It’s the question most frequently asked by customers over the last week: Is now a good time to buy gold? My answer is that I like gold. Who doesn’t? But I don’t buy it hoping it goes up. I buy it and hope it goes down, because most of the stuff I own in my portfolio goes up when gold goes down, as should be the case in yours. But if you have invested in gold over the last 10 years, you’ve beaten the pants off the Dow Jones Industrial Average total return. Look at the chart below for a comparison. The chart shows you what $100 invested in the Dow or gold on December 31, 1999, would be worth … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2012
The Illegitimate Tax Mandate
Following last week’s election, the President and his allies in congress are claiming the outcome of the election (and exit polls) indicates a mandate to raise taxes on the “rich.” Why? Because the President campaigned on a higher tax message. Actually, he campaigned on raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires, not the “thousand-iares” that will see a higher tax bill if he gets his way. But the more dominant message during President Obama’s campaign was not one of higher taxes, but that he isn’t Mitt Romney. If there is any clear mandate from this election, it is not to be Mitt Romney. … [Read more...]
Fairy Tales in the Fantasyland of Washington D.C.
Chuck Schumer, the liberal democratic senator from New York is out with some post-election blather on the fiscal cliff. Schumer and his liberal allies have yet to figure out that higher tax rates don’t generate more revenue. Here is what he said during an address at the Christian Science Monitor Breakfast yesterday. From the Daily Caller: “It’s a lovely thing but it’s a fairy tale…it is the Rumpelstiltskin tax fairy tale that if you cut taxes you increase revenues.” Mr. Schumer’s beliefs are grounded in a fantasy land where higher rates don’t encourage tax avoidance. But the truth is, … [Read more...]
RIP Economic Freedom
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville In a nutshell, the above quote from Tocqueville explains the outcome of yesterday’s election. … [Read more...]
Annuity Blimp Losing Air
When you get your insurance bill, you may not think insurers struggle to make money, but indeed some do. MetLife Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of about $1 billion compared to a gain of almost $3.5 billion last year. Of the loss, $1.6 billion was a goodwill impairment from its U.S. retail annuity business, where variable annuity sales dropped by 46%, or $4.6 billion. MetLife is the biggest U.S. life insurer by assets. You might remember it from the Snoopy blimps. But don’t get caught by the marketing blitz. Variable annuities have a tough road ahead. It may not be long before annuity … [Read more...]
Golub Sees Another Recession Under Current Policies
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Harvey Golub, chairman of Miller Buckfire & Co., talks about the U.S. economy and the outlook for the presidential election. He speaks with Erik Schatzker, Stephanie Ruhle and Michael McKee on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers." (Source: Bloomberg) … [Read more...]
What We’re Reading 11-2-12
Economists' Goal: A Measure for All Seasons, Carl Bialik, Wall Street Journal And The Number One Country In The World For Investment Is..., Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes Consumption and the Myths of Inequality, Hassett and Mathur, Wall Street Journal U.S. could surpass Saudi oil output by 2020, USA Today Manufacturing Activity Pulled Back in October; Optimism Wanes, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond … [Read more...]