“How does one go about buying metals? I’ve traded the GLD ETF occassionally, but I’ve never tried to buy any gold coins or anything. Is there some place you can go to actually buy a bar of gold at face value?”
I buy most of my metals through my broker, but he charges a 1-1/2% commission. Unless you’re buying large quantities, I wouldn’t advise this route. Kitco and apmex.com are very reliable, but know that there are now lengthy days in delivery — so I would place an order sooner rather than later.
“I read the other day that people who had given their gold coins to some type of organization for storage were having trouble retrieving them. The speculation was that the gold coins had been loaned out or something or over several times over and the original owners were having trouble getting them back.”
Morgan Stanley is currently embroiled in a class action over this very issue. I stored metals with them and am part of the litigation. As it turns out (and this should hardly be a surprise for anyone who has been following the banking/credit crisis), MS was leveraging metals and *selling* more than it physically held. It’s not practical to store large quantities (thousands of ounces) of silver in your home (storage is kind of necessary), but gold is extremely easy to keep in a home safe.
Stay away from ETFs! I think the entire paper-debt-derivative nonsense is going to go up in smoke. If you can’t hold it in your hands, it will be meaningless.
“By the way, what do you think will emerge as a global currency? The Euro? Gold? I don’t think Europe is in much better shape than we are and I can’t imagine that anyone would trust the Russian Ruble or the Chinese Yuan more than the dollar.”
I think the entire global financial system is now in grave peril. The U.S. has infected the entire world. We are the financial equivalent of Patient Zero. I used to hold a large quantity of Euros but have now greatly reduced my exposure. The Chinese have been advocating recently for a gold-backed *global* currency. I highly doubt that the world’s next reserve currency (assuming the world hitches its wagon to another reserve currency) will be fiat. And for some period of time, gold, itself, may be the reserve currency. Because no one really trusts anyone anymore.
“It is scary to think about how quickly grocery stores can run out of stuff. Supposedly they only stock about five days’ worth of goods.”
Every time we see the havoc wrought by a hurricane, I think the same thing. People seem to take for granted that goods will always be available and that the worst will never happen. But Katrina and Ike are living proof that the balance can tip in an instance. Last week, thousands of people were literally stranded on the highways in Texas in their attempts to flee. People were fighting over limited supplies of gas at the pumps.
I have read repeatedly that the U.S. has only a two (2) day supply of food on shelves. When the trucks stop running, it’s going to get hairy.
