Saturday, August 20, 2011

Go for Gold

My appearance on the Today show this morning, I really do have a good head for blogging :-)

Swiss exporters hurt by rise in value of Swiss franc

From: AlJazeeraEnglish | Aug 17, 2011

High growth, low unemployment and public debt, all seem to point towards the Swiss Franc being a safe bet.

However, with the rest of the global markets in turmoil, a strong Swiss franc is having an effect on the people of Switzerland, and their businesses.


Gold rises as Asian markets slide

From: AlJazeeraEnglish | Aug 19, 2011

For investors in this economic climate, it seems that all that glitters is gold.

The cost of the precious metal hit an all-time high on Friday after its seventh consecutive weekly gain. The metal has already risen by 14 per cent in August.

It is being called a modern day gold rush, and is fueled by the dismal performance of the stock markets across Asia pacific.


Politicians react slowly to Europe's economic crisis

From: AlJazeeraEnglish | Aug 19, 2011

European markets plummeted once more, reflecting the nerves and jitters of traders as they wait for more decisive political reaction to the possibility of recession on both sides of the Atlantic.

The latest hitch: three euro zone countries indicated they were likely to seek collateral in exchange for their international bailout loan to Greece. Finland already has such a bargain with Athens. Now Austria, the Netherlands and Slovakia want the same treatment.


Egyptian protesters want end to peace with Israel

From: AlJazeeraEnglish | Aug 19, 2011

Hundreds of Egyptians gathered at the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Friday to protest the apparently accidental killing of five border police by an Israeli helicopter.

The incident, on Thursday, came as the helicopter was reportedly moving across the border in pursuit of armed men thought to be connected to an earlier attack inside southern Israel that killed eight people.

Egypt has withdrawn its ambassador and summoned his Israeli counterpart in Cairo in protest. The cabinet has demanded compensation for the policemen and an investigation into the incident.


Silver price expected to reach $100 in 2012


From China Business News:

Silver prices increased sharply today

China’s net imports of silver nearly quadrupled in 2011 boosted by sharp increases in demand by the industrial sector and the jewelry industry.

Silver demand in China and India has increased sharply in 2010 and 2011 as more investors use silver as a store of value. China’s net imports of silver was up 400 percent to 3,500 metric tons in 2010.

About 70% of China’s silver demand comes from the industrial sectors. Silver is widely used in the production of solar panels, electronic products, jewelry, industrial production, medical equipments, and water purification industries. China is the world’s largest producer of solar power and electronics....read on

Peter Schiff on record gold prices: I told you so!

From: RTAmerica | Aug 19, 2011

With the decline of the world economy, many investors are flocking to the precision metal: gold. Many say buying gold is a safe haven from worldwide inflation and gold will keep its value over any paper money. Will gold continue to increase in value? Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, tells us more about the precious metal.


I'm from a bank and I am here to help you


Weekend Chillout

With the equities markets in turmoil it seems the winds of change have definitely become an ill wind.

Ill Wind ~ Billie Holiday


Mainstream Media still doesn't get it, but they are getting there

Hi all, I thought I would get these thoughts down while they were still fresh.

I have just come home from being interviewed on the Channel 9 Weekend Today Show (for international readers Channel 9 is Australia's leading national free to air channel) about the recent rise in the gold price. I got about 3 mins of live air time at 7:15am on a Saturday morning.

The interviewer asked me before we went on "So how will I know when I should be selling gold?" to which I responded "when you have me on at 7:15pm for 30 minutes every week, instead of 7:15am for 3 minutes every 6 months, just like you do now with Real Estate and Share analysts".

Although to give the Channel 9 producer her due she did manage to get a graphic put up for a few seconds showing the abysmal performance of the ASX200 (Australia's largest 200 companies) index vs. Gold over the last 5 years.

I was asked if gold was good place to invest for retirement savings (must have been the first time in TV history that has been asked - pity they didn't ask that in 2001), compared to the stock market. To which of course I answered in the affirmative, but with the warning that retirement savings need to be a long term investment, not short term speculation.

Ok here is the points I would liked to have mentioned, but in the three minutes I was prevented from doing (even though I had discussed most of them before going to air)
  • The average super fund investment for someone in their Forties has lost $20,000 - $30,000 in the last few weeks (based on a super balance of $200,000)
  • If the average 40 something had got off their arse 12 months ago and setup a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) and rolled over all of their super funds into their SMSF and then invested those funds in physical Gold their super would be up 25% today, ie grown by about $50,000
  • If that someone had invested the funds in physical Silver instead of Gold their super would be up 85% ie grown by $170,000 or $200,000 more than if they had continued to sit on their fat and now poor arse and let a "professional" money manager invest their super money for them.
On predictions, I wanted to say:
  • Within 5 years a million dollars worth of Silver will fit in a briefcase (just like Gold does now)
  • Within 10 years the US dollar price of Gold and Silver will be infinity, ie no one will be stupid enough to exchange any amount of Gold or Silver for any amount of US dollars.
  • In 15 years if you have $1,000,000 in your super fund it wont be considered a Nest Egg, it will merely be an Egg, ie you will be able to exchange it for an egg.