Investments - what's working out for you?

You also need to ask yourself what your plan is -- are you trying to start a retirement account? Something to give you some extra money ten years from now? Are you looking to take a gamble on getting rich quick?

Historically stocks have actually had the best LONG TERM returns by far of any property, even taking into account crashes, bubbles, and blips.

(I have invested in this if you were wondering about money/mouth juxtapositions)

Another answer - invest in non-Alpine ski resorts. Norway, say.

And indeed, if tradition holds. I'd have to see some data, but I suspect that the inflow of Indian funds into gold isn't significant enough to support gold values at high levels. And if India's economic growth continues apace, so will its people's financial sophistication, and they'll increasingly chase a more diverse array of investment options, most of them the stuff of paper (or ones and zeroes).

http://www.squirrelyournutsoffshore.com/
http://www.vicefund.com/
http://www.greencentury.com/

There's some data here:

http://www.ncdex.com/products/products_precious_gold.aspx?Type=Gen

Some key points:

"India is the largest consumer of gold in the world accounting for more than 23% of the total world demand annually."

"India being the largest consumer of gold in the world, with minimal domestic supply, the demand is met mainly from imports."

http://www.ncdex.com/products/images/gold_import.jpg

Fair enough. But if demand from one country accounts for a quarter of the gold market, I'd argue that that is also a pretty good reason not to invest in it.

There have also been times when you could have made a killing in high-yield corporate bonds or swaptions. That doesn't mean they are a good option for the average medium- or long-term investor.

Well, gold is also hedge against the falling dollar. So if you think the dollar has further to fall, then it might not be a bad place to look either.

A recent article from CNN/Money:

Should you be buying gold?

Second, trying to outgess the currency market is about the quickest route to the poorhouse that I can think of. If you are worried about a decline in the dollar that would be so precipitous that you would want to transfer your cash into a commodity, and you think that such an event would last throughout your entire investment planning horizon, you shouldn't see a financial planner, you should see a psychiatrist.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041805L.shtml

Anyhow, I read the article on hedge funds, too, which was really interesting. I printed out Asness's paper on stock options to read later.

my 401k lost over $400 this last quarter, I sure as fuck am moving almost all of it into the lower-risk funds...

(I cannot be bothered w/ much research, that's just the way it is)

(^^^^ Morbius! ^^^^^)

Has anyone bought stocks online? I'm sorta interested in making a modest investment of some kind but am slightly intimidated, and afraid of sleazy online brokerages.. recommendations would be helpful.