CASH FOR GOLD:
ARE YOU
KIDDING?
By Fred Goldstein
October 20,
2009
For the better part of a year Americans have
been besieged with television, radio and print ads imploring us to sell our
gold coins and jewelry for cash. Aside from helping a poor soul in need of
immediate cash, the concept is flawed and needs to be analyzed and exposed.
The ads usually say the gold price is near or at all time highs.
2009 marked the ninth year in a row the price of gold rose, up nearly
$200/oz. since January 2009. Anyone who sold their gold earlier has left a
good amount of money on the table.
These ads also never disclose that while the nominal price of gold is
at an all time high, if adjusted for inflation gold is less than half of an
inflatio
n-adjusted price of $2,350/oz. I am not critical of companies making
profits, but I am critical when ads mislead consumers and prey on the
uninformed.
Since the US officially cut the tie between gold and the US dollar in
1971, Keynesian economists have harped on the concept that dollars are
“money” and gold is a barbaric relic. However, in 2009 it
appears the Federal Reserve note is becoming the barbaric relic, while gold
is reemerging as the ultimate universal money.
An honest, trustworthy “money” system or currency must have
four basic qualifications. It must be; 1) Portable, 2) Divisible, 3)
Liquid, and 4) Scarce. It is obvious Federal Reserve notes do not meet the
technical definition of “money” because honest money must be
scarce and have intrinsic value (a store of wealth). You can’t print
trillions in paper money and expect the value not to decline.
Doug Casey of Casey Research wrote recently, “Gold is
particularly good for use as money, just as aluminum is particularly good
for making aircraft, steel is good for the structures of buildings, uranium
is good for fueling nuclear power plants, and paper is good for making
books. Not money. If you try to make airplanes out of lead, or money out of
paper, you’re in for a crash. That gold is money is simply the result
of the market process, seeking optimum means of storing value and making
exchanges.”
Since March 2009 the US dollar has lost 10%-15% against major
currencies and some commodities. Steve Watson of Infowars.net reports
(6/18/09), “The amount of US taxpayer money committed to bailouts
over the last 12 months by far exceeds the combined cost of major
historical events dating back over 200 years. The combined amount spent,
lent, consumed, borrowed, printed, guaranteed, assumed or otherwise
committed to bailouts by the government from March 2008 to March 2009
amounts to some $15 TRILLION...The cost of World War Two, the race to the
moon, the New Deal, and the Iraq, Vietnam and Korean wars combined does not
come close to the amount spent so far in just 12 months on the bailout of a
handful of privately owned offshore corporations.”
In Demise of the Dollar, Robert Fisk of the London Independent wrote,
“In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have
launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US
currency for oil trading.”
Michael S. Rozeff, a retired professor of finance and an author,
recently wrote on lewrockwell.com, “If one or more foreign central
bankers, such as those in China, Russia, Brazil, and the Middle East, have
finally decided that they no longer wish to accept dollars that are
inconvertible into gold, they have no choice but to establish their
monetary systems with gold as a reserve asset...In the end, no matter how
the divorce from the inconvertible dollar occurs or what travails we must
go through to get the final decree, the outcome is going to be a marriage
to gold.” -Divorcing the Dollar and Marrying Gold
A fool and his money are soon parted, the old saying goes. Please do
not be lured to a gold selling party or to a dingy hotel to sell your gold
for cash or the promise of a $10 gas card and the highest prices paid!
Now is the time for savers and investors to put themselves on their own
gold standard, while there is still enough confidence left in the fiat US
Federal Reserve notes to exchange them for real money; gold. The window is
closing fast as the gold price in US dollars is rising dramatically.
Meanwhile, mine supplies cannot keep up with worldwide gold demand. Rumors
abound that the short sellers are having delivery problems on the NY COMEX
and the ETFs do not have enough physical gold to back their paper gold.
We have always offered resources to help educate individuals about gold
and silver ownership. Whether you are new to the precious metals arena or
are considering adding to your position, I urge you to act quickly. In the
past gold ownership may have been considered a luxury while today we
consider it a necessity.
James Sinclair of jsmineset.com sums it up with this quote, "Gold
has no agenda, no allegiance and functions as honest money in a world of
lies, corruption, overstatement and spin”
Fred Goldstein