have to ask whether anything based on the fiat money system has any intrinsic value. Gold is limited in supply, you can't print it like money.

Now it's broken through long term resistance at $1800 I suspect it might reach $2300 by the time of the US election, and perhaps more afterwards given the promises both idiots will be making.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes - that's what I said in my 3rd and 4th sentence.

It's a little ironic that to hedge against something with little or no intrinsic value, people buy something else with no intrinsic value!

Although of course you can't print it, there's a lot of gold held by governments that is 'out of circulation'. Should that ever be re-introduced (like the UK has done a few times) it could severely affect the price of gold. But again, I take your point - safer than currency!

How about Silver and Platinum - do governments have such high stock of those? Would they be even safer? Both Silver and Platinum have risen at a higher percentage than gold recently, could that be why? Or do they have an actual use other than as a hedge against uncertain times that might be pushing the price up?

One more thing - are you actually physically buying gold or 'shares' of gold?

[Protheroe]

How about Silver and Platinum - do governments have such high stock of those? Would they be even safer? Both Silver and Platinum have risen at a higher percentage than gold recently, could that be why? Or do they have an actual use other than as a hedge against uncertain times that might be pushing the price up?

One more thing - are you actually physically buying gold or 'shares' of gold?

Silver in particular is far more volatile. It isn't generally mined specifically but is more of a by product of mining for other metals. Both silver and platinum have far more industrial uses so the price is more driven by those markets rather than as a hedge against this or that.

I have physical gold coins stored in a Brinks vault as they're then VAT & CGT free. I wouldn't trust synthetic ETFs, physical ETFs are better but if you're not going to buy physical gold I'd be more tempted by shares in the miners.

[fuzzbox]

How about Silver and Platinum - do governments have such high stock of those? Would they be even safer? Both Silver and Platinum have risen at a higher percentage than gold recently, could that be why? Or do they have an actual use other than as a hedge against uncertain times that might be pushing the price up?

One more thing - are you actually physically buying gold or 'shares' of gold?

Silver in particular is far more volatile. It isn't generally mined specifically but is more of a by product of mining for other metals. Both silver and platinum have far more industrial uses so the price is more driven by those markets rather than as a hedge against this or that.

I have physical gold coins stored in a Brinks vault as they're then VAT & CGT free. I wouldn't trust synthetic ETFs, physical ETFs are better but if you're not going to buy physical gold I'd be more tempted by shares in the miners.

storing in a vault always struck me as expensive, I was always shocked by the insurance cost alone! But maybe it's a price worth paying. Avoiding the Vat I can see, avoiding CGT legally AND permanently would involve a lot of paperwork, surely?

All very interesting information and advice. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[baggy1]

How about Silver and Platinum - do governments have such high stock of those? Would they be even safer? Both Silver and Platinum have risen at a higher percentage than gold recently, could that be why? Or do they have an actual use other than as a hedge against uncertain times that might be pushing the price up?

One more thing - are you actually physically buying gold or 'shares' of gold?

Silver in particular is far more volatile. It isn't generally mined specifically but is more of a by product of mining for other metals. Both silver and platinum have far more industrial uses so the price is more driven by those markets rather than as a hedge against this or that.

I have physical gold coins stored in a Brinks vault as they're then VAT & CGT free. I wouldn't trust synthetic ETFs, physical ETFs are better but if you're not going to buy physical gold I'd be more tempted by shares in the miners.

Scargill would like this 

[Protheroe]

storing in a vault always struck me as expensive, I was always shocked by the insurance cost alone! But maybe it's a price worth paying. Avoiding the Vat I can see, avoiding CGT legally AND permanently would involve a lot of paperwork, surely?

All very interesting information and advice. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Vault storage is a damned sight cheaper than buying a safe and putting on your contents policy  

I have coins that could, in theory be used as legal tender - hence CGT free. Bars and other coins are not

---

 I'd be more tempted by sharing the minors.

Scargill would like this 

Prince Andrew would prefer this

[baggy1]

storing in a vault always struck me as expensive, I was always shocked by the insurance cost alone! But maybe it's a price worth paying. Avoiding the Vat I can see, avoiding CGT legally AND permanently would involve a lot of paperwork, surely?

All very interesting information and advice. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Vault storage is a damned sight cheaper than buying a safe and putting on your contents policy  

I have coins that could, in theory be used as legal tender - hence CGT free. Bars and other coins are not

---

 I'd be more tempted by sharing the minors.

Scargill would like this 

Prince Andrew would prefer this

[fuzzbox]

Gold fallen by 6% so far in 5 days!!!


It must be a weird one for you, proth - I'm hoping you still retained some of your 'traditional' investments and so are still pleased despite high hopes for a vaccine causing losses on your gold.

I chose not to buy any gold in the end. Not by any skill, but because it felt a bit like betting on West Brom to lose! That and people taking money out of the economy isn't what the world needs now. Anyway, what little profit I made on gold wouldn't make up for personal losses in a declining economy. Maybe if I was a little closer to retirement it would have been different.

Surprised I dodged this one - usually I buy high and sell low!

[Protheroe]

Gold fallen by 6% so far in 5 days!!!

Good job I last bought in 2015 then.
It's the trend dear, which is upwards. Given that fiat currencies are being further debased by the day I shan't lose any sleep just yet. I don't think gold's appreciation will be over if we get a vaccine - not whilst there's trillion dollar debts to be paid.

[fuzzbox]

Gold fallen by 6% so far in 5 days!!!

Good job I last bought in 2015 then.
It's the trend dear, which is upwards. Given that fiat currencies are being further debased by the day I shan't lose any sleep just yet. I don't think gold's appreciation will be over if we get a vaccine - not whilst there's trillion dollar debts to be paid.

You might have mentioned that important snippet when you were advising us all to buy a couple of weeks ago!

Was it a pump and dump exercise?! Can't see that working with just the six of us on here!

"It's the trend dear, which is upwards" Not sure it is (it definitely was), but if it is, why aren't you investing?

I' thought I'd give daytrading a go during the slowdown. I bought shares in IAG as my first trade at the start of August. As soon as I put the order in it started to lose value so I kept the shares - exactly what you're not supposed to do! By luck, it's risen by 20 odd%. Usually, it's an expensive lesson to find out you don't know what you're doing! I'm pretty sure it'll go up more, but I haven't got the balls to keep it in for longer.

[Protheroe]

You might have mentioned that important snippet when you were advising us all to buy a couple of weeks ago!

I've been advising everyone on here to buy gold since 2008.

I expect $2200 - $2300/oz by the end of this year. More if America / Americans don't get a grip.