- December 20, 2019
- Category: Press & Media
American Bullion is proud to announce the winner of the 2019 Annual Scholarship Essay Program! If you are considering entering or wondering how to win a scholarship of your own, read the essay below to learn more. Winners are selected from qualified entrants each year, and the entry of a winning student can help you learn how to get a scholarship of your own.
A college scholarship of $1,000 has been awarded. Over 1000 applications were received in total and the talented student below was awarded a scholarship worth $1,000. Applicants were asked to write an essay answering the question, “Can gold go to $2000 or higher following the next stock market crash?” Participating students offered a wide range of viewpoints, each with its own approach and opinion. American Bullion is proud to award this scholarship to the deserving student below. The 2019 winner is:
Joshua Segal – University of Michigan
Nevtan Akcora, Co-Founder and President of American Bullion said, “I am very happy to see the number of applicants to our annual scholarship contest continue to increase each year. And I am very excited to see that so many millennials understand the importance and potential of alternative investments, such as gold and other physical precious metals. Again, I’d like to thank all of the participants for their submissions in this year’s competition and wish the best for all in their academic endeavors and beyond.” For information about the 2020 scholarship opportunity, visit the scholarship page.
Winners’ Thoughts & Essay
Joshua Segal
“I am so honored that I was awarded this scholarship. Being selected
amongst the many other applicants in this contest means a
great deal to me, and I am so appreciative. I look forward to learning
more about business and gold, and I am especially excited to start
investing not only more into my education, but also into new
opportunities that will arise in the future. Thank you very much to
everyone at American Bullion.“
Essay
“Can gold go to $2000 or higher following the next stock market crash?”
I am only 18 years old and consequently, I have very little investment experience whether in the stock market or in commodities. Therefore, I needed to do some homework about both the U.S. stock market and gold’s history to accurately write this essay. This is because, as many important individuals such as George Elliot, Winston Churchill, and Mark Twain have stated, “history repeats itself.” With that said, the most important thing I needed to do to write an essay about whether gold could reach $2,000 per troy ounce following the next market crash or not, was to study the conditions and facts prior to the 2008 crash and today. And why today? Because the more I read about it, the more analysts, bankers, and trillionaire investors I came across claim that the next crash is rapidly nearing. There is also an interesting fact I noticed during my research, that financial institutions tend to avoid using past technical analysis but prefer using fundamental similarities and facts between yesterday and today.
Seems like the conditions between before the 2008 crash and today have similarities, most importantly our National Debt: just over $9 trillion prior to the 2008 crisis and currently over $22 trillion. The stock market was at record highs, enjoying an almost eight-year rally after the 2000 tech boom, and now it seems to be in its longest-ever rally since the recession and enjoying the record highs again. Another similarity is the housing market. Real estate prices were very high back then, and now you can simply go online and see that now many prices of homes for sale are in the mid-to-high end of the market.
So what happened to gold during and after the 2008 crash? According to the charts, it was selling around $900 per troy ounce in March 2009, and it went up as much as over $1,900 towards the end of 2011. That’s around a 110% increase. The current price of gold as I am writing this essay is $1,490 per troy ounce. If history repeats itself even with a thick cushion of marginal error, gold can very well go beyond the $2,000 mark. The price should be able to reach over $3,000 following the next U.S. stock market crash (1,490 x 110%).
I learned a lot about investing and gold in particular while researching for this essay, and I believe that gold should be an important part of everyone’s investment portfolio. I didn’t know how someone could invest in gold, but I found out that it’s the bullion that is considered for investment purposes, not the jewelry or rare coins and accessories. Some say to buy into gold mining company stocks but then again, I am not sure how they will react when the U.S. stock market crashes.
My uncle learned this lesson in a hard way. I found out that he and his tens of colleagues lost almost half of their retirement savings in the 2008 market crash. He said that it happened so abruptly, they were stuck in their holdings and the financial institution managing their accounts was helpless.
This unfortunate event reminded me of another quote about history and lessons. George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” I hope our country does not have to go through another financial crisis in addition to the unprecedented events taking place around the world, however, I think it’s better to have some gold in a portfolio for safety.
The views and opinions expressed in the above essays are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of American Bullion, Inc., its affiliates, or its employees. American Bullion does not guarantee the information’s accuracy or completeness, and does not recommend that the information serve as the basis of any investment decision.
Although the information in this commentary has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, American Bullion does not guarantee its accuracy and such information may be incomplete or condensed. The opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. American Bullion will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be used to make buy or sell decisions for any type of precious metals.