Back in late 2001, when I launched my True Wealth newsletter, all investors wanted were stocks.
Gold was for losers… or so it seemed.
Based on the returns of the preceding 20 years, the stocks-versus-gold debate was open-and-shut:
Me? I wanted nothing to do with stocks back then. After the dramatic run up, stocks were overpriced. Gold was cheap.
So in the June 2002 issue of True Wealth, I showed subscribers how to buy gold for $250 an ounce (AND earn a 4% dividend on it).
NOBODY was interested in gold at the time. I wrote:
For the masses to pile into gold, they need to believe that… our nation is at risk… that the dollar is going to fall… and that inflation is going to appear. And most important, they need to believe that the men at the controls are no longer in control…
It will be hard to convince investors of these things. Investors haven’t worried about any of these things for many years now – if they’ve ever worried about them.
Now, all those things are true.
[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]Every time I recommended gold back then, subscribers canceled. They thought I was nuts. Even my family members called me crazy. But what happened?
Since then, gold has not had a losing year. It’s up from $288 on December 31, 1999 to $1,650 today, for a gain of nearly 500%. Meanwhile, stocks around the world have done nothing.
Take a look:
Back when True Wealth started, all anyone wanted to own was stocks. But today… after gold is up nearly 500% and stocks are down over the last 12 years (roughly)… all investors want is gold.
When asked, “Which of the following do you think is the best long-term investment?” 34% of Americans answered “gold” in a recent Gallup poll. (Real estate was in second at 19%, followed by stocks/mutual funds at 17%.)
I was amazed by this answer… Gold is up nearly 500% and stocks are down. Which do you think is closer to the beginning of a new great bull market… stocks or gold? Which do you think has hundreds of percent upside from current levels… stocks or gold?
If gold doubled, it’d be $3,300 an ounce. If the Nasdaq doubled, it would still be below its highs from over 11 years ago.
While most Americans now overwhelmingly believe gold is the best long-term investment, I think we’re seeing once-in-a-lifetime values in the stock market. This is the first time in my investment lifetime I’ve seen values like this in stocks, and I’m in my 40s.
I personally think what we’re seeing is a major correction in the gold bull market – a bull market that is already a decade old.
Meanwhile, I think once stocks finally bottom, we could have one of the greatest buying opportunities in the history of the stock market. The values we’re seeing right now in stocks around the world may be the best values I will ever see in my lifetime.
Stocks? Or gold? Which to choose?
I say both… Gold has had a major correction. And stocks are literally as cheap as they get. When the uptrend returns in both, I will buy.
I urge you to do the same…
Good investing,
— Steve Sjuggerud
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Source: Daily Wealth