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Forget Gold: Shiny Stuff Outperformed By Garlic......

Despite the lunatic ramblings of the gold bugs on here, there were many commodities that outperformed Gold's 24% rise in 2009.

To name a few....... cocoa (+25 per cent), palm oil (+53 per cent), cotton (+54 per cent), rubber (+102 per cent), orange juice (+107 per cent), zinc (+111 per cent), raw sugar (+127 per cent), lead (+145 per cent) and garlic (+300 per cent).

Yes, you would not have done as well in gold last year as in garlic, which outperformed gold by a factor of 12.

So how about 2010?

Silver, Copper and Tin have all had similar returns to Gold so far this year, in the high single digit range.

But the real stars have been far more mundane commodities.

Like Coal + 16% this year, Nickel + 33% this year, and Steel, up a whopping + 49% this year.

A store of wealth?

Hardly.....

Just another commodity, outperformed by many, and more useless and risky than most.;)
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

-- President John F. Kennedy”
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Comments

  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Don't think i'd get very far with plentiful cloves of garlic though.
  • Really2
    Really2 Posts: 12,397 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Don't think i'd get very far with plentiful cloves of garlic though.

    Ah but if you had a bike as well you might.
    stock-photo-french-man-riding-down-leafy-garden-path-on-bicycle-loaded-with-onions-and-garlic-22497439.jpg
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Don't think i'd get very far with plentiful cloves of garlic though.

    Certainly more useful than gold......

    And if the !!!! really does hit the fan, and I mean really hits the fan, there are many, many things more useful and valuable than gold to have around.

    Fuel of any kind, shotguns and ammunition, salt (in huge quantities, for preserving food), medicine stockpiles, painkillers, antibiotics, etc. Even dried food, seeds and access to agricultural lands and a fresh water supply.

    In fact, in a post apocalypse world, gold and silver are utterly useless. You can't eat them, they have no utility value, and they won't keep you warm.
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    And if the !!!! really does hit the fan, and I mean really hits the fan,

    It certainly would with that amount of garlic :D
  • Really2
    Really2 Posts: 12,397 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I bet if the poop really did hit the fan salt and other natural preservatives would be worth more and be more practical to trade than gold.

    It is fairly hard to take a bar of gold round with you and breaking chunks off.
  • Cleaver
    Cleaver Posts: 6,989 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Despite the lunatic ramblings of the gold bugs on here, there were many commodities that outperformed Gold's 24% rise in 2009.

    To name a few....... cocoa (+25 per cent), palm oil (+53 per cent), cotton (+54 per cent), rubber (+102 per cent), orange juice (+107 per cent), zinc (+111 per cent), raw sugar (+127 per cent), lead (+145 per cent) and garlic (+300 per cent).

    I ask as a genuine question and not to take the p*ss. How would one go about investing in orange juice or garlic? Obviously you could do your research and invest in a company that manufactures or sells these items, but is there any type of futures or general market where you would invest in, or speculate on the price of, these things? I feel really, really stupid asking that question as my common sense says there isn't, but you seem to be able to invest and bet on anything nowadays.
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Really2 wrote: »
    stock-photo-french-man-riding-down-leafy-garden-path-on-bicycle-loaded-with-onions-and-garlic-22497439.jpg

    :rotfl:

    A frenchman with some garlic got a better investment return last year than the goldbugs like Asheron and Lisbonlaura.

    Absolutely priceless.:D
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
  • Cleaver
    Cleaver Posts: 6,989 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    A frenchman with some garlic got a better investment return last year than the goldbugs like Asheron and Lisbonlaura.

    Absolutely priceless.:D

    And yet gold still outperformed a property in Aberdeen over the last year. That's priceless. ;)
  • chucky
    chucky Posts: 15,170 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 5 May 2010 at 9:14PM
    Cleaver wrote: »
    I ask as a genuine question and not to take the p*ss.
    does this mean that at other times you do take the p1ss?
    i'm disappointed in you cleaver - i thought better of you
    Cleaver wrote: »
    How would one go about investing in orange juice or garlic?
    you need to watch Trading Places again - it's a complete education in how to short orange juice on a trading exchange
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Cleaver wrote: »
    And yet gold still outperformed a property in Aberdeen over the last year. That's priceless. ;)

    Not by much.....;)

    And you can't live in the gold......
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
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