keo

Is the Price of Gold Artificially Depressed?

Some quotes:

"Gold is money. That's it". J.P. Morgan

"Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the 'hidden' confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights." - Alan Greenspan

"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world. Germany in 1944 could buy materials during the war only with gold. Fiat money in extremis is accepted by nobody. Gold is always accepted." -- Alan Greenspan 1999

"There can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold which never changes, which can be shaped into lingots, bars, coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence." - Charles De Gaulle

"There are about three hundred economists in the world who are against gold, and they think that gold is a barbarous relic - and they might be right. Unfortunately, there are three billion inhabitants of the world who believe in gold." - Janos Fekete

I could go on and on....

The Brightest Stars in the Commodities Boom, Part Two

Thanks Mark, enjoyed reading the piece. Some notes though:

- few (no?) commodities have done any good in the period 1980 - 2000, not only gold performed poorly...we could use that period to bash commodities in general.
- In 1971-1980 Pt went from $90 to 1000$, gold from $35 to 850$. Gold did much better.
- In the period 1999-2007, Pt did 318%, Au 190%, Pd 10%. We found a hedge worse than gold ;). But the PM run is not over yet, we'll see what the future has in store for us.

The Brightest Stars in the Commodities Boom, Part I

Most commodities can be substituted. If platinum and palladium become expensive as rhodium, I really expect some substitution. For instance, gold can act as a catalyst as well:

17/05/2007 - Gold glows on back of clean-air movement
www.telegraph.co.uk/mo...

January 02, 2008 -- Will Gold Replace Platinum in Catalytic Converters?
seekingalpha.com/artic...

1 APRIL 2008 - HITACHI MAXELL DEVELOPS NEW GOLD-PLATINUM CATALYST ENABLING HIGHER PERFORMANCE FUEL CELLS
www.greencarcongress.c...

That would definitely destroy some demand for platinum.

If a particular commodity gets too expensive, it gets substituted. If oil is too expensive, we use coal or natural gas. If platinum is too expensive we use palladium. Or maybe gold (as science progresses). I am invested in broad commodity indices, and have a physical stash Au,Ag,Pt,Pd. I don't put everything in gold, and don't put everything in Pd either.

Gold and Silver Are Still Bargains

"That’s right, silver has to increase by a factor of 8 times in order to reach $135.00, which is its 1980 price, when adjusted for inflation"...

I am bullish on gold & silver, but we have to be fair and mention that the Hunt brothers were needed to reach that top in 1980... I am not sure this will happen again soon.

Get Out of Commodities - Barron's

"Factors that could burst the bubble: ....stronger US Dollar"... hahahaha that's a good one ;)