Posts by Gerald Chavez7

Apparently, I had no idea some of you forum regulars were actually Hollywood A-listers 😁

Robin Fox2 said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_Skies

Has anyone actually sat down to watch this...

Finished all the seasons. I'd give it a solid 3.5/5—there are definitely shows out there with more innovation or tension, but it was worth my time. Probably going to tackle season 4 this fall...

Emily Sanchez9 said:And what exactly led you to that conclusion?

No bank is going to put up with someone who can't manage their finances. I’ve been banking with Zábanka for years now and haven't run into a single issue. I had one minor hiccup once, but we worked it out through a simple conversation—they were actually incredibly polite and accommodating.

I stay on top of my bills religiously, so for me, Zábanka is gold standard. Their online banking, in particular, is lightyears ahead of the competition; compared to what they have in Miami, it feels like a spaceship.

Isn't it funny how the people who always have something bad to say about banks are usually the ones who couldn't meet their own obligations? They sign a contract, agree to the terms, fail to follow through, and then what? Expect the bank to just roll over and forgive them?

Care to enlighten us? Why is Zábanka the "worst" in your book? Because from where I’m sitting, they’re the best... at least based on my own experiences.

I’d love to hear the specific grievances you have against these "villains" that somehow make everyone else perfectly wonderful by comparison...

They’re clumsy and overcomplicate things. For instance, last year when a bunch of us were sending documents over to Belgium, JP Morgan Chase was the only one that gave us grief regarding account ownership signatures...

Ryan Carter52 said:Well, for instance, they charge monthly maintenance fees regardless of how much you actually use the account.
I'm just curious why they'd charge a fee on an account where nobody even touched an ATM or went into a branch during the entire month?

And sure, everyone is polite—they're all super friendly right up until they need to trigger a legal seizure or start hitting you with those predatory fees and interest rates, and then they have the nerve to write in their terms and conditions that using their debit card for usury is prohibited.
Oh man, I swear I might actually die laughing! 😁

Also, getting authorization on a foreign currency account (I have one for my wife, hers is under my name) isn't possible by pulling funds from the main USD checking account—it has to come exclusively from the foreign currency account (they didn't mention that part) -> which led to an unauthorized overdraft and subsequently caused them to deny my credit card application (my checking is never negative, plus I have a massive CD with them). I needed that card relatively quickly because of some travel plans.

Furthermore, they’ve been consistent over the last 5 or 6 years: they always have the lowest interest rates on CDs...

...you pick up nonsense like that over the years.

P.S. Of course they’re polite—they’re very polite when they’re explaining why they can't help you. 😁

P.P.S. Darkstar, this whole thing is actually a response to Zaleks...

Patrick Moore3 said:Check the numbers:
2.1.
U.S. Treasury securities 1,662,851
Mortgage-backed securities (4) 926,658
30.1.
U.S. Treasury securities 1,710,058
Mortgage-backed securities (4) 965,784

In January, Ben picked up about 40 trillion USD in MBS and nearly 48 trillion USD in Treasuries... For the first time since QE2 ended, we're seeing a legit expansion of the balance sheet. It's actually even bigger than what was telegraphed, though he probably dumped some stuff yesterday just to stay within his limits...
History says when the balance sheet stays flat, gold climbs... when it grows, gold stalls.
Just curious, what do you guys think is stalling gold right now?

1. Gold has become too "paperized." Nobody's trading physical anymore, so the price doesn't reflect actual supply.
2. Demand is dropping (like with Indians, for example).
3. Gold has decoupled from the dollar. Since the dollar isn't the undisputed king anymore, who cares what the greenback does?
4. QE doesn't touch gold prices because inflation isn't hitting.
5. Manipulation by the big bankers.
6. General market uncertainty.
7. No clue.
8. Something else entirely.

I'm only betting on number 6. 😬

1. I wouldn't say so—if that were true, it would already be common knowledge.
2. Not really, though maybe partially possible.
3. Wouldn't say so.
4. Wouldn't say so.
5. Unlikely, but could be partially true.
6. 7. 8. Definitely.

"You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!" 😁

-> Honestly—the idea of the Federal Reserve actually hiking interest rates right now feels completely out of the question to me... I suspect we'll have to wait until public inflation hits some staggering 10% mark before that becomes politically viable...

Let me just "cook up" some extra context here—here’s my breakdown:

Physical gold ~ $1,500 (early 2011) 😍
GDX at $50.33 (around the QE3 announcement) 👎
NEM at $56.5 (around the QE3 announcement) 👎

Still haven't found an exit strategy yet 😬

P.S. Luckily, GDX and NEM aren't making up a huge chunk of my portfolio...

quiettrucker12 said:This company is a beast. I’m definitely picking some up next week—maybe Friday, though Tuesday would probably be the sweet spot—but honestly, any percentage works. Sure, they’ve had their fair share of rough patches in the past, but that’s just the price you pay for holding individual stocks. At the end of the day, it’s much smarter to hold SLW than to gamble on single mining stocks. SIL is also a solid play if you want a silver miners bundle. We saw all too well with Barrick Gold why betting on one miner at a time is a massive risk.

I'm sitting on NEM 🤦

Gerald Chavez7 said:Go ahead, feel free to pitch your favorite brokers... Which ones are you actually using, and how much do you actually like them?

I’m looking at shifting my cash allocation—planning to bump my gold holdings from about 20% up to double that. Right now, I’m holding physical bullion, which I'll probably try to offload right before or after the peak (though we'll see if I can actually time that correctly 😬).

So, I'm thinking it's time to move toward more "paper" assets—you know, the digital stuff 🙂...

I'm still scouting for a broker... if anyone has recommendations, I'm all ears.

I'll likely stick with US-based firms, but I've got questions regarding wire transfers, security, and the whole ordeal...

dustyheron5 said:What are you waiting for?😉
I picked up some extra mux at $4.42—now it’s already sitting at $4.86... (that’s just a 7 or 8-day jump)
Sold my SLW position at $24.60—it's up to $40.28 now
AGQ was at $41.00; currently at $60.36

I realize they lack any real intrinsic value😂—but it doesn't matter... they look great in the portfolio😍

Well, I'm just waiting for next week.😁
I've set aside some time over the weekend to dig deeper into brokers—which is why I asked about them in the first place 😉.

Mark Thompson6 said:Are you talking about the peak expected around January 2013 (somewhere near $3,000)?

Heh, if I knew exactly when and by how much it would rise, I'd be up 102–104% in gold (which would put my current position in the red)😉...

Honestly, I'll sell my physical holdings once I'm certain there's no more upside left—for instance, when the Dow Jones/gold ratio hits ~1.5:1, or once everything in the world finally settles down😬...

Go ahead, feel free to pitch your favorite brokers... Which ones are you actually using, and how much do you actually like them?

I’m looking at shifting my cash allocation—planning to bump my gold holdings from about 20% up to double that. Right now, I’m holding physical bullion, which I'll probably try to offload right before or after the peak (though we'll see if I can actually time that correctly 😬).

So, I'm thinking it's time to move toward more "paper" assets—you know, the digital stuff 🙂...

Paul Peterson4 said:Yeah, the whole silver story is pretty fascinating. They say a modern car uses roughly an ounce of silver, and high-end models can take two or three. Then you've got all the electronics, medical gear, and whatnot. If the math holds up, and we keep burning through it at this rate, we could run out of mineable silver in maybe 20 years once everything reachable is dug up. Of course, recycling is always an option.

Following that logic, the value of silver could easily multiply. The real threat would be if it becomes too expensive for industrial use—basically, if someone invents a synthetic substitute that’s cheap enough to actually work.

There's also a massive amount of chatter about how silver prices are being manipulated right now to keep them artificially low. It's highly likely that a huge chunk of those ETFs claiming to offer "silver exposure" are basically just gambling on price movements without actually holding any physical metal.

Some of the hardcore physical collectors are predicting prices will go straight to the moon, which is probably over-the-top optimistic. Still, it wouldn't hurt to pick up some coins and tuck them away—right now, the price is still pretty low, especially when you look at it compared to gold.

ironstag8 said:A synthetic material? You might as well join the army of alchemists who have spent all of history trying to conjure gold out of thin air.

It isn't allegedly or probably—it simply is. ☕

I actually just sat through a lecture on a new material that could potentially replace platinum as a catalyst in fuel cells (among other things)... For anyone looking at the long-term value of precious metals, I think ignoring their industrial utility is probably a mistake.

So, today marks my one-year anniversary -> in gold 😍

Looking back at year one, I’m actually pretty happy with a ~ 25% return (after accounting for margins). When you really sit down and crunch the numbers—it turns out my gains are basically equivalent to a 26% monthly salary bump...

As for the long game, I’m not going to lose any sleep until the price climbs past the 1980 inflation-adjusted mark. (That puts the target at roughly $2,400 based on current math). I’ll probably look to buy more—maybe even double my position—by this summer, assuming I can catch a decent correction. Everything feels like it's heading toward another significant dip in the S&P 500 or perhaps just a much stronger Dollar.

Of course, none of this profit is truly "real" until I actually sell or swap it. 😁

Thomas Ortiz3 said:That is precisely my point. A highly skilled professional can leave regardless of EU membership status. You mentioned that family separation is your main hurdle, and I'm sure you aren't alone in that feeling. Everyone has their breaking point, of course, but we are nowhere near a mass exodus...🤷

This hits the nail on the head. In my field (natural sciences), nearly half of my entire generation moved abroad—and honestly, it's been that way for decades. For anyone actually talented, finding a way out was never really the problem...

of course 😵

briskdrifter3 said:I have been studying the RWR card quite closely. I currently sit at 71 points, which places me in the highly qualified category—it certainly gave me pause for thought. I am fluent in English, naturally, but my German would likely require a quick refresher through some sort of intensive conversation course...

How on earth did you end up with an odd number? 😉

I’m sitting at 66 right now, but I’m aiming for 80 in a year or two. 😁

Anyway, I get it—the employer is what actually matters in the end—but having this just makes navigating the bureaucracy a little less painful...

Thomas Ortiz3 said:Smart, skilled professionals now have the freedom to move elsewhere—if not within the European Union, then perhaps to Canada or Australia... many who had the means and the desire have already left. Meanwhile, European nations facing labor shortages, like Germany or Austria, are actively easing immigration paths for the talent they need. Austria is even rolling out its "RWR card," which essentially gives any educated professional a shot at settling down and finding work there.
So, I don't expect joining the European Union to fundamentally change the brain drain situation. It will likely impact those with fewer qualifications more significantly, though they often harbor a rather distorted view of how much prosperity actually exists within the European Union...
There will certainly be some migration, but I doubt it will be anything transformative...
The Polish, for instance, headed out in droves—mostly to Ireland and the United Kingdom—though we're starting to see them head back home in significant numbers.

I've already done a little digging into this. 😁

here is the link to the RWR card

You can rack up a decent amount of points; interestingly enough, you're required to know either English OR German...

Jerry Wright6 said:It’s a shame you haven't listed this on every single major American classified site yet. You need to be aggressive about it. Get the word out everywhere so the info is impossible to miss. The listing itself is solid—the photos are high quality—but you really need to start posting on international boards for countries that actually care about the US real estate market (like the UK, Germany, Austria, etc.).

And don't forget to hit those Canadian boards too (maybe some Mexican ones if you're feeling ambitious).

Look, just sell the apartment already—slash 10% off the asking price right now. Are you really going to sit there and wait until every single deadline passes you by? From what I recall, you mentioned your alimony payments kick back in this March once that moratorium expires—so how exactly do you plan on surviving on $4,000 minus $900 minus $3,800 = $233 in new monthly debt? You haven't even touched the $0.33 needed for basic living expenses or the utilities for that place 😲
.
How much did you actually take out for the loan again? Around $90,000? -> Just set that as your selling price and call it a day...

Lawrence Wright7, why on earth are you using an agency? Honestly—all it takes is a few hours a week to refresh your listings on all the free sites out there. That commission you’d be handing over—around 2%—is a massive chunk of change, especially given your current situation. You could technically drop your asking price by 2% right out of the gate, but let's be real: you'll probably end up slashing it even more just to get a bite...

Try this little mental exercise: pretend you actually have to sell the place for 20% less than what you're asking now. Map out your life based on those lower numbers—see how things actually look if you're forced to move at that price point...

Good luck with the sale—hopefully the cash you pull in covers the mortgage entirely... I assume you’ve already looked into those pesky prepayment penalties the bank hits you with when you close out a loan early (since you did take one out in the first place, right?).