Search found 689 matches

by BearBones
Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:24 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"
Replies: 25
Views: 10752

Re: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"

It is very difficult to talk about any of this stuff both because it CANNOT be understood intellectually, and because much of it is inherently paradoxical Ah, and one of the paradoxes may be that one who is truly enlightened would have no need or interest in saying "I am enlightened." I suspect tha...
by BearBones
Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:43 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"
Replies: 25
Views: 10752

Re: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"

You are describing a few nice moments.  When you can live out of that nice space 24/7 you have part of the idea. I am still skeptical that humans can be 100% "enlightened" 24/7. Some can come very close, but not 100%. Even in the words of the Buddha and Jesus (or at least the translation) I think I...
by BearBones
Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"
Replies: 25
Views: 10752

Re: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"

It is very difficult to talk about any of this stuff both because it CANNOT be understood intellectually, and because much of it is inherently paradoxical Then is it real?  Or is it simply fantasy of imagination, or worse the delusions of a fractured mind? What is actually "real?" And what isn't a ...
by BearBones
Sat Aug 24, 2013 11:59 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"
Replies: 25
Views: 10752

Re: Doodle: "once you start to see reality, you cease to exist"

i am not so sure "you cease to exist as an individual" is accurate, you cease to exist as an ego that sees itself as separate may be a more accurate way of saying it, of course language will never adequately describe a state of being beyond language... it at best is a sign post pointing to the expe...
by BearBones
Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:33 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Budding Minimalist...
Replies: 34
Views: 14283

Re: Budding Minimalist...

Inspiring thread! I am a materialistic addict (in therapy), and I find that different things bring me down to different degrees. The biggest offenders are those things that need to be maintained, updated/upgraded or repaired frequently. So, electronics, autos, and house/yard are the first to look at...
by BearBones
Thu Jun 20, 2013 8:20 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Hobbies
Replies: 31
Views: 22312

Re: Hobbies

Taking up kite surfing.
by BearBones
Tue May 21, 2013 5:01 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Foods to Avoid
Replies: 238
Views: 73161

Re: Foods to Avoid

Don't mean to "post and run," Gumby. Not ignoring you; will study your rebuttals when I get the chance this week. Thanks for putting the time into this!
by BearBones
Sun May 19, 2013 2:21 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Foods to Avoid
Replies: 238
Views: 73161

Re: Foods to Avoid

The fact that it's difficult to find evidence of chronic disease 200 or 500 years ago is the evidence . Hmm. Could it be because we do not have many bodies to autopsy? We have at least one (from 3350 and 3100 B.C.), and he had atherosclerosis, bad teeth, and gallstones: http://news.sciencemag.org/s...
by BearBones
Sun May 19, 2013 2:12 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Foods to Avoid
Replies: 238
Views: 73161

Re: Foods to Avoid

It is incontrovertible that adult lifespans have not increased significantly over the past 500 years. For instance, even if we look at the lives of the well-documented Founding Fathers (in this case, the 1787 delegates), we see the following life spans were recorded: Don't buy it. Lots of bias here...
by BearBones
Sun May 19, 2013 5:36 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Foods to Avoid
Replies: 238
Views: 73161

Re: Foods to Avoid

Gumby wrote: On average, we only live about 7 years longer than our adult ancestors — and now we have far more "chronic" diseases.
Skeptical but open minded. You have posted in past, I believe, but can you provide incontrovertible evidence of this?
by BearBones
Sat May 18, 2013 1:41 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Microbiota Article in NYT
Replies: 0
Views: 941

Microbiota Article in NYT

Great article that may be worthwhile for those of us interested in nutrition and health. May have been posted elsewhere, but I missed it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magaz ... ted=1&_r=0
by BearBones
Sun Apr 21, 2013 4:47 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Rebalancing YES, Schwabbery-Robbery NO
Replies: 27
Views: 10323

Re: Rebalancing YES, Schwabbery-Robbery NO

A few days ago I did a switcheroo of SGOL for GTU when it was trading at a 5% premium, and was able to do it instantly in my Schwab 401k. With Vanguard, each transaction takes take 3 days to settle, and the opportunity would have been lost. I think same for Vanguard. Price locked in on trade date b...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:56 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: How to Tax-Loss Harvest Gold?
Replies: 7
Views: 4588

Re: How to Tax-Loss Harvest Gold?

Agree with Moda. Not the same instruments. Realize that you are selling at a discount, although only 2% now. Looks like CEF is 1.4% discount, so that might help when buying.
by BearBones
Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:40 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: GTU
Replies: 26
Views: 12976

Re: GTU

In taxable accounts, it's time to sell some physical for a tax loss harvest, buy GTU, then exchange back after 30 days and after GTU discount decreases. A win-win.

Edit: Or maybe more appropriately, a lose-win-win.  :P
by BearBones
Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:09 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: The Rout Continues
Replies: 80
Views: 39043

Re: The Rout Continues

If anyone has doubted the importance of cash in a portfolio, today may change your mind! Ordinarily, we'd be silently fretting about the sell-off in equities today, but it pales in comparison to gold. And, so far, I have not been impressed by LTTs ability to counter. I still consider them valuable b...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:20 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Faith is believing something you know ain't true
Replies: 15
Views: 9066

Re: Faith is believing something you know ain't true

Faith is knowing that you can rest in peace no matter the outcome. Hope is wishing for a specific outcome which is currently unknown. Where do you fall? I'm with you in your skepticism of treasuries. That's why I have large variable portfolio deficient in LTTs and loaded up in gold.  :-\  I seemed t...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:01 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: Sell all gold and return later?
Replies: 33
Views: 16802

Re: Sell all gold and return later?

jswinner wrote: Historically, it is not falling assets that trigger the rebalance.
Damn! Having a hard time refraining from buying gold right now...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:30 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: Gold plunges into bear market territory
Replies: 14
Views: 7426

Re: Gold plunges into bear market territory

I'm hoping the PP's hedging holds up and buying popcorn. Even if the other assets do not hedge fully, this still could be a very good thing. If gold or any other asset is going to go on sale via an extreme nose dive, I'd rather it does this quickly. Then one is more likely to hit a rebalancing band...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:10 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Today I am glad I own bonds
Replies: 25
Views: 7596

Re: Today I am glad I own bonds

The 17% drop in gold hasn't even fazed me and not because I have other assets gaining against it (I don't as I'm not fully invested), but thinking about it, it is because it is real. Ditto for my Florida condo's. When the real estate market tanks, at least I can go down there and run the things thr...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:00 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: Sell all gold and return later?
Replies: 33
Views: 16802

Re: Sell all gold and return later?

Either way it's a (fairly) safe bet that the PP will hold up over the long run. Depends on how one defines hold up. May not hold up nearly as well as a portfolio without gold. Or LTTs... Who really knows? In my mind, it is just more agnostic, less likely to lose a large % of assets in any dire mark...
by BearBones
Sat Apr 13, 2013 6:48 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Do I not need to sell outperforming assets if I add money to pp
Replies: 41
Views: 19275

Re: Do I not need to sell outperforming assets if I add money to pp

sophie wrote: I rather like buying assets in equal proportions, as it is the most agnostic method
Less agnostic than Xan's method of buying in current proportions. Agree? As I recall, you did not look at Xan's method.
by BearBones
Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:08 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Do I not need to sell outperforming assets if I add money to pp
Replies: 41
Views: 19275

Re: Do I not need to sell outperforming assets if I add money to pp

Sounds like most people ignore Sophie's data. As I recall the difference was not trivial.

Want to create a poll? It may be like my gold insurance poll. Everyone suggests buying insurance, but very few actually do it.
by BearBones
Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:15 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: Sell all gold and return later?
Replies: 33
Views: 16802

Re: Sell all gold and return later?

Did not want to start a new thread to ask this question:

Both Gold and TLT sank today. In theory, these should be rather uncorrelated, one for inflation, the other for deflation. What economic event caused both to go down simultaneously?
by BearBones
Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:26 pm
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: VP Input Request
Replies: 48
Views: 17515

Re: VP Input Request

MachineGhost wrote: We all tend to overlook that the PP is a fundamental approach at heart and get caught up in the technical portfolio minutia because that is most easily amenable to quantification.
Lost me there. Can you explain?
by BearBones
Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:43 pm
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: VP Input Request
Replies: 48
Views: 17515

Re: VP Input Request

The allocation that I proposed had an equal risk allocation between stocks, gold, and bonds from 1972-2011. Although the dollar amounts make it look bond heavy, the portfolio performance was equally explained by the three asset classes. The risk allocation was 33.3%, 33.3% and 33.3%. 1972 may sound...