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Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

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Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#11

Post by sfjailbird »

ralusek wrote: post #6
AtlasBarfed wrote: post #3

Spot price appears to be manipulated for quite a while. Lots of demand for precious metals, yet the price isn't really going up, especially with inflation.

Yes, it's incredibly odd. Most US large ETFs and crypto have basically been in lockstep for much of the last few years. Same with housing, delayed a bit. It seems to indicate that that we're seeing when we look at the price of these assets is largely just a map of inflation rather than a substantial increase in value (i.e. just a graph of non-USD assets going up in terms of USD as real value of USD decreases). The ea…

There are whisperings in the investment community that the market is manipulated. Almost all gold trading is ETFs, and their gold holdings are managed by a chain of custodians several layers deep, none of which conduct public audits. The terms of the ETFs make it clear that they are completely absolved from any risks and responsibility for the holdings. At the same time, the practice of leasing out the gold in the vaults is well documented, so it is impossible to know who (or how many) 'own' a given gold bar at any given time.

The industry could counter these misgivings, by making the holdings publicly auditable, but chooses not to.

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#12

Post by pakitan »

ralusek wrote: post #6
AtlasBarfed wrote: post #3

Spot price appears to be manipulated for quite a while. Lots of demand for precious metals, yet the price isn't really going up, especially with inflation.

Yes, it's incredibly odd. Most US large ETFs and crypto have basically been in lockstep for much of the last few years. Same with housing, delayed a bit. It seems to indicate that that we're seeing when we look at the price of these assets is largely just a map of inflation rather than a substantial increase in value (i.e. just a graph of non-USD assets going up in terms of USD as real value of USD decreases). The ea…

S&P is up 4 times since its low in 2002. Gold is up 6 times since 2000. And you call that "barely budged"?

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#13

Post by baron816 »

ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

I’m not sure an economist (a mainstream economist) would really care that much about an individual holding gold. Maybe there’s an interesting behavioral question about why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable (yes, even with the recent spike in inflation—it’s nothing close to hyperinflation). But people going to Costco and buying gold doesn’t have an effect on the wider economy. Costco’s business isn’t even really affected. Gold is not money. It’s never going to be money again. So why care?

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#14

Post by bhaney »

ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

I just think it's neat to have

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#15

Post by Ekaros »

ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

Physical gold might have value in situation where financial institutions and markets start to lose any trust in themselves. Either by manipulation, government confiscation or fraud.

But, things will be pretty bad at that point from every viewpoint. As essentially global markets are crashing. On other hand, in even bigger crisis gold won't be that valuable at least for a while. If food and fuel are first priority people are unlikely to trade them for shiny metal...

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#17

Post by csomar »

ralusek wrote: post #6
AtlasBarfed wrote: post #3

Spot price appears to be manipulated for quite a while. Lots of demand for precious metals, yet the price isn't really going up, especially with inflation.

Yes, it's incredibly odd. Most US large ETFs and crypto have basically been in lockstep for much of the last few years. Same with housing, delayed a bit. It seems to indicate that that we're seeing when we look at the price of these assets is largely just a map of inflation rather than a substantial increase in value (i.e. just a graph of non-USD assets going up in terms of USD as real value of USD decreases). The ea…

Prices went up a lot following 2020 (way above the inflation numbers). I think they are finding a new spot around the inflation numbers (maybe a bit higher but not too much).

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#18

Post by dr_dshiv »

ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

It’s a prepper thing, isn’t it?

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#19

Post by [deleted] »

Ekaros wrote: post #15
ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

Physical gold might have value in situation where financial institutions and markets start to lose any trust in themselves. Either by manipulation, government confiscation or fraud. But, things will be pretty bad at that point from every viewpoint. As essentially global markets are crashing. On other hand, in even bigger crisis gold won't be that valuable at least for a while. If food and fuel are first priority peop…

[deleted]

Re: Costco gold bars are selling out within hours

#20

Post by jansan »

ggm wrote: post #8

I'd love to see an economists take on the value to a consumer of holding gold in this form, at the price. Investment gold is usually kept in vault, and you trade ownership arms length. Direct gold ownership is rife with risks: fineness, substitutions and overpriced purchase. Yes, you can always sell at a mall gold trader but that's way way off market price. So it's an inflation hedge with a lot of cost and risk and d…

Before 2008 quite a few people around me were purchasing physical gold. I even know of one guy who bought 20000€ worth of gold. AFAIK none of them had any idea afterwards what to with that stuff. I assume it is rotting (or keeps on shining) in their basements and will only be touched when they die or move out.
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