You make some good points Henry09, I especially liked your analysis on the investment quality of gold as opposed to current treasury rates. At the same time let’s not beat on Colbert too bad - after all the point of his ‘tirade’ wasn’t aimed at gold itself but that it is being touted by individuals of questionable ethics.

P.S. The U.S. has the world’s largest gold reserve only because 1) it’s the largest economy, and 2) nobody has the need for tonnes of the stuff (there is simply not enough gold in the world to back the world’s economy). China, with the problem of getting rid of its U.S. dollars, is channeling some of it towards building its gold reserves - but only because they have no where better to put it. India, on the other hand, has always been a huge consumer of gold given its culture of keeping gold jewelry for emergency needs.

You may have noticed that Colbert and Stewart are on the Comedy Channel. 

You problem should be with the unacceptably low standard or reportage offered by
the ostensible news outlets.  Those guys aren’t doing their job.

John, Stephen and their staff toil in the fields of satire, and consistently deliver a
bountiful crop.

As for investments, I believe the point of the piece was that a commodity
investment where the vendor marks up the goods by 35%, whether it be gold or
peanuts, puts the investor in a disadvantageous profit position.

This is the problem I have with Colbert and Stewart. They can be funny, but they also have a nasty habit of trivializing serious issues. Guys like Beck are easy targets, so lampooning them isn’t convincing. 

The issue of the Federal Reserve’s secrecy, its artificial creation of money, its note always losing value in the long run, a debt enslaved society, and its financing of corporate welfare is not a joke.

Of course gold can go down in value just like any investment, especially when you’re legally forced to buy and sell it using Federal Reserve notes. I’ve never heard a “gold bug” say differently. Really, all of those people buying government bonds and treasuries that pay near 0% are geniuses… but the people who bought gold when the housing market was bubbling and have now watched it surpass $1000 per ounce are all idiots?

Also, if gold is so bad then why does the U.S. still have the world’s largest gold reserves? And why are China and India buying a lot more of it?

Like O’Reilly, Colbert has little respect for his audience.