San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Gold Supplier

I guess this Roma(Gipsy) fellow would cover your uncle's demand just from his index finger alone :).

I'm not trying to highjack your tread jimmyle, I just needed a little laugh after a tough day.

P.S. talking about being ahead of the market. The big shots in the Roma hierarchy have/wear gold ties (flies in the face of inteligent/educated people like ourselves that Romas are more financially secure than ever......their savings are mostly in GOLD )

Enough trivia for today, so I'll yield back the tread.

www.bulliondirect.com

www.kitco.com

or gold etf (gld). but i dont trust it anymore.

I am no expert, but I personally am in favor of actually holding on to the physical gold, silver, platinum, or whatever. I am sure there is nothing wrong with ETFs or gold pools or whatever, I just find more peace of mind in being able to touch it. There are drawbacks with holding it, yes. You must think about safely storing and protecting it. A bolted-down safe, a guard dog, and a home protection hand gun and/or shot gun make a formidable defense. You might also consider insuring your investment if you store it yourself.

Also, I have heard that it is best to purchase those precious metal products that are the most easily convertible, like Maple Leafs, American Eagles, Krugerrand, etc. And don't get suckered into the numismatic, or collectibility, of your items...some dealers will often overcharge for this.

What's the cheapest way to buy and sell physical platinum? Anyone knows? Kitco does not sell 1-ounce coins and they have huge spreads on 1/2 ounce coins (buying for 490 and selling for 569).

My concern with physical gold is where should you take it to redeem for cash? I don't know how liquid of an asset gold may be. Maybe someone with experience of buying gold and selling it for cash could give us some feedback.

This is more of an opinion rather than an answer. I don't hold any platinum and don't doubt its long term prospects, but I question its convertibility. I think your post attests to this. Platinum is valuable, yes, but it isn't at the level of gold or silver when it comes to convertibility. Additionally, I fear that a large portion of platinum consumption, along with the consumption of the other platinum metals like palladium and rhodium, are heavily over-weighted (as much as 50% or more) towards vehicle consumption in the form of catalytic converters. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Sea...

Vehicle consumption in the US and Europe has stalled. And those who argue that China and India are the next big markets for vehicles must confront the lack of environmental regulations in those countries and ask whether catalytic converters will be utilized in vehicles sold there. My gut tells me NO, at least in the short term (10+ years).

I guess my answer to your question is a question: why platinum? If you are looking to be able to convert it in the short term (1-5 years), I think you might be better served in highly convertible forms of silver or gold, IMHO.

See if there's a local dealer in your area. PM's are carrying kinds of wealth. So I take no chances. Get them in my hands and put them in my safety deposit box. Hell, there's not even serial numbers on them. Pure and simple purchasing power in its rawest form. Man, the libertarian in me loves the stuff.