Volatility

Gold traded in a 70 dollar range today. The Dow traded in a 300 dollar range. Again. Ho Hum. What does it mean? It means nobody can afford to trade these markets but Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. So.... don't.

Meanwhile Gold is still up 600 percent over the last ten years and the Dow is flat
. Of course, the Dow is figured in US Dollars so flat means it's actually down about 20 percent - which is the lost purchasing power of the dollar over the last 10 years. The only thing that's certain is that over time this trend will not only continue but accelerate, as all the conditions that have caused this trend are intensifying.

Meanwhile - if you care to speculate in a real wild bull market - it's Ancient Coin Auction season again. To see the list of current auctions go to Sixbid.com. This is a market that has gone up far more than 700 percent over the last 10 years. Though, it's impossible to calculate the actual percentage gain because every Ancient coin is different.

But if you take high grade Alexander the Great Portrait Staters you'll find that 10 years ago they went for around 1500 dollars. Today they sell anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 dollars - depending on condition, style, and date and mint of issue.

These staters were in most cases minted to pay a foot soldier a month's salary. In bullion that would translate to about 500 dollars a month plus room and board for a common foot soldier at today's bullion value of gold.

Of course the dollar today is so completely debased that a foot soldier is payed about 1200 a month after taxes. And even though that shows that gold has retained a pretty constant value over that last 2500 years, I think it's reasonable to assume that gold will soon double again bringing the foot soldier's pay of 323 BCE back into line with today's base army pay.

However, if you'd like to buy the actual coin with which the foot soldier was paid, it will cost you about the monthly salary of a four star general. And if you want to buy the finest known example in the best style of the coin that was paid to that foot soldier in 323 BCE, (such as the example shown above) it will cost you about month's salary of a trader at Goldman Sachs.

Make of that what you will. But if you can't trade in the size and with the inside information of a Goldman Sachs desk trader, you'd be far better off speculating in a market that's sure to appreciate over time. All you need to prosper there is a pretty decent foundation in ancient history, perhaps a little rudimentary ancient Greek, and an eye for fine style. Connections at the Fed won't count for much, I'm afraid. And if you don't mind buying silver there are some beautiful coins to match any budget. But if you can afford it - buy Gold. It doesn't tarnish.