Investment concept #2

[Copper Head]

Even with prices in a type of flux . I get a thrill each time I turn a corner and there it is metal .Like yesterday - AL table - steel table - Heavy excise bike -
Boxes of wires and cell phones .



So the question ?
Since I'll say with some confidence that I find plenty of scrap and feel I will continue as long as humans consume . And as long as humans consume there will be a need to recycle to the result of me getting paid well
No disrespect to the God of scrap luck cause I am appreciative of the gift's

With that said - - Is money from scrap that generally = low cost to cash in , if that money is used to buy into an investment ,have you purchased that investment at a low price cause the money came from the free find (with excepting fuel and your time) ?

I hope I did not confuse ...

[RustyDollars]

So the question ?

Is money from scrap that generally = low cost to cash in , if that money is used to buy into an investment ,have you purchased that investment at a low price cause the money came from the free find (with excepting fuel and your time) ?

I would answer NO. A dollar is a dollar no matter where it can from. It doesn't matter if it comes from hard work or you found it on the sidewalk, it's still a dollar.

If you want to consider your money from a certain source as "fun money" that's fine. I think you need to forget your obsession with copper bullion because you are paying a 100% premium over it's base metal price and will take a lifetime to recoup your investment. Perhaps consider silver bullion where the premium is more like 16% and it is universally recognized and easy to sell when you need to.

Just my 2 cents.

[travistemple202020]

I agree and disagree both with regular scrap I will say yes a dollar is a dollar to invest in metals but in high content ewaste if you find the right people or go to school or at least safely self teach refining which I do not recommend. then you are buying low because as long as your spending to money to refine the gold and keeping it , with other metals as well, then your buying under spot price the safe gold you would from a regular mine or depository for example

[Copper Head]

Yes as copper found on street is copper you own for the price of fuel and time . And some times the time is not part of equasaion cause you were going some place any way.
I do buy the better metals you can hold and include a token of copper like 2# or 1 # bar with the other
The argument would be only buy the other and don't waste on copper .

I decided to edit in anti lurker format .

[Patriot76]

A life time was spent investing in securities, a piece of paper and a promise. Five years ago a decision was made to invest in myself and things I could hold and see everyday. I think this covers the bases but will not know until I turn the corner and head home. And yes this is a spiritual statement.

As far as the original intent of the thread, I view any money made from this lifestyle as easy money and therefore investing in anything will have a positive return. The key in my mind is if you do not have to have the money to survive, obtaining it is entertainment, and it is invested it is a positive return regardless if it worth more or less when it needs to be cashed in. This makes life easier and more enjoyable in my mind.

Now a story. I do not know if it is true or not, but it has been around a long time. A person invested in a shed when very young. He bought things throughout his life and stored it in the shed, unopened. They did not have any retirement but when they needed the money they had an auction. The profit from the auction out performed the market and precious metals values by 100%.

It has also been said that if you invested the same amount of money that it cost to buy every single Apple product in Apple stock, you would be a millionaire many times over.

Life is a gamble and so are investments. We only know the best answer when we head home.

[Copper Head]

Well said Patriot76
---------------------------
There are
Zero investments
better investments
and best .
I know what none is like .
If you look at the value of discussed metals
CU bullion is for fun.
If you have a family farm that you intend to keep a life time by all means
no harm filling it with Cu. You may get to old to even move it . Someone in your family line will say
heck gramps was a smart old coot .

If were talking metals Gold offers size to weight that I feel will be eternal
people just love gold . Governments trade in tons .
Silver may some day
join the ranks
Silver $15.86
not yet like
Gold $1,188.70
Platinum $1,132.65
Palladium $758.78
But it could . who knows when ?

What I will say scrap is found daily , scrap has to be managed to deliver utmost value
that value is a powerful source for investing .
or it could also be a source of funds for living for now .

As Patriot76 said - - when we head home.


https://www.chase.com/news/111614-fi...hidden-savings

[t00nces2]

I say yes. I bought for beer cans for $10. I sold them for $400. I found two lenses for a dollar I sold them for $280. I bought a $10 1913 gold Liberty Indian for $700 as far as I'm concerned I paid $15 for the corn. but I keep my garage sale money separate from my regular money. things go in and out of there and all it does is grow

[Abuilder]

INVESTMENT??????
[analogy] I'm going to live until I die. [/analogy]

[ozzy214]

I wouldn't invest in metals at this time. I am quoting three long time scrap yard owners. One of which is Jewish and wont spend money on nothing including food unless he has too..lol.

Market is changing RAPIDLY! Daily price drops and highs....2-3x times a days. Absolute zero stability. All predicting 1-2c a lb for tin in next few months. It's horrible. Most say wont go back up till next year or several years. If you have room, then by all means hoard. If you dont, then dont bother. Unless you resell parts out of the appliances and what not like I do.

I have been speaking with 3 scrap yard owners. I was told this by them all. One wont even give me a price list, because he is changing price every few hours throughout the day to reflect prices. I literally call every few hours and then jet down when it is at its peak during the day.



So I wouldnt invest in anything scrap related unless it has a resale value. Hell I just moved 2 tons of cast radiators yesterday and got 270 when I was done. 2 years ago that would have been 600.

[EcoSafe]

Think about this.
all eastern civilizations think and plan in terms no shorter then decades most in centuries. China for example has complete cities built and yet they set empty.
They see no reason to buy steel in the hear future.

Turkey is in the same mind set as well as India.

Copper and silver are necessary metals (used in every day production of products)
Copper is fairly abundant and the U.S has an abundance as long as the mines are able to continue. Silver on the other hand is in relative short supply, I have heard as little as one years supply for manufacturing including existing mine estimates.

Silver, until resent manipulation, has always hovered around 1/15 the price of gold, yet the world reserves are far less then Gold reserves and necessary use much higher. None of this makes any real sense. That is the point.

As an investment currently copper dos not make sense in ingot form unless you are the seller not the buyer.

If the world economy crashes copper may reach semi precious status and will be useful for tools as it is easily worked.

If you are an elite then stock your gold bars and Krugerrand, you can afford it, if you are not please explain to me how your going to take it to the store for that loaf of $10 bread and $25 gal of milk and get change for a $5000 oz of gold.

Just some random thoughts, can't go any farther without getting political.

[Copper Head]

I asked a question and I do have an opinion . I've been scrapping a wile & it's been a wild ride
finding lifting dissembling selling every conceivable element in society. If I can say this with out seeming like a brag is that I find it and there seems no conclusion to finding . The end would be the law regulating
the lifestyle of it.
The reality to what is typical of scrapping is LIFTING and that aside from a law regulating , there will be a day
when a strong scrapper can't do it any more - - with that said
The money made from scrap has simple mathematics . Metal has value Cu Al brass Lead steels silver gold
to name some, it's all the same but of quantity needed to deliver money . All are manipulated to prices we dance to & some times we win big . If we were to use Gold as the standard then realize all metals
will have a ratio of what is needed to = gold value @ 1 oz = like 1,200 pounds of lead give or take .
so it's simple , sell 1,200 pounds of lead and then purchase 1 oz gold , you used cash to facilitate the deal but you swapped real for real , in a thousand years the lead or gold will be fresh as a daisy .

Lead (/lɛd/) is a chemical element in the carbon group with symbol Pb - with a half-life that is so long over one billion times the estimated age of the universe

Can't find info on golds half life but King Tuts gold is still shiny from 1346 BC

Any how scrap = money ( fiat ) that our government created . Once scrap pays out, extra unspent cash if used to buy any metal is a trade and as free as that portion of unspent cash ( derived from scrap ) was .
The loss are the premiums on different metals making some a better investment then others .
If I stop scrapping the vast aray of metals I will not be able to trade for the metals we have been discussing.
It's simple do you want 200 pounds of short with a value of $17 or 1 oz silver . Yes prices fluctuate but they balance out & you except & decide on the trade .
Example you sell 1500 # of mix , I pick mix cause any logical person living near civilization
knows you can just have so much of that stuff in your yard till a crowd equal to the lynching of Frankenstein is at you door.
once you have your payment it's your choice to consolidate cash back to denser metal investments - - your a scrapper this is what you know better then most - Gold Silver Cu Lead you decide the repurchase premium loss for the trade and speculate for the future. Will Gold Silver Cu Lead out perform other investments in 10 years -15 years , scrappers should know this better then any body as we know how things are made .

2011 silver was $42 per oz , yet metals were paying well so is was easy to trade Cu or some short for the temporary cash to purchase silver at $42 . silver dropped and finally so did the metals .I'll trade metals for metals any day of the week . If I start with a metal I'll end with a metal the loss or gain will happen as long as I refuse to sell off metals regardless be it Cu Lead Copper bearing sealed units Vac motors silver . It's always our choice of when it's best to sell our inventory thats the gamble .
If you take your metal moneys and invest in nonmetal investments your still trading what you found but you are putting faith in a different subject . The more research I do the more I confirm to myself, values of metals even going up and down in the end balance out to a purchase power that is a hedge at worst and at best the right place at the right time . Should you put all your eggs in metals
I guess not , silver and gold is recommended at 10% to 20% diversification & I feel 1000# of Lead is a fine investment .

If you make money on a non related scrap metal job . It can be any job with income . Wile you drive home
you pick up a micro wave a vac CRT some wire now its your choice - but yes you found silver it's up to you to manipulate it to that direction .
As a side note : Scrappers earn 24 / 7 as I drive any place I am in charge making the final decision - should I stop and get that TV - when it's one of those big ones - cause I know whats in it & hard not to go for it. The streets are lined with gold it's all about perspective .

[EcoSafe]

I guess my answer would be.
Gold , Silver
Silver , Gold, Copper
Copper, silver

Which ever your personal economic strata determines

Do I think copper will be a trade item? yes I do.

I believe under certain circumstances both copper and lead may become semi precious metals, for several reasons, also, sheet light Iron.

Has any one noticed Walmart has changed the trend from expanding to reducing locations.

But then, that's just crazy foil hat, old man talk.

[EcoSafe]

A dollar has no value, the value is in what the world thinks of you, despite their spoken mantras, and what you can trade it for today.

Most of the world hates Americans and America, what I can;t figure out, if that's so then why are most of them trying to get here any way they can.