urban_hymn

I've decided to keep on spending minimal money until they get the economy sorted - the need for a war chest to cope with the unexpected has never been greater. I diagree that there's little incentive to save. I think a cash pile gives you the ability to exploit opportunities such as stock market crashes and other suddenly undervalued assetts.

ebay's always had these reproductions in the bullion section. They're just a way of misleading people who don't read the listing carefully enough. What unit is a "mill" if it's millimetres then 100 is very thick plating!

I think valuing your gold in terms of fiat is the wrong approach. Our aim should be to accumulate ounces not count our gains in fiat.. If your stash quadruples in fiat terms you still have the same number of ounces. You are only getting wealthier if you gain ounces.

Ditto London. I've been working in central London for the last six months and I'm amazed at the stink of sewage in some of the side streets. The smell of 5hit on Creed Lane makes you want to gag. Someone from medieval London would feel quite at home there.

I didn't realise Primark had stores in the Congo

Yeah. My niece has a restaurant on Ios - business is still booming she says.

You know what those crazy goldbugs are like. They don't just stop at just gold hoarding. People of that cautious mindset have got all sorts of other stuff stashed away as well. They have fun planning it all - it's a harmless hobby.

You can buy a Fisch coin detector on eBay for about £100.00. One model will do both Gold Eagles and Krugerrands. Given the value these have now reached it's probably worth investing in one if you have a stash. I take comfort in the fact that my phizz was bought mainly in 2005/2006 before the incentive for forgery became so compelling.

And leather shorts

Sadly even earlier - the Empire Windrush tied up in Tilbury in June 1948.

I'm working in central London at the moment on a big rail/tube station site. Some of the Poles on that site take home £800/£850 a week. They must be drooling at the good times in prospect back home. They're only young guys as well, mid twenties.

FTSE 100 back at 1998 levels. Now that's what I call tading sideways!!! (and that's with the underperformers regularly booted out) If only I could find a continuous UK stock index using the same components for say 30 years. Anybody?

That was some telescope he had. It could see into the future!

It's an internet hoax. For those that can be bothered - explained over at Zero Hedge for those that can be bothered........... http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-dumps-us-bonds-attempts-clickbaiting

Mercantilism!

In 2005 you could get 1 kilo bars for £210 off eBay. More fool me for not filling the garage with them.

Consistently increased £400/oz? Not sure what you mean by that But I'm not complaining about the rise. Notice that every one of the dips was the end of the bull market according to those that don't "get" gold. It has certainly made fools out of many of the amateur economists on the main HPC forum (no names).

Had to laugh at that poster saying the eBay price would crash. I've been checking eBay PM daily prices since 2003 and never seen a crash yet. Anyone wish to concur with me?

"Pupils eligible for free school meals are 2.5 times less likely to get A* to C grades." Can any statistics geeks on here tell me what "2.5 times less" means? For example, what is 2.5 times less than 100?

What you didn't cover was Starbucks failure to hedge against coffee prices going against them? |I would have thought this was a no brainer for a company so heavily dependent on a particular speculated commodity such as coffee.

Speculating in precious metals is a harmless pursuit. It denies nobody a roof over their head or food on the table. PM speculation should be promoted as the ethical alternative to Wheat, Oil, Rice etc.

Because if they get £4,500 per annum car allowance that's less than you would get in a lot of private sector jobs. I get more than that as my car allowance. I could hire a Corvette but when the money had gone after a couple of weeks, transport would be at my own expense.

Yeah, fine for people who don't mind walking around with huge white lettering on their right shoulders.

All the above was equally true in the 1970s when the quality and durability of clothing was vastly higher.

Greedy high street retailers (including M&S) have been relentlessly cutting the quality of clothing for years. I think it's beginning to dawn on even the dimmest of shoppers that they're being ripped off. Next, River Island, Burtons, Primark, Top Man etc. are just purveyors of grotesquely marked up sweatshop junk these days. This is what happens when the you let the third world make your stuff for you. They're 'king useless at it.