The Ecstasy of Gold

As the prices of gold reaches all time highs (see chart below), I wanted to share this pretty simple image that explains it all. As the whole world complains about inflation, its nice to remembers there are some assets that are true hedges against currency devaluation.

So, should you invest in some gold? Probably. Here's some history...

Over the last 50 years, the perception and role of gold as an investment have evolved significantly. Traditionally, gold has been a favored asset for its dual ability to act as both a hedge against inflation and a "safe haven" during periods of economic uncertainty. In the 1970s, as inflation spiked due to various global economic crises, gold prices skyrocketed, peaking dramatically in 1980. This era solidified gold's reputation as a protective asset against inflationary pressures. However, the following decades saw periods of both boom and bust for gold as global economic conditions changed, with prices dipping in the late 90s and early 2000s, then surging again during the financial crisis of 2008. The advent of gold-based financial products, such as ETFs, has also made gold investment more accessible and attractive, integrating it more deeply into the global financial system.

Addressing the comparison between home prices and gold, it's a fascinating illustration of gold’s purchasing power stability. Roughly 50 years ago, the average price of a home in the U.S. could have been around $25,000, which at the time would equate to about 10 bars of gold, given that an ounce of gold was approximately $35 and each bar could be around 400 ounces. Fast forward to today, although the price of homes and gold in dollar terms has increased, the relative value in terms of gold bars has intriguingly remained comparable; this outlines gold's strength in maintaining its purchasing power over long periods. This characteristic is why gold is considered a hedge against currency devaluation. As currencies lose value due to inflation or other economic factors, gold prices often increase, which helps preserve the wealth of those who hold gold in their portfolios. Thus, investing in gold can be a strategic move to protect against fiscal erosion in the face of unstable economic climates.

Now... if you don't want to invest in gold, you can flock to BTC as many investors call it the "digital gold", however just remember that both gold and bitcoin are currently selling at or near ATHs. 

March 2024 Update: How you doin?

Quick update on all the investment picks & purchases I have wrote about here:

Hopefully you have been following along :)

Of course though, as the old saying goes... "in a bull market, everybody is a genius."

The real question is... are we in a bull market? 

Last but surely not least, the company I have been most bullish on since 2022... PLTR..

"Man: the only creature whose appetites increase as they are fed." - Henry George

Update on AAPL

Alright so some pretty big news from Apple hit the internet yesterday as they announced they are quitting their pursuit of an EV.

It looks like Apple found EV manufacturing to be very capital intensive and fairly low margin (even though they planned to sell their car for $100k USD). Seeing how they typically enjoy very high margins on products like iPhones and Airpods, this is understandable. 

The EV world is very hard, trust me I know this as an early investor in Fisker. Years later I totally regret investing so much in Fisker as they are now down to penny stock territory. When it comes to EVs, it looks like Elon was right when he said "anybody can build a prototype, but mass scale manufacturing is the real challenge." Well looks like Apple decided wisely this was not a route worth taking, so they abandoned the project all together.

As an AAPL investor, I am happy about this... why? Well because they just announced they are shifting resources from the EV to generative AI. 

Back In January, I predicted Apple would reveal their AI strategy in the near future, . and they just did tease it so I am happy. I believe the consensus is that AI will somehow include adaptive AI to their current ecosystem, possibly upgrading Siri so its something you can actually have conversations with. Maybe it will be able to do things like order an Uber for you with voice commands (similar to the Rabbit r1). Time will tell. But now with AAPL now officially on the AI train, I am confident that AAPL is a stock you can safely hold for the long run. And... if their AI turns out to be sh*t, they at least have the cash to keep buying aspiring competitors. 

Good luck. 

PLTR in the Spotlight

Time Magazine just released an interesting story about my favorite current stock.. Palantir. 

With more positive news in the media after another successful quarter earnings wise, PLTR is currently trading at around $25, a 50% gain over the last month!

Its looking more and more likely that this firm will soon be included in the S&P 500, as they are now eligible to join. The future looks bright for these guys.

The chart below illustrates Palantir's annual revenue for the last five years.

Speculating with QSI

Alright ladies and gentlemen time to have some fun and tell you about my latest speculative investment. Now before I continue I have to point out this is very risky and isn't for the faint of heart. If you have extra money, time and a high risk tolerance.. then keep reading. However, if you don't..  then simply buy (or keep buying) VOO and QQQ and watch your wealth grow that way. 

So my latest investment has been into this firm Quantum SI, ticker symbol QSI. At the time of writing, this stock currently sells for about $1.54 a share, so it's considered cheap, very cheap. 

But who are these guys? QSI is a life sciences company that focuses on next generation protein sequencing. If you did well in high school biology you might remember why proteins are so important. Protein sequences can help us understand how our bodies react to things like cancer, diabetes and all the other fun diseases Americans get from eating too much McDonalds. 

QSI has this breakthrough new machine called the Platinum. The Platinum is a small device that can go into any diagnostics lab and diagnose almost any biological molecule, like proteins or small DNA molecules. What makes this different is that it's the first chip ever to be able to actually see the structure of a single protein. 

The breakthrough tech in this machine is a chip-based protein sequencing platform 

that separates proteins and then literally digests them into peptides, giving scientists new ways to analyze these molecules based on their shape and function. Advances in semiconductors are making gene sequencing technology more useful, and can help in curing diseases and such. Also worth noting that QSI has over a thousand patents issued or pending for this technology. With advances in predictive AI, the potential here is massive. 

They are still a small company though with a market cap of only 218M currently. But a breakthrough in tech here would see expansion that could grow this into a firm worth billions. I'm not the only one who sees potential in these guys either, Kathy Woods of Arc Investment is a large investor in this company. 

With interest rates eventually coming down this year, and more money flowing into new tech firms, I think this one maybe a hit, it's definitely one to watch for sure. 

More info here.

Good luck!