People with Gold/Silver

[Gunner3456]

There are two different issues here as the previous points mention. Precious metal investing is just for safe, long-term investment with a steady growth. And it isn't tied to any particular economy.

SHTF investments would be firearms, ammo, and useful tools (heavy knives, etc.). In general these are not bad financial investments but the long-term gains are minimal. However, when and if the S does HTF then I really don't see the usefulness of precious metals. There will be some perceived value but only after some form of civilization exists.

The things you mention are indispensable and you are dead right. Don't forget food and water. However, once you have all of that and everything else you need, what do you do with the rest of your wealth? What if you have ten million dollars? What if you just have an extra ten thousand dollars? Where do you put it? Certainly not in paper dollars in the mattress.

Also, history shows that in the worst of times, you can still trade gold or silver to many people for goods. Someone who has a farm or a huge garden or cattle to butcher may well take gold or silver for it. They may already have all of the firearms and ammo and useful tools and food and water they need. They may also be stashing wealth.

 

[Grunwald]

We are in a horrible global recession. Who knows where it will end? Platinum isn't money like gold is. It's a commodity for manufacturing and manufacturing is in the tank. This is why you are seeing platinum under perform.

Only gold, and to a lesser extent silver, is money in any economy.

I have to disagree with you. Platinum is a precious metal and it is money. It's industrial use is limited. You've mentioned catalytic converters in your previous post, and even though it is true that platinum has uses in that industry, there has been a shift to palladium instead (it's less than 1/2 the cost). It does not have the history of gold, because the Europeans did not discover it until 1600s.
To each his own, I'd guess. There were people buying silver when it was hitting $50, while I stayed away. I guarantee you that gold will have a correction and will be back in the $1600 range within the next month or two. When it does I will get more, until then I am not going to panic buy anything.
Panic buying led to a lot of guys owning primers at $40 and $50 and AR-15s at over $1000, which if they tried to sell right now would only get them $600.
Always keep your cool.

 

[FourTeeFive]

The things you mention are indispensable and you are dead right. Don't forget food and water. However, once you have all of that and everything else you need, what do you do with the rest of your wealth?

Definitely food and water. And medical supplies. And fuel. I personally think guns, ammo, and knives (workhorse types) will be worth their weight in precious metals when the SHTF. The items of most immediate need will have the highest value. Those who don't have some form of security will give just about anything for it.

 

[Gunner3456]

I have to disagree with you. Platinum is a precious metal and it is money. It's industrial use is limited. You've mentioned catalytic converters in your previous post, and even though it is true that platinum has uses in that industry, there has been a shift to palladium instead (it's less than 1/2 the cost). It does not have the history of gold, because the Europeans did not discover it until 1600s.
To each his own, I'd guess. There were people buying silver when it was hitting $50, while I stayed away. I guarantee you that gold will have a correction and will be back in the $1600 range within the next month or two. When it does I will get more, until then I am not going to panic buy anything.
Panic buying led to a lot of guys owning primers at $40 and $50 and AR-15s at over $1000, which if they tried to sell right now would only get them $600.
Always keep your cool.

You suit yourself. It's your money and I hope you're right. As for the $1,000 AR's, when that was all you could get and if you didn't have one, they were worth buying imho. I paid $40 for some primers once and felt lucky to get them. I bought ten thousand and today maybe lost $150 on them, but I wound up with ten thousand rounds of ammo. I don't regret it at all.

As for your platinum, most people don't know what it is or how to value it. Believe me, gold and silver will be far more liquid if things get bad. Just look at what platinum is doing in the market right now. That should be enough to show you that it doesn't carry the same weight with people in a flight to safety that gold does.

Gold is gold.

 

[Gunner3456]

Definitely food and water. And medical supplies. And fuel. I personally think guns, ammo, and knives (workhorse types) will be worth their weight in precious metals when the SHTF. The items of most immediate need will have the highest value. Those who don't have some form of security will give just about anything for it.

I agree. Gold and silver are where you stash excess wealth after you have lots of what you mentioned, and still need to get rid of paper dollars.

 

[Grunwald]

If you value the opinions of Peter Sniff and Gerald Celente then I think you would enjoy listening to Jerry Doyle. I usually try to catch his shown streamed over the internet front noon to 3pm. Sniff and Celente have been somewhat regular guests on his program. He also know Wall St well, as in his younger days he worked as a broker.
I discovered his show while in Vegas 3 years ago and have been a somewhat of a regular listener(time allowing) for about 2years.
You can catch the steaming at KDWN :: Las Vegas News Radio Station

I guess he has been recommending buying gold for over a decade.

 

[kenno]

Gold stopped near 1800 today

 

[Partsproduction]

Gold stopped near 1800 today

Kitco says $1808. When traditional paper "money" is finally shown to be worthless people will do what they did in the old west, buy a loaf of bread for a certain sized pinch of dust. I know a leftist Obama voter who asked my Wife "How can you buy anything with gold", funny thing is, she should know better, she owns a gold mine. With the tiny electronic scales we have now I could file $20 or $5 worth of gold off of a Maple leaf, the only thing is the mentality, people will have to acclimate themselves to understanding and working with gold. "Pieces of eight" were an old way of dividing doubloons into bite sized monetary units. I think the whole question about how we will use gold for trade will take care of itself, and it, and silver, will be the only currency used after the curtain gets blown away by reality.

 

[kenno]

Kitco says $1808. When traditional paper "money" is finally shown to be worthless people will do what they did in the old west, buy a loaf of bread for a certain sized pinch of dust. I know a leftist Obama voter who asked my Wife "How can you buy anything with gold", funny thing is, she should know better, she owns a gold mine. With the tiny electronic scales we have now I could file $20 or $5 worth of gold off of a Maple leaf, the only thing is the mentality, people will have to acclimate themselves to understanding and working with gold. "Pieces of eight" were an old way of dividing doubloons into bite sized monetary units. I think the whole question about how we will use gold for trade will take care of itself, and it, and silver, will be the only currency used after the curtain gets blown away by reality.

While moving back to a gold based society is a great idea, the devil is in the details, IE living long enough to enjoy that system. There is gonna be a whole lotta red water flowing under the bridge to get to that point. form a group, BUY FOOD NOW

 

[MissJ]

While moving back to a gold based society is a great idea, the devil is in the details, IE living long enough to enjoy that system. There is gonna be a whole lotta red water flowing under the bridge to get to that point. form a group, BUY FOOD NOW

BINGO!

I couldn't agree more; as much as it saddens me.

I own some silver....basically just enough to help my family out in a SERIOUS time of need....maybe we need to bribe some official into crossing a strategic border....maybe we need to purchase "new identities", maybe we have to flee in a rush and cannot take too much bulk on the journey....

but for the most part; there will be HE*L to pay before we revert back to a solely precious metals based economy. It will be like the soldiers landing on the beach at Normondy....the first wave was almost 100% casualties....the second wave was still a catastrophic loss....it was the THIRD wave of soldiers that got to taste the victory....if we are lucky our grandkids will live through the coming "Greatest depression" and get to benefit from a PM based economy....it is highly unlikely that any PMs that we stockpile today will still be available for use by our direct descendants in 50-100 years....we will either spend it, lose it, or our genetic line will simply not survive the ordeal. The "treasure" that we will bestow on our descendants will be life itself and the knowledge of what went wrong and how we got by.

Depressing, I know.....lame....

 

[Burt Gummer]

Nice to hear from intelligent and informed folks here. Most people just don't understand that the dollar is backed by nothing and is being printed out of existence. Our puppet leadership has decided to bail the county out with Zimbabwe economics.

 

[powersbj]

There are some solid reasons to not be on a gold standard ( money supply problems ). Lets also not forget that evil horrid banksters (aka our finance system ) has created the highest standard of living that has ever existed, even for the most poor of us. All fiat currencys do eventually crash (gold standard currencys have crashed also), so do all governemnts and beleive it or not, someday you will die too...

I think the loss of faith in our dollar has everything to do with a global loss of faith in DC. It really doesnt matter (much) what is backing your currency if the government is unreliable and mismanages the countrys finiances.

 

[Gunner3456]

There are some solid reasons to not be on a gold standard ( money supply problems ). Lets also not forget that evil horrid banksters (aka our finance system ) has created the highest standard of living that has ever existed, even for the most poor of us. All fiat currencys do eventually crash (gold standard currencys have crashed also), so do all governemnts and beleive it or not, someday you will die too...

I think the loss of faith in our dollar has everything to do with a global loss of faith in DC. It really doesnt matter (much) what is backing your currency if the government is unreliable and mismanages the countrys finiances.

You are right. Also, there isn't enough gold in the world for every advanced country to be on the gold standard. I do know that China, India and Switzerland are buying lots of gold but not enough to back their money. All of the major currencies today are just paper. People are losing faith in the dollar, the Euro, and the Pound, and even Asian currencies.

The drive in gold prices isn't just coming from individuals. Nations are buying it too. I think their crooked leaders don't want to be broke if their fiat money crashes.

 

[Grunwald]

There are some solid reasons to not be on a gold standard ( money supply problems ). Lets also not forget that evil horrid banksters (aka our finance system ) has created the highest standard of living that has ever existed, even for the most poor of us. All fiat currencys do eventually crash (gold standard currencys have crashed also), so do all governemnts and beleive it or not, someday you will die too...

I think the loss of faith in our dollar has everything to do with a global loss of faith in DC. It really doesnt matter (much) what is backing your currency if the government is unreliable and mismanages the countrys finiances.

It is not the financial system nor the banking sector that created this high standard of living. It is human invention and technological progress - unless you are claiming that it is the bankers that harnessed the power of electricity and invented the internal combustion engine.
I actually understand the theory and benefits of fractional reserve banking and it is a wonderful idea. However it is a wonderful idea in the same way that communism is a wonderful idea. The theory sounds great but unfortunately it is bound to fail because of the human factor.

 

[EZLivin]

I think the loss of faith in our dollar has everything to do with a global loss of faith in DC.

Yes. Currencies decline relative to gold due to loss of faith in governments. Keeping that in mind sheds light on why governments will often do all they can to keep gold from rising.

 

[Burt Gummer]

My buddy bought a 5 galllon bucket of pre-64s for 50% less than the 90% silver melt value yesterday at a garage sale. Fantastic deals are still out there now and then. The lady was happy to get rid of her grandfather's silver and didn't want to have to haul that much weight to a pawn shop or dealer.

 

[EZLivin]

My buddy bought a 5 galllon bucket of pre-64s for 50% less than the 90% silver melt value yesterday at a garage sale....

Was he shaking, sweating profusely, and thinking "OH FOOK, OH FOOK" as he handed her the cash?

 

[Gunner3456]

How much did it weigh?

 

[powersbj]

It is not the financial system nor the banking sector that created this high standard of living. It is human invention and technological progress - unless you are claiming that it is the bankers that harnessed the power of electricity and invented the internal combustion engine.
.

Who financed the inventors to bring the product to market?

 

[Gunner3456]

Who financed the inventors to bring the product to market?

A lot of people incorporate and sell stock in an IPO to private people like you and me to raise capital. I know a very rich inventor whose idea was so good he "pre-sold" millions of dollars worth and then had the items made, delivered them, and made his first big profit. He kept doing that until he was worth a few hundred million without ever borrowing a dime. He wound up with his own factory to make them and never borrowed money.

Some people take in a partner with money. Others borrow from family.

Banks are just one source of capital.