john torrison president
   
  • Club Home
  • Club Members
  • Listen with Bill
    • Bill's History
  • Turntable
    • TT History
  • The FlipSide
  • Picturesque!
  • Skips Corner
  • Gulliver's Travels
  • The Club Pub
    • Sucks News
  • Harv's Corner

The Club PUBlication  10/30/2023

10/30/2023

0 Comments

 

Costco members rush to buy gold bars online
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Picture
Picture
Picture

​
Looking for something to add to your Costco cart along with the 30 rolls of toilet paper? How about a bar of gold? While not a typical outlet for the sale of precious metals, the members-only warehouse chain has seen its 1-ounce gold bars sell out faster than discounted 170-ounce jugs of laundry detergent.

In a company earnings call the last week of September, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said the gold bars, sold exclusively online, are "typically gone within a few hours" of appearing on Costco's website — adding that there's a two-bar limit per member. As of Wednesday, they remained sold out.

Unlike some other discount finds at the retail giant, gold bars come with a hefty price tag. No prices were listed Wednesday because of the bars' unavailability, but multiple media outlets reported last week that the 1-ounce gold pieces — offered in two designs — were selling for just below $2,000 each.

That's slightly higher than the current market price of gold, which stood at about $1,835 per ounce Wednesday afternoon. Costco did not specify how many gold bars have been sold recently, or how often it restocks them.

Chances are, interest around Costco's gold bars isn't going away anytime soon. Although 1 or 2 ounces of gold won't have a huge impact on diversifying one's investment portfolio, experts note that there has been increasing investor demand for precious metals in recent years, and that's likely to continue.

Still, it's important to pause and evaluate investment prospects. Here's what some experts say.

What's behind the demand for gold? Interest in buying gold often stems from feelings of uncertainty, experts say.

Jonathan Rose, CEO of precious metal broker Genesis Gold Group, says that recent bank failures, inflation and individuals' concerns about the U.S. dollar, for example, can cause some to start looking for alternative places to park their money.

"If someone's going out to buy gold, that means they think that there's some type of instability at the structural level of the market and/or the government itself," added David Wagner III, head of markets and equities at Aptus Capital Advisors.

Investment risk of gold. Rose and others say gold can diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate potential risks down the road.

"People are looking for a safe haven ... to protect their wealth. And gold kind of ticks all those boxes," Rose said. He added that people may see value in having something tangible — and put precious metals "in a safety-deposit box or into a retirement plan, even like an IRA or 401(k) ... to safeguard what they have whilst they see what's happening in the market."

But not everyone agrees. Wagner says gold is "one of the worst things that you can ever own." Among the downsides, he argues, is that gold isn't the inflationary hedge many say it is, with inflation at times outpacing gold in recent decades, and that "there are more efficient ways to protect against the loss of capital," such as through derivative-based investments.

The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, the commission said, and prices rise as demand goes up — meaning "when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers."

If you do choose to invest in gold, the commission and others add, it's important to educate yourself on safe trading practices and be cautious of potential scams and counterfeits on the market.


​

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    RSS Feed