Gold and Silver are Even HOTTER!!

Well Gold and Silver still continue their climb while the dollar sinks down the toilet. I'm not sure how high is too high but I do know from experience that too high too fast is a way to lose money if you're speculating short term on these metals. I'm going to bet that the silver I put in my booths at $16.50 an ounce are most likely gone if someone happens to notice it and has precious metals fever. The charts on these metals are not sustainable short term and I plan to sell even more of my silver since I think it has more appeal right now and if you want to put some money in precious metals you should start with silver anyways. Gold is king but you have to have a pretty big wallet right now to buy even a small amount of it. Besides Gold is in a buying panic right now and is overpriced short term in my opinion. Be patient and sit on the sidelines for a correction if you want to be a buyer. If you want to sell take advantage of the spike to make a healthy profit but long term I would hold on to gold that you already have since Washington and the powers that be apparently don't want to save the dollar.

I'm just glad I bought as much silver as I did when I could get it for $3.00 and sometimes less and ounce years ago. But I did have to wait quite a few years to take my profits on some of it didn't I? Anyway people who have some money to invest should buy silver even at these levels and set it aside in case the government sets off a hyperinflation bomb to help them cure that huge national debt that they will never stop piling up. Besides the Chinese are getting reluctant to hold as much US Treasury bonds as they now have and will be cutting their holdings of US denominated investments.

Gee when did I get so political and into macro-economics?

Oh yeah, I like to buy stuff cheap and sell it for more I guess is part of the reason. After all the lesson I learned from some old timers who had money when I was a kid was to buy it when everyone hates it and sell it when they love it. There are many variations on this saying but you get the picture. Markets overdue it on both ends. When it's out of favor they dump it as quick as they can and move on to the next "HOT" item and when it's hot they buy without much concern about the value involved. Now smart treasure hunters know that you buy for pennies or nickels on the dollar and sell it for a dollar and pocket the difference. That's what we're here for isn't it?.......hmmm. I Can't Hear You................Anyways it's all about the thrill of the hunt and the feeling you get when you sell it for a good price. Good luck with your treasure hunting this week.

GOLD and SILVER are HOT!!!

Well I went to stock my antique booths today and found that my Gold and Silver bullion coins are all sold out. I really wasn't all that surprised since bullion prices for GOLD are close to all time highs (not factoring in inflation) right now of course. Seems like people are finally figuring out that between the cost of the Iraq war and deficit spending and trade deficits the old greenback is on it's way to becoming the green halfback or even less. I'm telling you the idiots in Washington are playing with fire by letting the dollar sink so easily in value. They think a weak dollar will increase exports and help the trade deficit at the same time they bail out the big banks and hedge funds from losses due to foolish lending to low quality borrowers. Easy money always ends up being an expensive thing. So much for the political ramblings here but that's how I see it.

So while I'm delighted with the amount of sales I've decided to not restock any of the Gold and keep hold of it for myself for a while. The silver isn't on quite so wild a ride so I'll restock that but stagger the prices around a $1 between groups of 5 on the quantity of coins I put in this time. That will protect me in the advent that silver decides to spike in the near future. One of the owners of an antique mall I have a booth in said a man came in with a scale and asked them to open several cases that had sterling silver items in them and weighed them to see if any of the sellers hadn't adjusted the prices of silver items to take into account the rise in the price of bullion. They opened more than 30 cases and the guy didn't buy anything. He didn't make any friends either. LOL.

Sales where I live here on the east coast of Florida have really sagged at the booths since we're in a bit of a recession due to real estate prices dropping and the number of foreclosures is sky high. It was great on the way up but now people are hurting to even make ends meet so not much FUN MONEY to spend on collectibles. $3.00 a gallon gas doesn't help much either. On the upside I'm finding some better items to buy at sales and even from dealers booth who have decided to throw in the towel and quit since they can't even make the booth rent payment. We're all hoping that the snowbirds will get down here soon and bring money and ease this dry period. It's a shame to hear some of the stories. Sometimes when I'm buying from someone desperate I feel bad but I have to remind myself if it's not me buying, it will be someone else's money getting the goods. I just glad I always keep money set aside for slumps like this and can afford to ride them out and also take advantage of the bargains when they present themselves. Like the old saying goes: "It pays to keep some dry powder around".


Other areas I'm finding that are doing well in my booths are postcards and books. Dishes suck and patten glass is really hit and miss. I guess it really depends on who walks through the door and manages to find your booth so I have to keep them interesting looking. The holidays are coming up also so I will have to put more Christmas themed items in there too. I've also decided to bump up my Ebay auctions and save more money for buying inventory in the spring. I also want to pull together a long vacation to the Northeast or California this summer so I'm setting money aside from my sales to pay for that. After all that seems to be the reason I do this. It gives us another excuse and opportunity to travel and hunt for treasure.

So what are the rest of you folks finding that's selling good right now for you either on Ebay or your websites and antique booths?