Business booms for Idaho gold and silver dealers
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/621892.html
Business booms for Idaho gold and silver dealers
Investing in precious metals might not make you rich,
some experts say, but gold is a valuable part of a
balanced investment portfolio.
BY BILL ROBERTS - brob...@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 01/04/09
A new gold rush is brewing in Idaho.
This time, people aren't pulling it out of the ground as
they did more than a century ago.
Instead, they are showing up at gold and silver dealers,
handing over thousands of dollars from saving accounts,
crippled stock portfolios and depleted 401(k)s to turn
their cash into what they believe are recession- and
inflation-proof gold coins and bars.
"There is a lot of safe-haven buying," said James Porter,
manager of the Security Silver and Gold Exchange Inc. on
West State Street in Boise.
People aren't just buying. They're selling, too.
"People are selling their wife's jewelry to make car
payments," said Malcolm Renner, a partner in Idaho Gold
and Silver on Fairview Avenue in Boise.
Gold has long been the place where people turn in shaky
times, in part because of its historical importance as
the basis of economies for thousands of years. "Gold has
always sort of held the image of the truest form of
money," said Paul Baiocchi, senior marketing strategist
with Delta Global Advisors Inc. in Huntington Beach,
Calif., who believes gold has a place in a balanced
portfolio.
The rush to buy and sell gold in these tough economic
times made for a good year for a number of Boise gold
and silver dealers, owners say.
Idaho Gold and Silver's business is up 150 percent over
the previous fall, Renner said.
Business picked up last spring as gold soared over
$1,000 an ounce. Gold was at $874.50 on Friday.
Some investor groups predict that gold could hit as
much as $1,500 in the future.
"We do tend to feel that if gold's price will not
stabilize, it will continue to move higher over the long
term," Baiocchi said.
But even gold advocates warn that investing in the
precious metal should be part of an overall portfolio.
"I do not think that anybody should be jumping in head
over heels into the gold market in terms of their overall
asset allocation," Baiocchi said.
Others say the investment is volatile and likely won't
produce the kind of rich return some people think. "I
think over the long haul, gold is a very poor investment,"
said Gary Ball of Lacey, Wash., a volunteer and educator
with Better Investing, a nonprofit organization that
offers education on how to invest.
There are ways to own gold other than going to the
nearest store and buying a few ounces to stick in your
safe deposit box. But for many buyers, it is owning the
physical product that draws them, investment advisers and
store owners say.
"A lot of it has to do with peace of mind," Baiocchi said.
"People who are looking to own gold for the doom and gloom
scenario ... are looking to have gold as the most tangible
asset."
Local store owners are reluctant to say who their clients
are - people who own gold usually don't like to advertise
it, they say.
But some of the people who show up to purchase 1-ounce gold
coins for nearly $1,000 see the country's economic problems
as the beginning of a financial Armageddon in which currency
becomes practically worthless as inflation roars out of
control and only gold or other precious metals will hold
their value, store owners say.
Many worry that the billions of dollars in government money
pumped into the system over the past several months to
avert a financial meltdown will ignite a hyperinflation
once it makes its way into the economy. That could dwarf
the spending power of people holding paper currency, they
say.
So far that is not happening, Baiocchi said. "If lending
is not taking place and money is not being multiplied,
then all of a sudden the inflationary pressure that
everyone is suspecting will not come to fruition."
But if that does happen , some don't believe anything
will be safe.
"I'm thinking having some gold probably isn't going to
help you anyway," Ball said.
Bill Roberts: 377-6408
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