I suspect that few of the buyers take direct possession. As I understand it, the advertiser, GoldCo, directs customers to custodians. GoldCo trumpets that it charges no fees—but the custodians do charge fees, and high ones, and I am not at all confident that they are all real "custodians"...
This is very akin to the gold (and guns!) advertisements on Fox during the GFC and the Obama years. I remember people who routinely watched Fox then had asked me if we were living in times similar to the end of the Roman empire. Yes. Really. Fearing currency debasement -- remember that letter! -- many had bought gold at the top of the market. No wonder that the equities bull market that ensued for years since then became one of the more hated stock rallies I've witnessed. Left out, so many people watched that rally charge ahead in front of their own unbelieving eyes, agape and disgusted. I suspect that may also have been a key source of the general contempt toward the Obama administration. But then, who am I to say. I can't even tell if we were living in times akin to the fall of Rome, right?
The irony is that during Obama's presidency the Fed steadfastly refused to debase the coinage ENOUGH. We had a decade of under target inflation and high unemployment. Fortunately, Trump jawboned Powell toward doing his job.
If I understand right-wing theology correctly, you're supposed to own guns to protect your gold and wimminfolk from the rampaging N driven into a bloodlust by the J. Does that cover the waterfront?
Back in the mid-1980s, a colleague of mine thgought he had detected an annual gold-buying opportunity and so bought gold through a broker. It turned out the broker had not bought the gold or placed it with a custodian and it took some serious effort to get his money back. (It was ultimately delivered as cash in a grocery bag!)
It used to be almsot standard practice to advise adding a small amount of precious metals to a portfolio as an inflation hedge. The attempts to corner markets (The silver market by the Hunts) and the volatility of this market that has less to do with inflation but rather the supply of gold by banks, have reduced this as a useful strategy. But gold bugs are perennial, always hyping the need to protect against inflation. Maybe this is why fiscal and moneray hawks keep suggesting hyperinflation is just around the corner - a refrain that never seems to end - and there seems no end of events that can be turned into an "inflation is coming now" story.
Lastly, the pitch in this letter is so hucksterish. Who, with a couple of functioning neurons, would buy the claims and fall into the trap of getting the "free" information and being pestered to death to act on the advice, NOW, NOW, NOW? Is this some form of evergreen strategy based on there being a sucker born every minute?
"Is this some form of evergreen strategy based on there being a sucker born every minute?" You bet. More people than you would believe do it. And then they imagine that we're in a perpetual doom loop and thank god that they've been prepared. Nope, no regrets.
What I am always amazed at is how the heck I end up on Republican e-mail lists. In the last month I've received stuff from Ted Cruz (who actually was kind of wonderful on last week's Bill Maher HBO show much to my surprise), Nikki Haley, Speaker Mike Johnson and Elyse Stefanik (who I abhor big time).
I suspect that few of the buyers take direct possession. As I understand it, the advertiser, GoldCo, directs customers to custodians. GoldCo trumpets that it charges no fees—but the custodians do charge fees, and high ones, and I am not at all confident that they are all real "custodians"...
""Custodians"" Lol!
This is very akin to the gold (and guns!) advertisements on Fox during the GFC and the Obama years. I remember people who routinely watched Fox then had asked me if we were living in times similar to the end of the Roman empire. Yes. Really. Fearing currency debasement -- remember that letter! -- many had bought gold at the top of the market. No wonder that the equities bull market that ensued for years since then became one of the more hated stock rallies I've witnessed. Left out, so many people watched that rally charge ahead in front of their own unbelieving eyes, agape and disgusted. I suspect that may also have been a key source of the general contempt toward the Obama administration. But then, who am I to say. I can't even tell if we were living in times akin to the fall of Rome, right?
The irony is that during Obama's presidency the Fed steadfastly refused to debase the coinage ENOUGH. We had a decade of under target inflation and high unemployment. Fortunately, Trump jawboned Powell toward doing his job.
A question. Are the buyers supposed to take physical possession of the precious metals? What an odd grift in any event.
If I understand right-wing theology correctly, you're supposed to own guns to protect your gold and wimminfolk from the rampaging N driven into a bloodlust by the J. Does that cover the waterfront?
Back in the mid-1980s, a colleague of mine thgought he had detected an annual gold-buying opportunity and so bought gold through a broker. It turned out the broker had not bought the gold or placed it with a custodian and it took some serious effort to get his money back. (It was ultimately delivered as cash in a grocery bag!)
It used to be almsot standard practice to advise adding a small amount of precious metals to a portfolio as an inflation hedge. The attempts to corner markets (The silver market by the Hunts) and the volatility of this market that has less to do with inflation but rather the supply of gold by banks, have reduced this as a useful strategy. But gold bugs are perennial, always hyping the need to protect against inflation. Maybe this is why fiscal and moneray hawks keep suggesting hyperinflation is just around the corner - a refrain that never seems to end - and there seems no end of events that can be turned into an "inflation is coming now" story.
Lastly, the pitch in this letter is so hucksterish. Who, with a couple of functioning neurons, would buy the claims and fall into the trap of getting the "free" information and being pestered to death to act on the advice, NOW, NOW, NOW? Is this some form of evergreen strategy based on there being a sucker born every minute?
"(It was ultimately delivered as cash in a grocery bag!)" Lol!
"Is this some form of evergreen strategy based on there being a sucker born every minute?" You bet. More people than you would believe do it. And then they imagine that we're in a perpetual doom loop and thank god that they've been prepared. Nope, no regrets.
What I am always amazed at is how the heck I end up on Republican e-mail lists. In the last month I've received stuff from Ted Cruz (who actually was kind of wonderful on last week's Bill Maher HBO show much to my surprise), Nikki Haley, Speaker Mike Johnson and Elyse Stefanik (who I abhor big time).
Spam filters are good for some things.