Are we seeing bottom soon?

[Gen Ming]

Worse could be over. Recent economic statistics worldwide are showing the downturn has more or less tapered off. In fact Australia and New Zealand unemployment rate has actually dropped last month.

Warren Buffett and Jim Roger are now forecasting that US would now start to move into an inflation stage soon.

[slash]

Li Ka Shing advise ppl to shift their money from equity to property leh.. duno who is more accurate.

[Gen Ming]

None are wrong if inflation occur.

[Kanasai]

I think what we are seeing is a suckers rally. It will get worse -- much worse -- in the next few months I think. Once the "stimulus" wears off and inflation/stagflation set in the US and Europe are screwed.

Me.... I have cashed out everything, even gov't retirement funds which they held back 1/3 of. I have closed my credit card, line of credit, three investment accounts, and checked my credit history to ensure that I have no outstanding debts.

I have all of my savings in silver. Unlike gold it has stayed low in price. It is still less than USD$20 per ounce, so a hillbilly like me can afford it. I buy a little every paycheck. You can hardly buy any amount of gold for $20 and if you do it costs a huge premium over the spot price to buy such a small amount.

The ratio between gold and silver is usually 15 or 20 ounces of silver buys 1 ounce of gold. Right now it is 60 ounces of silver. Maybe silver will go up too. Maybe gold will come down. I don't think that ratio will stay so high for too long. Most likely silver will go up. When they stopped using silver coins in the 1960s there were huge stockpiles of coin silver left. This drove the price down, so miners didn't look for silver much anymore. 40 years on and those stockpiles are low. More silver is used every year than is produced, and there are no major new discoveries to increase the supply.

I usually buy mine on eBay. I have a few pieces that were very expensive collector coins, but mostly it is scrap silver. Rolls of old dimes and such. Small stuff that is useful, unless you wanna pay a gold coin for some eggs. I like Canadian coins because I live in Canada so people know what they are. Also they are 288 grains or one shilling to a dollar, so 20 dollars = 12 ounces = 1 pound of fine silver. It is easier to do the math with these than old US coins, although I do have a few rolls of dimes.

Most of asia, oz and nz stopped making silver coins more than 50% silver in the 1930s and 1940s. S'pore went to 50% coins in 1907, so full weight coins have a high "collector" premium. Best to stick with silver bars then.

[Kanasai]

Stage two of the paper money collapse begins....

http://order-order.com/2010/01/19/uk...record-to-2-9/

[Kanasai]

Originally Posted by slash

Li Ka Shing advise ppl to shift their money from equity to property leh.. duno who is more accurate.

Property prices depend on mortgages. How much will a flat be worth when prices start to drop and nobody wants to borrow anymore?

"Jingle mail" has become very popular in the US, where many properties are worth less than the mortgages against them. Thousands of foreclosed or abandoned properties for sale has further depressed prices.

In a serious downturn property is going to get slaughtered.

[Gen Ming]

Originally Posted by Kanasai

I think what we are seeing is a suckers rally. It will get worse -- much worse -- in the next few months I think. Once the "stimulus" wears off and inflation/stagflation set in the US and Europe are screwed.

Me.... I have cashed out everything, even gov't retirement funds which they held back 1/3 of. I have closed my credit card, line of credit, three investment accounts, and checked my credit history to ensure that I have no outstanding debts.

I have all of my savings in silver. Unlike gold it has stayed low in price. It is still less than USD$20 per ounce, so a hillbilly like me can afford it. I buy a little every paycheck. You can hardly buy any amount of gold for $20 and if you do it costs a huge premium over the spot price to buy such a small amount.

The ratio between gold and silver is usually 15 or 20 ounces of silver buys 1 ounce of gold. Right now it is 60 ounces of silver. Maybe silver will go up too. Maybe gold will come down. I don't think that ratio will stay so high for too long. Most likely silver will go up. When they stopped using silver coins in the 1960s there were huge stockpiles of coin silver left. This drove the price down, so miners didn't look for silver much anymore. 40 years on and those stockpiles are low. More silver is used every year than is produced, and there are no major new discoveries to increase the supply.

I usually buy mine on eBay. I have a few pieces that were very expensive collector coins, but mostly it is scrap silver. Rolls of old dimes and such. Small stuff that is useful, unless you wanna pay a gold coin for some eggs. I like Canadian coins because I live in Canada so people know what they are. Also they are 288 grains or one shilling to a dollar, so 20 dollars = 12 ounces = 1 pound of fine silver. It is easier to do the math with these than old US coins, although I do have a few rolls of dimes.

Most of asia, oz and nz stopped making silver coins more than 50% silver in the 1930s and 1940s. S'pore went to 50% coins in 1907, so full weight coins have a high "collector" premium. Best to stick with silver bars then.

I like to think the worse is over. I do believe stimulus will be taken off sometime this year but it should be a gradual process meaning it would be slowly being reduced rather than a complete taken off move.

Europe will continue to lag behind the rest of the other continents in recovery. Watch out for the BRIC to take a bigger role now.

Silver should rise if the global economy recover. It has more economical usage than gold.