patience is a virtue,,,

On January 2, 2008 (using the closing price for the first market day):

1) The Dow was at 13,043.96
2) Gold was at $846.75
3) Silver was at $14.93

On Friday, March 16, 2012 (along with the percentage gain or loss):

1) 1) Dow was at 13,232.62….up 1%.
2) Gold was at $1,658….up 96%.
3) Silver was at $32.27….up 116%.

Also, please keep in mind that the components in the “Dow of January 2008” are not the same in the “Dow of March 2012”. Some failing components were dropped (such as General Motors) from the January 2008 roster while more stable companies were added (such as Kraft Foods). How much worse off would the Dow have been if the exact same components were still in place?

Meanwhile, while gold and silver suffered from some antagonistic policies (such as excessive shorting in the futures market) and many financial commentators “talking them down”, they performed very well. How much different would the picture had been if some forms of intervention did not take place?