Precious Metal Buyers…Who Are They? (really)
The AMPEX New Blog gives us some insightful information.
The vast majority of people who invest in precious metals like silver bullion and gold bars are men—over 90% in fact, according to our recent survey. Roughly 75% of the buyers were either looking to diversify their investments and protect their assets from recession or inflation. Numismatists and collectors made up the rest of the showing. Another interesting point from the survey was the age range of customers it showed that there is a strong showing of concerned people in the younger generations as well.
“All generations had a significant showing – obviously demonstrating a common opinion toward investing in silver bullion, gold coins and rare US coins as a trusted way to protect wealth and avoid economic losses from other forms of investment. Regardless of position, wealth, power or age, it would appear that at least some Americans are tuned into the declining dollar, the “real cause” of inflation and how to protect their assets from this economic drain.“
Comment by Hal on 26 August 2008:
I definitely understand the desire to use the precious metals for portfolio protection. That declining dollar scares me too, particularly when I see what it’s purchasing power is right now.
That’s why I think it’s a good time to start investing in gold and silver. I’ve been using Lear’s new free widget that runs on the desktop to monitor in real-time the market value of gold, silver, and platinum. The widget is called ExactPrice, http://www.learcapital.com/exactprice
What’s been interesting to me was the recent news that the US Mint ceased sales of the American Eagle gold coin because they ran out. How does that happen? Today though I see they are back into selling them for a limited time. What was interesting to me though was that when they made the announcement that they were out of stock that the price of gold continued to fall. Now today gold is rising. Though the answer may somehow be wrapped up in the fact that the dollar was rising during that time and today is apparently falling. I guess that’s why thinking longterm investments is best, I can’t handle the short term stress.
Platinum is interesting too as an investment because it’s currently falling. I think that may be tied to auto sales being so low. I read that auto production uses large quantities of platinum world wide so with less demand right now in that market this could be a good buying time for long term.
Thanks for the info.