(except when you're selling short) is that they all depend on the BFTY (Bigger Fool Than You) principle. By that, I mean that you pay a price for something and hope that one day, an even bigger fool will be willing to pay more for it. Keep in mind that the person you're buying from is likely thinking the price has peaked before selling.

Some examples of BFTY are better than others. For example, historically real estate has been a pretty good investment, although I've seen prices drop there. My wife and I bought our first house in 1986, only to have the price drop substancially a couple years later. It wasn't until 1991 that the price recovered.

Antique cars tend to be a pretty good investment, and antique airplanes are often even better. Several years ago, one of the big financial magazines rated WWII warbirds as especially hot investments. It isn't hard to see why when you consider that you could've bought an airworthy P-51 Mustang for under $20,000 back in 1970. That same plane is worth about $1.5 million today. Even ordinary private planes tend to hold their value pretty well unless they have some serious problems (old V tail Bonanzas are a real bargain for the performance but they've had some mechanical issues and the parts are extremely expensive). Back in the late 1980s, I could've bought my Cherokee for about a third of what I paid for it last year. Let's hope the trend continues.

Other investments tend not to do well. My wife's sister just loved Beanie Babies. She has what appear to be hundreds of them. I don't think they're worth very much today. Fad investments can work well for those who get in and out early, but most others end up with stuff that's pretty worthless. Thinks like commenorative (sp) coins look like sucker bets to me. If I recall correctly, Gary is a serious coin collector and he said the same thing.

It has always been my sneeking suspicion that things like comic books and sports cards will someday fall into this category, but so far, BFTY seens to be working there. I'd hate to be the guy who paid an absurd amount for something like a comic book, only to have the price collapse. Since I'm not into that sort of thing, it really has no interest for me.