STREET DOGS: Michael Batnick on gold
Gold: the go-to tool for financial predators (that goes on a run now and again)
The Irrelevant Investor, Michael Batnick, recently participated in a focus group to discuss gold. "I have strong opinions about owning gold," he says, "so I was excited to hear from other people in the room. "There were three other advisers, each on teams that manage over a billion dollars [and who were] twenty years in the business. Two of the three use gold. The one that didn’t said something to the effect of, ‘Even though stocks are wildly overvalued and we know a crash is coming, gold hasn’t been working and my clients don’t want to own it. We feel we’ve found an alternative that will work much better than gold when the market crashes.’ I said, ‘not to pry, but beanie babies?’ He laughed, and then it was my turn to share how I think about gold. "We don’t use gold because financial advisers are supposed to stand in the way of clients and bad decisions, and gold is the ultimate bad-decision asset. Gold is pure emotion. It’s the ‘if everything goes to hell trade’. "I don’t dislike ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.