Gold!

May 12, 2010 9:22 pm

I had a client, Little old lady call me today woundering if she she should buy GOLD.

More and more TV adds.   

I have had clients in and out of gold for the last several years but this took the cake.

Buyer beware a bubble maybe forming.  

May 12, 2010 9:50 pm

May be forming? 

The current assumption is that the US dollar can't sustain itself in the face of the mounting pressures from the EU, China, etc against us.  If your little old lady client can tell you why that may or may not be true, then I say let her buy some gold. 

If I hear Glen Beck, Michael Savage, or Sean Hannity shilling for their gold company one more time, I may have to become a liberal. 

May 12, 2010 10:04 pm

Long term, gold wins when everything goes to hell. So when you invest(not really an investment in my mind) in gold, you are betting on a major long term collapse. So, even if you win, you lose. Not a good bet. If you're that intent on blowing your money, go to Vegas. At least in Vegas they'll comp you free booze while you're screwing up your finances.

May 13, 2010 5:05 am

Gold is not liquid. Kind of like having a gun, if you have one, be prepared to use it. In that case, you probably want to own both of these hard assets.

May 13, 2010 12:21 pm

How about suggesting a mining concern rather than the actual commodity? You get the appreciation as the metal runs up without having to purhase/move/custody the physical asset.

May 13, 2010 3:24 pm

I am talking more are about when the general public starts to get abscessed with an asset class a top mybe near.

I realize it will go up in the near term as the  big banks sell there Euros and buy Gold.    

May 13, 2010 3:32 pm

Hard assets will become the play as currencies are getting diluted. If you don't sell it to her, she'll buy it somewhere else. 

May 18, 2010 9:46 pm

[quote=Spaceman Spiff]

May be forming? 

The current assumption is that the US dollar can't sustain itself in the face of the mounting pressures from the EU, China, etc against us.  If your little old lady client can tell you why that may or may not be true, then I say let her buy some gold. 

If I hear Glen Beck, Michael Savage, or Sean Hannity shilling for their gold company one more time, I may have to become a liberal. 

[/quote]

So I take it your not a progressive

Jun 25, 2010 8:25 pm

How about you buy silver? Less silver than gold in the world and its being consumed because it has industrial value. Its 70% below it all time high, we have inflation on the horizon, and the historic ratio is 16 oz silver = 1 oz gold. Right now we are  around 60 oz silver = 1 oz gold ...Silver has a lot of catching up to do!

Jun 26, 2010 1:07 am

If you look at Relative Strenght, you will see that Silver beats Gold right now. Started buying today.

Jun 26, 2010 1:28 am

I purchased silver back in October. I am just starting at MSSB in the next few weeks, so as soon as I get some more capital from my first pay check I plan on putting all my savings into silver. Are you buying physical silver, SLV, or SLW?

Jun 26, 2010 1:32 am

How do you find relative strength?

Jun 26, 2010 1:32 am

How do you find relative strength?

Jun 26, 2010 1:51 am

You're gonna put all your savings in Silver?

 Boy do you have a lot to learn. Dont ever ever ever tell a client to do that. In fact dont ever ever ever tell a client that YOU are going to do that. In fact. Dont do it.

Relative Strenght is not easily found wihtout experience in the biz. Spend time passing your 7 first then spend time meeting a lotttttt of people.

Good luck.

Jun 26, 2010 2:59 pm

My savings is relatively low so its not like I am putting 6 figures into silver. I am recently out of college and want to make money in something, and I think silver is my best bet.

I already have my 7, I was working for an Indy firm that didn't give me any training at all. Now I can finally get decent knowledge of the business at MSSB.

Why are you hating on silver?

Jun 26, 2010 7:34 pm

Did you see me say i hate Silver? I said Silver beats Gold right now on RS.

I don't hate Silver. Thats not the issue. The issue is you don't know what you are doing. It doesnt matter how much you have. Or how little. If you don't have much its even more important to be less aggressive. Putting everything you have into one investment is idioticv. Whether its silver, gold, IBM, or betting it all on black.

Jun 27, 2010 4:47 pm

[quote=Sportsfreakbob]

Did you see me say i hate Silver? I said Silver beats Gold right now on RS.

I don't hate Silver. Thats not the issue. The issue is you don't know what you are doing. It doesnt matter how much you have. Or how little. If you don't have much its even more important to be less aggressive. Putting everything you have into one investment is idioticv. Whether its silver, gold, IBM, or betting it all on black.

[/quote]

So it is better to be more aggressive as you portfolio increases? This guy should be really aggressive until he has enough to diversify then diversify until he has enough to hedge then hedge until he has enough to leave a legacy.

Y&H - Silver as a single holding is a fools play not an aggressive play. Just use AOA until you get enough to move to step 2.

Jun 28, 2010 2:25 am

Didn't say, or mean to say, that he should be aggressive as he gets more money.

He is just starting out in the business. He can't afford to lose money because he isnt going to make any for a while.  He is taking a big enough risk coming into the business. I am assuming he has to support himself, if he is living with mom and dad, maybe its another story. But part of being in this busienss is learning to be disciplined, and no better place to start than with your own money.

Jun 28, 2010 1:39 pm

What is AOA?

Jun 28, 2010 9:37 pm

iShares S&P Aggressive Allocation (AOA)

Jun 29, 2010 12:25 am

Never, but it has outperformed the entire market

Jun 29, 2010 3:00 am

YNH - You are dangerous.

Jun 29, 2010 3:18 am

haha how am I dangerous? I just feel monetizing of debt across the globe, precious metals have to go up. The debt problems only seem to be getting worse. 

Jun 30, 2010 4:27 am

How about with a gold or silver ETF? I am very new so I am sorry for stupid questions. I am just trying to expand my knowledge so I can be a good advisor when I start. 

The best bet for a dividend, if I like metals, would be in a mining company? Perhaps Cour de Alene?

I actually own silver, I think it is a better investment than gold. I am just trying to figure out the safest things to be in, if we have another financial meltdown and inflation becomes an issue. What do you think?

Jun 30, 2010 11:52 pm

Thanks for the input.

I am going to working for MSSB...Do they teach you everything you need to know about financial products and what the best course of action is for your clients or do they give you a phone and say go? I start in two weeks and have been reading Bill Good's book on prospecting so I think I will have that down pretty well by then, but I do not know much about different financial products and how they work, taxes, dividends, etc

Jul 2, 2010 6:51 pm

YNH - I work for a major wire (may or may not rhyme with Errol Flynch). Trust me, they don't teach squat about actual products other than the L&L or B&L. They harp on 'building your practice' which is broker speak for asset gathering. I love it where I am, but I wouldn't ever say they taught me about financial products.

You can take advantage of moutnains of research they have available on markets, products, etc. But that will be on you.

As for Gold, unlike the poster above said, it's the most liquid asset you can buy. More liquid than USD globally. (You can't buy anything with USD in Ghana, but they take gold).  Most of the time Gold and Oil are used for liquidity when large funds or investors get margin or capital calls. So,illliquidity is off the table.

To those that said you can't afford to be aggressive with so little money. It's just the opposite. Diversification (theoretically) keeps you from losing money (i.e. spreads risk) whereas concentration in one position is the opposite. The reason that most billionaires in the world are the way the are is because of concentration of their holdings (Bill gates, Steve Jobs, Carlos Slim, T Boone Pickens, Michael Dell, Branson, The Hunt Family, the Waltons, Donald Trump, etc). They all made riches by concentrating their wealth not diversifying accross asset classes. (Even the great Warren Buffet made his money buying shares in INDIVIDUAL companies not in the markets. His own quote about concentration shows that).

That being said, concentration is a high risk / high reward game. I would say if you are young and you want to do it, now is the time. I would also say that GOLD or Silver is a terrible way to go about it. Those are historically hedges rather than the investment itself. The fact that people are looking to GOLD as an investment  and not a hedge is what indicates it's well into the bubble stage.

If you're going to concentrate on something why not go with the beaten up Bank Stocks or Exxon or Apple. Companies that have true growth or virtual monopolies on markets that are in high demand.