the gold stock craze, page-18

Pugnacious,

That is a truly shocking anti gun view coming from you...

Pugnacious, Adjective:
"Ready and able to resort to force or violence"

;)

However, yes it is an 'over the top' view and is probably more applicable to the USA than Australia, where almost every household is armed to the teeth in such a manner that any protracted economic downturn is likely to lead to neighbourhood bloodshed.
However in many poor countries violence is the means for survival of many.

The real point I am trying to get across is that all gold stocks are speculative, whether explorers or producers, and therefore not a good place to put cash when attempting to reduce risk.

I do not regard any gold stocks as 'investment material'.
They are for trading only, and can be very good trading stocks.

There has been ample evidence in the commodities mini-bull in recent years of windfall taxes, nationalization and licence renegotiation where companies actually turn a profit after decades of losses, and I can assure you that if countries start going bust, gold mines are going to get a lot of interest by the state.
I would fully expect most to be nationalized and used to back the government coffers, 'for the good of the people'.

If the banks can be nationalized, then anything can be nationalized.

If anybody is concerned about a collapse in the purchasing power of fiat currency they should buy physical gold IMO, and not necessarily the fancy coins with debatable resale values. Just gold by purity and weight.

A safety deposit box at a bank can be as little as $200 per year, and should be safe providing governments do not seize their contents.