Letters of the Week

The impact of shale

One of the trends for 2013 is the shale gas boom in US which means that petrol and gas prices are dropping. As I understand things the product will stay in the US to achieve lower prices domestically. Meanwhile it is suggested that Australian producers will send their product overseas to take advantage of the higher prices on offer. So my question is: why would US producers leave their product at home to achieve presumably lower prices. Alternatively, what has to be done for Australian producers to leave their product in Australia and help bring down our own high price.

I am presumably missing a macro issue here but the different intent of producers here and the US is intriguing.

W Castray

Investing in precious metals

I would like to know your thoughts on investing in coins (gold and silver) to add to my portfolio as well as my super fund. Some say you should have about 5% in precious metals invested. Is gold and silver worthwhile for the long haul?

R Kaye

Editor’s response: There were several articles in Eureka Report late last year which may be of interest to you on this topic. Caleb Samson’s article (ETFs path to gold click here), and Tim Treadgold’s Gold warning bells chime, and Golden carrot may be a helpful launching point.

Don’t forget Queensland!

A quick note to Eureka scribes – there is another state in Australia called Queensland, which is a significant economic contributor to the national coffers. Too often I note Queensland is excluded from economic commentary.

Louis Christopher’s article Why the house price rebound is on track is a classic case in point. All capital cities of the states were mentioned except Brisbane.

Regarding housing property and population, I remind you that Brisbane is a larger city than Hobart, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.

Information on subjects such as property is equally important to Queenslanders as well. If the article did not have data on Brisbane housing prices, my reasonable assessment is that the article is meaningless!

I Buck

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