...Can anyone explain to me why Gold and Platinum aren't going through the roof? People are buying safes to put money into, but isn't Gold better. ...
Just my POV, do not claim to know or be correct as too much psychology controlling:
Platinum has some nearly unique industral (and even medical) uses and there are NOT litterally tons of it sitting un-used in vaults as is the case for gold. Thus if I were to own one, it would be Platinum. If governments (main owner of gold in valuts) wanted to, they could dump gold and destroy it as an investment. Gold is very popular in China and India, almost an obligation at wedding time, even in the middle classes. I do not know (hope someone will tell) how much gold is litterally in the jewery of ladies (and men too) in India, but think it is a lot.
I do think it safer than dollars, but do not own any directly. I do have shares in NEM, world's largest producer of gold, and BVN but only a minor part of my holdings. Most in the US still is in TIPs, then in about 40 earily stage drug developers* and a little in ocean transport (dry bulk, not oil) dredging and in oil industry needs, especailly deep water drilling. I have not looked at my TIPs for a few months - they may be up but like every one else on paper I am hurting on most of the shares. One thing I did not consider, when tinking that there was so much risk already factored in to the early stage drug developers (2/3 or more will fail to ever get their drug to market) is that almost all need to raise capital to keep their pipelines progressing, and do the clinical tests. So despite the correct idea that the rich will buy the drugs they need even in depression, (and political action will force the tax payers to for the middle class at least) these early stage companies are hurting like everyone else.
Probably, the way thing are going, even Paulson is beginning to realize it is a bad idea to transfer money to the holders of toxic trash as they will not make loans with it. (Either they just hold it to improve their balance sheets or invest it in China or Dubai high rises and resorts etc. to gain more than in the US.) He is leaning towards the English plan. - I.e. buy equity or ownership, but with out some control that too may not work. My plan is better still as it helps the US economy, is cheaper, treats the cause, not the symptom, and will prevent repetition, not guarantee it soon repeats. (Paulson rewards the guilty. - I send some of them to jail as con-men and makers of world's greatest Ponzi scam - both against current laws.)
It is ironic but the Republicans have so screwed up the US economy that they now have no choice but to be the drivers of greatest govenment interventions in US history - making a big steps towards state socialism with government ownership of the banking and insurance industries.
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*They are constantly coming to meetings to make their pitch for more funds. Many of these meeting are live on the internet. I have learned a lot - it is facinating all the Magic bullets that are being developed now. Even if I make no money on them, I will be happy to have been motivated to learn a whole new area for me. Understanding the details of cells, especially the selective transfer thru their walls and how what is attacthed to their walls controls them (plus how the information in DNA is used to make these cells and their selective wall and controll their inner activities) is the "physic" of this century - where it is at intellectually. Physics is not "dead" as it was thought to be at the start of the just past century, but it is not nearly as relivant to humans now as cell biology is.