Search found 50 matches

by JohnnyFactor
Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:32 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: The GOLD scream room
Replies: 3689
Views: 1659592

Re: The GOLD scream room

Yikes. I didn't know this, but should have guessed.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/af ... hones.html
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:04 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: The GOLD scream room
Replies: 3689
Views: 1659592

Re: The GOLD scream room

Useless but fun trivia of the day:

There is 1/1000 oz of gold in a smartphone. About $1.25 as of today.
by JohnnyFactor
Wed May 31, 2017 3:11 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: Holding gold in retirement accounts
Replies: 43
Views: 27139

Re: Holding gold in retirement accounts

Hey sophie, just a heads up on this relevant piece from craigs book, chapter 9. You may want to ask them to clarify this further. " Storing Gold in an IRA The IRS says that American Eagle gold coins can be put into an IRA. This is probably not a good idea for two reasons: 1. Gold has no interest or ...
by JohnnyFactor
Tue May 30, 2017 9:30 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced
Replies: 8
Views: 7561

Re: IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced

IBM has the potential to become the world's largest company but, at the moment, management seems hellbent on destroying it. They snowed Warren Buffett into thinking IBM was a good buy (it wasn't) and now it's backfired on them. I personally like Watson-- especially if it can tell me when to buy gold...
by JohnnyFactor
Mon May 22, 2017 3:49 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Passive vs Active Investing, and role of the PP
Replies: 44
Views: 26306

Re: Passive vs Active Investing, and role of the PP

Found this article today that says some states are beginning to declare passive investment accounts as abandoned and taking the money for themselves.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/2 ... serAgent=1
by JohnnyFactor
Thu May 18, 2017 12:55 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 9
Views: 10134

Re: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio

You don't need a large portfolio to justify using international gold storage. It is the point of the gold after all. Harry Browne once said all you need is $4,000 dollars to get started with the PP and keep $1,000 of physical gold in a Swiss bank. You need the geographical diversification, the 'hard...
by JohnnyFactor
Thu May 18, 2017 10:58 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 9
Views: 10134

Re: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio

Wire transfer fee: $20 If I transfer $2000 at a time, that's 1%. Waiting until I have $4000 reduces it to 0.5%, or $8000 for 0.25%. Currency conversion fee: 2.5% What my bank charges to send money in AUD or USD. Buying fee for unallocated: 1% Spread is only $3 from spot, which is excellent, but the...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed May 17, 2017 4:16 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 9
Views: 10134

Re: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio

My gold is still in a state of flux. I was holding MNT but recently switched to CGL.C for the free trades. I'm starting to think it's not worth it though. The trust structure is just too deep and opaque. I don't have any physical right now but will be keeping 15% (of portfolio value) with the Perth ...
by JohnnyFactor
Tue May 16, 2017 4:13 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 9
Views: 10134

Re: The Canadian Permanent Portfolio

The long-ish duration of ZFS is not bad because ZFL is a bit too short. Together, they balance out and come close to an intermediate duration fund. Not ideal, but at least it's not lop-sided. I've been back and forth on the US and international funds. Harry Browne has pointed out numerous times that...
by JohnnyFactor
Sat May 13, 2017 4:38 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced
Replies: 8
Views: 7561

Re: IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced

Yup. I can tell you from experience, binging on pizza before bed often leads to that.


Seeing the possibility of $10,000 gold makes me want to convert more to physical while it's still cheap. Imagine paying a $500 markup per coin. :o
by JohnnyFactor
Fri May 12, 2017 8:07 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced
Replies: 8
Views: 7561

IBM Watson says gold is very underpriced

In 2016, IBM fed financial data to Watson and asked for an analysis of the true value of gold. Watson concluded that gold was priced at about 2001 levels, in relative terms. Extrapolating forward to a future 2011 peak would mean gold would be $9,600 by 2026. Of course, leave it to humans to come up ...
by JohnnyFactor
Sun Mar 26, 2017 1:21 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: Any downside to bars?
Replies: 77
Views: 40555

Re: Any downside to bars?

I need to look up what Harry said about unallocated storage. I don't think he liked it, but that's not necessarily a showstopper for me. He was not a fan of unallocated storage because of third-party risk and possible confiscation. Anything beyond "a bag of gold on a shelf with your name on it" jus...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:22 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Derivatives Risk
Replies: 16
Views: 11003

Re: Derivatives Risk

Thanks Kbg, I appreciate the info. I'm not a reader or fan of ZeroHedge but other sites use them for source. This is the page that got me thinking about this:

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... osure.html
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:02 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Derivatives Risk
Replies: 16
Views: 11003

Re: Derivatives Risk

Since I've only contributed questions, here's info on what I've done to minimize exposure to general calamity. I've closed all accounts with big banks and deal exclusively with a credit union. I carry no debt, including no mortgage. I've opened a Perth Mint account and am slowly filling it. I keep i...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:30 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Derivatives Risk
Replies: 16
Views: 11003

Re: Derivatives Risk

Most of us on these forums are prudently taking care of tax planning, bad investor behavior, and inflation (where we can). I don't consider those pressing issues for conscientious folks like us. I asked about derivatives because they are the ultimate black swan. The PP was designed with black swans ...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:28 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: Any downside to bars?
Replies: 77
Views: 40555

Re: Any downside to bars?

One downside to gold coins in a SHTF world is, most people are completely ignorant about gold. The coins have a face value of $50 and that's probably what you would be offered for it. Someone said to me the other day, "How much is gold worth these days, like, $200?" They had no idea what the going r...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:36 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Buy bonds now or wait
Replies: 57
Views: 33003

Re: Buy bonds now or wait

Search is rejecting all my terms for being too common. Anyways, you must mean inflation. Yes, I failed to mention that and it can be significant. I can't think of anything else though.
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:54 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Buy bonds now or wait
Replies: 57
Views: 33003

Re: Buy bonds now or wait

A nice benefit of bonds is the guaranteed return if held to maturity. You receive interest payments while you hold the bond and get back the initial investment when it matures. A bond fund like TLT behaves the same way if held until the average or effective duration. No matter what happens with inte...
by JohnnyFactor
Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:26 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Buy bonds now or wait
Replies: 57
Views: 33003

Re: Buy bonds now or wait

Bonds seem to be the asset that will offer the most "buying opportunities" over the next economic cycle. That's fine with me, as I'm 15 years out from retirement. At that time, I should have amassed a huge pile of bonds for cheap. Just in time for them to start going back up.
by JohnnyFactor
Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:53 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Derivatives Risk
Replies: 16
Views: 11003

Re: Derivatives Risk

I've been considering Perth Mint for physical gold holding. They're just a phone call away from shipping the bullion or a plane trip away from getting it myself (google says 26 hours travel minimum!). In theory, it sounds good. I just hope the logistics of it all don't prove to be a problem.
by JohnnyFactor
Tue Feb 28, 2017 9:15 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Derivatives Risk
Replies: 16
Views: 11003

Derivatives Risk

I don't really understand what derivatives are but I know they're big bets that could go very wrong. Smart and wealthy people like Buffett have warned against them. I would like to know the risk to the PP if the derivative market crashes. Would it be like 2008, or more like Mad Max? Is there anythin...
by JohnnyFactor
Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:51 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: TAX-DEFERRED ACCOUNTS: A NO-BRAINER?
Replies: 21
Views: 11240

Re: TAX-DEFERRED ACCOUNTS: A NO-BRAINER?

I went through this info in early 2016 and decided to create stand-alone PPs within each account (RRSP and TFSA). Rebalancing is simple and tax-free, and reflects the sentiment behind the PP in the first place-- keep it simple.
by JohnnyFactor
Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:59 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: New to Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 45
Views: 31002

Re: New to Permanent Portfolio

eufo wrote:Needless to say, I really chose the wrong moment to buy gold.
The odds of an asset going down as soon as you buy it is almost 100%. The PP is a "cover all bases" portfolio. Something is always going up and something is always going down.
by JohnnyFactor
Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:53 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: Complete list of bullion?
Replies: 23
Views: 14152

Re: Complete list of bullion?

I was looking for something like this recently and was satisfied by the Wikipedia list. I'm sure it's not complete but it's pretty comprehensive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullion_c ... lion_coins
by JohnnyFactor
Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:43 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Dear 2016, we will miss you.
Replies: 0
Views: 2637

Dear 2016, we will miss you.

RIP Prince David Bowie George Michael Nancy Reagan Carrie Fisher Debbie Reynolds and Permanent Portfolio Forum I know, I know. One of these things is not like the others. I also lost my grandfather this year (at 96 years young). Now that my youth is officially gone, it's time to look forward. I thin...