Jennifer Levitz notes that when stocks tank, some investors atampede to alpacas and turn to drink, “investing” in bottles of champagne, parking spaces in major cities, condos in Peru or Croatia, cypress farms in Costa Rica, odd farm animals like alpacas and emus, and bags of pre-1965 U.S dimes and quarters, which are 90% silver and in limited supply.
I found this bit slightly disingenuous:
Gold coins also are in great demand. Last week, the mint suspended sales of American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can’t keep up with soaring sales. Last month, a record 14,000 bidders — 17% more than the previous high — turned out for a coin-and-currency auction in Long Beach, Calif., that generated $35 million in sales.
A real business does not suspend sales when it can’t keep up with demand. You’d think the Wall Street Journal would comment on that.