Price of gold at all-time high but be careful of these gold ETFs

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Gold ETFs may be a scam. Either own physical gold or gold mining shares.

https://kingworldnews.com/what-is-happening-in-the-gold-market-is-shocking/

marh 17 2024 James Turk: There is an interesting development with the gold ETFs, Eric, and it has a lot of precious metal owners puzzled.

While gold has soared to record highs, the weight of metal recorded in ETFs has been declining worldwide. It’s a contradiction to many who would have expected the opposite to occur.

Since the first gold ETF was launched in 2004, conventional wisdom has been that gold would fall in price as the ETF assets declined, or rise as the size of these ETFs grew. This widespread view was based on the belief that buying shares of the ETF would result in the ETF buying gold because they are supposedly backed by physical gold sitting in a vault.

While that may be true for some ETFs, the reality for some is very different. A careful reading of the prospectus of the large gold ETFs like GLD tells a different story.

The GLD prospectus says its investment objective “is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold.” That is their purpose; it is not to own gold in a vault. It’s only the mainstream media that says that these ETFs are backed by physical gold.

An ETF may own some gold, or may not. But even if they do own it, it may be loaned out.

For example, the audited 10-K balance sheet that GLD files with the SEC reports that it owns “Investments in Gold”. It does not say that it owns gold, a tangible asset. An “Investment in Gold” is a loose term. A gold loan owed to GLD by a bank could be deemed as an investment. It’s paper, not physical metal in the vault. And keep in mind that it is the big bullion banks that are the managers of many of these ETFs, which highlights potential conflicts of interest.

There are so many loopholes in the prospectus of some of the gold ETFs, it has been my contention that they are used by central banks and their bullion bank agents to control the gold price. Their aim is to make fiat currency look better than it deserves by killing the canary in the coal mine, which is the role of an unfettered gold market.

 

[Joe Capitalist]

Gold is a horrible investment, especially if it's at an all-time high.

It's a commodity, not a business so it doesn't generate revenue.

Warren Buffett has been very vocal about his disdain for gold as an investment. He sees little to no value in it. What Buffett refers to as a lack of value results from a lack of usefulness. He once stated about gold, "It doesn't do anything but sit there and look at you."

One of Buffett's basic principles of investing is that one should only invest in things that are useful and that serve some purpose and that supply some practical need that people have. Silver has a myriad of industrial and medical uses. In medicine, silver is used in bandages, catheters, and as a healing agent for burns and other health conditions.
It's also used for water purification.
In electronics, silver is the best metal conductor of electricity and doesn't corrode, so it's used extensively in wiring and connective parts, computers, cellphones, and cameras.
It is even used to coat DVDs because it is scratch-resistant.

Therefore, silver meets Buffett's requirement of having a real and identifiable value. Even better, from the point of view of an investor, silver is almost uniquely suited to a number of the uses it serves as an industrial metal and would be difficult to replace with any substitute material.

Gold does not meet Buffett's usefulness requirement.

 

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Gold is a horrible investment, especially if it's at an all-time high.

It's a commodity, not a business so it doesn't generate revenue.

Warren Buffett has been very vocal about his disdain for gold as an investment. He sees little to no value in it. What Buffett refers to as a lack of value results from a lack of usefulness. He once stated about gold, "It doesn't do anything but sit there and look at you."

One of Buffett's basic principles of investing is that one should only invest in things that are useful and that serve some purpose and that supply some practical need that people have. Silver has a myriad of industrial and medical uses. In medicine, silver is used in bandages, catheters, and as a healing agent for burns and other health conditions.
It's also used for water purification.
In electronics, silver is the best metal conductor of electricity and doesn't corrode, so it's used extensively in wiring and connective parts, computers, cellphones, and cameras.
It is even used to coat DVDs because it is scratch-resistant.

Therefore, silver meets Buffett's requirement of having a real and identifiable value. Even better, from the point of view of an investor, silver is almost uniquely suited to a number of the uses it serves as an industrial metal and would be difficult to replace with any substitute material.

Gold does not meet Buffett's usefulness requirement.

Buffett is entitled to his opinion but many disagree. Gold is the ultimate safe haven and has been for 5,000 years. All currencies are fiat, esp bitcoin.

 

[goat]

Buffett is entitled to his opinion but many disagree. Gold is the ultimate safe haven and has been for 5,000 years. All currencies are fiat, esp bitcoin.

Ben Bernanke also said gold is worthless right as all the big banks were buying it up. The countries that had their gold held in the US can't get it back. I'm talking tons of gold. If gold is worthless, why is the US stealing the world's gold?

 

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Ben Bernanke also said gold is worthless right as all the big banks were buying it up. The countries that had their gold held in the US can't get it back. I'm talking tons of gold. If gold is worthless, why is the US stealing the world's gold?

Our leaders love the fiat money system. They print money for themselves and to buy off voters and the press.

 

[goat]

Our leaders love the fiat money system. They print money for themselves and to buy off voters and the press.

Because of the 2008/2009 Wall Street crooks, congress passed a law that no longer requires them to come to DC and beg for another bailout, yet congress did nothing to stop the corruption. The banks are in trouble again, so quite a few are supposed to go bankrupt in 2024. There's no doubt the fed will bailout the too big to jail crowd, but many smaller banks will close down and people with money in those banks will lose it all, FDIC or not. That's how blatantly corrupt out government has become.

 

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Because of the 2008/2009 Wall Street crooks, congress passed a law that no longer requires them to come to DC and beg for another bailout, yet congress did nothing to stop the corruption. The banks are in trouble again, so quite a few are supposed to go bankrupt in 2024. There's no doubt the fed will bailout the too big to jail crowd, but many smaller banks will close down and people with money in those banks will lose it all, FDIC or not. That's how blatantly corrupt out government has become.

Barry Bonobo gave the giant bankers trillions of dollars.!!!! The press cheered.

 

[Joe Capitalist]

Ben Bernanke also said gold is worthless right as all the big banks were buying it up. The countries that had their gold held in the US can't get it back. I'm talking tons of gold. If gold is worthless, why is the US stealing the world's gold?

Nobody said it's worthless. We're saying it's a lousy investment. But, if you and TDaK choose not to heed the Wizard of Wall Street's advice, Then be my guest and buy gold. Buy tons of gold. Cash in your IRA and buy gold. Sell your home and buy gold.

Both of you go buy all the gold you can if you think it's such a wise investment and let me know how it goes in a few years.

 

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Nobody said it's worthless. We're saying it's a lousy investment. But, if you and TDaK choose not to heed the Wizard of Wall Street's advice, Then be my guest and buy gold. Buy tons of gold. Cash in your IRA and buy gold. Sell your home and buy gold.

Both of you go buy all the gold you can if you think it's such a wise investment and let me know how it goes in a few years.

Buffett is 200 years old. Only an idiot listens to him. He has half the berkshire portfolio in one stock - aaple!!!

 

[goat]

Nobody said it's worthless. We're saying it's a lousy investment. But, if you and TDaK choose not to heed the Wizard of Wall Street's advice, Then be my guest and buy gold. Buy tons of gold. Cash in your IRA and buy gold. Sell your home and buy gold.

Both of you go buy all the gold you can if you think it's such a wise investment and let me know how it goes in a few years.

No sane person would buy gold at $2000 an oz, so why are the banks buying it up? I heard gold could go to $5000 an oz. Is it possible?

 

[Joe Capitalist]

No sane person would buy gold at $2000 an oz, so why are the banks buying it up? I heard gold could go to $5000 an oz. Is it possible?

I heard Trump is a genius. Is it possible?

About as possible for gold to go to $5,000/oz

 

[goat]

I heard Trump is a genius. Is it possible?

About as possible for gold to go to $5,000/oz

Gold was at $500 an oz in 2005. It gained 3 times its value in less than 20 years. The banksters know something we don't.

 

[serendipity]

Buffett is 200 years old. Only an idiot listens to him. He has half the berkshire portfolio in one stock - aaple!!!

Bullshit, it's currently around 20% of Berkshire's entire portfolio.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/15/...re than,fifth of Berkshire's entire portfolio.

[FONT=cnn_sans_display]Berkshire still owns more than 905 million shares of[/FONT][FONT=cnn_sans_display]of the company, worth about $174 billion. That represents 6% of all Apple shares and one-fifth of Berkshire’s entire portfolio.[/FONT]

 

[Joe Capitalist]

Gold was at $500 an oz in 2005. It gained 3 times its value in less than 20 years. The banksters know something we don't.

They usually do. It's their job.

 

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Bullshit, it's currently around 20% of Berkshire's entire portfolio.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/15/...re than,fifth of Berkshire's entire portfolio.

[FONT=cnn_sans_display]Berkshire still owns more than 905 million shares of[/FONT][FONT=cnn_sans_display]of the company, worth about $174 billion. That represents 6% of all Apple shares and one-fifth of Berkshire’s entire portfolio.[/FONT]

This article says 44%.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top...olio-is-invested-in-just-6-stocks/ar-BB1jxRrd

 

[Into the Night]

Gold ETFs may be a scam. Either own physical gold or gold mining shares.

ETFs are just another fiat currency.

 

[Into the Night]

Gold is a horrible investment, especially if it's at an all-time high.

It's a commodity, not a business so it doesn't generate revenue.

Warren Buffett has been very vocal about his disdain for gold as an investment. He sees little to no value in it. What Buffett refers to as a lack of value results from a lack of usefulness. He once stated about gold, "It doesn't do anything but sit there and look at you."

One of Buffett's basic principles of investing is that one should only invest in things that are useful and that serve some purpose and that supply some practical need that people have. Silver has a myriad of industrial and medical uses. In medicine, silver is used in bandages, catheters, and as a healing agent for burns and other health conditions.
It's also used for water purification.
In electronics, silver is the best metal conductor of electricity and doesn't corrode, so it's used extensively in wiring and connective parts, computers, cellphones, and cameras.
It is even used to coat DVDs because it is scratch-resistant.

Therefore, silver meets Buffett's requirement of having a real and identifiable value. Even better, from the point of view of an investor, silver is almost uniquely suited to a number of the uses it serves as an industrial metal and would be difficult to replace with any substitute material.

Gold does not meet Buffett's usefulness requirement.

Your avarice is obvious.

Silver corrodes. Gold doesn't. It is GOLD that is used in electronics, not silver so much. Silver is NOT scratch resistant. CD's, DVDs, and Blueray all use aluminum for their reflective surface, not gold or silver. That surface is coated with a dye if it's a recordable DVD, otherwise the information is cast in the plastic.
The whole thing is covered in plastic. THAT is the protective surface, and it CAN scratch, making the media useless.

Obviously, you have no idea how DVD or Blueray media is built even works or how the drive reads and writes information on them.

Gold is not an investment. It is a currency.

Gold as a currency doesn't need an industrial use (although gold has plenty of industrial uses).

 

[goat]

They usually do. It's their job.

2008/2009 showed that banksters think it's their job to bankrupt the entire world. The too big to jail banksters got their bailouts and retainer bonuses while millions of American workers were illegally foreclosed on. The banks sold off the mortgages yet acted as if they owned the deeds.

Banks are already overleveraged and soon will demand yet another bailout, so how can they afford to be buying so much gold? I gave you the answer to a simple question. I don't know how the fed can survive a systemic collapse.

 

[Into the Night]

Buffett is entitled to his opinion but many disagree. Gold is the ultimate safe haven and has been for 5,000 years. All currencies are fiat, esp bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not a fiat currency.
Neither is gold.
Neither is silver.

You are correct that gold is the longest running currency in the world (by thousands of years).

It is superior than the dollar is for some very important reasons:

* It is not a fiat currency. An ounce of gold is always an ounce of gold.
* It is not easily subject to government interference. Every government that has tried has failed at the attempt.
* It is easily converted into local currency when needed.
* Fiat currencies like the FRN dollar are subject to inflation, sometimes hyperinflation. The governments that issue them WANT that currency to inflate. It's the only way they can continue to pay for their expansion. That currency eventually reaches a point where it's essentially worthless. This has already happened to Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, etc. The United States is not immune to this.

Bitcoin is not a fiat currency, but it has some major disadvantages vs gold:
* transactions in Bitcoin require the internet to conduct. Gold and silver transactions do not require the internet at all.
* Bitcoin wallets are problematic. If you ever lose the password to it, the coins in it are lost for good. They are pesky things to set up and not conducive to general use by a less than tech savvy population. Remember there are people that still have trouble turning their computer on or off. Gold has no such wallet.
* Bitcoin transactions require passing around a larger and larger unwieldy transaction file (the blockchain).
* Bitcoin might be cracked at any time (it already happened to Bitcoin1, everyone is now using Bitcoin2). If that happens, Bitcoin will become worthless almost overnight.

There are tradeoffs between gold and silver:
* Gold has a lot of value per ounce. It always has. This makes it impractical for anything for large transactions (like payroll, purchasing land, etc).
* Silver has a lot more practical value per ounce, making it suitable as a day to day currency...to buy a loaf of bread, for example.
* Gold does not corrode, while silver does.

The constitution specifies that gold and silver currency is the only legal tender in the United States. No amendment was ever made to change that. FDR simply ignored the Constitution when implementing the fiat dollar (and stealing gold and silver from people...the reason Fort Knox was built!).

Regardless of which currency is used (whether gold, silver, clamshells, fiat dollars, Bitcoin, etc) ALL have the same three purposes:
1. They are a store of value. You can buy something with it.
2. They are a unit of account. You can set a price with it.
3. They are a medium of exchange. They allow more flexibility in barter than bartering directly.

This means if I provide a product or service to a chicken farmer, I don't have to be paid in chickens, and then try to exchange my chickens for a personal computer. I can be paid in a currency, and purchase the personal computer using that. The chickens stay with the farmer, and he obtains eggs and meat from them. He can sell that for money if he wants to. He doesn't have to find someone wanting eggs or chickens.

No currency prevents the use of modern credit and banking systems. It DOES place a practical limit on how much a bank can issue in loans (gambling) and how conservative they are on who they make those loans to. Banks, after all, make money primarily by loaning out money. So long as the money they make exceeds the risk of losing that loan due to it going bad, depositors are protected, and the bank continues to make a profit, and their reputation is more solid. If a bank is an idiot, it won't be long before they go bust, and the depositors lose their money. Their reputation is not so solid, and dealing with angry depositors can be damaging to one's health!

In my opinion, gold and silver make sense as a currency. Gold is easily checked for purity by most folks (and easy to learn how!); silver makes a practical day to day currency; and the government cannot just print them like they do FRN dollars.

Fiat currencies don't make a lot of sense. They must inflate to keep the government issuing them expanding. They carry no inherent wealth. Eventually, the paperhanging gets so bad people reject that currency in favor of a more sensible one. Already, people around the world an in the United States are looking for alternatives to the fiat currencies they use. If they settle on one, no government can stop it. That attempt will fail. Any attempt by a government to steal that currency is going to met with revolt (possibly violent) and black markets. The attempt will fail.

Favored currencies that are not fiat are currently Bitcoin, gold, and silver. I think a return to gold and silver will win out in the end.

 

[Into the Night]

Nobody said it's worthless. We're saying it's a lousy investment. But, if you and TDaK choose not to heed the Wizard of Wall Street's advice, Then be my guest and buy gold. Buy tons of gold. Cash in your IRA and buy gold. Sell your home and buy gold.

Both of you go buy all the gold you can if you think it's such a wise investment and let me know how it goes in a few years.

Any currency is simply a medium of exchange. It is not an investment.
Real estate is an investment.

Either has a far better return than the rapidly devaluing FRN dollar.

Against the dollar, gold has gone up over 1000x...or should I say that the FRN dollar has gone DOWN in value to 0.7 mils?
An ounce of gold is still an ounce of gold.