Thoughts on investing in gold/silver

[jinman]

OOoooo!!! Don't get me started with that one. We had a whacky, goggle glasses chain smoking electronics professor that year that tried to talk the whole class into investing in a little company called Intel and another called Microsoft. AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!

Good old hindsight! :laughing:

While I was growing up and going to school, I had to listen to my father complain that he should have taken his $10,000 that he bought the insurance agency with and invest it in a little upstart company on the north side of Dallas called Texas Instruments. Oh well. . . growing up poor helped us build character.

 

[foggy1111]

Charts and graphs of past performance are like shudda, wudda, and cudda. They just leave most of us wishing. Ive met few people whom really rang the bell on commodity plays....without giving it back again on the next transaction.

Most of those giant returns call for LOTS of courage at a time when prices for that stock (or metal or whatever) are extremely depressed. It's hard to belly up to the bar and put your money down when it appears to be the wrong thing to do. Those that have that insight and courage can reap a big reward.

One thing about those short-term commodity plays: You need to make two good timing decisions....when to buy AND when to sell. Few people can get both of 'em right.

It occurs to me that the gold/silver ship has already sailed....and you'd be chasing it. But who knows? :confused2:

Most of us are better off doing it via the diversified approach.....IMHO.

 

[Chuck52]

It occurs to me that the gold/silver ship has already sailed....and you'd be chasing it. But who knows? :confused2:

Most of us are better off doing it via the diversified approach.....IMHO.

I guess if I was thinking at all before my previous post that this is what I was thinking.

I probably get too hung up on things like "intrinsic value" and the like, when clearly there is very little connection between value and price when it comes to investing.:confused3:

Chuck

 

[/pine]

if you'd bought 1000 shares of Microsoft in 1982...

...the real value of investing in that particular stock (and others) is not so much in the per/share value but in the forward splits...

MSFT Splits: Sep 21, 1987 [2:1], Apr 16, 1990 [2:1], Jun 27, 1991 [3:2], Jun 15, 1992 [3:2], May 23, 1994 [2:1], Dec 9, 1996 [2:1], Feb 23, 1998 [2:1], Mar 29, 1999 [2:1], Feb 18, 2003 [2:1]

as the original 1k shares would now be 256k shares if I did the math right??

 

[smstonypoint]

<snip>

Most of those giant returns call for LOTS of courage at a time when prices for that stock (or metal or whatever) are extremely depressed. It's hard to belly up to the bar and put your money down when it appears to be the wrong thing to do. Those that have that insight and courage can reap a big reward.

One thing about those short-term commodity plays: You need to make two good timing decisions....when to buy AND when to sell. Few people can get both of 'em right.

It occurs to me that the gold/silver ship has already sailed....and you'd be chasing it. But who knows? :confused2:

Most of us are better off doing it via the diversified approach.....IMHO.

There's an old investment saying that goes "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." An advantage of dollar-cost averaging is that it gives you the the discipline to buy more of an asset when it's on sale at a low price and less when it's flying high.

Steve

 

[foggy1111]

If were looking to buy our overshoes in June.....maybe real estate is the next big move (again?). Problem is; the costs of possession are big on real estate (taxes, insurance, maintenance).....so that's where the REIT's and Funds shine....IMO. They do the work for you and provide liquidity. Good stuff. :thumbsup:

If big inflation is around the corner.....it seems real estate may be a safer play than gold. It may still be too early for a real estate play......but it's better than too late.

On second thought.....the Japanese are still waiting for their real estate market to turn around again.....and that's been nearly 20 years since it tanked for them.....no?

Hmmmmm....where did I put my Crystal Ball?

 

[MossRoad]

growing up poor helped us build character.

And TBN if chock full of characters! :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

There's an old investment saying that goes "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." An advantage of dollar-cost averaging is that it gives you the the discipline to buy more of an asset when it's on sale at a low price and less when it's flying high.

Steve

There's also a saying that goes like this:

Pigs get fat.
Hogs get slaughtered!

 

[tallyho8]

My thoughts on my investments in real estate and other: IN 1973 I invested (saved) $43,000.

A) In 1973 bought house for $16,000. In 2005 sold house for $120,000 with about $30,000 of hurricane damage to it. Made $36,000 in rental income after all expenses, taxes, repairs, insurance, interest. Profit $140,000 over 32 years on $16,000 investment.

B) In 1973 bought house for $15,000. Have made $85,000 in rental income after all expenses. Could sell house today for $190,000. Profit $260,000 over 37 years on $15,000 investment.

C) In 1973 saved $1000 in US silver coins. Today worth about $13,332. Profit $12,332 on $1000 investment in 37 years.

D) In 1973 hid $1000 in hundred dollar bills for emergency. Still have them. Still worth $1000. Huge loss in value due to inflation.

E) In 1973 put $10,000 in certificate of deposit. Still in bank. Value $71,340. Had to pay income tax on earnings every year.


I feel that real estate is the best possible way to invest money BUT it takes research, instinct, knowledge of the market, more work than any of the other ways and good luck.

 

[carpenter383]

Tallyho8 it sounds like you've done well for yourself! I like the idea of investing in real estate too, but it's a little out of my price range plus paying interest takes away from profit big time. The other problem with real estate is it's not very liquid compared to something like silver or gold which is an important thing to me in case of an emergency.
Thanks for all the other responses too, and keep em' comin'