 Firewood,
Green Beans, Cheerful Women
& Gold
Bill Bonner
snippet
The
Daily Reckoning
Oct 7, 2004
"...someday, the going
may not be so good. We hold it [gold] in inventory for the day
when "just in time" fails and "just in case"
comes back into style."
The English seem obsessed.
Each and every news item in popular press comes with a price
tag.
A recent murder/suicide story,
for example, told us what seemed like superfluous information:
how much the killer's house was worth... and what kind of car
he drove. But the more we study the popular press, the more we
see that nearly every news story has a touch of envy about it.
Hardly a person is mentioned without some reference to the market
price of his house... or his car... or his yacht... or his last
vacation.
Ooh la la... here, an English
reader has missed the point:
"Thank you very much for
renewing your daily mantra of 'Buy gold' and, more specifically,
precious metal mining shares. I've heeded your advice on this
various times in the past five years - and now I'm sick to death
of reading it... as well as being so gullible about heeding it.
Bill Bonner and associates have a way of seeming so authoritative
and convincing that I've acted on their recommendations a few
times... and am still waiting to come out ahead in the long run.
"The first time I put
my money where your mouth is was when I switched from ailing
media and leisure funds into gold. My fund manager at Credit
Suisse was aghast when I instructed him to get into gold at $63
a share, with dire warnings of the volatility of such stocks
and how they showed no gain over a protracted period. When they
rose to $108, he congratulated me for buying 'at exactly the
right time.' I bought more and watched them rise to $126. Three
years ago, they began to fall - every day - then tumble and then
topple into free fall. I checked you for updates, explanations
or any kind of advice... but there were none."
The reader goes on to describe
his efforts - trying to trade in and out of gold stocks - and
blaming us! Yes, we like gold, dear reader. But, no, we never
suggested trying to make money from the stuff. And never would
we recommend trying to trade it!
We like gold the way we like
stacks of firewood, jars of canned green beans and cheerful women.
They make the going so much more fun when the going gets rough.
As we mention above, the going has never been easier. So easy
have things become that people no longer see the need for reserves...
savings... manners... or inventories. Unless there's a hurricane,
everything seems to come along just in time. The food on the
table. The electricity to run the air conditioners. The money
to make the monthly payments.
But someday, the going may
not be so good. We hold it in inventory for the day when "just
in time" fails and "just in case" comes back into
style.
Oct 7, 2004
 Bill Bonner
The
Daily Reckoning
Editor's Note:
Bill Bonner is the founder and editor of The Daily Reckoning.
He is also the author, with Addison Wiggin, of the NY Times,
Wall Street Journal and international bestseller: "Financial
Reckoning Day:
Surviving The Soft Depression of The 21st Century" (John
Wiley & Sons).
321gold
Inc Miami USA
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