Why Watch the Wall of Worry When Gold and Silver Keep Going Straight Up?

Stocks go up and down all the time. Over the past 10 years, they've mostly gone up, to the great delight of many a Baby Boomer who has his or her net worth tied to stocks and their primary residence.

That's all well and good, but even the least-jaded septuagenarian might consider stocks and housing a little bit on the overpriced side of the ledger. Maybe the boomers down the street have just retired. Maybe the kids of some early boomers - now in their 80s - are salivating over the prospect of inheriting stocks and real estate worth millions.

OK, fine. How many boomers own gold or silver? Not many. The estimates are that less than five percent of individuals in the United States own more than $1000 worth of precious metals. That would be a fractional gold coin (1/2 ounce should do it) or less than 30 ounces of silver in various denominations, maybe even some "junk silver" which wasn't so "junky" when it was actual money prior to 1965.

You boomers saved your baseball cards and comic books. Why didn't you hold on to some of the dimes, quarters and halves from your paper route days? Probably, some with foresight (something possessed by less than half of the boomer population) probably did.

This isn't an advertisement for gold or silver. Perish the thought that anyone would push people into buying what former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said wasn't money when pressed by then-U.S. House Representative Ron Paul back on July 13, 2011. (see the clip below. It's very entertaining.)

For the record, year-to-date, gold and silver are basically kicking stocks in the butt.

Here are YTD stats:
Dow: +0.51%
NASDAQ: +1.45%
S&P 500: +2.11%
Gold: +27.25%
Silver: +26.04%

If, like some people, you began investing in gold and silver right around the year 2000, gold was about $270 and silver was somewhere in the range of $6 or $7 an ounce. With prices today at $3,359 for gold and $36.85 for silver, they haven't done too badly, and without much in the way of worry. In fact, the crazier the world becomes, the higher the price for solid assets that act as hedges, insurance, or shock absorbers against financial cataclysm. Works every time.

It's been said that the stock market climbs a "wall of worry." Well, there's certainly more than enough going on these days to be worried about life's saving going "poof" if they're all in stocks. Real estate, not so much, but you do have to live somewhere and a home with a paid off mortgage beats a cardboard box in downtown Los Angeles any day.

But, gold and silver holders don't worry. Their holdings just sit there, in vaults, shoeboxes, on closet shelves, wherever. And, as Ron Paul stated, gold has been money for 6,000 years. Silver, has been also, though the central bankers and financial media would rather have you believe its only uses are industrial, when, in fact, it is "the indispensable element."

The financial media talking heads would rather get you lathered up over stocks heading back toward all-time highs than sit around marveling at the shiny stuff in your bedroom or den.

But, "muh portfolio," you say. Diversification doesn't just mean owning stocks in different sectors. It might mean owning different asset classes, like stocks, fixed income, precious metals, art, collectibles, commodities, small business assets. There are choices.

At the Close, Monday, June 9, 2025:
Dow: 42,761.76, -1.14 (-0.00%)
NASDAQ: 19,591.24, +61.24 (+0.31%)
S&P 500: 6,005.88, +5.52 (+0.09%)
NYSE Composite: 20,034.46, -10.94 (-0.05%)