Gold prices rise, but up or down, gold's always around. Unlike stocks.
Whew鈥hat a week鈥�.! We had a bad cold last week, but we had to keep going.
Half the world鈥檚 work is done by people who don鈥檛 feel very good, so we soldiered on鈥� We were very busy.
We don鈥檛 approve of busy-ness. People who are very busy are usually wasting their time. Or, they are wasting your time. Politicians, for example. They鈥檙e on the go day and night 鈥� especially at election time. Shaking hands. Appearing at rallies and town hall meetings. Giving interviews. Meeting the voters. Meeting with their staff. Go鈥o鈥o鈥� gone!
We would all be better off if they stopped鈥nd thought. A little reflection might help us all.
That鈥檚 true of people in business too. Busy-ness feels productive. It feels effective. It looks dynamic and hard-working. But without solid thinking behind it, it is as empty as a whirlwind.
But what are we talking about? What鈥檚 this got to do with money?
Well, not much. So let鈥檚 move on.
What happened on Friday? Not much. Nothing worth comment.
Gold and stocks both up a little. But so what?
Should you buy stocks? Definitely not. Well, not definitely not. Maybe not. US stocks are likely to underperform over the next 10 years. As we keep saying, they still haven鈥檛 yet fulfilled their rendezvous with bear market destiny. When that happens, stock market investors will wish they had their money somewhere else.
Probably the only exceptions are those who take a very, very long-term outlook. Right now, there are some good US companies available at reasonable prices. Altria. Johnson & Johnson. Diamond Offshore Drilling. Today鈥檚 price is probably NOT the best price you will ever get. But maybe you don鈥檛 care. If you take a long enough perspective, you could be very happy with the kind of returns these companies are likely to deliver. They pay good dividends 鈥� and they鈥檙e growing. Many US companies are not only US companies. They鈥檙e world leaders. With brands that are known all over the globe. Many of these companies are enjoying spectacular growth in their foreign sales.
So, if you鈥檙e willing to look far enough into the future鈥aybe some of these US brand-name companies are worth buying.
Well, what about gold? While US stocks have gone nowhere since 1998, gold has gone up every year. This year it鈥檚 up again 鈥� 15%. And last week, gold hit record highs on three days.
So, should you buy gold? Again, it depends on what you鈥檙e trying to do. Here at The Daily Reckoning, we don鈥檛 encourage speculation. So if you buy gold in the hope of making a lot of money, you鈥檙e on your own. We don鈥檛 recommend it. Gold could go up鈥r down.
But gold is money. It鈥檚 the world鈥檚 more reliable money. You could use it to buy stuff during the reign of Caesar Augustus. You can use it to buy stuff now (after converting to paper currency). What鈥檚 more, you get about as much stuff per ounce (relatively) now as you did 2,000 years ago.
If you want to save money, save gold. It might go up. It might go down. But it won鈥檛 go away.
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