Vegas seems so much better then investing

Bear

At least in Vegas, you know the house odds and how much money

you will lose on average. There is always the mini micro chance

that you might actually win something. In investing lately, I have no

idea why stocks go up or why stocks go down. If the talking heads

knew anything, they would be doing instead of talking on TV. I always

thought that shorts were some kind of underwear.

RedTiger

Stocks go up because there are more buyers than sellers. They go down then the opposite occurs. Buyers and sellers are motivated by a thousand factors, some logical, some emotional, some nonsensical, some out right foolish.

Buffett outlined it one sentence: in the short term, the stock market is a voting machine, in the long run, it is a weighing machine. Meaning, that in the short term, fashion and what is trendy is what goes up, in the long term, companies of substance with sound management, excellent franchises, tend to be the ones that go up.

sinin1

can get a $10 buffett


and see nice big fake bobs, some for a price

MoneyLA

The difference between gambling in Vegas and gambling in the metals market:

When you gamble in Vegas a beautiful waitress in a skimpy outfit gives you free booze, and if you gamble enough you also get free meals, free show tickets and a free hotel room -- even a limo to pick you up at the airport.

When you gamble in the metals market you drive yourself to the restaurant for dinner and pay for your own food and drinks, and if you decide on take-out food your wife may be the server.

goingbroke

Thats true about metals, but when the price moves up you can get the extras on your plate! Metal Bid Ask
Gold $1,020.70 $1,021.70 15.40
Silver $17.31 $17.36 0.35
Platinum $1,329.00 $1,339.00 17.70
Palladium $295.30 $300.30 3.00

Updated:9/16/2009 4:52:24 AM CST

57loaded

<< <i>The difference between gambling in Vegas and gambling in the metals market:

When you gamble in Vegas a beautiful waitress in a skimpy outfit gives you free booze, and if you gamble enough you also get free meals, free show tickets and a free hotel room -- even a limo to pick you up at the airport.

When you gamble in the metals market you drive yourself to the restaurant for dinner and pay for your own food and drinks, and if you decide on take-out food your wife may be the server. >>

yellowkid

I hold some mining stocks in my portfolio but I can't see gold as an "investment." It doesn't throw off anything until you sell it. If you buy 100k worth and wait and wait and wait for a 50% move you make 50k, big deal, you can do that in a few years in traditional investments, and who says it's going up 50%? And then will you sell it or wait for it to double? I think the person that benefits the most from a gold saver or hoarder is his heirs. If you want to play in the market, fine, but I would never dream of betting the ranch on one thing.

MICHAELDIXON

I invest in the lottery. So far I'm taking a beating, but I know I'm gonna' win!

wayneme

la
and what would it be in the stock market just to compare !!!

fastrudy

I gambled in Vegas in May. I bought a foreclosure for $112K. Now, it is rented out and valued at 148K! Only trouble is I have no cash for Gold, Platinum & coins.

yellowkid

<< <i>Stocks go up because there are more buyers than sellers. They go down then the opposite occurs. Buyers and sellers are motivated by a thousand factors, some logical, some emotional, some nonsensical, some out right foolish.

Buffett outlined it one sentence: in the short term, the stock market is a voting machine, in the long run, it is a weighing machine. Meaning, that in the short term, fashion and what is trendy is what goes up, in the long term, companies of substance with sound management, excellent franchises, tend to be the ones that go up. >>




Couldn't have put it better myself

Bear

Stocks are manipulated by fudging the corporate numbers, naked shorting,

pushing profits or loses from one year to another. with holding information from

stock holders as well as misleading statements spoken to empty financial air

heads on TV. Buying stock in today's market, is in some ways worse then placing

a bet on the roulette wheel.

KentuckyJ

> Buying stock in today's market, is in some ways worse then placing a bet on the roulette wheel.


Spoken as if you may have lost more than any amount you've gained? I sense a very bearish aura of defeat, resignation, hibernation, mouldering honey do pots, empty jelly donut boxes. Life definitely knows how to play some very tough learn it now games but, let there be hope! ...

roadrunner

Ever since gold has been in an uptrend (8 years), it has been a far better bet than Vegas. In Vegas the odds are < 50/50. In gold over the next few years the odds are well over 50/50 that it will go higher and the dollar will fall lower. It's about as sure a bet one could make and far better than Vegas' odds.

big deal, you can do that in a few years in traditional investments, and who says it's going up 50%? And then will you sell it or wait for it to double? I think the person that benefits the most from a gold saver or hoarder is his heirs. If you want to play in the market, fine, but I would never dream of betting the ranch on one thing.

You mean a traditional investment like stocks from 1929-1954, 1966-1982, 1999-2009? Never mind going nowhere for a few years, those went nowhere for up to 25 years. I think a lot of people out there would be exceedingly happy with a mere 50% gain over the past 10 years rather than the 30-40% drubbing most of them have taken. And factoring inflation, the drubbing becomes 40-55% in real dollars. J6P pretty much bet the ranch on one investment over the past 10 years and is decidedly poorer for it. Sure, he diversified 20% into bonds but his 80% stock load was "diversified" into small cap, mid cap, large cap. Way too many caps going on there imo.

Those that got into gold in the 1999-2003 era will eventually see gains of 10X or more by the next decade. They won't need to pass it along to heirs if they don't want to. Being in gold is actually more about not losing that 50% by being in stocks "for a few years" at precisely the wrong time (ie 1999 to 201X). Sometimes it's ok to standstill in net worth while everyone else is back tracking 10% per year.

roadrunner

cohodk

I'll take the stock market all day, everyday over Vegas. The reason why J6P doesnt do well is because he is passive and the is reactive rather than proactive. He could change his behavior if he wants, but never does. If he put as much time and thought into the stock market as you guys do with PM's, then he would do amazingly well.


the dollar will fall lower. It's about as sure a bet one could make

And that is exactly why I still believe PM's are--at this time--still for trading only. What I have learned from watching thousands of investors is that their "sure bet" is surely a losing trade. If this commodity cycle is to play out as others have in the past, the glory days for gold are still a ways off.


Sometimes it's ok to standstill in net worth while everyone else is back tracking 10% per year.

While on a relative preformance you are doing well, it is totally UNACCEPTABLE to me to standstill. And I think it should be unacceptabe to J6P as well. But it is the demand of J6P to strive for mediocrity and this is why the vast majority of money managers are only average. They are delivering exactly what the customer wants. Diversification is average, and average is where everyone feels comfortable. Remember, the average investing lifespan of most people is only 30-40 years. So if you wait for 6 years of something to happen, that is 15-20% of your entire investing lifetime. Thats a lot to give, yet no one ever thinks about it.

gsa1fan

I have been putting money in my 401K since 1993. (With all the ups and mostly downs)

I have little more( if any) in my 401K than if I'd put the same $$ in a savings account /piggy bank.

Joe Six Pack = ME needs to know what to do with his 401K!!!

Seriously debating pulling out and putting what little I have left into PM's

50/50 odds in Vegas

roadrunner

My dollar comments are for the long term. Anything can happen this month or next month or next year. But the dollar's overall trend is down and needs to be down to bail us out of all the debt we own. That is the sure bet.

Sometimes it's ok to standstill in net worth while everyone else is back tracking 10% per year.

Standing still is of course relative to inflation or deflation. One could say that many assets now up 30-40% over the past few years. But in my mind they have stood still in relation to a declining dollar. In this case, standing still to buy more dollars down the road with your current assets is not a bad thing. In reality you have gained purchasing power while most are losing it. Making positive gains after removing inflation or deflation from the equation is a tricky thing to do especially now that the housing bubble has burst.

roadrunner

cohodk

A falling dollar does not guarantee a rally in gold.

For example from 1989 -1991 the dollar index dropped from 105 to 80--a huge drop by anyones standards, yet gold was down slightly.

From 1994 to 1995 the dollar dropped from 98 to 80--another huge drop yet gold was flat.

So yes, gold may have been able to retain its value, it did not rip higher as one may have thought given a 20-25% drop in the dollar index.

Over the longer term.....

In 1985 the dollar index reached its high at 165 it then lost 1/2 its value over the next 10 years. Gold made a major bottom at $281 in 1985 and rallied to 500, but bascially traded sideways around the $400 level during this time. Keep in mind that gold was coming off a major top and the rally in gold to 400-500 needs to be kep in context as it has dropped 60% over the preceeding 4 years. In other words, while the dollar lost 1/2 its value and gold rallied, gold was coming up from a very low price. Today gold is at a historically high price. As they say, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

fishcooker

I think one of the things that's tough to gauge about stocks right now, is how much longer will the government money pump up prices. Maybe it's a sure bet, though, since the government can just print more? Who knows.