Great buying AND selling opportunities as lots of collectors are out, but others want in.

January provided a good tail wind for selling numismatics. The markets continued their recovery, holiday spirits blew into the new year, metals hovered near highs, US economic statistics continued to improve while global uncertainties persisted ... a perfect win/win for metals and willing US buyers ...

Well, I am out. I have gone more than half cash (or short ETF) in my combined retirement accounts. I am trying to unload a lot of my coin collection, starting with metals. Some of my reasons are personal, but economy and market timing are my other reasons.

I have noticed a trend reversal in registry coin prices. Top pops are no longer selling. (Not that they were in the first place ...) But the -undermarket- of -top pop minus one- coins has seen a slight warming.

I have given up on following traditional economic indicators, others can do that far better than I can. But the coin market seems to show that the poor remain poor, the unemployed remain unemployed, the middle and upper-middle class are gaining optimism and doing ok, and the wealthy are taking their money off of the table.

Perhaps the coin markets I follow are biased or skewed some way ... I could imagine that the modern MS markets (my collection's focus) could be held by a few buyers who have overextended their resources Perhaps more classic coinage prices are holding up better at the high end

I stand by my predictions from my journal entry last month. Markets will tank very soon. QE3 will give an artificial boost to US markets. Pent-up auto demand will help platinum cross gold again. The fantasies over precious metals serving as safe haven in time of crisis will begin to blow away. Obama will win the popular vote by plurality, but he will fail to win a majority of electoral votes. Congress will elect the next president, and it will be neither Obama nor the ticket (Romney). Moderate in Congress will compromise with the to select a president other than Romney. The Tea Party and the social conservatives will officially bail from the .

Not that I need to preach to the choir here, but here is some more evidence that things are not going as well as we are all being told:

http://news.yahoo.com/unemployment-rate-quietly-hits-nine-percent-003900024.html

Watch the Money Marketplace on the message boards. A **LOT** of longtime and respected and high-end collectors are getting out. Times are changing. But if you want in and have the cash, you are not alone and supply is sufficient!