Can you elaborate on number 3 there? Because, since PMs don't pay interest or dividends, I don't see how they're going to help you "grow your capital" unless their price goes up -- and betting that the price will go up is pretty much the definition of speculation, not "investment", right?
But in January 1980, it would've bought 5 or 6 gallons; two years later, it would've bought maybe three quarts. Commodities fluctuate.
I think Kurt can probably answer that for you as he is all into the scientific method. And ounce of gold has historically bought the same amount, within a statistical confidence level, for many hundreds of years. Therefore it is scientifically proven that gold keeps its value as compare with the dollar which only buys about 5% of what it did 100 years ago. That does not sounds like speculation to me. Betting that the returns of an investment in, say, the stock market sounds more like the speculation.
But, see, that's completely wrong. Here, have an inflation-adjusted chart: Now, the part of the chart from 1913 through 1971 is a bit bogus, because the "price of gold" was artificially fixed -- by fiat, if you will -- at certain dollar amounts. After 1971, the price of gold (or, if you prefer, the value of everything else) was free to fluctuate. And what you see is enormous swings, from $250 to $2000 (in May 2016 dollars), back down to 400, back up to 1700 or so, and back down to 1200 or less.
Except for the two aberrations in 1981 and 2011, which are always going to happen occasionally (think tulips), I think you graph shows that the price of gold has been quite consistent over the last 100 year until recently, when it has started to increase. Thanks for posting a graph which proves my point.
It shows nothing of the sort. The price of gold was decreed during the period from 1913 (and earlier) to 1971. Once the "gold standard" was entirely abolished, it started fluctuating widely, like any other commodity or fetish.
Speculation / investment: tomato / tomatoe. To me, it's no different than when we invest in parcels of land. We hold properties that are only used for personal recreation (hunting, hiking, fishing, camping, etc.) They don't pay interest or dividends, but when we sell (most likely at higher prices) we are required to capital gains on the parcels.
no more than 10-20 percent of your net worth. Gold bugs and the people who pray for high metal prices are kooks.
I agree, what does the price of gold over the last 100 years have to do with anyone's opinion of 10oz silver bars?