Well, What happened to all the GOLD HOARDERS ?

[EE_Bota]

So, just for those who are keeping score, according to Kitco, on June 6, gold was around 1400. Between Dec. 28 and June 28, it went from about 1700 to about 1200. All in all, I'd give Grumpy a pass on this one. Not a home run, but not a strike-out either. It only went down $500, and it took slightly longer than 6 months. On the other hand, if anybody had money on it, he lost fair and square.

I disagree only slightly in that I wouldn't give him a break on both the time and the amount, but rather one or the other.
I do think he has good reason to be proud of his prediction though, "not too shabby" may be a fitting comment.

 

[EE_Bota]

Say what? Nobody knew that pyramid scheme was going to go bust?:confused2:

Yea, I knew. My investing buddies knew too. We were not smart enough to figure out how to place counter-bets that the government wouldn't cheat us out of once they go into stimulus mode. Yea, we also knew that: The government and the Fed will fight you if you try to profit on the short side. They will prop the thing up until small investors like me lose our shorts (pun was not intended, but is darn appropriate.)

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Didn't saw it wasn't hard work. At some logging sites a person never sets foot on the ground. Machinery with an operator gets it done. The bigger trees still require cutters, choker setters, and log deck crew. They work their butts off and it is dangerous work.

That's why there will never be jobs for everyone. Work that once needed a 20 man logging crew can be done by 2 guys with equipment. Nobody hires ditch diggers any more, because one guy with a backhoe can do the work. 40 years ago every large business hired an army of stenographers and file clerks, all gone now. Meanwhile, high tech industries employ fewer people now than they did in 1990.

The old days when a strong back and a willingness to work would get you somewhere are gone. The robots are here, and automation is only going to accelerate. Been through a supermarket self-checkout lately?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Gold is a commodity, like any other metal. World gold production in 2012 was 2700 metric tons, worth almost $125 billion at $1500/troy oz. If you try to monetize gold, you quickly reach a saturation point. The stuff is too expensive to spend unless you are buying yachts or real estate. The runup in price was just speculation, the definition of a bubble. If you are going to buy gold, wear it.

 

[EE_Bota]

That's why there will never be jobs for everyone. Work that once needed a 20 man logging crew can be done by 2 guys with equipment. Nobody hires ditch diggers any more, because one guy with a backhoe can do the work. 40 years ago every large business hired an army of stenographers and file clerks, all gone now. Meanwhile, high tech industries employ fewer people now than they did in 1990.

The old days when a strong back and a willingness to work would get you somewhere are gone. The robots are here, and automation is only going to accelerate. Been through a supermarket self-checkout lately?

Back injuries are a problem. Many are real, many are fake, and we don't know which is which. So we pretend they are all real, and we do more and more to make it so a person cannot injure their back (don't have to lift anything!) But pretty soon, someone is grabbing their back, yelling ouch, and we have a recordable. Orders come down to minions like me "replace that position with a machine. We cannot injure our people." I do, but there is one less person employed, and I don't even get the additional help needed to maintain the machine.

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

I'm sorry , I'm sorry I was raised in a time that a man was judged by hard work ,honesty ,love of family and friends and a commitment to God , you were proud to have an America flag sticker on your truck (I still do ,Right next to my Romney/Ryan bumper sticker) You were proud of your government and had a tractor in your barn because you needed one not as a urban fashion statement ! You helped your friends and not at your discount rate ,You bought your food from a local farmer or grew your own , You got up with the chickens and worked hard all day to make your family proud and try to get ahead ! When your tractor got stuck or broke down you fixed it yourself and not by calling someone to save you ! I'm getting old and grumpy and maybe I'm a little too set in my ways to see any value in banks or stock brokers or cubicle workers .I see more value in the man who produces than the weak consumers of today .Yes, I have a cell phone but refuse to carry it around .I don't live to impress my neighbors and I keep moving further out to try to keep some of the values I grew up with and see no value in relying on someone else to provide for me . I laugh when someone buys a new home for $500,000.00 and they live 10 feet from their neighbor instead of buying some land and some privacy .Are you living for yourself or are you living to impress someone who really won't remember or care about you after your gone ? A $20.00 jar of moonshine will get you just as drunk as a $100.00 bottle of fancy tequila . Sit down for a minute and think about how much more money you would have if you didn't try to impress your neighbors . Investing in gold is a game for the big boys and buying anything less than a kilo at a time is just wishful thinking .

 

[MossRoad]

You need to realize that most "cubicle workers" have the same hopes, dreams, concerns and responsibilities that you do and stop insinutating that they are less of a person than you because of their occupation.

 

[aczlan]

You need to realize that most "cubicle workers" have the same hopes, dreams, concerns and responsibilities that you do and stop insinutating that they are less of a person than you because of their occupation.

Ayep and some of them (like me) also have tractors, work their farms in their "spare" time (FYI, its MUCH harder to do hay around the schedule of a fulltime job), etc.

Aaron Z

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

You need to realize that most "cubicle workers" have the same hopes, dreams, concerns and responsibilities that you do and stop insinutating that they are less of a person than you because of their occupation.

Seems I hit a nerve , That would explain the little pt245. it's cute !

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

You need to realize that most "cubicle workers" have the same hopes, dreams, concerns and responsibilities that you do and stop insinutating that they are less of a person than you because of their occupation.

Seems I hit a nerve , That would explain the little pt245. it's cute !