Gold

[BIRMANBOY]

El Zorro did you have a couple of Heinies with dinner?? So here is my definition (for what its worth)
INVESTOR: contributing/advancing time, energy or capital into a project or entity with the reasonable and considered expectation that not only will they receive a dividend or interest but that their capital will retain or increase in value. Bases their purchases on underlying value and history and future outlook.
TRADER: looks to make money on the spread or difference between buying and selling the item regardless if its camels or shares. Will usually utilize stategys to limit losses and cries a lot when the strategy backfires or doesnt "work".
SPECULATOR: Uses a "scatter" technique wherby they dont really know which of the prospects is going to hit the jackpot so spreads the cash over a wide variety of stocks in the HOPE that one will pay out. Limited information on which to make decisions other than self-serving reports from hired guns and "experts in the field" Has a tendency to forget the no-shows and harp endlessly over the multibagger they remember vividly.
You just have to look at Steve Fleming's footnote to understand he probably does do a lot better than most of us. So read his comments politely.[/QUOTE]
How would I know that from his footnote??? and more importantly How sucessfull he is really of little interest to me since we obviously have completely different investment perspectives. Also politeness is obviously lacking in his post so we wont broach that subject. Bottom line El Zorro is You say potatoes and I say potahtoes..We each do what seems best to ourselves and there aint no pockets in shrouds as the old man used to say.
QUOTE=elZorro;355605]Can I just butt in here: that's a load of rubbish BB, we have seen the experienced TA people yank all their money off the table when things start going pear-shaped, then sitting back and telling us so. Were their shares investments, or just a gamble too? They still call themselves 'investors'.

I have found sharetrading is like starting up a business, don't expect great results for the first few years, and you'll need to work hard at your craft. You just have to look at Steve Fleming's footnote to understand he probably does do a lot better than most of us. So read his comments politely.[/QUOTE]

[Skol]

You can do all the research you like on mining but in many instances it's still nothing more than a gamble. The run-up to the 1987 crash was a classic with shonky mining companies being set up everywhere and now the same thing's happening again with record numbers of suction dredge premits pumps being issued in Alaska.

What did Mark Twain say - "a gold mine is a hole in the ground owned by a liar".

http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories...c_gpspoa.shtml

Another contrarian warning.

[elZorro]

You can do all the research you like on mining but in many instances it's still nothing more than a gamble. The run-up to the 1987 crash was a classic with shonky mining companies being set up everywhere and now the same thing's happening again with record numbers of suction dredge premits pumps being issued in Alaska.

What did Mark Twain say - "a gold mine is a hole in the ground owned by a liar".

www.alaskajournal.com/stories/082611/loc_gpspoa.shtml

Another contrarian warning.

Skol, only you could take a very positive article about the increased interest in gold mining in Alaska, and turn it into a contrarian warning.. look at the flow-on benefits to the local economies and contractors.

[Skol]

Depends whether you want to put your hard-earned tax-paid dollars into something that's at 31 year highs or something that's beaten down and probably quite good value like the stockmarket.

Did you know before World War 1 the USA was the worlds biggest debtor nation. Debt is not a big deal, it'll sort itself out in the end.

[denpal]

It seems Mark Twain never actually said or wrote that: http://searchenginewatch.com/article...n-the-Internet

It's a great saying though. I thought it went " A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar standing beside it".

So, skol, how many bubbles have popped on you?

[elZorro]

Depends whether you want to put your hard-earned tax-paid dollars into something that's at 31 year highs or something that's beaten down and probably quite good value like the stockmarket.

Did you know before World War 1 the USA was the worlds biggest debtor nation. Debt is not a big deal, it'll sort itself out in the end.

Hi Skol, I didn't know that, but since you brought it up, how did they pay off that debt, did they have a bit of assistance?

[Skol]

It seems Mark Twain never actually said or wrote that: http://searchenginewatch.com/article...n-the-Internet

It's a great saying though. I thought it went " A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar standing beside it".

So, skol, how many bubbles have popped on you?

Same thing right, whatever he said.

Never been caught in a crash. I've been a contrarian for years, seen a few crashes, 1987, 2000 NASDAQ, GFC, Asian bubble, 1980 gold crash, Nikkei 225, Albanian scams, et.al, heaps of them.

FYI denpal, if gold takes a dive to $900 that's a 50% decrease, to get back to $1800 it needs to increase 100%, a big ask.

[Huang Chung]

FYI denpal, if gold takes a dive to $900 that's a 50% decrease, to get back to $1800 it needs to increase 100%, a big ask.

Well Skol, gold was around $1,100 when you started this thread on 31 December 2009....so your 'big ask' is only a little more that was has happened during the life of this thread.

PS...I always laugh at that 50% decline needs a 100% increase to get square argument. Fact is, using your figures, it's $900 in both directions.

[elZorro]

When shares drop 5% in a day I always think 'just 19 more days and there'd be nothing left' but it never happens like that, luckily. Maybe that's why a logarithmic chart often straightens out many trends.

This recently published book looks like it would be interesting, maybe a tough read too. The author notes a link between energy supply and growth.

http://www.businessworld.in/business...html?print=yes

Many in the USA are getting used to lower pay, reduced living standards. But in Aussie, solar panels can now put energy into the grid for about the same price as coal-fired electricity. We have the ability to bring about these energy supply changes that are needed. For the meantime, I think the gold price is an indicator that the changes are not happening quickly enough.

[Skol]

Interesting you should mention the logarithmic chart. If gold gets back to where it was in 1980 adjusted for inflation that's about a 2200% increase. If gold got to $5000 which many goldbugs expect, that's in the realms of 20,000 to 30,000%, up there with the tulip bulbs.