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Gold Bars Selling Like Hotcakes at Harrods

Posted Nov 09, 2009 10:16am EST by Henry Blodget in Investing, Products and Trends, Commodities, Recession

From The Business Insider, Nov. 9, 2009:

Gold smashed through an all-time high of $1,100 an ounce on Friday, bringing some solace to gold bugs who have been losing money on the metal since the 1980s.

Gold still hasn't come anywhere near its late-1980's peak on an inflation-adjusted basis ($1,800 or so), belying the general theory that it's a great inflation hedge.  As the world gold frenzy really takes hold, however, $2,000-an-ounce predictions are coming fast and furious, so there's always hope.

The NYT surveys the gold landscape, checking in on the ultimate symbol of the rush--the bars on sale at the counters of Harrods:

[L]ast month, Harrods, the 160-year-old London department store, began selling coins as well as gold bullion ranging from tiny 1-gram ingots to the hefty, 12.5-kilogram, 400-Troy-ounce bricks that are so often featured in movies and stocked inside the vaults of Fort Knox. Harrods’s lower ground floor, where the gold is peddled, has been packed with interested shoppers.

“The response has been astounding,” said Chris Hall, head of Harrods Gold Bullion. “Bars are definitely more popular than coins. The 100-gram is the most popular.”...

THE Harrods gold line is made by PAMP, a rival Swiss refiner down the road here from Argor-Heraeus, in the nearby town of Castel San Pietro. And demand for bars weighing 100 ounces or less for individual investors is up 80 percent, said Marwan Shakarchi, the chairman of MKS Finance, a Geneva company that owns PAMP.   Read the whole thing >

One reason people are buying gold?  You can hide it from tax authorities.  Just buy a few 400-ounce bars from Harrods and store them in your Harrods safe-deposit box (230 pounds a year), and the bastards won't be knocking on your door demanding capital gains taxes.  (Unless they get you when you sell the bars back to Harrods for cash).

Click here for the full post.

More coverage from The Business Insider:

49 Comments

R
R - Monday November 09, 2009 10:25AM EST

Proof that Gold is not the way to save your wealth. Look at the rush to get it. That NEVER works.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 09, 2009 10:29AM EST

The US Mint tracks all purchases. Any speculative guesses.

The Truth
The Truth - Monday November 09, 2009 10:30AM EST

Dow 11,000. Read it, learn it, live it. And please remember to write in and thank me after you have made lots of money from this advice.

Rey
Rey - Monday November 09, 2009 10:31AM EST

Keep Buying Stock You Fools When The Big $$ People decide to dump this Market is gonna come crashing down again // It's only a matter of time

J
J - Monday November 09, 2009 10:32AM EST

as the sheep go to the slaughter

StevenW
StevenW - Monday November 09, 2009 10:33AM EST

Take the Holidays off. Santa says he is very tired after carrying everything from China to the United States every winter. Santa says relax....put your feet up....drink some cocoa. His reindeer need a break. Needless to say your kids aren't making but 9 percent of products these days. A good Santa....wants your kids employed in the future. What good is it, to go to college to be an engineer, when everything is made in China. Santa wants a little more balance to the trade picture......otherwise no one will have a job in the United States....and be able to afford the Toys Santa Delivers every Holiday Season. Santa is kindly giving you a signal to stop taking the medicine....before it kills you. Bless Santa in all his good wisdom.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 09, 2009 10:33AM EST

Retail investor usually gets the short stick. Are they right this time? Is Gold in a bull market? http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/gold_bull_or_bubble.html

JoeB
JoeB - Monday November 09, 2009 10:34AM EST

I'm glad the market bulls told me not to buy gold. I did the opposite of what they said. So far gold has outperformed all of my stock picks in Q3-Q4. Don't bash it just because you're not in it. That's emotional investing. Never works.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 09, 2009 10:34AM EST

Gold is now being bought as a reserve currency rather than as an inflation hedge.

Rick
Rick - Monday November 09, 2009 10:35AM EST

I THINK I FINALLY GET IT! I have been scratching my head trying to understand … Good news, market goes up … no news, the market goes up …. bad news, the market goes up … how can this be possible. Logic says that smart people would be getting out when stocks are as overvalued as they are today. Then I talk with people and find out that the smart people are out of the market. The normal people are just letting their 401K go with the flow (and still contributing), and the dumb people do not have any money to be in the market. BUT the part I had not been getting is that the investors, banks, speculators, etc … all have free money with no risk (thanks to Obama). This market is not a market of earnings and performance; it is a market of government induced greed from free money! Each of them are feeding the market the billions of free government money … the value of stock has nothing to do with it. I guess the question becomes … when do they run out of free money … when will Uncle Sam shut off the printing presses … OR Is this the future, the stock market always rising because the government will not let it fall (too big to fail) … A subsidized market that will insure peoples 401ks are there for their retirement and replaces the Social security system (think justification) … A giant, never ending, government run, ponzy scheme … NOW I am thinking …. If I was smart, I’d be back in the market. The true indicator of when it is time to get out is … When will the government free money stop flowing.

sensey
sensey - Monday November 09, 2009 10:35AM EST

Hoo-hah ... this type of action usually marks a top in any market. But Melia has the feeling it does not this time. Cannot quite understand the appeal of the gold bricks - they are notoriously unwieldy and rather expensive for most (400 oz = $440K); if you must partake in this market, better off with the rare coins, that have some scarcity value.

Xong Xie
Xong Xie - Monday November 09, 2009 10:35AM EST

Red giant buy gold. Red giant know dollar good for toilet paper.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 09, 2009 10:39AM EST

Boy, you can bet I’ve picked up a TRUCKLOAD of gold bars, along with PLENTY of guns and ammunition. And canned food, of course. I’ve been preparing for the onslaught of looters by practicing my marksmanship – blasting anything that moves on my remote property. Haven’t seen any of those pesky neighbors of mine, lately. (snicker) The old eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. (chuckle)

The Truth
The Truth - Monday November 09, 2009 10:39AM EST

Yes, please listen to Rey and continue to buy stocks. The Dow is going to 11,000 soon (from now until April 2010). Don't miss this move. And please remember to write in and thank me after you have made gobs of money from this recommendation.

The Truth
The Truth - Monday November 09, 2009 10:40AM EST

Yes, please listen to Rey and continue to buy stocks. The Dow is going to 11,000 soon (from now until April 2010). Don't miss this move. And please remember to write in and thank me after you have made gobs of money from this recommendation.

The Truth
The Truth - Monday November 09, 2009 10:41AM EST

Yes, please listen to Rey and continue to buy stocks. The Dow is going to 11,000 soon (from now until April 2010). Don't miss this move. And please remember to write in and thank me after you have made gobs of money from this recommendation.

Free Texas 2012
Free Texas 2012 - Monday November 09, 2009 10:41AM EST

Rising unemployment, dropping dollar, rising gold, rising federal spending - it all spells a shift in our economy. Basically, the government is continuing to assure the removal of the dollar as the world currency over the next few years. This is not something that will take place next year but probably within the next decade. The end is coming and we have plenty of time to prepare...if you think ahead and set your long term objectives based on what is happening.

Rick
Rick - Monday November 09, 2009 10:41AM EST

I THINK I FINALLY GET IT! I have been scratching my head trying to understand … Good news, market goes up … no news, the market goes up …. bad news, the market goes up … how can this be possible. Logic says that smart people would be getting out when stocks are as overvalued as they are today. Then I talk with people and find out that the smart people are out of the market. The normal people are just letting their 401K go with the flow (and still contributing), and the dumb people do not have any money to be in the market. BUT the part I had not been getting is that the investors, banks, speculators, etc … all have free money with no risk (thanks to Obama). This market is not a market of earnings and performance; it is a market of government induced greed from free money! Each of them are feeding the market the billions of free government money … the value of stock has nothing to do with it. I guess the question becomes … when do they run out of free money … when will Uncle Sam shut off the printing presses … OR Is this the future, the stock market always rising because the government will not let it fall (too big to fail) … A subsidized market that will insure peoples 401ks are there for their retirement and replaces the Social security system (think justification) … A giant, never ending, government run, ponzy scheme … NOW I am thinking …. If I was smart, I’d be back in the market. The true indicator of when it is time to get out is … When will the government free money stop flowing.

Xong Xie
Xong Xie - Monday November 09, 2009 10:42AM EST

Red giant buy gold. Red giant know Bernanke only good for making toilet paper.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 09, 2009 10:43AM EST

What will "occur"...When the...people whom controls...the "Gold Market"..Decide To SELL-Off....{Its DOO-DO Time} Amen.

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