News
Benny Wasserman excelled under pressure – both on and off the field
Column: Benny Wasserman handled the heat — in life and in the batting cage
Every Friday morning for more than five years, Benny Wasserman, a retired aerospace engineer and Albert Einstein look-alike actor, put on his Detroit Tigers baseball uniform and went to the Home Run Park batting cages near Knott’s Berry Farm.
In January 2023 he emailed me to say he’d set a goal for himself — to rip 90-mph fastballs on April 2, 2024, his 90th birthday. “I’m calling it 90 at 90,” Wasserman wrote, adding that he was dealing with — but not deterred by — prostate cancer and pulmonary fibrosis.
At the first opportunity, I drove to Cerritos to meet Wasserman and his wife, Fern. They’d met on a blind date at an El Monte pizza parlor and were approaching their 65th wedding anniversary.
“When I hit a home run, it makes my day,” Benny told me.
“He loves it,” Fern said.
Wasserman took me into his den and played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” on his organ. He took me into his library — his love of books began as a young man when Carl Levin, a childhood friend and eventual U.S. senator from Michigan, gave him a copy of Jack London’s “Martin Eden” as a wedding present. He showed me the volumes of journals he’d been working on for decades and took me to his backyard, which he’d turned into a miniature baseball park where he hit Wiffle balls off a pitching machine.
I wasn’t sure Wasserman could handle the heat, because a 90-mph fastball is what major league pitchers throw. But he stepped into the batter’s box, the pitching machine cranked, and Benny Baseball went to work.
Ground ball. Line drive. Moon shot.
He made contact on nearly every pitch, with a sharp eye and a quick flick of the wrists. A few of his drives had home-run range.
“We all love him,” said Kris Wysong, the Home Run Park manager. “He hits better than most of the customers do.”
After I wrote a column about him last year, Topps Trading Cards produced a batch of Benny Wasserman baseball cards, and he emailed me a handful of them. ESPN interviewed him and was planning to attend the big “90 at 90” day for a story.
But in mid-February of this year, Wasserman emailed to say his health was deteriorating. He hadn’t given up on his April 2 goal, he said, but his sons — two lawyers and a geriatrician — had persuaded him to visit the batting cage on March 3 and have a “celebration of life” party afterward at his home.
On Feb. 28, he emailed again to say he’d had a blood transfusion and the party had been postponed. “My temperature is fluctuating with associated chills and shivering, and I might have to go back to the ER soon,” he wrote. “Whatever happens I will keep you informed.”
News
Is now the right time to invest in gold as prices have cooled?
The price of gold has climbed to record highs recently and has remained strong through much of April. And, that growth continued until the precious metal traded at around $2,390 per ounce on April 19, 2024. But since, growth in the price of the precious metal has cooled, with gold’s price now hovering around $2,300 per ounce.
This lull in gold’s price may represent an investment opportunity.
In general, investing is centered around buying assets when prices are low and selling them when prices are high – generating a profit on the difference between the two. So, considering the declines in gold’s price over the past few days, now may be the time to make your investment. But is buying gold during this lull in prices really a good idea?
Compare your gold investment options among leading brokers now.
Gold prices have cooled. Should you buy in now?
With gold’s price down from recent highs, you may be wondering if now is the right time to buy in. There are several reasons the dip in gold’s price may represent an opportunity to buy. Here are some of the biggest:
Prices may rise again
If looking at a gold price chart shows anything for certain, it shows that changes in the overall growth of the medal come in fits and spurts. Periods of price growth are typically followed by periods of declines and vice versa.
But with inflation rising in recent months – and with gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset that can hedge against inflation – it only makes sense that the price of the precious metal will eventually start to head up again in the future. While attempting to time that directional change may be tricky, buying the precious metal while the price is down gives you the opportunity to take advantage of any upward movement that may be ahead.
Add gold to your portfolio now before prices have a chance to rise.
You may be able to make a quick profit
Gold isn’t known as an asset in which you can earn a quick return, but in today’s market, that may be the case. Don’t forget that in January, gold was trading at just $2,000 per ounce. And, by mid-April, the commodity’s price had climbed to around $2,400 per ounce. That’s about 20% growth in a matter of months, much of which happened since March 1 – an impressive climb for any investment asset.
Perhaps more importantly, gold’s price growth through the beginning of 2024 shows that the commodity doesn’t have to be a buy and hold style investment that you keep in a safety deposit box or precious metal depository for years to come. There’s also the possibility that the commodity’s price could climb further ahead, making it a compelling way to potentially generate a quick profit.
There are other benefits of investing in gold
There are other benefits of investing in gold that have little to do with the price growth seen thus far in 2024 – or the lull in prices seen over the past couple of days. Those benefits include:
- Inflation protection: Gold has long been considered an inflation hedge, and for good reason. When inflation drives the prices of consumer goods and services up – and the value of the dollar down – gold’s price tends to rise. So, it could be used to maintain the value of your portfolio during inflationary economic conditions. That’s important in today’s economic environment as stubborn inflation continues to weigh on the value of the dollar.
- Portfolio diversification: Gold’s price doesn’t always move in the same pattern that bonds or stocks do. So, mixing a reasonable amount of gold into your portfolio (up to 10% of your portfolio assets) as a diversifier could protect you from losses should one or more of your traditional portfolio assets fall in value. “If you have less than 5% – 10% of your net worth in commodities & FX (forex), you should absolutely consider adding exposure to gold and other precious metals,” says Vijay Marolia, money manager and managing partner at the wealth management firm, Regal Point Capital.
The bottom line
Gold’s price has fallen from recent highs – which may represent an opportunity to tap into growth ahead. However, gold isn’t simply a “buy while it’s low and sell while it’s a high” kind of investment opportunity. The commodity can also protect your portfolio from the stubborn inflation we’ve seen thus far in 2024 while acting as a diversification tool that could increase your risk-adjusted portfolio returns. So, consider adding gold to your portfolio today while it has the potential to grow in value.
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