You might be interested in this. It is from a longer series of photos showing the effects of the recession worldwide.
Posted on 03/21/2009 5:54:42 PM PDT by djf
Local Seattle stations have been on somewhat of a binge reminding folks that they only have a few more days to sell their scrap gold at "Gold-O-Rama", a short term affair at a local mall.
Showing smiling faces of folks who get a couple hundred dollars for old wedding rings, one woman didn't smile much, she turned in her tooth, you know, various bling. "Scrap gold" they call it.
I am curious if FReepers in other parts of the world are seeing these little temporary market conditions. Also, I cannot help but think that it means we are looking at higher gold prices, possibly MUCH higher.
I mean we don't see a "Real-Estate-O-Rama" or a "New-Car-O-Rama" or a "Stocks-and-Bonds-O-Rama" going on anywhere.
Thoughts...???
You might like to take a look at gold articles on these sites:
The Aden sisters also track gold closely from their comfortable perch in Costa Rica, and their advice to subscribers is epitomized here very conveniently:
http://news.goldseek.com/AdenResearch/
I can also recommend Goldseek.com as a source of gold-bug commentary, news and analysis generally, with the proviso that people who don't know about the den of thieves called "junior mining companies" (which are often nothing more than two guys and a story) ought to stay away from them, and from any stock that has a (V) in the stock's ticker symbol.
There are a number of mutual funds that buy shares of gold-mining companies, but persons interested in gold should take care: gold and gold-mining stocks' shares diverged violently last year during the market carnage, so go visit a stock-charting site and pull up e.g. GLD, the "paper gold" shares traded openly on the COMEX, and compare its performance during the 2008 market-melt and commodities "hack-attack" (actually, a "long squeeze") organized by "The President's Working Group on Capital Markets" (the Fed, Treasury, CFTC, and other players) last July.
It's a long story, but you have to read the story before you get involved. There is a lot more to gold markets and mining shares than meets the eye.
I’ve heard that the prices offered for jewelry at these places is very low, relative to the actual by-weight value.
Well, I was surprised by a couple things... one, that it sort of sprung up out of nowhere, two, that the local media almost seems in cahoots with them to get the public to sell as much gold as they can, and three, that given the recent high(er) prices in gold, there was so much enthusiasm to get people to part with it, that not acting like a market that’s oversold.
And we know about Comex. Thirty million ounces of open interest contracts. Which is about twenty five million fewer ounces than they actually have!
It’s definitely “down market,” but common in most parts of the world.
You might be interested in this. It is from a longer series of photos showing the effects of the recession worldwide.
OOps... 25 million ounces fewer SB 25 million ounces more than they actually have...
Exactly these are just shrewd businessmen praying on the ignorant and poor people who need cash.
Katie Kupferschmid (left) and Lisa Arata test gold jewelry at a gold party March 12, 2009 in West Orange, New Jersey. Gold parties are a growing trend in the United States where a hostess invites friends and family to bring their unwanted gold to sell for extra income. The price is based on karat content, weight and the market price of gold that day.
Link: HERE
Well, I paid for a 100 oz bar Ag in Dec.
Picked it up yesterday, already worth $250 more than I paid.
;-)
That’s about 22% in 3 months.
If anyone tries to steal it, I’ll chuck it at them and bash their brains out with it!
The other side of the coin is that gold has made a 50% retracement -- it's within a couple points of completing that retracement -- of what it lost in the big downleg last summer and fall, into the November lows. So it may not be prudent to expect a lot more here. Remember, prospects look cheeriest and skies bluest from the top of the ferris wheel.
Another way to put it is, the longer-term commodities-markets bear case hasn't yet been exploded by a sustained rally above the "50% retracement" (which, again for emphasis, is 50% of the big loss from last July to last November -- it's a 100% surge since November, but we're still well short of the highs of last summer).
One can still want protection from inflation, esp. in savings. For tax-deferred accounts (not regular accounts), Treasury TIPS (inflation-protected securities) offer some protection. Gold is still better, or gold-mining preferred issues like Hecla Preferred Shares "B" and "C", which see. Those issues offer more protection than the common, and bigger dividends. Right now, gold and mining shares are so low, that the preferred shares are acting more like common issues, tracking the price of gold. But keep in mind the big divergence between the performance of bullion last year and that of the mining companies, including their preferred issues.
Gold jewelry is only partly gold by weight, 14K is only about half gold.
There are also handling costs, smelting costs, overhead and so on. All this comes out of the price the retail seller realizes.
Gold is outa my league too. That’s why I stick to the poor man’s gold when I have a few extra bucks.
“Several companies are mining the phenomenon, which first began to thrive in Michigan a couple of years ago amid the struggles of the auto industry. My Gold Party LLC now has at least 35 representatives running parties in 21 states and is looking for more, said January Thomas, co-owner of the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan-based company.”
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090318/na_us_meltdown_gold_parties.html?.&.pf=family-home
Lentus, what is the issue regarding the mining stocks having a ‘V’ in their stock index code? I hadn’t heard anything along those lines; any place I could get some information or detail? Thanks for the heads up.
It’s a step along the road.
If I recall correctly, most of those 30 million come due all in one month in the near future. Is that correct, and, if so, when is that month?
I am a big fan of FerFAL. His posts are chilling. God help us if we end up with the same fate as Argentina.
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