Gold’s allure

Comparisons with other commodities are a useful reality-check

It’s time for my annual article in which I put the boot into silver. Why now? Because, according to one of my WhatsApp chats, it’s breaking out. Silver is always supposedly breaking out. It never actu

Rufus Bird on why the market might need a rethink

“What would you do,” was the question pitched by a dear reader. The batter, your very own columnist, will take a swing at it. Our preference is to buy land or private businesses. Private business is b

I had coffee with an Anglo-Italian friend the other day, and he began telling me about his grandparents. They called themselves “mezzadri”, or “sharecroppers”. They worked on land belonging to somebod

Canny collectors should swoop in when an artist falls out of fashion–but always pay attention to quality, because even the greatest names, such as Picasso, made the odd pot-boiler