We no longer keep permanent records of clients’ purchases. Purchases under $25,000 have been reduced to 1%, including shipping.
We measure all sorts of things constantly, and mostly are even unaware of it. Measurements are critical to living, buying, selling, and manufacturing. Measurements are common and important in all aspects of life, and maybe even death! Examples are many. Consider just our bodies: We measure our age in years, height in feet and inches, weight in pounds, eyes and most other things in colors, blood pressure, PSA, carbohydrates, etc, in various measurements, foot size, glove size, waist size, neck size, suit or dress size, bra size, hat size, wrist and finger size for jewelry, and on it goes, just for our bodies.
We measure temperature in degrees, humidity in percentages, time in minutes, and hours, liquids in gallons or ounces, speed in miles per hour, light intensity in lumens, electricity by volts, watts, and amperes, loudness in decibels, pressures in pounds, quality of photos in pixels, quality of sheets in threads per inch, and measurements of every conceivable thing or item all have numbers, with which to ’measure’ by, and the list is virtually endless. All of these measurements must stay the same, or nothing could be manufactured, sold, repaired, built, or even designed. Suppose the inch or foot changed lengths sometimes? Can you imagine the confusion? Suppose weights changed occasionally? Or sizes with which we buy our clothes? Measurements are critical, and it is imperative that they do not change. If they did, chaos would result.
We measure our wealth in dollars, and they are not a stable measurement, but rather decrease in value each day.
No one can deny this fact, because prices constantly go up for what we buy. Obviously, prices of commodities change because of supply and demand, but long term, all prices go up in dollars. The 20 cent a gallon gas and nickel Cokes of my childhood, are many times those prices today, because the value of the dollar has gone down. Stott’s Law says, “The more of anything there is, the less they will be worth.” Water in the desert is expensive, because there is little of it. Antiques, which at one time sold for a dew dollars, now command much higher prices, because there are so few of them left. Model T Fords, sold for $275, but a restored one today, is going for a hundred times the $275 original price. Few of them remain, even though hundreds of thousands of them were manufactured. You know the simple fact of supply and demand. As Sherlock Holmes said, “Elementary my dear Watson.” What then, which we use constantly, is not a stable measurement? Dollars of course, and the reason is that they are continually being printed endlessly. Why? Because politicians cannot stop spending, and that’s the way they stay in office. 475 Congressmen, and 100 Senators are responsible for inflation, and they don’t give a good damn about you. Only to stay in office.
What can you do? If you have surplus dollars, do not save in them, as you will be decapitalized with less than 1% interest being paid on savings. Get out of dollars and into something tangible, which, as the dollar fades, will go up in dollar price. Any tangible thing will do, except there might be a storage problem. If you stored your surplus wealth in butter or food stuffs, obviously they have a shelf life, or require refrigeration. Scrap metals needs a lot of storage space and expensive shipping. Antique furniture, cars, jewelry, etc need to be graded, and a very limited supply of buyers is around. Real estate requires property taxes, and maintenance. We’re in the hedging business here. We protect your wealth with things which require no refrigeration, and take little room for storage. I cannot deny that gold and silver prices were at one time much higher than they are now, but they have also been a lot lower. Since all tangible things have to go up, unless the boobs we elect, stop spending more than they take in from taxes, which is 99.9% impossible, gold and silver will have to reach their old highs and go as high as milk, tires, lumber, or any other tangible thing will have to go, as dollars become weaker and weaker.
From my collection of old columns: Mike Rosen wrote this in the late 1990’s. He titled it “The Bill Of No Rights.” Here’s part of it
“Article 1. You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. Work for it.
“Article 2. You do not have the right to never be offended. This country was founded on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone, not just you.
“Article 3: You do not have the right to be free from harm. Do not expect the tool manufacturers to make you and your relatives wealthy.
“Article 4: You do not have the right to free food and housing. I am growing weary of moochers and welfare recipients.
“Article 5: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, or intentionally maim someone, We may kill you.
“Article 6: You do not have the right to free health care, and from the looks of public housing, it might not be much good.
“Article 7: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or steal, don’t be surprised if we lock you up’
“Article 8: You do not have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars. We do not like parenting the entire world.
“Article 9: You do not have the right to a job. We surely do want you to have one, but it’s your problem, not ours.
“Article 10: You do not have the right to happiness. As an American, you have the right to pursue happiness, which will be a lot easier to obtain, if you weren’t encumbered by lots of silly laws, regulations, and bureaucrats, which unfortunately, we have no way of getting rid of, but we’d love to.
P.S. As of January 1st, the following taxes were increased, with not a single Republican vote: (1) Top bracket went from 35% to 39.6%. (2) Top income payroll tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%. (3) Dividends tax went from 15% to 39.6%. (4) Capital gains tax went from 15% to 28%. (5) Estate tax went from zero to 55%.