[Hatfield]

No, gold ownership was made illegal in the 30s for a very specific reason: the dollar was pegged to gold, and there was a run on US gold reserves by foreign noteholders demanding redemption. Shortly after gold ownership was outlawed the dollar was devalued something like 30%.

Now that the dollar is not pegged to gold, it floats freely against it, so I don’t know why private gold ownership would be outlawed again.

[Hatfield]

No, gold ownership was made illegal in the 30s for a very specific reason: the dollar was pegged to gold, and there was a run on US gold reserves by foreign noteholders demanding redemption. Shortly after gold ownership was outlawed the dollar was devalued something like 30%.

Now that the dollar is not pegged to gold, it floats freely against it, so I don’t know why private gold ownership would be outlawed again.

[Hatfield]

No, gold ownership was made illegal in the 30s for a very specific reason: the dollar was pegged to gold, and there was a run on US gold reserves by foreign noteholders demanding redemption. Shortly after gold ownership was outlawed the dollar was devalued something like 30%.

Now that the dollar is not pegged to gold, it floats freely against it, so I don’t know why private gold ownership would be outlawed again.

[Hatfield]

A friend of mine who sells consumer electronics stuff says this 4th quarter for him has been a lot stronger than it was a year ago.

I don’t know how healthy retail will be this Christmas, but my guess is that it will be stronger than last year. This time last year, the collapse was still new. Now that we’re just sort of muddling along, this is the new normal, at least for now. I don’t know if confidence itself is much higher, but at least the average consumer probably is not panicked or freaked out as they were a year ago.

BTW, I do think it’s sad that the consumerist orgy that is Christmas drives our economy to any measurable degree, but that’s another topic for another time.

[Hatfield]

A friend of mine who sells consumer electronics stuff says this 4th quarter for him has been a lot stronger than it was a year ago.

I don’t know how healthy retail will be this Christmas, but my guess is that it will be stronger than last year. This time last year, the collapse was still new. Now that we’re just sort of muddling along, this is the new normal, at least for now. I don’t know if confidence itself is much higher, but at least the average consumer probably is not panicked or freaked out as they were a year ago.

BTW, I do think it’s sad that the consumerist orgy that is Christmas drives our economy to any measurable degree, but that’s another topic for another time.

[Hatfield]

A friend of mine who sells consumer electronics stuff says this 4th quarter for him has been a lot stronger than it was a year ago.

I don’t know how healthy retail will be this Christmas, but my guess is that it will be stronger than last year. This time last year, the collapse was still new. Now that we’re just sort of muddling along, this is the new normal, at least for now. I don’t know if confidence itself is much higher, but at least the average consumer probably is not panicked or freaked out as they were a year ago.

BTW, I do think it’s sad that the consumerist orgy that is Christmas drives our economy to any measurable degree, but that’s another topic for another time.

[Hatfield]

A friend of mine who sells consumer electronics stuff says this 4th quarter for him has been a lot stronger than it was a year ago.

I don’t know how healthy retail will be this Christmas, but my guess is that it will be stronger than last year. This time last year, the collapse was still new. Now that we’re just sort of muddling along, this is the new normal, at least for now. I don’t know if confidence itself is much higher, but at least the average consumer probably is not panicked or freaked out as they were a year ago.

BTW, I do think it’s sad that the consumerist orgy that is Christmas drives our economy to any measurable degree, but that’s another topic for another time.

[Hatfield]

A friend of mine who sells consumer electronics stuff says this 4th quarter for him has been a lot stronger than it was a year ago.

I don’t know how healthy retail will be this Christmas, but my guess is that it will be stronger than last year. This time last year, the collapse was still new. Now that we’re just sort of muddling along, this is the new normal, at least for now. I don’t know if confidence itself is much higher, but at least the average consumer probably is not panicked or freaked out as they were a year ago.

BTW, I do think it’s sad that the consumerist orgy that is Christmas drives our economy to any measurable degree, but that’s another topic for another time.

[Hatfield]

I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

[Hatfield]

I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

[Hatfield]

I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

[Hatfield]

I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

[Hatfield]

I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

[Hatfield]

Agreed on the Sprint/Verizon thing – those phones are activated by ESN (Electronic Serial Number) and neither carrier will activate a phone that’s not already in their “system.”

As for GSM phones (or the GSM portion of multi-mode phones), if you don’t feel like DIY, most of those skeevy little independent mobile phone shops will unlock these phones for you for a nominal fee. About three years ago I bought a GSM RAZR for an upcoming Europe trip and had it unlocked at a little shop on Cass St. I bought the phone (used) there and they unlocked it for free, but otherwise the fee is pretty nominal.

Also, there is a San Diego based company (I think they’re on Garnet but they only do business through the mail) that sells international roaming SIM cards.

http://www.telestial.com/sim_cards.php

The one that I bought is a “ringback” service – to call out, you dial the full phone number, country code and all, and when you press send, the phone sends a text message to some server somewhere, and a few seconds later the phone rings. You answer, and it places your call for you.

The one that I got is something like 39 – 79 cents per minute in Europe, depending where you’re calling. Mine has a UK telephone number. But incoming calls are free and there’s no monthly fee. You do have to top up the card every nine months whether you use it or not, but the money doesn’t go away, it accumulates.

This per-minute rate is much higher than the single-country SIM cards you can buy in kiosks across Europe & Asia. The big advantage of this card is that, besides free incoming calls, your phone number is the same everywhere you go, and you’ll know what that phone number is before you leave for your trip. This is nice if you’re going to be moving around a lot.

[Hatfield]

Agreed on the Sprint/Verizon thing – those phones are activated by ESN (Electronic Serial Number) and neither carrier will activate a phone that’s not already in their “system.”

As for GSM phones (or the GSM portion of multi-mode phones), if you don’t feel like DIY, most of those skeevy little independent mobile phone shops will unlock these phones for you for a nominal fee. About three years ago I bought a GSM RAZR for an upcoming Europe trip and had it unlocked at a little shop on Cass St. I bought the phone (used) there and they unlocked it for free, but otherwise the fee is pretty nominal.

Also, there is a San Diego based company (I think they’re on Garnet but they only do business through the mail) that sells international roaming SIM cards.

http://www.telestial.com/sim_cards.php

The one that I bought is a “ringback” service – to call out, you dial the full phone number, country code and all, and when you press send, the phone sends a text message to some server somewhere, and a few seconds later the phone rings. You answer, and it places your call for you.

The one that I got is something like 39 – 79 cents per minute in Europe, depending where you’re calling. Mine has a UK telephone number. But incoming calls are free and there’s no monthly fee. You do have to top up the card every nine months whether you use it or not, but the money doesn’t go away, it accumulates.

This per-minute rate is much higher than the single-country SIM cards you can buy in kiosks across Europe & Asia. The big advantage of this card is that, besides free incoming calls, your phone number is the same everywhere you go, and you’ll know what that phone number is before you leave for your trip. This is nice if you’re going to be moving around a lot.

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