GOLD AT COSTCO !!

 Feeling Bearish?
   My initial thought was, "This Can't Be Good!" Not wishing to present bad news at this time of year and not qualified to offer investment advice, I was reluctant to post this. It is, however, my fiduciary duty to do so and I call to your attention two CBC articles you may have missed.
   It is also the case that this post can be interpreted  as "good news", since the price of gold is going up. And, you can buy it at COSTCO! Relax and enjoy the new year celebration.
   About a matter such as this, it is better to go directly to the sources and not rely on MM. Here they are: 
   I just read this one today: "The Gold Rush Is Back --- And Now at a Big-Box Store Near You: Amid Global Instability, Gold Prices Are Soaring and Some Retailers Are Cashing In," Anis Heydari, CBC News, Dec. 30, 2023.
   "Warehouse stores in Canada aren't just selling large quantities of toilet paper these days — gold bars and coins and other precious metals are moving out of the realm of banking and jewellers and into their aisles....
   According to Costco's chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, the company "sold over $100 million [US] of gold" during a recent 12-week period. Walmart has also started selling gold, silver and platinum bars online to U.S. consumers.Costco didn't respond to requests for comment from CBC News, but officials had previously told investors their gold bars would sell out within hours of being listed online."

  I had missed this earlier one, which is linked in the article above:  "Costco Now Sells Gold Bars. Are They a Good Investment?" Padraig Moran, CBC News, Oct. 3, 2023.

   "Canadians can now buy gold bars at Costco, but one financial expert warns it might be an investment with limited return — unless you're planning to flee the country.

   "Part of [gold's] mystique comes from the ability that it's easy to carry around … you can carry a lot of money in a suitcase if you've got gold," said Will Huggins, an associate professor of finance and economics at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business....

     The 1 oz., 24-carat gold bars are on sale at Costco in Canada for $2,679.99 a piece, with member customers limited to buying a maximum of two bars every seven days. CBS reported last week that Richard Galanti, chief financial officer at Costco, said the bars were selling out within hours every time inventory was added to the company's website."

Finding Gold at Costco
   I googled the Costco website for "gold", for which there were 647 'hits'. One of them is for the gold bar and here are the data about it:

1 oz Gold Bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan (New In Assay)

Features:

24-kt yellow gold

1 troy oz (31.1 g)

Item cannot be returned or refunded

This item is not eligible for price adjustments and/or any promotions

Limit of 1 transaction per 7 days (168 hours) per Membership, with a maximum of 2 units

Bar Highlights:

Contains 1 troy oz (31.1 g) of .9999 fine gold.

Tamper-evident assay card makes it easy to determine if the bar has been handled while guaranteeing the gold weight and purity. PAMP Mint places a thin plastic sheeting that safeguards your assay card during shipping.

They will deliver the gold bar, but are sold out right now. To find the current price I had to check into my Costco account, but it would be easier to get into Fort Knox. I assume it is around $2700, but remember, you can only buy two at a time. 

"Going to Hell in a Handbasket"
   As you can see, that expression was used in the article and I wondered about it, although I knew it did not generally imply that things are going well. Here are the introductory words from the very interesting Wikiwand entry. "To Hell in a Handbasket": 
"Going to hell in a handbasket", "going to hell in a handcart", "going to hell in a handbag", "go to hell in a bucket", "sending something to hell in a handbasket" and "something being like hell in a handbasket" are variations on an allegorical locution of unclear origin, which describes a situation headed for disaster inescapably or precipitately.

The Bonus:
   At the end of the wiki essay there is a list of items showing how the term is used in popular culture. The last one is: In the American television sitcom Friends (1994-2004), Helena Handbasket is the drag name of Charles Bing, the gay father of main character Chandler Bing.
   The late Mr. Bing was mentioned recently in MM, in "Schott's and Friends."