I am old enough to remember the panic of 1974 and the Arab oil embargo, and about that time
Americans, some of us anyway were learning about "investing " in legal "rare" gold coins. Prior to that
time it was illegal to own gold except for jewelry. There was inflation EVERYWHERE!! There were serious
discussions regarding the "end of equities". I tend to agree that longterm, accumulation of real assetts
in the form of land, real industrial business stocks, a little gold and platinum, NOT silver (too much hiding in India
and photography is IMHO a dying business for silver interests), all at the right prices of course...but the question remains in WHAT form to hold monetary assetts. Dollar may inflate but Swiss Franc is suspect IMHO, since the gnomes of Zurich are actually selling a sizeable chunk of their gold hoard to pay for their own social programs. Whoduthunk? I have several good friends in England and in Italy who are convinced the Euro is doomed to fail unless it transmutes into a new and reliable Deutchmark, with the Germans running things, not my idea!...theirs!
And not what they want to see. Two of them are Jews with long memories and little trust historically
in Germany. I believe that we are pinned on the horns of a dilemna. Not a new situation historically
for those of us with long pasts. My view, just my humble opinion, that in these perilous times it is best to have no debt, own your home, have a little gold, a shotgun at your bedside ( I have a Sicilian lupara, :))
and keep money as safe and liquid as possible...I tend to shortest term T-bills. And no stocks...well I
do have a couple of thousand shares of a Canadian gold company, a royalty based company called
Franco-Nevada, and that works for me for sleeping at night. Incidentally, as a retired doc who has taken my share of rectal temperatures, I can guarantee jelly beans up the ass will! melt and then be useless as well as unpalatable.
All FWIW on a day the market is closed.
Jim Black |
