Should gold threads be allowed in the main forum?

I think we can see some people are getting very fed up with all this gold ramping.

Yes its gone up, yes it might be a good investment but enough said?


Personally I think some of the gold bugs are a bit much. I find Goldfinger very good at his point; he says things and i don't usually feel its totally rammed at you, he take a more "I am in gold, I think its good" approach rather than a "Buy gold now or you will starve" line.

What does everyone else think?!?

I think the original Gold (and why it ill go the way of property) thread should stay. Any others should go to the specially prepared gold thread in the investment area. That's fair enough, isn't it?

Join Red Kharma and do a runner. Last time I checked (1 minute ago) there were over 460 people logged on here. You can make it 459 if you like. Cast your "surfer" vote and scamper off to another public forum that doesn't mention gold. Maybe a central bank forum?

You don't like Gold threads? Don't read 'em! Sorted.

Gold threads should be in the metals forum. However, we did agree to keep the one long running gold thread on the main forum.

If anyone sees any other gold threads started on the main forum, please report them using the report post facility and we will move them to the metals forum where they belong.

It should be a broad church. How housing has affected the broader economy is important and interesting.

Getting the right asset allocation is the fundamental starting point to investing. Well argued threads on apparently unrelated topics are crucial to obtaining a broader understanding. I actually like to know why they say 'buy gold' - they say it is because of looming 'hyperinflation'...well as we all know the discussion flows first one way and then the next...today the body of opinion seems to suggest deflation. Well, this is important to all, including whether to buy a house right now.

I agree.

100%...

I agree with this.

However, the problem arises when gold bugs hijack other threads on unrelated topics. It will be a nightmare for the mods to monitor this.

Indeed, but you can help by reporting them .

Whilst this voting thread was being created, I created a thread on copper, any chance of the mods moving this into investments and not the main forum. How do you advise them??

To keep things at a reasonable level one should also not move/delete posts that briefly touch gold. If a thread was seriously hijacked, things are different. But there is no way around mentioning gold every now and then in the Dollar or inflation threads.

To be fair to the goldbugs, they believe sincerely that there is dire peril (and yes there is) and that gold will protect you if you have some (no idea about this given government intervention etc). So, in "ramping" gold they really are trying to give you the best advice as they see it. It's of the same vein as telling people "Don't buy a house now".

A few hundred people who read what they say and from this a few dozen will believe them maybe is hardly going to create huge speculative demand for gold and they know this. I can see why some people think it's annoying to be given the same advice over and over again but it's obviously very sincerely meant.

The same is true of Cgnao's posts - agree or not, he baldly states his position and you can't really fault that. It's not like he is some banker VI telling everyone that we need fractional reserve lending or that house prices can only go up from the safety of his estate agents office but not revealing his secret agenda. You can't really sell global hyperinflationary economic suicide..even free with cornflakes.

Threads are voluntary in any event so keep them, imo.

I can see how it's a difficult one for you Oldie.
I voted for the 2nd option fwiw BUT I think the odd reference to GOLD here'n'there is ok BUT not to have severe gold ramping in a lot of threads.

It's important to remember that without differing opinions it makes it harder to evaluate what is really going on imo.

I think we are all intelligent enough to work out which threads would need pointing out to the mods with regards to gold or anything else that gets too extreme.

how does that sound ?

I second that too

Yes, move them. They are off-topic, boring and obviously being sustained to serve the interests of a few VIs.

I think you are playing with fire. Your poll is dreadfully bias and could kill the site.
Gold ramping? Not really. Its inclusion in our discussions is vital as an alternative measure of value vs. fiat.

Don't mess with people's freedom of expression.

sorry Oldie, but that made me laugh.....GCS15 you naughty person.

c'mon everyone, we are ALL on the same side remember, albeit with differing opinions.

I abstained... because I don't know what to do for the best.

I do think that gold is relevant to the debate about house prices, but that it is vastly over-represented by a number of posters.

I found the discussion on gold to be extremely helpful in getting my head around the nature of money... though I see gold itself as a complete red herring.

It is a pity that our threads aren't a tree-structure... that way if a post turned into a gold-ramp, the post and subsequent replies could be moved... that seems the best of both worlds.

Strangely, I'm not frustrated by threads about oil or industrial metals... as I see those representing insight into the global economy.

I hope those who run this site can chart a suitable course of action in these turbulent times. :-)

(Aside) Does the plummet in the share price of Rentokill suggest that we HPCers are soon to be able to move into accommodation that isn't vermin infested?

agreed.


fwiw, I think we should appoint an abritraitor, would you consider the position GF ?

hey, I'm just playing.......

I honestly can't see what all the fuss is about. Seriously if gold isn't your bag baby just skip the post. The internet is chock full of information. A vast majority of it isn't of any interest to me so I don't view them. Yes it's frustrating to have to sift through the chaff. But one man's chaff is another mans ... (dare I say it?... go on Gcs you've got a couple of beers under your belt) Gold


Gold being a precious metal and an alternative investment is Kosher IMHO

FWIW - that "gold sucks and here's why" mega thread is full of great information. But let's face it. It is huge and daunting to read from the start. So a few "it's been covered but I wanna talk about it" threads are OK IMHO (but what would I know?)

A thread will quickly disappear off down into the doldrums of pages 5+ if it's not responded to. I say let all threads run their course and if people refrain from adding to a thread just to say "This should be moved" everything will run smoothly.

I'm quite interested in gold and the future of paper currency. If it weren't for discussions on the main forum I'd never have wondered off to visit the PM forum.

I'm all for "minimal interaction" on the part of the mods, tbh.

irony at it's best:

'should gold threads be allowed in the main forum'

posted in the.................. main forum.


c'mon everyone, we are wasting valuable time & posts here......

I personally find it rather refreshing to hear an asset other than property ramped in a completely off-topic manner. If anyone seriously thinks people are pissed off by reading about an inflation hedge on a forum that discusses house price inflation, I suggest they watch a little more TV. They will soon find that handy source of entertainment has by stealth morphed into a lifestyle sales channel for estate agents and diy chains. How more off-topic could that be?

Personally, I think it would be a mistake to change the current rules. I've seen many posts where people ask how to preserve their wealth. These posts are often made on the main forum as the others are not read anywhere near as much. Gold may form some of the replies to these posts.

For me this site is much more than a HPC site, it is also an economics site as HPC and economics are firmly linked. Gold is an indicator of inflation which has a massive bearing on any HPC. I don't think it makes sense to say it can't ever be mentioned on main forum threads for this reason.

Just because somebody throws their toys out of the pram because they don't like a particular subject is no reason to affectively ban it. We've seen the same if somebody tries to talk about immigration and it's effect on house prices.

And the current rules are: Gold threads should be posted in the metals forum (with the exception of the one long running gold thread). Although we do not always rigidly enforce this.

My god, have you seen what this thread has done to the price of gold since it started.... it's the cartel I tell ya, they want gold in the main forum and they're gonna take us all down with them!!

I agree if it's a specific thread started with gold as the subject. I'm talking about threads such as ones related to money supply/credit crunch/dollar etc. Is it allowable to mention gold in these threads?

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks as if it needs nailing.

Unlimited Gold threads.

This website is not run by New Labour.

This website is an enjoyable smoke in the pub with friends.

I think it's a case of common sense. The odd mention of gold is not going to be a problem, but if a thread gets hijacked and effectively becomes a gold thread, it could well get moved to the metals forum, or alternatively, the offending posts could be deleted. It's impossible to make rules to cover any eventuality, so it's going to have to be at the moderators' discretion.

Sounds reasonable to me

I'm sure everybody will be good as gold from now on It could even be seen as a golden opportunity.

I think it is a mistake to censor the main forum because of a few people's insensitivity to an opinion that they disagree with.

In dealing with the future of property prices there ends up being lots of talk about money supply, credit availability, possible investment alternatives etc.

The gold people tend to bring a different perspective, usually a few good links, and a broader spectrum to the forum.

If yo don't like it, don't read it, we are all big boys and girls.

It's not censorship, it's housekeeping.

We have individual forums to discuss different subjects, so that people can easily find the posts that interest them. If everything gets posted on "The Main Discussion Forum On House Prices", it makes a mockery of having the individual forums.

I believe that the domain name www.goldpricecrash.co.uk is available if anyone wants to start their own forum .

My view is that this site is called www.housepricecrash.co.uk, so threads on the main discussion should have some link to the impending house price crash or lack thereof (if you're still a bull). I do think the mods could be a bit more pro-active about keeping the main discussion on topic and shunting some of the more off topic threads into specific subject categories.

Damned if we do, damned if we don't .

My own view is that the level of moderation on this site is just about right

I am in favour of the current gold thread being retained and also the current dollar thread and credit derivative meltdown.

I find Cgnao's posts particularly entertaining on these subjects but its nice that they remain confined to a small number of threads so people who like them can easily find them and people who wish to avoid them can do so easily too.

I think the mods generally do a good job.

The question wasn't about keeping or banning them, just about the appropriateness of their position. People on this forum are intelligent enough to go to the metals board should they wish to explore gold further after gaining a smigeon of information from the threads on the main forum. According to your reasoning we should have everything from every board merged onto this one.

Regarding Cgnao's posts, if he did just 'baldly state his position' you would be right and we couldn't fault it. Sadly he does not. Instead he rants and evangelized with outrageous hyperbole and treats other posters with insults and aggressive disrespect. He is incapable of entering into a discussion and lacks the wit to take on board and logically counter another's argument, resorting instead to abuse and tantrums.

Threads are voluntary, but in the interests of making the desired information available to every user the Mods should keep up the good work!

TD

YES...YES...YES!!! Thank you Oldie!!!

How hard can it be to understand the difference between censorship and housekeeping. And I thought intelligent grown-ups lurked here!

TD

I own a bit of gold and will defend the pro-gold argument when people post uninformed opinions on the subject. I try not to ramp gold and would prefer if new gold related threads are moved into the PM section. I do think the main gold thread should stay in main discussion, and I appreciate links and information that many of the posters contribute.

I knew this oine would get juices flowing....!

Just for the record I am totally myself against posts ever being deleted, moved is another matter however and does not censor anything, but just because I am against posts being deleted I still thought it should be a poll option.

I wrote the options quickly and I can see they are a bit slanted, so sorry about that.

**bump**

The gold thread should be kept on the main forum as should other threads related to the wider economic/financial situation.

We have just about done to death everything that relates specifically to house prices and there are many who have taken the advice and STRd for instance, and who now want to know how to preserve the value of their STR funds - therefore threads about inflation and deflation ARE relevant to house prices, and if gold is a hedge against inflation, then the gold thread is relevant to house prices, too. Moreover, the threads about the general financial and economic outlook are far more interesting and informative than those that just repeat the same mantra - house prices are falling - here's a link to prove it. WE KNOW! Move on.....what to do next is where we need to be looking, not backwards. And that requires having a firm handle on global economic conditions.

I agree with this entirely.
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The gold thread is an interesting topic and I also vote for unlimited amounts of gold related threads on the main forum as long as we are not talking about trolling the board with hundreds of posts but none of the regulars would do that.
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Natural selection will determine which topics remain page one and which sink into the depths. My objection to pinning was only that a heavily partisan dominated thread specific to one commodity was raised above that selection process. The decision to do so was in my humble opinion an error, though not a massive one and could be easily reversed.
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I am surprised by the antics of some of the regulars with regards "I'm not playing anymore", and makes me wonder (even as a holder of gold) about motives and whether their anger is more to do with being denied an opportunity to grandstand their opinions on the main page. than anything else as discussion by the interested parties could continue wherever the topic was located.
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ST

I enjoy all the information and discussion on this site. I don't much care where it is located.

My issue isn't with the thread or it's location, but with the (admittedly small) number of posters who believe anyone with a contrary viewpoint is either a moron, an idiot, a troll etc etc. I cannot see how they differ in that sense to any other VI who uses abuse to stifle discussion debate and the exchange of ideas.

It is a shame that now they have decamped elsewhere one of their top priorities appears to be to indulge in precisely that behavior in relation to discussions here.

I personally find it difficult to respect anyone's view on anything (even if they may be correct) when it the tone is abusive, mocking and patronising. It seems in this sense that the "exchange" of ideas is in fact a 1-way diatribe with others who share their view 100%, which rather than developing learning and understanding only serves to limit it.

For what it's worth ... first HPC helped me to understand the boom was unnatural, then the Gold thread helped me work out what to do with my cash while sitting out til the bust. I'm no hardcore goldbug and I'm going for the insurance option. I only found the thread because it was on the main site and I'm missing the wit and wisdom of it now. Yeah, the rockets and the doom were over the top, but it feels like the site has lost something. There was one thread to keep coming back to instead of a load of separate ones to dig through, and it was ever popular so why move it? RIP GAWIWGTSWAP.

I have to say the removal of the gold thread from the main forum is completely absurd and very annoying.

There was nothing wrong with having the single thread in the main section. Nothing at all. All that has been achieved now is annoying lots of people and destroying what was a really vibrant thread/community.

If a thread denying the facts about global warming, started by someone who thinks passive smoking is not harmful, can get to 36 pages on the main forum then anything is relevant. They'll be discussing speed cameras and their effect on the price of flats soon.

I just want at least one gold thread on the main forum.......shame on HPC for not listening to its members.

Should read to get it right, shame on HPC for not listening to a very small minority of its members.