S&P downgrades 9 European Nations

[pwaldo]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71427.html

The Standard & Poor’s rating agency downgraded nine European countries Friday, confirming that the continent’s efforts to contain a debt crisis that also threatens the fragile U.S. recovery have come up short.

What began as excessive debts in countries such as Greece steadily evolved into concerns about unsustainable spending in Italy and the financial strength of France, spawning a contagion that threatens to unravel the eurozone and could hit American exports and the financial sector.
Continue Reading

S&P concluded that the political agreements and combined $1 trillion in potential bailout funding reached at a December summit were not of “sufficient size and scope to fully address the eurozone’s financial problems.”

The question is whether the move worsens a downturn that the Obama administration has warned is the greatest danger to the global economy. Economists already expect the situation in Europe to slightly bruise the United States.

[Lynco Cards]

Hopefully this makes all my silver and Gold go up! Capitalism you gotta love it! Purchased a Huge amount right when Obama took office and plan on banking in the next year when the dollar crumbles and our economy collapses from his ignorant leadership.

[pghin08]

Hopefully this makes all my silver and Gold go up! Capitalism you gotta love it! Purchased a Huge amount right when Obama took office and plan on banking in the next year when the dollar crumbles and our economy collapses from his ignorant leadership.

Don't see this happening.

[Lynco Cards]

Don't see this happening.

I just want $2K ounce Gold and $40 Ounce on Silver and i'll laugh all the way to the BANK!!

[duane1969]

Don't see this happening.

Not soleley from his leadership, but it is scary how fragile our economy is right now and how much control other countries have over the success of our economy.

I just want $2K ounce Gold and $40 Ounce on Silver and i'll laugh all the way to the BANK!!

I 2nd this although I won't be taking it to any bank...they just give you worthless dollars in return.

[pghin08]

I just want $2K ounce Gold and $40 Ounce on Silver and i'll laugh all the way to the BANK!!

Gold took a beating in the 4th quarter of '11. I'm going to ask a question, and you can feel free to tell me that it's none of my business, but do you have pure gold, like a block of it just sitting at your house, or did you buy something like GLD (SPDR Gold Shares)? Because I've never understood one thing about GLD. Gold is a finite resource. What if we've pretty much mined all the gold, and GLD is still writing futures on bullion that doesn't exist?

[duane1969]

Gold took a beating in the 4th quarter of '11. I'm going to ask a question, and you can feel free to tell me that it's none of my business, but do you have pure gold, like a block of it just sitting at your house, or did you buy something like GLD (SPDR Gold Shares)? Because I've never understood one thing about GLD. Gold is a finite resource. What if we've pretty much mined all the gold, and GLD is still writing futures on bullion that doesn't exist?

I have bullion.

I have never gotten the point in sending someone your money and them "storing" your gold for you. What if the world sinks into anarchy? Are they going to give you your gold or screw you on it? I think I know the answer.

[Lynco Cards]

Gold took a beating in the 4th quarter of '11. I'm going to ask a question, and you can feel free to tell me that it's none of my business, but do you have pure gold, like a block of it just sitting at your house, or did you buy something like GLD (SPDR Gold Shares)? Because I've never understood one thing about GLD. Gold is a finite resource. What if we've pretty much mined all the gold, and GLD is still writing futures on bullion that doesn't exist?

I buy gold in Coins and Bullion. I have never bought stock in gold companies. I use a company call CNI out of california.

[pghin08]

I have bullion.

I have never gotten the point in sending someone your money and them "storing" your gold for you. What if the world sinks into anarchy? Are they going to give you your gold or screw you on it? I think I know the answer.

Agreed. Though I must say, I'm not a gold bug. I think we've seen the peak for the next 10-20 years. One of the main premises behind people who own gold in some capacity (and we've seen here in this thread) is a general feeling that the economy will fail on a massive scale. And call me an optimist, but I don't see that happening. There are too many systems in place to prevent complete market upheaval, and far too many people who are deriving both money and power from the current system. We saw in 2008/09 that our economy was not infallible, but we also saw that it was resilient.

There's a great book out now by Michael Lewis (the guy who wrote The Big Short, Moneyball, The Blindside, Liar's Poker, etc) called Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. In it, he chronicles the massive failures in Greece, Iceland and Ireland. What he does, in an indirect manner, is show how different the US is from them. Yes, we have long-term questions that need to be answered, and there is a very real lack of political will to solve them. But that doesn't mean that it won't happen, and it also doesn't mean that our economy as we know it will disintegrate.

As the always quotable Winston Churchill once said, "The Americans will always do the right thing, after they've exhausted all the alternatives."

[duane1969]

My primary reason for accumulating precious metals is simple.

1) Over the long-term they always increase in value or maintain their value. 30 years from now my bullion will be just as valuable or more valuable than it is today. The same can not be said for any form of government issued currency.

2) In the event of an economic collapse my wealth is protected. From 10,000 years ago to today gold and silver have always been valuable and desirable.

Looking back at the last 10-15 years, if I had been buying gold and silver instead of football cards then I would have a lot more net worth than I do right now. If back in the 90's I had spent a few thousand on gold and silver instead of Action Packed and Upper Deck then my investment would be worth 3x-5x what I spent instead of pennies on the dollar. Investing in gold and silver will never be a bad choice IMO.