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Message: <blockquote data-quote="inactive" data-source="post: 1309366" data-attributes="member: 7488">For those of you considering gold as an investment:Is gold increasing relative to the dollar due to gold increasing in value (commodity markets), or the dollar weakening in value (currency markets)?Also, they say gold is worth XXX per ounce (ask rate), but if you go to sell your gold, nearly all buyers are only giving you 80% of XXX per ounce (bid rate).  There's a much larger discrepancy rate between the two than in other commodity markets.  So why is gold a better investment than me buying grain, baseball cards, ammo, or a whole number of things?   Also, gold has an intrinsic value, which fiat money does not, but it still lacks utility (I can't go to Wal-Mart and buy food clothing and ammo by paying with bullion).  Gold is really no safer than any currency would be, if you are comparing its value only to US dollars.  You need to shop more globally and compare the price of gold in different currencies, then compare the exchange rates of the currencies, to see if you are getting a return on their investment.  Saying gold went up from 1200 to 1340 per ounce in a few months doesn't mean much; I would not be buying it to "flip" in the short term, and there would be a slew of speculative stocks I could have purchased (Citi, Bank of America, Ford Motor Company) that would have made more than a 11.7% return in the last 24 months.I suggest the gold speculators compare gold to bond and equity returns over the last 100 years and adjust for inflation, and see how well it compares.  <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/121896-gold-vs-value-investing-an-historical-perspective" target="_blank">It doesn't</a>.</blockquote>

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