Pro Traders Never Mention These Secrets [View article]
There is a way to do it with relative risk mitigation in your typical 401(k). Most offer some sort of money market or short-term bond fund, and most offer a basic S&P index. Use the money market to create a dollar cost averaging with a bit of steroids approach.
For instance, the individual could set up his contributions so that 90 percent were going into the index and 10 percent into the money market. Then once a month, check the NAV of the index fund. On any drop, move 10 percent of the money market over to the index fund. If the index fund moves up, say four months in a row, move 5 percent of the index fund value to the money market. The individual needs to write out his rules and stick to them, and he or she ought to modestly beat the index.
Pro Traders Never Mention These Secrets [View article]
Lost me when warning that buy and hold 'sheep' get wiped out. Simply not true, at least not that we've often seen. The buy and holders might not make the largest gains but they don't get wiped out, unless they have the misfortune of buying one company after another that declares bankruptcy. However, there are a sizable number of traders who year after year do get wiped out.
Yields Of 5.3%-23.2%: How Investors Can Turn Gold Into Even More Gold [View article]
Three thousand years ago, an ounce of gold bought you a nice, finely tailored toga and new sandals. Today an ounce of gold buys you a nice, finely tailored suit and new shoes (maybe even a couple shirts and silk ties, too). Seems like a pretty good inflation hedge to me, though I'm willing to give it another three thousand years to confirm that trend. I wouldn't want to say anything that smacks of statistical irrelevance.
According to CME reports, J.P. Morgan accounted for nearly all of the physical gold sales at Comex in the last three months, writes blogger Mark McHugh. The sales, representing nearly 2M ounces, is 74% more gold than the U.S. Mint delivered through its American Eagle program in all of 2012. The very idea of "broad-based" selling is a farce, says McHugh. “One thing’s very clear: When it comes to selling physical gold, J.P. Morgan is acting alone.” [View news story]
That is extraordinary. Sometimes I wonder if suits are synonymous with criminals, and if this account is true, I'm closer to my answer.
Waiting Patiently For A Blue Chip REIT Pullback [View article]
Good article. Brad, I've been in HTS for a while, and I'm guessing you might say that one isn't a blue chip, huh? You're right. It would be a tough dividend to walk away from.
Gold's reaction to Tuesday's fake AP tweet illustrates a "new reality" for the metal says Deutsche's Jens Johansen, who notes the price reacted last (vs. stocks and currencies) and barely budged. His team feels this lends support to their bearish thesis for gold and an expectation it's headed to $1,300 before stabilizing. GLD +1.7%. [View news story]
Johansen makes what seems to me to be one of the more ignorant comments of any stuffed suit. Look at MCD vs WEN, or D vs NGG. Only the bigger companies were connected to the headline-searching computer. So, he now is looking at the gold futures market and concluding something because gold had the same non-response to a fraudulent tweet that Wendy's had?
Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder how these guys got and/or keep their jobs.
Good Riddance To The Weak Hands Selling GLD Shares [View article]
Anyone who wants to survive? That struck me as funny because I believe a majority of traders lose money and also that a majority of buy and hold investors slowly (sometimes very slowly) make money. We all think we have what it takes, me included, to avoid those trading pitfalls.
Good Riddance To The Weak Hands Selling GLD Shares [View article]
As far as I can tell, there's too many distracting conversations. Is it money or isn't it? Are you a true believer or not? Is the game fair or is it rigged? Is Cyprus really selling or not?
Here's what I know. Gold is the oldest store of value, and demand for it as a store of value still exists today (or central banks wouldn't hold the stuff, at fairly significant expense). I know how to buy physical, and I have, but the premium and trip to the coin shop make it an inconvenient thing for anything other than long-term possession. I know how to buy GLD, and I have, and I've found it's a good way to trade from the convenience of my own computer.
You make money by selling stuff for more than you paid for stuff. The best way to do that is to target stuff for purchase that goes up and down in price, and buy when its down.
Now, somewhere in these ramblings, there's a conclusion or two - but I'm tired of typing.
Casey Research's James Favors Silver Over Gold In Near Term, Recommends Silver Wheaton [View article]
The amount in a single catalytic converter is pretty small, so from what I understand while there is some recycling, it often is not seen as worth the effort to retrieve.
I would not buy a platinum miner. The vast majority of the metal is mined in a single area in South Africa, which has all sorts of labor and social issues. But you can buy the metal via ETF with PPLT (or you can buy future contracts, or the metal itself - the U.S. Mint makes a platinum eagle, which I personally think is the best looking coin they make). Palladium has an ETF, too, but there's also a miner operating in the U.S. that has worked as a pretty good proxy for me in the past - SWC.
Personally, I like the platinum story right now better than palladium. Yes, more palladium is used by car makers, but platinum is at or below mining costs.
Canadian Investor Frank Giustra Rotating Out Of Gold ETFs And Into Miners [View article]
Have to admit that Frank Giustra sounded prescient in 2002. Still, I don't like the miners play now, at least via ETF as opposed to specific, stronger balance sheet miners. Rising mining costs are the big issue for me. If gold goes up fairly quickly, the sector should do alright. If it doesn't, some of the weaker miners will find it hard to stay in business (which can be good for some of the stronger miners, but not for a vehicle that represents mining as a whole).
That said, I do really like SLW here. But I'd stay away from gold miners I didn't know really well and who have the resources to weather an extended storm.
Casey Research's James Favors Silver Over Gold In Near Term, Recommends Silver Wheaton [View article]
Agree on SLW, and it is priced extraordinarily low right now - even below spot silver. I also like the metal ETFs, though, as a trade vehicle. I agree on holding physical, but I also augment that with ETF trading.
Top play right now, though, might be platinum. Last time it got this low, people were saying it was at mining cost. Since that time, there's been agreements in South Africa that increase labor costs and thus increase mining costs. I understand why it's this low - platinum is primarily used in diesel catalytic converters, and diesel makes everyone think of Europe. But that bit of logic has been taken to illogical proportions, because as the interview noted some platinum is going to be needed. That means it will be sold, eventually, above its rising mining costs. It was almost a no brainer last year (when it proved to be a solid buy), and it's even more so this year.
Do You Believe In The 12 Rules Of Goldbuggery? [View article]
There's a lot of 'hidden' inflation. Corporations have an incentive to keep their goods and services affordable, so they'll skimp on quality and leverage technology to avoid passing along their rising costs. For instance, consider a call to your phone company, and the convenience and service received today versus 25 years ago. They use phone mazes because they don't have the same number of employees per customers.
Information technology is a separate consumer issue. One reason the inflation stats look low, I believe, is because technology prices are constantly dropping. Except they aren't. An average family will have connectivity and compatibility problems if it attempts to use the cheapest technology products available. So while prices are always dropping, that average family always seems to be spending more on technology.
Is there any doubt houses today are built with cheaper, less durable materials? And what is the result? Home owners have more maintenance costs on a more regular basis. On and on, there's inflation that doesn't show up in the inflation stats.
Market Correction: Where Is The Money Flowing? [View article]
A lot of truth to that. Just bought a rental a year ago. It was tough, because every time I thought I saw a 'deal,' I found out I was competing against other investors who weren't looking to finance, and that's a heck of an opponent to face, even when your bid is slightly higher.
The Massive Elephant In The Economic Room [View article]
Pro Traders Never Mention These Secrets [View article]
For instance, the individual could set up his contributions so that 90 percent were going into the index and 10 percent into the money market. Then once a month, check the NAV of the index fund. On any drop, move 10 percent of the money market over to the index fund. If the index fund moves up, say four months in a row, move 5 percent of the index fund value to the money market. The individual needs to write out his rules and stick to them, and he or she ought to modestly beat the index.
Pro Traders Never Mention These Secrets [View article]
Pro Traders Never Mention These Secrets [View article]
Yields Of 5.3%-23.2%: How Investors Can Turn Gold Into Even More Gold [View article]
According to CME reports, J.P. Morgan accounted for nearly all of the physical gold sales at Comex in the last three months, writes blogger Mark McHugh. The sales, representing nearly 2M ounces, is 74% more gold than the U.S. Mint delivered through its American Eagle program in all of 2012. The very idea of "broad-based" selling is a farce, says McHugh. “One thing’s very clear: When it comes to selling physical gold, J.P. Morgan is acting alone.” [View news story]
Waiting Patiently For A Blue Chip REIT Pullback [View article]
Gold's reaction to Tuesday's fake AP tweet illustrates a "new reality" for the metal says Deutsche's Jens Johansen, who notes the price reacted last (vs. stocks and currencies) and barely budged. His team feels this lends support to their bearish thesis for gold and an expectation it's headed to $1,300 before stabilizing. GLD +1.7%. [View news story]
Stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder how these guys got and/or keep their jobs.
Good Riddance To The Weak Hands Selling GLD Shares [View article]
Good Riddance To The Weak Hands Selling GLD Shares [View article]
Here's what I know. Gold is the oldest store of value, and demand for it as a store of value still exists today (or central banks wouldn't hold the stuff, at fairly significant expense). I know how to buy physical, and I have, but the premium and trip to the coin shop make it an inconvenient thing for anything other than long-term possession. I know how to buy GLD, and I have, and I've found it's a good way to trade from the convenience of my own computer.
You make money by selling stuff for more than you paid for stuff. The best way to do that is to target stuff for purchase that goes up and down in price, and buy when its down.
Now, somewhere in these ramblings, there's a conclusion or two - but I'm tired of typing.
Casey Research's James Favors Silver Over Gold In Near Term, Recommends Silver Wheaton [View article]
I would not buy a platinum miner. The vast majority of the metal is mined in a single area in South Africa, which has all sorts of labor and social issues. But you can buy the metal via ETF with PPLT (or you can buy future contracts, or the metal itself - the U.S. Mint makes a platinum eagle, which I personally think is the best looking coin they make). Palladium has an ETF, too, but there's also a miner operating in the U.S. that has worked as a pretty good proxy for me in the past - SWC.
Personally, I like the platinum story right now better than palladium. Yes, more palladium is used by car makers, but platinum is at or below mining costs.
Canadian Investor Frank Giustra Rotating Out Of Gold ETFs And Into Miners [View article]
That said, I do really like SLW here. But I'd stay away from gold miners I didn't know really well and who have the resources to weather an extended storm.
Casey Research's James Favors Silver Over Gold In Near Term, Recommends Silver Wheaton [View article]
Top play right now, though, might be platinum. Last time it got this low, people were saying it was at mining cost. Since that time, there's been agreements in South Africa that increase labor costs and thus increase mining costs. I understand why it's this low - platinum is primarily used in diesel catalytic converters, and diesel makes everyone think of Europe. But that bit of logic has been taken to illogical proportions, because as the interview noted some platinum is going to be needed. That means it will be sold, eventually, above its rising mining costs. It was almost a no brainer last year (when it proved to be a solid buy), and it's even more so this year.
Do You Believe In The 12 Rules Of Goldbuggery? [View article]
Information technology is a separate consumer issue. One reason the inflation stats look low, I believe, is because technology prices are constantly dropping. Except they aren't. An average family will have connectivity and compatibility problems if it attempts to use the cheapest technology products available. So while prices are always dropping, that average family always seems to be spending more on technology.
Is there any doubt houses today are built with cheaper, less durable materials? And what is the result? Home owners have more maintenance costs on a more regular basis. On and on, there's inflation that doesn't show up in the inflation stats.
Market Correction: Where Is The Money Flowing? [View article]