Glenn Beck loves the Goooooolldddd

[Triple Zero]

i read on wikipedia that all the gold in the world today would be a cube of 20 meters cubed.

[Elder Iptuous]

i read on wikipedia that all the gold in the world today would be a cube of 20 meters cubed.

that's what i read in the recent national geographic magazine article on the subject. (161,000 tons currently)
it seems to agree with the information from other sources previously read regarding current estimates and rates of production...

interestingly, gold production rates have been in decline since 2000 despite the rising price of gold.
production costs have gone up, too.  i understand that it averages about $400/ozt now. 

From the World Gold Council FAQ:

How big is a tonne of gold?
Gold is traditionally weighed in Troy Ounces (31.1035 grammes). With the density of gold at 19.32 g/cm3, a troy ounce of gold would have a volume of 1.61 cm3. A metric tonne (equals 1,000kg = 32,150.72 troy ounces) of gold would therefore have a volume of 51,762 cm3 (i.e. 1.61 x 32,150.72), which would be equivalent to a cube of side 37.27cm (Approx. 1' 3'').

[Hangshai]

I didn't know that about the manufacturing, that's actually sort of comforting.  Well, I haven't been off of the left coast for a while, but the nearest GM factory in the Bay area (Vallejo maybe, or Hayward, not sure) is closing or just did close down, but I guess that's not the end of the world.  I was just sort of lamenting the fact that we dont have AS many manufacturing jobs.  I mean, are there ANY American companies that make TVs anymore?  Our first TV when I was a kid was one of those HUGE wooden Zeniths.  I dunno, maybe I need to stop reading so much news, its making it sound like we're already in some kind of post-apocalypse.

[Requia ☣]

We have lots of manufacturing here, but very few manufacturing jobs.  Most of what you see in the US is automated, the handful of workers are there for maintenance.  The stuff that can't be automated (or it isn't economical) is what went to China.

[Hangshai]

yeah, forgot about the robots.

[Hangshai]

So I was talking to a friend of mine, she's back home visiting for the holidays.  She happened to mention to me how Republicans want people to buy gold 'so everyone will have it and it will bring down the value, meanwhile, making all the Republicans rich cause they're the ones selling the gold(I figured she was referring to guys like Glenn Beck)'.  She's a musician, and she wants to teach piano, so shes working on her Masters in Piano pedagogy.  Oh, and she used to be in a Rock and Roll band...  Well, put all that together and you get a bleedin' heart, I guess.  I won't mention who pays for her school, but thats another matter all together.  Anyway, I started telling her about how if you actually WATCH gold, it goes up and down, but there is a pattern Ive noticed in the past 5 or so years.  It has these small ups and downs, and every once and a while, it goes WAAY up and then stays there for a while, bounces up and down, and then goes WAAAY up again.  Its been doing this since the '90s when it was about 300 an oz.  Anyway, Im probably stating the obvious here, since I spotted it pretty quickly and it just seems to make sense that if you catch it on a down swing, you're 'golden', as the saying goes.  Well, earlier this year when India bought all that gold they bought, which is pretty normal for them but when you put it together with all the other crap going on and doomsayer repub pubdits, well, you get a run on gold.  I Know it got into the 1200s.  Anyway, my point is, today its at 1086 and dropping like a rock.  If it hits 1000, buy like a fucking bandit, cause in 6 months you will make a killing.  Thats what I meant.  I mean, seriously, the world isnt REALLY gonna end, and if it does, who fucking cares.

[the last yatto]

Remember Norton I thought his rice was a valuable commodity 

[the last yatto]

I want to buy gold, if only for the reason to have something that is tangible

anything rare is useful for this. currently gold is under hyperinflation
your better off buying rare coins and waiting for the price to return to normal. (my guess is about 6-7 hundred)
gold is heavy and not easily hidden (METAL)

and if there is another economic crash that leaves the government intact
expect them to take your gold like they did back when the market crashed about what a hundred years ago
we are a few years ahead... so its not quite a hundred but still

[the last yatto]

and it peaked in 1980  at 2296.28 if you adjust for inflation

[Elder Iptuous]

I want to buy gold, if only for the reason to have something that is tangible

anything rare is useful for this. currently gold is under hyperinflation
your better off buying rare coins and waiting for the price to return to normal. (my guess is about 6-7 hundred)

although it's not stated, it should be implicit that liquidability is also desired in an asset that is a store of wealth.  so 'anything rare' isn't quite as good as gold.  (i'm not sure what you mean about gold being under hyperinflation...)
as far as buying rare coins, you're probably right.  assuming that one is a numismatist.  otherwise your just setting yourself up.

gold is heavy and not easily hidden (METAL)

wha?  the wealth density of Au well outpaces the mass density.  it's pretty easy to hide, and doesn't take much room for a ridiculous amount of tangible value.

and if there is another economic crash that leaves the government intact
expect them to take your gold like they did back when the market crashed about what a hundred years ago
we are a few years ahead... so its not quite a hundred but still

they passed a law, and some people turned in their gold, but it is my understanding that there was not any gold forcibly removed (except some people that kept it in a 'safety' deposit box), nor was there a single arrest/conviction under the law.

[the last yatto]

what will liquidability look like after the crash?
isnt that why they are stockpiling the stuff? cause cash might mold under their shitty mattress

and not sure if the law was used, but if they had an issue with someone
im betting they used "gold" as an excuse to get in the front door.

[Requia ☣]

When they took gold away, they also payed 50-something percent more than the previous market value, the people who had been hoarding gold made a bundle.

I would suggest silver in the current market though, less hype, no bubble, and a spool of silver wire isn't the most noticeable thing in the world.

[Elder Iptuous]

what will liquidability look like after the crash?
isnt that why they are stockpiling the stuff? cause cash might mold under their shitty mattress

Based on historical examples, it will be very liquidable.
C.f.  Weimar Germany, Argentina, Zimbabwe, etc.

and not sure if the law was used, but if they had an issue with someone
im betting they used "gold" as an excuse to get in the front door.

It is my understanding that they never used it at all, successfully.
but that was a different time....
if the govt. was trying to raise cash by stealing from the public nowadays, they wouldn't confiscate gold anyways.
i'm guessing they would take your 401k...

I would suggest silver in the current market though, less hype, no bubble, and a spool of silver wire isn't the most noticeable thing in the world.

I like silver.  but it's certainly not as value dense with the current gold to silver ratio being 67...
do you actually buy silver wire as means of wealth storage?
doesn't that have a ridiculous premium over current spot price?
and how do you intend to exit when you need to?  sell to refinery?  after paying such a premium?

[Vene]

This is hyperinflation.


For roughly the past 10 years, the value of gold has been increasing exponentially. Exponential growth is not sustainable growth, this is the same thing seen with the housing bubble and the tech bubble before each of them burst. Hell, just look at what happened around 1980, same mathematical growth pattern, it plummeted in value after all that growth. The value of gold is going to crash and it is going to crash hard.

[Elder Iptuous]

it's not quite as simple as that sounds, though.
for instance, the gold price in 1980 was dragged up by the Hunt brothers when they cornered the silver market, no?  how high would it have got without that?
further, there is a significant body of evidence showing how central banks have been actively suppressing the price of gold for some decades now.  this recent runup could then be seen as their grip on this market slipping....


ETA: i'm not saying that this growth is sustainable by any means.  i'm just saying that the chart would indicate a significantly lower 'fair price' than we have now, and imply that there is a crash coming soon.  i think that the blow off top will be significantly higher, and that the bull still has some good legs on it....