The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Buying Gold? Caveat Emptor

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 33 Comments

On previous occasions, I’ve made the point that gold prices are going up and that, in times of uncertainty — as, for example, when the Federal Reserve is pursuing a clearly inflationary policy — gold is a good investment. (Did I mention the DJIA lost 251 points this past week?)

The title of my most recent post on this topic was, “You Should’ve Listened to Glenn Beck.”

A reader decided to investigate and created a post at an Internet discussion board, which linked to a very interesting graphic from Ritholtz.com.

Ritholtz.com contends that a gold retail company promoted by Glenn Beck is guilty of deceptive practices. I have no time to investigate the controversy myself, but would urge anyone planning to invest in gold (or anything else) to do their own research and be sure that they are getting a fair value for their dollar.

Economics 101: It is always in the seller’s interest to maximize his profit from any transaction and you, as the buyer, are responsible for looking out for your own interest.

In the interest of fairness, I now link “Why gold is a bad investment,” by Jonathan Burton of MarketWatch. But I am not personally persuaded by Burton’s argument, given that he is obligated to mention that (a) gold is still about $900 an ounce below its 1980 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars, and (b) George Soros has a substantial investment in gold.

Wait: George Soros getting investment advice from . . . Glenn Beck?

Come up with your own crazy conspiracy theory to explain that one.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! A lively discussion in the comments below, including a link to the Classic Liberal, who discusses the difference between bullion coins — sold for the per-ounce value of their gold content — and numismatic coins, sold for their value as collectibles. The later category seems to be where concerns about ripoffs arise.

Let me provide what may be a helpful analogy. I’m a consumer fireworks buff. (You can hit the tip jar and help fund next year’s Fourth of July show.) Fireworks retailers offer all kinds of “discount” come-ons to entice buyers, most commonly the BOGO (Buy One, Get One “free”) and alleged freebies (e.g., spend at least $500 and get a “free” 6-shell mortar kit).

Of course, nothing is “free.” The stores don’t make money by giving stuff away. All this alleged “free” stuff is a marketing gimmick, encouraging the unwary consumer to spend more in the belief that he’s getting an awesome deal.

Sooner or later, the really avid fireworks freak stumbles onto the Pyrouniverse forums and learns that he can buy fireworks by the case from wholesalers. In the process, he discovers that the 6-shot mortar kit that retails for $24.99 ($12.50 with the BOGO “discount”) has a wholesale price of $54 for a case of 12 kits — $4.50 a kit. Furthermore, wholesale companies also have volume discounts, e.g., 10% off purchases over $500, so that you could effectively get that entire case of mortar kits “free.”

This discovery of the vast gap between retail and wholesale prices frequently results in the fireworks buff becoming profoundly bitter about retailers. “What a rip-off!” he declares, explaining that he spent more than $1,000 retail on last year’s Fourth of July show, thinking he was getting a great deal, only to learn too late that he could have gotten an equivalent amount of fireworks for less than $400 wholesale.

Well, caveat emptor, my friend. And let me ask you, “What else are you buying retail without really shopping around for the best price?” Clothes? Furniture? Electronics? What is true of fireworks is true of nearly everything else you spend money for, including investments.

Except in punishing outright fraud, however, the answer to “rip-offs” is not government regulation or class-action lawsuits. The answer is to stop being a chump.

Government cannot abolish stupidity. If the government can’t abolish the kind of stupidity that leads to fireworks injuries — and they can’t — they certainly can’t abolish the kind of stupidity that leads to people paying too much for collectible coins.

But government never ceases in its tireless effort to “protect” you, and guess what our friends in Washington slipped into the ObamaCare bill?

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.
This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Whoa! A tax on everything you buy, including gold? You want to talk about a rip-off . . .

Category: Economics, Glenn Beck

Ezra Klein Is a Liberal. Is It Redundant to Say That Ezra Klein Is Also Insane?

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 9 Comments

There seems to be a lot of batshit crazy going around lately, but who can top this headline?

How Joe Lieberman Help the
Democrats Lose the Election

Ezra, take that headline to the nearest pharmacy and collect your prescription for Thorazine.

Jehuda the Rhetorican tries to make sense of this Rorshach inkblot and concurs: Ezra’s daft, nuts, wacko, zany, Fruit Loops and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Thought experiment: Suppose that Jeff G.’s November fundraiser at Protein Wisdom were such a smashing success that Jeff had enough extra cash to book a round-trip flight to Reagan National Airport. Now, suppose that somebody wangled Jeff an invitation to a cocktail party attended by some of these smarmy know-it-all intellectual pundit types.

How many glasses of whiskey would Jeff need to drink before somebody called 911? And how many pundits would be in need of emergency medical treatment by the time the cops showed up and tasered Jeff?

Understand that I’m just throwing this scenario out there as a hypothetical. No one would actually be crazy enough to send Jeff to a D.C. cocktail party.

Or would they?

Category: Blogging

‘President of the Back of the Bus’

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 4 Comments

In order to keep the leadership perks for herself and fellow big-shot honky Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi created a meaningless “No. 3” position for James Clyburn. Michelle Malkin’s snarktastic reaction:

Imagine if the Republicans created a figurehead position out of thin air to keep “the black guy” from making waves and challenging the two white people at the top. MSNBC would have their lead story for the next week.
The new as-yet untitled position (I assume “President of the Back of the House Bus” is not under consideration) Pelosi is creating for Clyburn will at some point be known as “We lost because of him!”

(Via Memeorandum.) How is Nancy’s “Liberal Honkies in Charge” plan going to help Democratic turnout in 2012? Do you suppose Charles Lollar might get some of Steny Hoyer’s voters thinking twice?

Category: Congress, Democrats, Michelle Malkin, Nancy Pelosi

Professor Palin and the Class of ’12

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 3 Comments

A wonderful introductory lecture for the freshmen:

Never forget the people who sent you to Washington. Never forget the trust they placed in you to do the right thing.
The task before you is daunting because so much damage has been done in the last two years, but I believe you have the chance to achieve great things.
Republicans campaigned on a promise to rein in out-of-control government spending and to repeal and replace the massive, burdensome, and unwanted health care law President Obama and the Democrat Congress passed earlier this year in defiance of the will of the majority of the American people. These are promises that you must keep. . . .

Read the whole thing.

Category: Congress, Election, Sarah Palin

‘The Demagogic Bloggers on the Right’

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 287 Comments

Frequent commenter “Joe” calls our attention to Patterico’s dig at Jeff Goldstein (and unnamed others) in which the prosecutor endeavors to play the Instapundit card:

Now that Glenn has said the same thing the “pragmatic” conservatives are saying, will the blogospheric demagogues who seek out Mark Levin’s favor put Glenn Reynolds on the list of “pragmatic” conservatives whom they bash on a regular basis?
I boldly predict they will not. They need his traffic. So, even if he’s saying the exact same thing as I am, they won’t bash Instapundit.
The demagogic bloggers on the right are happy to be pure when it comes to the fate of the country. But when it comes to their own self-interest, I suspect they will be a little more . . . pragmatic.

This is absurd. Professor Reynolds did not say “the same thing the ‘pragmatic’ conservatives are saying.” Professor Reynolds has been an out-front supporter of the Tea Party movement from Day One — which is certainly not what any soi-dissant “pragmatic” conservatives have ever said, or are saying now, or are ever likely to say in the future.

In reacting to Professor Reynolds’ supposed endorsement of “pragmatism” (the word, as Patterico uses it, demands scare-quotes), I said: “Busting the balls of the Establishment is a process not an event.”

This was not merely a joke. Read more

Category: Christine O'Donnell, Doug Hoffman, Herman Cain, Instapundit, Marco Rubio, Protein Wisdom, Tea Party

Kinsey Schofield Winked at Me

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 8 Comments

That’s the highlight of this week’s hottest new PJTV video. Click the image to watch:

You have to watch closely to catch the wink, because she’s so subtle, that little vixen . . .

Category: PJTV, Video

LIVE AT FIVE – 11.13.10

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | 2 Comments

TOP NEWS

PRC Commits To Increase Domestic Growth, FX Reform

PRC President Hu Jintao

Meanwhile, Hu discusses economic relations with senior Taiwan politician (insert Abbott & Costello joke here)

Pelosi Creates New Leadership Post For Clyburn
A “separate but equal” position, you say?


Supremes Leave 9th Circuit Stay of DADT Rule In Place
Military may continue to enforce regulations against out gays & lesbians



POLITICS

Cindy McCain Splits With Husband, Joins Daughter In Calling For Repeal Of DADT

Cindy and Meghan McCain

Appears in second ad for NOH8 campaign

White House Willing To Compromise On Bush Tax Rates? Who Knows?

Foreign Policy Could Be One Area Where Obama, GOP Can Meet In The Middle



Chandler Keeps Kentucky Seat For Dems, Six Other House Seats Still Undecided



THE ECONOMY, STUPID

S&P, Dow Drop Drastically On PRC News, Eurodebt Worries

EU Bonds Stabilize After Nod Of Support To Ireland

Intel Raises Dividend, Expects Healthy Growth

Demand May Push New GM Shares Over $30; Preferred Shares also Oversubscribed

Facebook Acquires fb.com, Prepares To Launch E-mail Service



SPORTS

#4 Boise State Comes Out Shooting, Drops Idaho 52-14

Boise State WR Austin Pettis dodges a Vandals tackle

And it wasn’t even that close.

Kevin Love Has A Night For the Record Book, Leads Timbermutts Over Knicks

Thunder Holds Off Blazers To Keep Winning Home Record





Pens Post Win Over Lightning As Young Goalie Fleury Gets Win #150



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS

Mila Kunis: No Booze Needed For “Black Swan” Sex Scene With Natalie Portman

Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman

You don’t say. Article inexplicably fails to mention hot grits.

Taylor Momsen: My Parents Robbed Me Of A Normal Childhood

Kanye West Cancels “Today Show” Appearance

Lindsay Lohan Refuses Pain Pills After Dental Surgery

Halle Berry: “I Do Like Being Naked”

Kelly Osbourne: Bristol Palin Could Win DWTS


Patty Duke Sticks Up For Lohan & Lovato: Been There, Done That; Media Needs To Back Off



FOREIGNERS

Taliban Pushes Hard For Military, Political Success In Afghanistan

Japan Hopes For U.S. Help In Dealing With PRC

As Haiti Death Toll Tops 700, UN Pleads For More Aid

Medvedev Confirms Double Agent In SVR Blew Spies’ Cover



BLOGS & STUFF

Allahpundit: WaPo Op-Ed Says Obama Can Save America – By Not Running In 2012

American Power: The Death Of Real News

Reihan Salam: Felix Salmon v. the WSJ On Simpson-Bowles

Classical Values: We Told You So

Just One Minute: Don’t Know Much About History (House Leadership Division)

Stephen Spruill: ROK Too Green For Democrats


— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Best. Police. Report. EVAH!

Posted on | November 12, 2010 | 19 Comments

The story you are about to read is true. It is not an Onion parody. It is definitely NSFW. It may cause nausea and projectile vomiting.

You have been warned. Read more

Category: Crime, Sex, West Virginia
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