Two good picks, imo. The author chooses AAPL over gold based on what happened to gold in 2008. I disagree, but he's entitled to his opinion.
I just think AAPL is very expensive. And Steve Jobs is gone.
I want to discuss one of the author's final points, though, because it is thought provoking and doesn't get enough attention (except by me.) He says:
"and if things really get bad, they'll buy dry food and automatic guns."
In this, he's both right, AND wrong.
Clearly, if things get that bad, people will be buying food and guns. But WHICH people? Not investors. They'll run into the same problem I've encountered - which is that you just can't store very many guns or too much food without encountering space and spoilage problems.
So, in desperate times, everyone will buy a LITTLE food and guns. (Except for urbanites, I mean. They will die.) A handful of guns. A year's worth of food.
Those who are still in a position to invest will buy other things. Things that preserve value and can be stored in quantity or don't need to be stored. The things I've identified are: Farmable land w/water, useful businesses, quality art, PM and oil/gas wells.
I haven't thought of any other decent investments, and I've been mulling this over for a LONG time.
Would You Rather… Own Apple or Gold?
By Matt Nesto | Breakout – June 5, 2012
finance.yahoo.com
It may sound like some sort of riddle out a fairy tale, but the premise of our question is fairly profound; whether it would make more sense to buy 3 shares of Apple (AAPL) or one ounce of Gold (GC).
On the one hand, in Apple, you would get a piece of the hot, new kid on the block (at least compared to gold, which has been tendered for 5,000 years), the largest company in the land, and the Titan of the Tech Sector. Of course, you also get one of the best growth stories on earth as the parade of iProducts seems endless.
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As for gold, given its unmatched place in history, it's already measured in all sorts of ways, but always with the purpose of determining whether it is currently cheap or expensive. One such method was tied to the cost of a nice men's suit. Another way is to determine how many ounces of gold it would take to purchase the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Using the Dow/Gold Price Ratio of about 7.5 ounces at $1600 to buy the DJIA at 12,000, you can clearly see the cost is way down, but that's not to say it not going down again OR that's it recent bound will continue.
Interestingly, Munson points out Apple and Gold are two things that ''everybody is talking about" right now. Specifically, what new iGadget to buy, as well as how we're going to manage to get out from beneath our Federal budget deficit.
But in the end, the promise of Apple and why you should own it - if you don't already (products, strong management and margins, expansion into the corporate sector) is enough to keep Munson out of Gold. And besides, he says that he always has in the back of his mind that "when the world looks to be ending (like 2008 ), people aren't going to buy gold, they're going to buy dollars, and if things really get bad, they'll buy dry food and automatic guns."
More: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/rather-own-apple-gold-120742748.html
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
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