Google Back to $500: Quick Poll: Which Is A Better Buy; Google @$500 Or Gold @$1K

2009 September 23
by Michael H. Berkens

Well Google has topped $500 a share after hitting a low of $280 this year.

Today represents a 52 week high for Google, but its still well off its all time high of around $750.

As you probably know, Gold has been a liitle over $1K an ounce for a week.

Thought it would be fun to take a quick poll as to what you think is a better investment right now, Google at $500 a share or Gold at $1,000 an ounce.

Planning on only keeping this up until Saturday so get your votes in.

29 Responses leave one →
  1. 2009 September 23

    Long term I see gold as a much better investment (Silver even better than gold) but if we are talking about only the next 6 months to a year, well, I have no idea what will do better.

    I would still take a guess on gold though.

    Troy
    FreeDomainNewsletter.com

  2. 2009 September 23

    GOOG went from $500′s to $260 in only 3 months time last year.

    I’ll stick with old faithful: Gold

  3. 2009 September 23

    I believe this question was posed when they both were trading at around $800 a share/ounce. In a down market, gold has gone up while Google has gone down since then. In an up market, Google would do much better than gold. Being an optimist, I’ll take Google.

  4. 2009 September 23
    Rob Sequin permalink

    Supply and demand.

    Do you see more demand for gold or for Google?

    I’ll take the gold.

    Also, which would you rather be selling in a time of crisis?

  5. 2009 September 23
    mmm permalink

    Gold = Pessimism
    Google = Optimism

  6. 2009 September 23

    As the owners of Bullion.com I’ll stick with the Bullion.

  7. 2009 September 23
    Steve M permalink

    O.K., you got us, Mike . . . it’s a trick question!

    The real answer is of course . . . domains! ;-)

  8. 2009 September 23

    David – million dollar name – congrats!

    Gold should be your choice, without thinking twice!

    The US is about the lose the privilege of having a credit card that doesn’t needs to be paid back! I have been a gold bull since early 2003.
    We are not experiencing a once in a decade recession – we are witnessing a once in a century shift of wealth. When all the dust is settled we will have a middle classe in the US and Europe that is well worse of then it is now. Most of the wealth that will be vanished will have gone into private hands in the US, Europe and Asia.

    These are truly challenging times and the coming years will be VERY interesting to watch things unfold. All Western nations are propping up debt. At one point the buck will stop.
    I think we will see in order of appearance: one or more major currency crisis, trade wars & protectionism, (hyper)-inflation and civil unrest.

    I think what you also need to learn out of this all is that nobody will take care of you. Don’t trust the government for your retirement. Make your own preparations and that includes putting some of your money in the one currency that hasn’t folded in over 5000 years – Gold.

    But only buy as much gold as you “understand”. Get the “bullion” stuff, the real deal. 10-20% is a good start and should be enough to cover your entire portfolio during monetary devaluations.

    Caesar

  9. 2009 September 23
    Yaron permalink

    gold.
    in the long run, you cant go wrong with gold.

  10. 2009 September 23

    Is it making anyone else a little uncomfortable that a bunch of domainers (notoriously optimistic) are more comfortable investing in gold then in what is arguably the most successful internet company of all time?

    I mean, I agree with most of you, it just makes me worry that most of you agree with me=)

    Troy
    FreeDomainNewsletter.com

  11. 2009 September 23

    With just a single revenue stream, GOOG would be a bad choice.

  12. 2009 September 23
    Jdawg permalink

    Gold hand down – Party Train – Time to Board

  13. 2009 September 23

    I would not buy either, but if I would be forced to I would rather buy two stocks of Google than one ounce of gold. Gold is NOT an investment, gold is a speculation. It does not produce anything. Companies do.

  14. 2009 September 24
    Caesar permalink

    @ D

    Gold is not speculation…it is simply money!

    Do you know what the US Airforce puts in their lifesavingkits for their pilots besides dried food and other survival equipment?

    They put in several old british gold sovereigns. No dollars, no euros or sterling.

    Why? Because they know that gold is money wherever you end up on this planet.

    So in short, spend currency but save gold.

    Caesar

  15. 2009 September 24

    Hello Mike,

    There has never been a time in history when any commodity has increased as much as some equities do. Gold does not split 2for 1 and then quadruple and then split 2for1 again, as many top performing equities have done. This is coming from a past experienced stock and commodity licensed broker. Trust me, the potential for google far out weighs any commodities potential, from a historical stand point.

    Gratefully, Jeff

  16. 2009 September 24

    @Ceaser
    Right, gold…LOL

    The only thing you can do with gold is change it back to currency and then spend. With money you can INVEST into domains, companies, real estate, education…

  17. 2009 September 24

    I think they are 2 different things.

    Sorry, but gold is not for “Growth” it is for safety. The numbers prove that over the past 30 years and even in the past 6 months. Yes, gold has gone up, but only 40% or so when many stocks were going up 800%, 500%, 200% in the same period.

    Google is for growth and not as safe.

    On the other hand, water may have the most value depending on the circumstance.

  18. 2009 September 24

    I’d like to point out the inherent paradox that some others have pointed out here that some domainers are bearish on Google while bullish on domains. Barring some paradigm shift in the internet and how advertising is done on it, the health of Google’s stock for the foreseeable future is a barometer of the health of your domains. I’m not saying this because of PPC or parking revenue but if Google’s stock climbs that means companies are ramping up their ad spending online. It’s a barometer of the health of the internet itself.

    Warren Buffett is not the most successful investor alive by investing in gold. Anyone know if he’s buying right now?

  19. 2009 September 24
    Caesar permalink

    Rick,

    Don’t get dragged into the trap of comparing gold over the past 30 years, admitted its performance measured in $-terms has been poor to say the least.
    Fact is that when Nixon unpegged the dollar in 1971 he unleashed the biggest debt-scheme the world had ever seen. Most profiting from it: the US consumer who could, as long as the rest of the world kept financing their spendings, borrow their way to heaven.

    I believe this is now unfolding and the process itself will be very painful for everyone.

    Before 1971 gold & silver were simply money. I’m not saying that was the best system since it had many limitations too and we had major crises being under the gold standard too. What I do think is that when this whole debt-scheme will unfold, it will be MUCH more painful then all the past crises combined.

    The US has only 1 way out: print money. This will hurt the US consumer and saver. But this will also hurt Europeans, Asians who have pegged their currency to the dollar or have huge $ holdings.
    The real treasury policy has always been: the $ is our money and your problem.

    So as long as we don’t know for sure what will come out of this crisis it is wise to keep a vast % of your portfolio in precious metals.

    This may sound a bit of odd but you have to start looking outside this $-matrix. We compare everything in $ (gold, silver, commodities,…) because it is priced in $. Stop doing that. Look outside the box and explore history. You will find out what the real purchasing power of gold is during crises.

    Voltaire said it well many years ago: All paper money eventualy goes back to its intrinsic value, zero.

  20. 2009 September 24

    Schwartz, you still dont get it.
    You must compare gold to dollars or other currencies and not only to stocks.
    Saying some stocks have gone up 800% is ridiculous. Neither you nor i are able to pick stocks that good. On a flip side, how far has the value of dollar and the buying power of dollar fallen since the time of some random 1:10,000 stock gone up 800%. ??

    You’ve been bearish on gold for the past decade, while gold investors have returned 500 or so %.

    Ironically here is Peter Shiff talking about gold vs dollars TODAY
    http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/342802/Peter-Schiff-U.S.-Rally-Is-Doomed-Gold-Will-Hit-5000?tickers=^DJI,GLD,EPHCX,FXI,EEM,GDX,^GSPC&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

  21. 2009 September 24

    Tony, you are correct on the google front.
    I would just call it slightly differently.
    The health of Google and domains is directly tied to health of the advertising markets. Advertising markets overall are very cyclical and internet is not much different. IMO Google is more like an Alcoa than Apple or MS.

  22. 2009 September 25

    sell gold…sell google…keep cash!
    Cash is King!

  23. 2009 September 25
    MHB permalink

    Auunt

    Love your comment, but only because I own the domain, cashisking.com

  24. 2009 September 26

    Cash is a very nuetral asset, and when it is king for extended periods of time all hell is about to break loose. When an economy is in nuetral its currency is a depleting asset and money market payouts climb to a threshold point and near this point the law of diminishing returns take over the dynamics. This is usually a good time to trade up to the assets that have been avoided to this point. In other words get out of cash it is only good for short periods of time. At the present time cash is fools gold, better to be in a company like Starent networks, my favorite pick right now.

    Gratefully , Jeff

  25. 2009 September 28
    MHB permalink

    OK so here is my opinion on this

    I’ll take Google.

    Google at $500 is off its all time high of $750.

    Gold is about at its all time high.

    Gold has lagged inflation throughout the years

    http://www.crossingwallstreet.com/archives/2008/01/gold_at_new_all.html

    The price of Gold has benefited greatly from the dollars drop against the Euro, as gold is always quoted in dollars.

    Google has a large international presence and its profits also have done far better in quarters when the dollar is weak.

    I think 10 years, even 5 years from now Google will be proven to be the far superior investment.

  26. 2009 October 20

    Great information, I will be linking back to you and going to look around at your other posts.

  27. 2011 April 15

    @Rick Schwartz

    Totally agree :)

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  1. Gold Vs. Google: 9 Month Update: Gold Up 20%, Google Down 6% | Domaining Manual
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