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Should you buy gold coins and bars while prices are high?
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The price of gold has hit a number of record highs recently. The trend started in early March when the precious metal hit a new record high of $2,160 per ounce. By April 1, the price of gold had increased to $2,259.29 per ounce. And today, gold’s price is even higher at $2,334.53 per ounce.
In turn, you may feel torn about buying gold coins and bars right now. On one hand, recent increases in the price of gold are an example of how the precious metal can grow in value over time. And, gold is easy to buy. Not only can you buy gold online or through gold dealers, but you now have the option to buy gold bars at Costco and Walmart, too.
On the other hand, you may be wondering whether to wait for the price to fall before buying in. So, should you buy gold coins and bars while prices are high?
Compare your gold investment options now.
Should you buy gold coins and bars while prices are high?
While it may seem advantageous to wait for prices to fall before you buy gold coins and bars, doing so could be a mistake. After all, there’s no guarantee that the price of gold will fall in the future.
But that’s not the only reason it makes sense to buy gold, even at today’s high prices.
Gold is still a good hedge against ongoing inflation
Inflation may be down compared to its peak of 9.2% in June 2022, but it’s still a persistent issue. And, as prices head upward, the value of the dollar falls, so it’s important to protect your investment portfolio from losses due to inflation. One way to do so is to invest in gold coins and bars.
There’s a finite supply of gold, so it tends to hold its value over time. And, because investor demand tends to increase during periods of inflation, the price of gold also often climbs during these periods. In turn, if you invest in a reasonable amount of gold — typically less than 10% of the value of your portfolio — gold’s price stability and potential price growth could protect your buying power during inflationary periods.
Protect your portfolio from inflation by buying gold coins and bars today.
You could get priced out if you wait too long
At $2,334.53 per ounce, gold’s price is already higher than it was just a few months ago. And, considering how quickly the price has been growing in recent weeks, there’s a chance that it could continue upward. In turn, if you wait too long to add gold to your portfolio and the upward trend continues, it may become cost-prohibitive to do so. So, it may be wise to invest in gold now, before the value of gold has the opportunity to increase further.
Gold is a diversification tool
Gold isn’t just a way to protect your investment portfolio from inflation. It’s also a diversification tool. That’s because the value of the precious metal has a low correlation to traditional portfolio assets like stocks and bonds. In other words, the value of gold tends to move independently from traditional investment assets during market downturns.
And that could be a good thing. After all, it means that the uptick in gold’s price could offset losses in your portfolio if other assets you’ve invested in fall in value.
The bottom line
Gold’s price has recently climbed to new highs, and there’s a chance that the upward trend could continue. So, it may make sense to add the precious metal to your portfolio now rather than waiting for lower prices that may not materialize. The precious metal is also an effective hedge against today’s persistent inflation and a valuable diversification tool. In turn, you may want to consider adding gold to your portfolio now.
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Charges against Georgia high school shooter’s dad echo precedent set in historic Crumbley case
(CBS DETROIT) – The father of the 14-year-old accused of killing two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school was charged in connection with the shooting. His charges follow in the wake of the convictions of two Michigan parents after a school shooting carried out by their child.
Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, in the shooting that happened at Apalachee High School Wednesday morning. The 14-year-old suspect was charged with four counts of felony murder.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said the charges come from Colin Gray “knowingly allowing his son to possess a weapon.” The father was in court Friday morning, where a judge told him he could face up to 180 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The father of the shooting suspect being charged comes after the historic case of James and Jennifer Crumbley, who were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, becoming the first parents in the U.S. to be convicted in a mass school shooting carried out by their child.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were held responsible for their roles in the Oxford High School shooting that killed four students — Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana — and injured seven other people on Nov. 30, 2021.
During their trials, the prosecution argued that the Crumbley parents ignored their son’s mental health needs and purchased the gun that he used in the shooting.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, the prosecutor in the Crumbley case who set the precedent for prosecuting parents in mass school shootings, reacted to the news that the Georgia suspect’s father was charged in an interview with CNN Thursday.
“My reaction is rage because you know it the prosecution of the Crumbleys was never, ever meant to be a floodgate of charges against parents, because it was such an egregious set of facts,” said McDonald. “I share the emotions of the entire country that, even after that well-publicized case, we’re still here.”
Former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Rick Convertino, appearing on CBS News Detroit to discuss the shooting at Apalachee before it was revealed that the shooter’s father had been charged, noted the differences between the gun laws in Georgia and Michigan and claimed “gun culture” is different in Georgia than it is in Michigan. Georgia passed a law in 2022 that allowed residents to carry without a permit, which means adults do not need to have a permit to buy or carry buy rifles, shotguns or handguns.
One of the most significant differences, according to Convertino, is with the gun storage laws. “In Georgia, there’s no specific child-preventive act that requires the guns to be secured and safe from unrestricted children to have access to it,” said Convertino.
There is also no gun lock law in Georgia or any “red flag” laws that allow for the removal of guns from someone who is determined to be a risk for harming themselves or other people. Georgia’s laws are among the least strict in the nation, according to a CBS News analysis.
“We’ve seen this 14-year-old shooter had made threats a year before. The father apparently said to the police that he bought the AR-style weapon for a Christmas present for his minor child,” Kris Brown, president of gun control advocacy organization Brady, told CBS News’ Natalie Brand, drawing a parallel to the Crumbley case.
Brown said Colin Gray’s arrest and the convictions of James and Jennifer Crumbley send a message.
“If you have a firearm in the home, you better safely store that firearm, or you will have a risk if something happens of being criminally charged,” she said.
Michigan’s new gun safety laws went into effect in February, a little over two years after the Oxford High School shooting.
