The Best Gold Trading System, Ever
By Jeff Clark
February 19, 2009
All of a sudden, everyone loves gold.
All the analysts on the business shows are talking about the benefits of gold ownership. Financial magazines are filled with articles touting the shiny yellow metal. Newsletter writers are uniformly smitten with it. And investors are... well, they're as anxious to buy gold as they were when it crossed over $1,000 per ounce last March.
Where was everybody back in October, when gold was dredging along the bottom of the investment ocean?
The reasons to own gold weren't different five months ago. Gold was a store of wealth back then, just as it is now. It was still the only real hedge against the certain and inevitable collapse of the U.S. dollar.
But it was $250 per ounce cheaper.
Of course, that's the funny thing about investing. Everyone wants in at the top and out at the bottom, when the smart thing – and the profitable thing – is to do the exact opposite.
With gold, though, it probably doesn't matter. Whether you bought last March at $1,000, or you bought in October at $720, or you're buying right now, chances are pretty good you'll be sitting on profits by the end of the year.
The real questions, though, are... Can you do better? Is there a "best" time to buy gold? And what should we be doing right now?
Many of my colleagues think anytime is the right time to buy gold. "If you wake up in the morning," they say, "and realize you're still breathing, then you should be buying gold." They also think you should never, ever, sell it.
It's a romantic idea to buy an investment and be married to it forever. It also takes some of the sting out of a losing position to call it a long-term investment. But it's hardly practical. After all, the purpose of investing is to create wealth to enjoy some of life's finer things. If you never cash in your investments and use some of the profits to benefit you and your family, then what's the point?
Buy-and-hold strategies work really well in textbooks and in the marketing literature of mutual-fund companies. But there's a limit to their usefulness. Just ask anyone holding an S&P 500 index fund over the past 10 years.
Personally, I'm a trader. I like to move in and out of positions based on the perceived risk and reward behind a trade. To me, gold is no different than a stock, bond, or mutual fund. There's a good time to buy and there's a good time to sell.
Last March, as gold crossed above $1,000 per ounce, I told you it was a good time to sell. In October, when gold was trading below $725, I told you I was buying. But I've never shared with you how I make these decisions.
I'll do that next Tuesday. It's not a perfect buy-and-sell indicator. But it has worked well for me. And when I've use it in conjunction with a proprietary gold trading system, the results have been tremendous.
Be sure to check in on Tuesday.
Best regards and good trading,
Jeff Clark
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$987... Gold nears $1,000. |
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Mining industry suppliers continue a huge slide... new 52-week lows for Caterpillar and Bucyrus. |
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Blue chips litter the new lows list... Disney, Alcoa, Dow Chemical, Kraft, and Nokia. |
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Oil services suffer low oil prices... new 52-week lows for Headwaters, Paterson UTI, Rowan, Key Energy Services, and Hercules Offshore. |
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Last |
Change |
52-Wk |
| S&P 500 |
788.42 |
-0.10% |
-41.55% |
| Oil (USO) |
22.86 |
-2.56% |
-70.99% |
| Gold (GLD) |
96.91 |
+1.53% |
+5.82% |
| Silver (SLV) |
14.17 |
+1.28% |
-18.47% |
| U.S. Dollar |
87.14 |
-0.99% |
+14.43% |
| Euro |
1.27 |
1.32% |
-13.66% |
| VIX |
48.66 |
-0.41% |
+89.37% |
| HUI |
323.99 |
+1.50% |
-28.73% |
| 10-Year Yield |
2.73% |
0.07 |
-0.81 |
|
| Company |
Sym |
Industry |
TeleCom Systems |
TSYS |
software |
SIGA Tech |
SIGA |
biotech |
Pegasystems |
PEGA |
software |
Kentucky First |
KFFB |
bank |
Matrixx |
MTXX |
OTC health care |
Anadys Pharma |
ANDS |
pharma |
Zion Oil and Gas |
ZN |
oil & gas |
|
|
| Company |
Sym |
Industry |
Boston Properties |
BXP |
REIT |
Discover |
DFS |
credit cards |
Fortune Brands |
FO |
conglomerate |
Luxottica |
LUX |
eyeglasses |
Owens Illinois |
OI |
packaging |
US Bancorp |
USB |
bank |
BB&T |
BBT |
bank |
Diageo |
DEO |
alcohol |
FLIR |
FLIR |
imaging equipment |
Konami |
KNM |
video games |
Nokia |
NOK |
cell phones |
Unilever |
UL |
consumer prod |
American Express |
AXP |
credit cards |
Dell |
DELL |
computers |
FedEx |
FDX |
shipping |
Kimberly Clark |
KMB |
paper prod |
Nomura |
NMR |
broker |
Suntrust |
STI |
bank |
Alcatel-Lucent |
ALU |
telecommunications |
Capital One |
COF |
credit cards |
Devon Energy |
DVN |
energy |
International Paper |
IP |
paper prod |
3M |
MMM |
conglomerate |
Royal Bank of Can |
RY |
bank |
Wynn Resorts |
WYNN |
casinos |
Axa |
AXA |
insurance |
Dupont |
DD |
chemicals |
Equity Residential |
EQR |
REIT |
Kraft |
KFT |
food products |
Nabors |
NBR |
oil drilling |
Sony |
SNE |
electronics |
Alcoa |
AA |
aluminum |
Comcast |
CMCSA |
telecommunications |
Dow Chemical |
DOW |
chemicals |
HJ Heinz |
HNZ |
food products |
MGM Mirage |
MGM |
casinos |
Penn West |
PWE |
energy |
Weyerhaeuser |
WY |
paper prod |
Caterpillar |
CAT |
machinery |
Walt Disney |
DIS |
entertainment |
Hudson City |
HCBK |
bank |
Manulife Financial |
MFC |
insurance |
PPG Industries |
PPG |
chemicals |
Wells Fargo |
WFC |
bank |
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