Gold & Silver: The Way To Protect Yourself

I'm an old, old peasant ... I want to have some gold in the closet, I want to have some silver under the bed and I will buy more, just like all of us other old peasants, because we know that's the way to protect yourself.

Related trading instruments: iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

German Stocks Are Feeling The Heat

"Good Morning from Germany, where real estate stocks are mirroring the doom and gloom in German housing market. Shares of industry leader Vonovia have almost halved in value this year, while TAG Immobilien has lost almost two thirds due to higher interest rates & falling property prices."

-- Holger Zschaepitz, Welt

Warren Buffett Turns 92 Today.

Warren Buffett turns 92 today.

One of lessons from early in his investing days:

"Buffett saved up $120 and bought his first stock at the age of 11. He bought Cities Service for $38.25 per share. It fell to $27, then rose to $40. He sold at a small profit. It later topped $200, teaching him an early lesson about patient investing."

-- story told by Jon Erlichman on twitter

“I regard Berkshire Hathaway, sort of like .. a painter regards a painting — the difference being that the canvas is unlimited. There’s no finish line at Berkshire.” -- Warren Buffett comparing investing and managing a business to art creation

Bitcoin: What Happens Next?

"There still seems to be a lot of buyers for Bitcoin below $20,000. But there are also a lot of sellers above $20,000. I think the market runs out of buyers before it runs out of sellers."

-- Peter Schiff recent commentary on Bitcoin's price action around 20,000 USD (August 28th)

Germany: Energy & Industrial Crisis

"Germany 1-year forward baseload electricity surges past €400 per MegaWatt/hour (MWh) for the first time ever. We are truly into crunching territory for the country's energy-intensive manufacturing industry. The current price is approximately 1,000% higher than the €41.1 per MegaWatt/hour (MWh) 2010-2020 average."

Javier Blas, Energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg

Russia: I Haven’t Been Able To Get Out

"I did invest in Russia for all the reasons you mentioned (low debt, positive real interest rates) and more... I have not been able to get out (of my investments) because everything is essentially closed." 

- Jim Rogers, commenting on his Russian investments

Fighting Inflation Will Cause A Severe Recession

"While fighting inflation will cause a severe recession and high unemployment, those conditions alone won't reduce inflation. They'll actually make it worse. To reduce inflation we need positive real interest rates, very aggressive QT, and massive cuts in government spending."

-- Peter Schiff