deuxsous

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    • Wed Jul 9th 14:29 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Using Gold to Protect a Portfolio
      LarryH, Good idea. Gold of course has had and will have bear markets too, but during those times, interest rates fall from initial high rates so bonds will have capital gains.

      I'm retired and generate income from investments to live on. Quite conincidentally and independently of Keith Fitz-Gerald, I have had what is now ~9.5% of total invested funds in physical gold for the past ten years, and it works. I have other inflation beneficiary investments too, but 80% is in fixed income.

      Most people who love gold these days are short term speculators, and there is nothing at all wrong with that, but Keith's point (and mine and yours) is that gold also works for conservative investors.
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    • Wed Jul 9th 08:13 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Using Gold to Protect a Portfolio
      A rare and reasonable approach. Gold for income protection or insurance.

      Gold has, however, increased in value (annualized) at about 5.5% per year since 1946 while the US CPI since 1946 has risen about 3.5% per year on average. As you say it is the long run where gold matters in a portfolio.

      View article »
    • Fri Jul 4th 20:04 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      ASA Limited: A Golden Opportunity
      Two other comments on ASA:

      1. It is one of the most tax-efficient funds of the past ten years, meaning that very little tax has had to be paid on it relative to returns. Thus there is no real need at all to hold it in a tax-deferred fund, compared to CEF which is taxed as a "collectable"... at highest US income tax rates.
      See Morningstar: quicktake.morningstar....

      2. Those of us who have been gold investors since the 1960's remember ASA fondly as an old friend and one of the few legal ways one could get off-shore gold exposure in the 1960's and 1970's. They were the pioneers and have performed well for 50 years.
      View article »
    • Fri Jul 4th 19:38 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      ASA Limited: A Golden Opportunity
      ASA has outperformed CEF both on a price only and on a total return basis (with dividends reinvested) over both the last ten and twenty years.
      View article »
    • Tue Jul 1st 14:11 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Common Misconceptions About the Fed and Gold
      Save all the BS about the FED and the US dollar. Gold goes up in inflationary times which typically last 20-30 years. We're just ten years into it. I suspect we will have another big pullback before long which, of course, no one will buy since they only get excited when it goes up.....:))))
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    • Sun Jun 29th 19:53 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Inflation Protection: Government vs. Gold
      Both PIMCO's PCRIX DJ-AIG Commodity Real Return Fund and Hussman's HSTRX Strategic Total Return Fund have very effectively used TIPs in place of TBills as backing for their commodity or gold stock exposure. This has added about 4-6% to PCRIX's returns above, for example, DJP which is a DJ-AIG commodity ETN.

      You should probably compare TIPS and gold from about 1996 to get the feel for how they do across bull and bear markets. I'm an owner of both of those funds, and I also own physical gold. TIPs are compressed or overvalued right now, but they are good when no one wants them.
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    • Sat Jun 28th 20:01 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Did IMF Pop the Emerging Markets Bubble?
      It looks like the PPP conclusions were released in December holidays and were not widely noticed, at least at my level. It's of enormous importance in puncturing the bubble myth of Chinese and Indian miracles. A 40% cut for China is huge.

      Thanks for making this change better known.
      View article »
    • Sat Jun 28th 17:43 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Currency Bundles Pegged to the Dollar
      Thanks very much for quickly reviewing PGD. One minor correction: the dividend payments are monthly, as with JEM, and not quarterly. Seeking Alpha's PGD chart shows an indicated annualized dividend of 5.5% but I couldn't verify that or where it came from. The Prospect is silent on anticipated dividends:

      Seemingly PGD will offer both "creeping revalution" for $HK, $SG and CNY, but with the possiblility of an "overnight surprise" revaluation of the Saudi rial and UAE dirham.

      I'm not a big fan of ETN's for their unclear US taxation, but if they pay a decent dividend they are OK for tax-deferred US accounts. there are some exposures it is hard to get in any other way than via ETN's.

      I expect that JEM will be far riskier in any global economic slow down, but perhaps it will be less risky than emerging market equities or local bonds.
      View article »
    • Wed Jun 18th 13:28 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Gold, Stocks and Stagflation
      If your gold position is paid-for physical gold stored safely by you, then just hold it and forget about it. That's what I did in the 1970's.

      But if you are a modern paper gold trader, just burn the paper and move on to the next paper fad.
      View article »
    • Mon Jun 16th 19:22 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Gold Bugs Emerging in Some Unlikely Places
      I agree completely with theoakman. A meaningful but not huge percent should be in gold. I've owned gold 5-12% of assets since the 1960's, just as Jean-Marie Eveillard has and does. Day trading or flipping it foolish. Buy it for cash and put it away. Forget all the crappy gold note ETNs and other paper gold. Frankly I don't care if gold goes up constantly which it won't do in any case. It's the long run that matters for core assets.
      View article »
    • Sun Jun 15th 21:42 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      By the Numbers, Mining Stocks are Undervalued
      wool-pulling analysis will impress some people...
      View article »
    • Thu May 29th 12:00 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      17 Commodity ETFs to Hedge Your Portfolio
      it's an equally-weighted index so it isn't as volatile as the GoldiSax Index which is well over 50% crude oil. So it may not be the best choice for short term trading, but it's super for long term diversification of a total portfolio. i'm using it as an inflation hedge in an income portfolio.

      another similar one is PIMCO's PCRDX or PCRIX which uses a DJ-AIG indexed note over a TIPS base. It pays about 4% on the TIPS, so it works well in a tax-deferrred IRA or similar account as a double barreled inflation hedge.
      View article »
    • Thu May 29th 10:13 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      17 Commodity ETFs to Hedge Your Portfolio
      Also there is old CEF from Canada, also traded in the US. It is equally-weighted in gold and silver and has been around since the 1980's.
      View article »
    • Thu May 29th 10:07 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      17 Commodity ETFs to Hedge Your Portfolio
      The best commodity index ETF is GCC. It is the old CRB Index with 17 equally-weighted commodities, essentially all US-traded commodity futures except no oats, no soybean meal or bean oil, and no meats. Being equally-weighted, the ride is smoother. And when coffee and cocoa make their runs, you're there too.

      Plus you get the very favororable taxation afforded to futures as opposed to ETN's and to collectibles like the silver and gold funds. (Many of DB's funds are also futures based.)

      I own GCC.

      I own GCC.

      View article »
    • Mon May 26th 18:49 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Fiat Money and the Silver Coin Quotas
      the problem with silver coins or bars is that they weigh so much relative to their intrinsic (market) price. you need multiple wheelbarrows full or large heavily-laden dollies to move it. storage costs are astronomic per dollar of silver compared to gold or platinum or rhodium or diamonds.

      silver futures or DBS (not SLV), which is taxed the same as futures, is a much better way to go.

      also there is a famous case in nevada of someone who paid his employees in silver eagles. they reported their wages at the face value of the coins, avoiding Federal income tax by being under the minimum, and then cashed in the coins at dealers. the IRS protested that this was a tax scam and took them to court. the last i heard about it the case was not yet settled due to appeals etc, but it's questionable that silver eagles can be used for "payment of all debts public and private" as legal tender at other than their face value of $1.

      on the other hand you can sell your silver eagles for market price, pay whatever capital gain tax you owe (at maximum collectibles rates), if any, and use the proceeds any way you like.
      View article »
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