It has to be cheap or the Jocks would not buy it

 

Well that's true! Have to say I'll be gutted if I ever do have to part with this tenner...

Everything's cheaper up here, although obviously depending on where you go you will still have to pay over the odds.

Was having a look through my local paper yesterday... there's a 2 bed flat going for £25k. And not somewhere that's anywhere like as undesirable as some of the poorer places in London (in terms of the people around).

 

I see what you're saying

The only reason I wanted out is because there was other things I wanted to use the money for. Silver for example

Now I have to wait it out

It just jumped back up £15 an oz, we'll see how long that lasts

 

Now, now - I am actually the old fart

 

Anyway, are you going to take GK up on his challenge, Trout? The Glaswegian seems very confident!

 

The Sage of Omaha would never make a wager, even $10!!!

He said - stupid in small things, stupid in big things.

Oh, OK then, I will take the wager!!

 

things just got interesting around here

 

That's the spirit!

 

In your dreams fishy

By end 2012 we could be closer to $2500, but under $1000? You must be kidding, very very unlikely indeed.

No point comparing gold bubble to property, its like apples and pears. If for no other reason than as I said before look at the number of people you know who own btls or talk about it. Then compare that to how many people you know who have invested in gold.

Anyway, I've put my money where my mouth is and so far its worked out very well indeed. I see any so called 'tanking' as you put it as a temptation to buy some more.

Happy investing

 

Have to say, I'm getting quite into using this spread betting account. It's actually quite a good tool for gradual growth if you just take your time. I'm only risking around 0.5 to 1% per trade to make at least double that. So far is working ok, just a case of being very selective and only trading around important levels that you can place your stops the other side of. Occasionally discipline slips, like that stupid forex trade the other day, but if you can stop yourself trading on days like that where you feel like taking a punt, 10%-15% annually seems quite achievable. This is starting with money I can afford to lose though... I'm sure things would be different (psychologically) if I was trying to make 10-15% on a large sum. That's where it would no doubt go wrong!

Also, Alloy, I just realised you could have an IG Markets account sort of paired with your Index account. Singed up for that so have the capability, but trade sizes and commission will be a bit on the big side to be used effectively at this stage I think. You can have tiny positions in the spread betting platform... one of mine at the moment is the grand sum of £99.

 

Can you buy me a street please, I'll pop a cheque in the post for you.

Chip

 

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

haha Got any bank shares ?

 

Yep

 

You were all warned!

 

It's difficult to know exactly which stocks to look at at the mo. Which is probably not the right opinion to have if your strategy is to 'buy at all levels'. Just trying to keep things relatively diverse, but avoiding banks like the plague.

 

e.g. Barclays, HSBC etc. Will bank shares be split pro rata the retail / investment divisions, or will they become shares in only one part of the business?

 

Seems to me theres no upside for the next little while , no good news on the horizon at all

Im wondering whether to ditch my 4/6 my openings and take small hit

 

Well I bought some more shares this morning.

Gonna take it like a man and go down with the ship.

 

What did you buy Alan? FTSE down below 5000 again!

 

Went for something different this time, bought some Halfords. In retail (I know) but look OK to me.

Some of the miners getting quite 'cheap' now. Look at the likes of Xstrata!?

 

Looks very ugly


Must be reaching breaking point soon...

 

Doesn't look good, does it? Is this going to be something on the scale of '08/'09 I wonder?

 

Potentially worse. This is bad enough to force co-ordinated global action. That's what the markets are demanding.

 

I was thinking the other day about what I'd do if things started taking a turn for the worst. The first thought that entered my mind was to withdraw cash from the bank - if the bank goes under, my cash will be gone (forgetting for a minute that the govt guarantees it). Then I realised you only need some other people to share the same view and the whole game is up.

If you think about it, we're not a million miles away from a situation like that. Things could deteriorate very quickly.

Stock prices falling doesn't bother me. Credit freezing up all over the globe is something to be concerned about. Unfortunately it seems inevitable at some point.

 

Yes, be under no illusion that your bank statement could potentially be worthless if this all goes **** up in a big way, for anything over £100,000 per account anyway. As they say, the world is only three meals away from anarchy. It feels like breakfast has already long gone...

 

If the banks did go **** up, and peoples money disappeared, what would happen to mortgages and loans owed to the same bank/s?

 

Uncharted territory, but the chances of you being able to rip up your mortgage agreement are minimal, and not even that high in reality. The winding up creditors would get their money. Don't spend your mortgage repayments on beer just yet!

 

Shares would be split. Normally, existing shareholders would get the option to buy shares in the "new" company or else get that part of their shareholding back as cash.

 

I like this, it's evocative, like a monologue from a Wall Street movie or similar.