We are about to enter one of the most uncertain economic periods in modern history – one that many analysts fear could rival the Great Depression.

We don’t like to write about the negatives, we really don’t. But if we want to formulate a strategy for retaining our investments’ value, we need to consider some of the bad things that could just happen in the wake of the current virus crisis:

Are you a little down in the dumps right about now? Well, we don’t blame you, but we would like to offer you a little bit of advice that applies to investing in precious metals . . .

Snap out of it and keep moving forward!

We all just got a three-month extension for filing our Federal taxes. That’s right, instead of filing on April 15th, we now have until July 15th.

Now, you might say, “What’s the difference, I’m going to have to file and/or pay my taxes anyway, right?” But you have another option. You can take the extra time you’ve been given to take a deep breath and consider some ways to get more value and income from the precious metals and precious metal scrap you own. Whether you center your holdings in platinum scrap, gold scrap, or silver scrap, here are some issues worth considering now.

As we write today’s post, we are in the midst of a near-epidemic of fear about the Coronavirus.

And this epidemic of fear is more troubling than earlier ones we remember, like the one that preceded the start of the year 2000. Why? Because unlike that false crisis, when conspiracy theorists were predicting that world currencies would crash, that airplanes would fall from the sky and that all the world’s computers would freeze, today’s crisis is based on bad things that are actually happening in the world.

It’s comforting to keep your cherished pieces of bullion and jewelry in your own home. When no one is looking, you can pull out your platinum, gold or silver items – maybe some of which also contain gemstones – and enjoy looking at them or wearing them.

We don’t write often about base metals on this blog. After all, we are a precious metal refining company.

But have we been failing to tell you how you can make a lot of money by investing in base metals like aluminum, copper, and brass? Today, we’ll find out.

If you’ve been around for more than a few years, chances are you have fielded phone calls from pushy companies that try to get you to buy silver coins and all kinds of other “investments.” The usual pitch centers on opportunity: some trend is about to make today a great time to buy some investment. And if you don’t, you are going to lose money or overlook an incredible investment opportunity.

Every few months we hear another story about a crime involving precious metals. Another one came along last week, when the Metropolitan Museum in New York packed up a golden Egyptian coffin it owned and shipped it back to Egypt, from where it was stolen in 2011. The Met acquired the coffin in 2017 from an antiquities dealer. The only problem was, it still belonged to Egypt. (You can read the full story in “Ancient Gold Coffin Returned to Egypt from New York as Looted Antiquity,” an article that was published by the Associated Press on September 25, 2019.)

Another school year is about to begin. And because we are thinking about education, we would like to ask this question . . .

What is the best way to educate young people about investing in precious metals?

We are big fans of investing in precious metals. But we have sometimes seen people lose money, most often because they have misunderstood some of the basic principles and facts about precious metals.

We don’t want to throw a wet blanket over your enthusiasm for investing in silver, gold, platinum, rhodium and other precious metals. But because we know that the most informed investors are likely to make the highest profits, we would like to provide you with some reality checks in today’s post.

In the classic movie The Graduate, a man takes a recent college graduate aside and says to him, “I have one word to say to you . . . PLASTICS!”

That is a famous scene, and we have some similar advice for you. If you want to profit richly from investing in precious metals, “We have just one word to say to you . . . PLATINUM!”

Crooks aren’t nice people, they hurt people, and we don’t like to write about them. But the fact remains that if we look at crime trends around the country, they can teach us some lessons about the value of precious metals. Also, because crooks make money by selling what they have stolen, their crimes tell us there is a market for the metals they are selling.

Do you invest in precious metals? Are you concerned about harming the environment?

If you answered yes to those questions, let’s start today’s post with a general observation . . .

A gold ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a gold-based investment you can buy as though it were a stock or mutual fund. And like those investments, you can monitor how well your ETFs are performing, and what prices they are trading for. The companies that create and sell gold ETFs buy a quantity of gold bullion and allow investors like you and me to invest in partial ownership of them. Gold ETFs offer convenience – you can call your financial consultant at Fidelity or another investment company – and say, “Buy me some shares in a gold ETF,” and you are off and running with your gold investments. And because their performance is tied to gold trading prices, it is easy to keep an eye on how well your investment is performing.

Did you know that gambling casinos typically generate a profit of about 2% on all the money that is bet in their facilities? So if $10 million is wagered in a casino in one day, they make $200,000! That explains why casino hotels are likely to offer you a cheap room to stay in, or even a free one. The more people they get through their doors, the more money they make.

Is mercury a precious metal? No, but if you invest in precious metals, there are things about mercury you should understand.

A few years ago, a man looked down at the bottom of a stream in northern California and saw something shiny poking out from the sand and gravel that surrounded it. He pulled it out and it was a gold nugget. It was absolutely beautiful!

Let’s start today’s post by asking two questions . . .

• First, a pleasant question. You own precious metals, and that is good. But do you know exactly what you own, how much they weigh, and where they are located?

• Second, an unpleasant question. If you were to die today (unpleasant!) or contract some illness that would incapacitate you for a period of time, would your heirs know exactly where to find the precious metals you own, or would they be at a loss? Or could they fail to find some of the precious metals you own?

If you are investing in platinum, chances are you are thinking about military spending these days. You know that platinum is widely used in armaments and military aircraft. So, if U.S. production of armaments and planes that will be sold in Saudi Arabia is cut back, will that make the price of platinum drop?

As 2018 is now in the past, we are sensing a lot of uncertainty about investing in precious metals. Some of that uneasiness is due to recent events, such as our country’s imposition of higher tariffs on imported goods. Another new development is that AMPEX, a major dealer in bullion, is now allowing investors to pay for their purchases with Bitcoin. We don’t actually know whether that will produce big changes in the trading prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium – after all, every time you buy any precious metal you are paying for it with some kind of currency, right? But paying for precious metals with Bitcoin is making the news, and causing traditional traders in precious metals to ask, “What does it mean?”