Current Gold Price

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 15 Jul 2011, 00:55

Catweazle wrote:Not wishing to piss on anyones candle here, but do many powerswitch members actually give a toss what gold is worth today ?

In a world of finite resources does it really matter what currency is strongest ? There isn't going to be enough useful stuff to go around, you might be able to buy yourself a bit more than Mr Average with your stash of precious metal, but it won't last for long.

Do something useful, buy some land and plant some trees instead, or buy a greenhouse and grow some food.

Buying gold makes you part of the problem, not the solution, as it diverts human energy into pointless mining instead of useful agriculture.

Excellent points Cat.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 15 Jul 2011, 08:45

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 15 Jul 2011, 09:01

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... avels.html

Fuelling the blaze, the emerging powers of Asia are almost all running uber-loose monetary policies. Most have negative real interest rates that push citizens out of bank accounts and into gold, or property. China is an arch-inflater. Prices are rising at 6.4pc, yet the one-year deposit rate is just 3.5pc

Its interesting to note that a 1yr fixed deposit with the post office pays 3.41% interest, and UK RPI is only 5%

Still pretty piss poor, but better than supposedly economicaly titanic China.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 15 Jul 2011, 12:14

Catweazle wrote:Not wishing to piss on anyones candle here, but do many powerswitch members actually give a toss what gold is worth today ?

Anyone who is interested in the financial crash. The price of gold is the price of the current level of fear within the ranks of our economic overlords. An uncontrollable, rapid rise in the price of precious metals is likely to lead to the end of the existing fiat money system. This fiat money system is part of the problem. The reason people believe(d) a fiat money system was better than a gold-backed system was because the money supply needs to be able to grow to reflect economic growth. But economic growth is only possible with ever-increasing consumption of resources. So there is a strong case that in a world where economic growth is no longer possible, currencies should be backed by gold.

In a world of finite resources does it really matter what currency is strongest ? There isn't going to be enough useful stuff to go around, you might be able to buy yourself a bit more than Mr Average with your stash of precious metal, but it won't last for long.

I realise that.

Do something useful, buy some land and plant some trees instead, or buy a greenhouse and grow some food.

The reason I haven't bought more precious metals than I already have done is that I am waiting to inherit some money and I hope to have just enough to be able to buy some property with land.

Buying gold makes you part of the problem, not the solution, as it diverts human energy into pointless mining instead of useful agriculture.

That's not true. Very little gold is mined in goldmines. Most of it is a byproduct of copper and lead mining, or comes from recycled old jewellery. I'm not part of the problem because I've bought gold. I am simply faced with the choice of keeping paper money or holding precious metals, and I've decided to choose the latter.

I'm fascinated by the price of gold because of schadenfreude. I want to watch the monkeys on Wall Street panicking as their world collapses. I want to watch the pundits on CNBC trying to explain to the audience what is happening, and where it will end. This will give me great pleasure.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 15 Jul 2011, 12:39

UE
Gold can and is as fractionaly reservable as paper money.

It follows the same rules.

Take a deposit of £100/100g of gold
Issue £95/95g as loans.
Default when the loan defaults.

Paper just attaches a handy government cant default line

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 15 Jul 2011, 12:44

DominicJ wrote:UE
Gold can and is as fractionaly reservable as paper money.

It follows the same rules.

Take a deposit of £100/100g of gold
Issue £95/95g as loans.
Default when the loan defaults.

Paper just attaches a handy government cant default line

I'm not quite sure what you are saying here. If I deposit £100 in cash in a bank, under a fractional reserve system the bank can then lend out £900 (or whatever...) in money it just created from thin air. If I deposit 100g of gold, the bank cannot lend out 900g of gold.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 15 Jul 2011, 13:44

UE
No, if you deposit £100, bank lends out £90....

Really dont want to get into an arguement about this again, so, happy for you to disagree.

GlynG · Post by **GlynG** » 15 Jul 2011, 13:45

Catweazle wrote:Not wishing to piss on anyones candle here, but do many powerswitch members actually give a toss what gold is worth today ?

You might not be interested and fair enough, but considering we're up to 12 pages of the thread already obviously some of us do.

Catweazle wrote:In a world of finite resources does it really matter what currency is strongest ?

Of course it does for those involved! Read some of the accounts of the hyperinflation in Argentina. Those that their savings in dollars or gold had their purchasing power protected and boosted, while those with the rapidly devaluing currency lost a lot of purchasing power and found themselves in serious trouble, potentially no longer able to afford enough basic necessities.

Do something useful, buy some land and plant some trees instead, or buy a greenhouse and grow some food.

This presupposes we have sufficient money to buy these, I don't! I have negligible money in the world (around £2k) and no job or home. I need to save up £50k over the coming years to buy land in the tropics for a subsidence farm and forest garden. If I can significantly increase the value of money I earn by saving it in the form of gold and reduce the time taken to get there then I will.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 15 Jul 2011, 14:10

DominicJ wrote:UE
No, if you deposit £100, bank lends out £90....

Really dont want to get into an arguement about this again, so, happy for you to disagree.

I disagree. In a fractional reserve system at 10%, if you deposit £100 then the bank can lend out £900.

Any third parties interested in finding out who is right might want to check out the following active thread, where precisely the same argument is going on. "Skeptic-PK" is defending dominic's position very badly, and everybody else posting in thread is telling him he is wrong.

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=209862

Janco2 · Post by **Janco2** » 15 Jul 2011, 17:10

+1 to Catweazel also.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 15 Jul 2011, 17:38

Can I respectfully suggest that if all you have to say is +1 to "there's no point in this thread", that you don't bother?

If you aren't interested in this thread, don't read it. Please don't fill it up with pointless posts.

ujoni08 · Post by **ujoni08** » 15 Jul 2011, 19:48

I think UE and others are right about gold, even if we consider a range of timescales and outcomes. I don't KNOW this, but it's just my opinion, after reading around the subject a bit. Everyone will have his own opinions, of course, and it's just part of the healthy debate I hope we can have on this forum.

Incidentally, I was talking a personal banker in the bank about 6 weeks ago, and she agreed that the interest rates were rubbish. I mentioned that I had taken out my savings to buy gold, and she said off record that she thought it was a very wise move, and admitted that she had done the same with half of her savings.

Jon

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 15 Jul 2011, 21:47

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... avels.html

Code: Select all

Return of the Gold Standard as world order unravels
As the twin pillars of international monetary system threaten to come tumbling down in unison, gold has reclaimed its ancient status as the anchor of stability. The spot price surged to an all-time high of $1,594 an ounce in London, lifting silver to $39 in its train

"One of the big US banks texted me today to say that if QE3 actually happens, we could see gold at $5,000 and silver at $1,000. I feel terribly sorry for anybody on fixed incomes tied to a fiat currency because they are not going to be able to buy things with that paper money."

I sense the explosion in gold (and silver) is coming... time to buy gold relatively cheaply is coming to the end.

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 15 Jul 2011, 22:20

http://www.financialsense.com/financial ... y-gold-now

Marc Faber says QE3, More Inflation Coming and Advises Buying Gold Now

http://www.financialsense.com/contribut ... alf-part-1

Anather take on where gold prices might go...

I believe there is to be a big move in precious metals over the next six months but the direction of that move is unclear. There is both a bearish and bullish case to be made and being open to both sides and knowing what to look for will help investors to be on the right side of the investing equation.

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 17 Jul 2011, 20:47

http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-gol ... +Willie+CB

Gold has broken out in British Pound currency terms. That completes the trifecta in gold breakout in three major currencies. The UK banking system is in ruins. The UKEconomy is in deadly decline. Price inflation has arrived. Rupert Murdoch has provided a nice distraction in London, much bigger than Manchester United.

The Silver price gains in US$ terms will continue to triple the Gold price gains, but Silver must be given a little time to overcome the spiked springtime top near $50.