Though I was clear about it in the OP, I will restate it again. The past performance of an investment is no indication of future performance. One should not use that fact alone to judge whether an investment will do well in the future or not. What one should do is to understand what is driving the price of said investment. Is it demand, manipulation, paper sales, rarity, new disruptive technology, etc etc. This is the research that one must do to be a successful investor. If you have that knowledge, then, and only then, can you look at the history of that investment, judge it against this knowledge as a test, then use that to extrapolate how it might do in the future. Even then plans might not work out, as unexpected events come well.... unexpectedly and you can't plan for that. Having said that, if anyone takes anything from this topic, beyond amusement at some taking it too seriously, then it should be clear that in the case of silver and gold that many of the things attributed to silver that are said here, are not true. For example there is no mysterious ratio that says silver = X amount of gold, or that monetary mischief affects silver in the same way that it affects gold, or that the manipulators are hitting both in the same manner. These are all fallacies. As I said above you must do your research on what is driving the price of each. Silver is not the poor man's gold as it doesn't work like gold does. For example. If in January 2011 a theoretical investment of $10,000 in each metal would have resulted in the following a couple of days ago. Gold - $11,132 Silver - ($9,057) In other words its a huge $2,075 (over 20%) difference in the performance over the last 12 months. Clearly silver does not track what gold does. This is why I have said that gold is for investors, silver is for speculators. You may disagree with this but if you are investing in it, stacking it, etc. then it behooves you to go and understand why there was such a difference IF you though it followed gold.
For the last time Fatima, no I don't want to hold your hand. No means no. Your post was fine, I was simply curious if you will promise to make the same post next year regardless of the results? Its always easy to talk up your preferred investment when it had a decent year, (not even that great, sure not great enough to be called "boss of all investments" but I digress). PM has had a good run, at least the investment, (non-industrial), ones have. Somebody had a great point, though, that this is ONLY the return for your hated paper PM, as if you bought it physically and sold it most likely the dealer would have taken your 8% profit and put it into his pocket instead. Returns from stocks and bonds go directly into your profit, again this is why the paper market that everyone here hates so much was invented. Sorry if you took my post as an attack of yours. It wasn't. It was more of a commentary on how internet chat rooms get filled with people talking up their favorites when they do well, but don't post anything when they are down. You were right, gold went up decently this year, and maybe will continue. Personally, I am a contrarian and like to buy things on sale, not at highs, though, so if any new PM, (not coins), will get added this year it will be platinum. Of course I could be very wrong, and you are right. I don't suggest anyone copying my actions. Chris
If I do, will you promise to actually discuss the topic instead of turning the topic into a referendum on what the other forumers are doing here on cointalk? i.e. It's the message that should be discussed, not the messenger.
it's simple...you made a topic named boss gold how gold did so "great" over the past year...then you twist and construe what other posters have said to sound incorrect so you can "try" to correct them...then it off you say past results do not matter...which I find funny...for the simple fact being (why did you make this thread if past results really don't mean all that much now or in the future) just seems silly course on another note I can think of many more "investments to make even short term (1 year) that would do better then the 11% you tout on about...course I could tell you them...but I see a better solution to this...as Mr. O'Reilly says on his show " I could tell you what the definition is but you won't remember...but if you look it up yourself you will" this forum is more for learning and bettering yourself then touting your own horn and bashing people...please keep this in mind.
I stopped when you began quoting that gasbag O'Reilly. I recommend reading this POST from this topic if you are still confused. If that doesn't clear it up Alex, I recommend that you put me on ignore. I note that you have posted in this topic multiple times yourself which is odd given how you feel about it. In my book it's a persons actions that matter more than the words. Also the topic has been liked by 10 other forumers so those results are good enough for me.
I wonder how it would look if there was a "dislike" button though? p.s. why do you always assume someone is "confused" if they don't agree with you?
I don't. However in your case this seemed like the mutterings of a confused individual: "you really are a piece of work...you edit other people's postings to add to your argument then do the whole do as I say and not as I do...one thing though I think is funny is your 1st line posted...seeing as this thread is based on past results...why did you make it" I am very willing to have a discussion with someone who disagrees with what I posted. I am not going to waste much time however with someone who wishes instead to shoot the messenger instead of addressing the message. If you don't like this topic then simply don't read it. If you think it breaks forum rules then report it to the forum staff. Attacking me is a waste of everyone's time.
Fair enough. Maybe you had made these comparison posts in prior years when gold didn't "win" and I missed them. If you wish to review all investment possibilities each year, then that sounds like it will be a good post to look forward to. I would make sure you include total returns when calculating any stock indexes, though.
It's amazing how this thread has evolved. First, we had the message of the OP, which, in my interpretation was basically: gold had a good year relative to other assets; I like gold; I am happy gold had a good year and am taking this opportunity to rib those who might not be big fans of gold. So, when gold has a bad year, just start a thread that says, "See, I told you so." Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. It's pretty harmless fun. We then proceeded to get lectures on portfolio diversification (which most people should already know, given all the information available today), personal attacks and other posts that were never the intent of the thread in the first place. It seemed as though the original message was simple enough. Maybe I missed something, but I really don't understand why the OP was taken so seriously and people became so defensive. Note to self: some members of CoinTalk don't have a great sense of humor.
The only stock index that interests me in regards to comparisons is the S&P 500. I could also be convinced the Russell 2000 should be considered too. Anything else is beyond the scope of what I would want to discuss in a bullion forum.
Ok, fair enough. @treehugger, sorry if I was viewed as a sourpuss. I guess I had just seen too many posts whenever something goes up, and never any when not going up. I was having tech stock forum flashbacks from the late 90's. I was simply trying to throw some perspective on it all. You may think diversification is widely known, but you would be shocked how little it is practiced. Maybe its just the finance teacher in me coming through.
If you are referring to my post it was because the OP asked for a further explanation, which I gave, which he still denounced as false. Thats why this topic always gets turned into a catfight. If people don't like opinions they shouldn't hype their own on a public forum. Guy
I didn't ask for any clarification from you except to ask why you were posting on a bullion forum. Your opening response to me was to give some completely unverifiable anecdotal info on why stocks were better and to accuse me of something not said. You further went on to say that you were here to tell others about proper investing (paraphrased). I don't really care, but if you accuse me of motives and actions that are not true, then you will get a response.
