A plug for the lowly nickel

From our friend and longtime subscriber Jonathan Auerbach of  Auerbach Grayson, a plug for the humble nickel:

Ah the 1st of April, the day for fools and the day for traders of gold. The ubiquitous pundits all say that seasonally gold is strong in the April-May period, something to do with Indian weddings (or is that September?), Chinese hoarding (or is that for their New Year?), sun spots (or is that why we have so much rain and cold weather?), manipulation (are seasonal sales of aluminium at their peak?), and my latest ‘Fib’ report indicating that a correction to 1012 will serve as the launch pad to 1465 by next April 1st. At our morning meeting yesterday I placed several US nickels (a coin with a nominal value of 5 cents) on the table and asked our assembled merry men and women why those particular coins represented value. Well one of America’s great philosophers, Yogi Berra, once said, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore,” and former President Richard Nixon is quoted as saying, “Castro couldn’t even go to the bathroom unless the Soviet Union put the nickel in the toilet.”

But I digress; I like basics and the humble Nickel due to its composition of copper and nickel actually costs the US government today 6 cents, a 20% premium to stated value, just to acquire the raw materials. Wow, should you run to your nearest bank and clean out their nickels (be warned, they are really heavy) or as an alternative pocket a mere ounce of gold at 1117.50. So, take this up-coming long weekend celebrating a myriad of what were once allegedly pagan holidays and contemplate what should be in your pocket or as a former Vice President of the United States once said, “What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar”