Quote from clacy:
You might not listen to as much AM talk radio as I do,
I don't listen to the radio at all. Anyway, FM is mainstream, AM is minority. AM talk radio is more niche than mass media. Not exactly an argument that the marketing push of silver/gold dealers is in full effect
but I can assure you that there have been dozens of companies advertising gold as an investment since at least 2001. I've heard them. Cash for Gold buys gold, if I'm not mistaken. Is it possible that there are plenty of companies that sell gold that have been around longer than them?
There are a number of coin & bullion dealers that have been around for decades. In the last few years, there has definitely been a large growth of them. It's going beyond the niche area and trickling into mainstream, that I won't deny.
Cash 4 Gold buys, melt and re-sells. The opposite end is the general public. Which shows that the public are sellers, not buyers.
Of course most people don't own gold. In fact, most people have hardly any assets, most of which is probably a little cash, some home equity and a small 401k through work. With that said, I know that gold gets a lot more play today than it ever has in my lifetime.
I am not talking about the overall general population. I am talking about the demographic that actually gets financially involved in bubbles. Go ask around the retail investing public. Most do not own gold and think little of it. Even fewer own any physical. Almost all of them own stocks, through either 401k or personal account. By now, I am sure many of them dabble in GLD and SLV, but no more than 5-10% of their portfolio.
Compare this with the tech bubble and real estate, when every other Joe Shmoe either had worthless tech stocks or was trying to flip a house and/or buy an investment property. Ask those same type of individuals today whether they are loading up on GLD, let alone gold/silver eagles or junk silver.
Where is the bubble? And who is the sucker? Like I said, when I see these characters get involved in Eagles, I will be looking for an exit.

