O/T Looking for "under the mattress" type investment

[Baulucky]

I meant to say 9995/10000 pure gold and 999/1000 pure silver.

[FlFishOn]

"I'd imagine the mark-up on most of this stuff is large. Walk into your local coin shop and buy $200-300 worth of quality coins. Go back in a few weeks and see what he'll give you for them. I'll guess 75%, tops. These dealers are a lot like poker players, they can smell a sucker from a mile away."

The bid/ask spread on most 'hard' investments is huge. Coins, 25-50%. Stamps, forget it. Diamonds, count on 25% minimum.

Gold bullion like Krugerands are pretty liquid, maybe $10 spread per ounce but gold in not a great play. All commodities are getting cheaper over the long run. The silver market is illogical in the extreme. Avoid it.

[ddollevoet]

Ferraris

[joedot]

coffee beans

[rdu $teve]

What's gold done over the past 13 years? Virtually NOTHING! In '92 gold was running around $380/oz, and everyone was saying it would go to $1600 in the next 5 years. Today, its at a spectacular $430/oz.

Mutual funds are the way to go, particularly for those who dont know all the ins & outs of investing. Check out the stock market forum, there are plenty of posters on there that know their stuff (much better than me)

[MikeyObviously]

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Drugs

I believe this correctly meets all of your listed criteria

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Very liquid, very profitable. Have to know someone who gets a good deal though. Stick to weed.

Also, I am going to Barcelona in the summer, and then traveling to Cannes, Malta, and a couple other places. I plan on buying luxury goods over there and bringing them back. I know you can buy a luxury watch over there and just wear it back on the plane for a nice profit. Something to think about if you are ever out of the country.

[MikeyObviously]

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Something I do with all my spare cash is to buy "broken gold jewellery"

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I have seen signs for this on campus. Never understood what their deal was until now.

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I have a guide that I sell for $100

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www.google.com

[2ndGoat]

<<I know you can buy a luxury watch over there and just wear it back on the plane for a nice profit. Something to think about if you are ever out of the country. >>

Where do you sell the goods in the US, and what kind of ROI do you achieve?

2nd

[Weektite]

I Bonds.

They are guaranteed to beat inflation, are exempt from state and local income taxes, may be tax free if used for education expenses, are very liquid if held for more than five years, can be purchased via automatic periodic deduction, and can be purchased in amounts from $25 to $10,000 at a time.

Personally, I'm a big fan of maxing out a Roth IRA and loading up on high-dividend investments like REIT's. There's something to be said about 15% yields that are tax free. Of course, that's not very hands off and not liquid in the least.

WT

[MikeyObviously]

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Where do you sell the goods in the US, and what kind of ROI do you achieve?

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Oh well I havn't gotten around to looking into it yet, but I would imagine 30-40 percent.