Paranoia about gold ETFs, why?

[Bienes Raices]

I've read the conspiracy theories about GLD's gold bars missing from the vault, tungsten filled gold bars, and the fact that GLD will not redeem for physical gold. Most of this seems to be rumor, except for the last one, although from what I understand most or all of the ETFs will not allow you to redeem. Did anyone ever think that maybe that's just because it's totally impractical when you have thousands or millions of investors, that it's not some sinister conspiracy to hide missing gold bars until Geraldo opens the vault on TV and finds nothing there? If you want out of GLD, you just sell and take the cash. If you want physical gold, you buy gold bullion from somewhere else. Remember when you buy a stock you're buying a black box too--you could have the next Enron or Lehman Bros, no matter how much research you do.

[Shanti S.]

There is always a lot of hype about gold....and I think it's a bad investment, compared to something like real estate certainly, which has tax advantages and can be purchased with leverage and can earn you income, etc...

The folks pushing gold ought to take a different stance, in my opinion - stop trying to sell it as an investment where “the prices are just going to go through the roof any day now, just wait and see.â€

Sell it as what it is, a relatively liquid form of money that has universal value across the globe and is great insurance against inflation.

Conspiracy theory - folks that buy it for insurance want to take possession of it for the same reason that they don't want to invest in stocks - they want to be in control of something real and that can be traded privately and quickly if needed away from the prying eyes of government. Many also feel that the precious metals market is manipulated in much the same way as stocks and barrels of oil.

You don’t get any of the same satisfaction from viewing pixels on a screen of your investment status as you do from seeing a closet full of canned goods and critical supplies all stocked up at home, or admiring the luster and weight of a .999% pure, precious metal coin in your hand. Investing isn't always about ROI and security isn't always about insurance and the promises of the govt and the legal system.