Is the Gold Bubble Ready To Pop?

For the past few years, I’ve noticed an increasing interest in people buying gold. Advertisements on television, radio, endless banners proclaiming cash for gold around town as you drive around. The price of gold has soared in recent memory. But what about now? The tune has started to change. Now, the tide is slowly turning the other way. More and more, you see signs proclaiming that you should buy gold. Today on the radio, I even heard an advert for a gold backed IRA. The kicker was that they will give you an extra $150 for buying into the gold fund.
What does it mean? Well, instead of buying up your gold, investors/speculators are trying to offload it. What better way to do that then proclaim how it’s gone up so much in value. Originally, you heard about selling gold, now they’re looking for suckers to buy it while the price is still high.

Remember, gold is a commodity, just like everything else. It has value, but it has price fluctuations like everything else. It can be overvalued, it can be undervalued. You could possibly trade with it, but it still needs to be converted into money. While it can store value, but it’s not an investment. It cannot generate returns on it’s own.

You heard it here first, folks.
Gold is currently at USD $1830.79

Thoughts on Apple and Steve Jobs

The news came out after-hours last night that Steve Jobs is stepping down as CEO of Apple effective immediately. This was the day that I think most shareholders have dreaded for quite some time. I don’t think that there will be any noticeable change in the near-term. Products are already being developed, and the company seems to have a roadmap in place for the next few years that, if history is any indication, will leave competitors struggling to keep up. Out past that, I think that it may be more uncertain. Steve Jobs has a great talent. He has been able to see into the future and create beautiful products that people want. The question of if that will continue is what will be answered but not for a few years. Fundamentally, Steve Jobs has taken the old computer retailer and created a new company that packages technology in a simple, elegant, easy and intuitive package for people to use. Basically, it trades on the power of ideas. Anyone can sell computers, but selling ideas is harder, and almost impossible to copy. A company can sell ideas forever, long after computers have become obsolete. Whether it can continue to innovate after the main wellspring has gone is the question.

Shares are down $7 (1.86%) at the opening of the market to $369

What a time to go on vacation

I’ve been gone the last two weeks, but it’s been a busy time in the world. We finally got a budget deal that averted the federal government’s default (yay), S&P downgraded the credit of the United States government (ugh), Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll and Rick Perry entered the presidential race the same day, the Euro is currently under the stress of Italian and now French debt (ugh), the stock market is imploding (double ugh), Google is buying Motorola Mobility, HP is closing shop on WebOS and exiting the consumer market, there was rioting in London of all places, a more assertive crackdown in Syria of protesters, and upheaval in San Francisco over the decision by BART to shutdown wireless access in the underground stations with protests leading to stoppage of service during rush hour and sites being hacked by Anonymous (please don’t hack me).

There are lots of angry people in the world out there, perhaps justifiably.