The King Has No Clothes Currency “Bitcoin mania reached new highs as the price of the digital currency jumped about 40% in about 40 hours, surging past the $16,000 mark.” —The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 8, 2017). Why is gold valuable? Mostly, because you can buy things with it, and only (very) secondarily, because you...Read More
According to legendary investor Jeremy Grantham, how much gold should you own? At least for his own account, “just enough to mute the irritation of watching gold [prices] rise.” Not very scientific — but neither is investing in gold. And oddly, that formulation sounds just about right . . .Read More
The OTHER Problem with Sky-High Gold Prices No, Donald Trump doesn’t have that many ex-wives (yet). What I actually had in mind was the distorting effect high gold prices have on economic activity. That’s in addition to the economic cost associated with skittish, defensive investors shifting a fraction of their liquid assets from “fiat money” (paper) to...Read More
The Other “Black Gold” I expect to make more money in agriculture than I do in gold. — Investor Jim Rogers Jim Rogers might not be quite the household name that Warren Buffett or George Soros is, but long-time investors know Rogers as an astute, independent market analyst — who’s made gobs of money, for...Read More
The Link Between 0% Interest Rates, Spiking Gold When “risk-free” cash keeps paying a guaranteed loss, then a growing number of people will, in due course, start seeking shelter elsewhere. –“What The Economist Doesn’t Know About Gold”; Seeking Alpha (6/29/2010) The above quote is from the best piece I’ve seen yet explaining why gold is...Read More
The Gold Debate Want to know what to think about gold? So do I. As best I can tell, here are the opposing camps’ two best arguments: I hate gold. It does not pay a dividend, it has no value, and you can’t work out what it should or shouldn’t be worth. It is the...Read More
