-- Published: Monday, 15 October 2018 | Print | Disqus
By Larry LaBorde
Once again the lovely Miss Puddy accompanied me to the beach on the Florida panhandle for a week of rest and relaxation. The end of September is the perfect time for the beach in Florida as it is not too hot but still nice and warm with gentle sea breezes every afternoon. The crowds have also gone and the traffic is much better.
Unfortunately hurricane Michael did not get the memo. We were fortunate enough to enjoy our holiday and get home a week before the carnage hit almost on top of our favorite beach. We pray for everyone who was caught in the storm.
During our week of R&R we slept late, sun bathed, went in to town for a few excellent meals and read our favorite beach books. Beach books are normally light reading designed not to tax the mind too much but to entertain. Mine was the latest by Clive Cussler concerning an unsolved 100 year old theft in England valued at half a million dollars at the time. **SPOILER ALERT** Our hero in the book finally solves the crime a century later and much to everyone’s disappointment, the treasure has lost most of its luster. The treasure consisted of stacks upon stacks of 100-pound notes from the bank of England as well as the engraving plates along with a handful of gold sovereigns. The banknotes had been taken out of circulation and were worthless as of 50 years ago. Only the handful of gold sovereigns had retained their value after 100 years.
People always ask me if gold is going up or down in the near term. I usually tell them the same thing. All I need is tomorrow’s headlines and I will live out my days on my own island in the South Pacific. No one knows exactly what will happen in the short term the intermediate term or the long term. Anyone who says so should cause you to tightly grasp your wallet in their company.
The only thing that I can predict is that gold and silver have been valuable for 5,000 years of history and will probably remain so in the future. Banknotes have come and gone over the years and their lives are normally measured in decades. The new digital money has no real history and it is hard to say how it will fare in the coming decades.
Some trends are obvious but the timing is always uncertain. As financial analyst A. Gary Shilling said, “The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” Short-term moves are hard to predict. The safest way to make a small fortune with leveraged short-term speculation is to start with a large fortune. Best to stick with a well-balanced portfolio and include a 10 to 15% allocation in precious metals for the long run. Just make sure you hold them safely in a fully paid up position. As a friend of mine once said during this recent precious metals downturn, “ I never lost a single ounce!”
Invest with a well thought out balanced portfolio and go the beach and relax. Just remember to check the weather first.
Gold and silver are on sale now and selling at bargain prices. When the financial hurricane does finally make landfall, you will be glad you have the ultimate financial safe harbor to weather the coming storm. The time to prepare for a storm is well before the winds start to blow.
Larry
Larry LaBorde sells precious metals through Silver Trading Company LLC. Since 2001, Silver Trading Company has offered high volume sales of gold, silver, platinum and palladium to serious investors around the world. It also offers guidance about storage options for metals. Please visit Silver Trading Company’s website at www.SilverTrading.net.
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-- Published: Monday, 15 October 2018 | E-Mail | Print | Source: GoldSeek.com
