Pigs Get Eaten

Bob Moriarty
Archives
posted Jan 5, 2011

Some pet phrases live long because they work. I think most of my readers understand the pet phrase from Wall Street, "bears make money, bulls make money but pigs get eaten." Some wise wit was trying to remind investors that you could be bullish or bearish and still make money but the greedy sods get their lunch eaten.

I bought some palladium in late December of 2009. I didn't buy it as an investment. I bought it to preserve capital. I paid $362 and as of a couple of days ago palladium was up to $805. I wouldn't dream of selling as I don't view buying physical metal as investing. It's simply a way of preserving capital. But at the same time, I wouldn't be touting the best investment of 2010 to be the best investment of 2011. Since all things regress to the mean, yesterday's winners are tomorrow's losers.

Need I remind readers that the metals are the most emotional of investments with many investors and, indeed, advisors acting as if gold is some kind of a religion where it is supposed to go up every single day? And any day that it drops at all is "proof" of a conspiracy.

Gold and silver have gone up a lot in the last year. Anyone holding them or shares in juniors has pretty much made a lot of money. I have heard tales of accounts going up 100% and more in the last three months. All things regress to the mean.

In terms of loaves of bread or quarts of milk or nickel candy bars or gasoline or even postage stamps, gold at $1400 and silver at $31 are damned expensive. Stop believing every tout saying silver is going to $500. It may. but the dollars isn't disappearing tomorrow and you don't want to live in a world with $500 silver anyway.

Investments go up and down, all of them. A correction in gold and silver and indeed, what Bob Hoye calls the AOM market would be healthy. Nothing goes straight up or straight down.

When everyone gets bullish, take some money off the table. I would love to see a healthy correction here.

###

Jan 4, 2011
Bob Moriarty
President: 321gold
Archives

321gold Ltd