Investing

The funds you have placed on deposit and the property you thought was secured in your safe deposit box may not be safe under certain circumstances. They may, in fact, all end up belonging to the bank and not to you.

While gold remains a smart move, there’s much to be said for silver. Why? Because, unlike gold, silver has an inherent value that goes well beyond scarcity. Without silver the world as we know it would literally stop. The computer screen on which you are reading these words, has silver in it. The TV you watch, has silver in it…and the list goes on and on.

The best way to think of gold is as a non-yielding currency with a special trait: The only way to "print" it is to pull it out of the earth at great cost. As a currency with no yield and limited practical use...gold's investment case largely rests on its ability to insure against currency depreciation. Few people expect to make money by taking out insurance policies. I don't recommend allocating any more than 10% of a portfolio to gold. Words: 610

In volatile markets you must be able to go to cash when markets become dangerous. That is exactly what the momentum selection model does well. It protects your capital on the downside and enables it to grow on the upside! If you insist on staying in the stock market at all times, even perfect foresight cannot protect you. The ability and willingness to periodically run away beats the macho strategy of holding on.

Assume that we are at a point corresponding to the beginning of 2007. How would our investing/trading techniques weather the same conditions represented by this most recent market adjustment? Would we be able to mitigate the losses (or even avoid them)? A traditional buy & hold, diversified investing strategy will be evaluated here.

My answer to the issue of staying in or getting out of markets is to stay in. This answer is independent of whether a correction is imminent or a few years down the road because we cannot possibly know that information....There will be a time to completely flee markets. It is just not now or at least I don’t believe so.

Comparing the gold or silver price to another assets is a great way to create an understanding of the true value [of each]. The long term charts [below] indicate that this bull market is very strong; the fundamentals keep on strengthening by the day, week, month, year....The wise lesson you can draw from these charts: the trend is your friend.

Today, I'm dishing on the unbelievable rebound in residential real estate, pesky rumors about the dollar's demise and a resurgent U.S. stock market. So let's get to it.

Commodity prices including those of...[gold and silver] tend to go through super-cycles...[which] last for many years. [Below is a review of the history of such cycles and the length of each. Where are we now in each? When will they go "boom"? When will they go "bust"? Let's take a look.] Words: 165; Charts: 1; Tables: 3

Most of us just throw away gold without knowing it. Here's an interesting infographic...that shows how much gold is in our garbage.