https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/07/gol...as-a-better-return-than-stocks-this-year.html Gold 18% S&P500 14% Silver 8%
As of today. I'm not putting any money on the trend continuing through the end of the year. Neither am I putting any money against it, though.
Of course not! I suppose my point in posting this is to illustrate that elitists who think buying precious metals is something to be mocked and that smart people with money invest in the market and property exclusively are wrong. Likewise, conspiracy theorists who say things like: "if you don't hold it you don't own it" and who think the system is controlled by "them" (Jews, bankers, lizard people, secret societies, or some other cabal) and therefore you should not put money in the market where "they" will slowly steal it but instead should buy silver and gold, are also wrong. Look, gold is up 14%! So when the market is down, you're safe. However, the market itself is still up in solid double digits for the year and is the primary long term strategy. My friends and colleagues right now are really sweating after the market started to tank, but I am cool as a cucumber as my gold and silver is now worth thousands more than it was 8 months ago, offsetting these few day losses.
...aaaand it's back down to $1497 (down $25 from the level in the article), making its YTD return 16%. Another $25 drop will bring it right into line with the S&P 500, assuming that index itself doesn't take another hit. The fact is that equities can produce wealth reflecting a company's productivity, while PMs can only preserve it. Yes, you can speculate in either one, and either one can rise and fall -- but only one has the underlying engine that grows wealth. There's a place for PMs in a portfolio to protect against short-term market slumps, in cases where you might not be able to wait for the market to recover. But if you're betting on markets to underperform PMs in the long term, you're betting squarely and obstinately against history.
