Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Investing In Gold ....? Reasons Why You Should

Why Aren't You Investing In Gold? Reasons Why You Should


People still ask is it wise to invest in gold? It has always been a solid investment, throughout history, and even more so today. Gold still holds an air of mystery, sure, we all know about gold, its history, jewelry, gold coins, gold watches, but how many of us have really owned gold, I mean, a substantial amount, more than a few grams?

How many of us have investigated gold investment, and where and how to buy it? It is simply a matter of knowing where to buy at the right price and from a secure licensed dealer. Providing you deal with the legitimate companies in the gold industry, your gold investment will provide you with the financial security you have dreamed about. If these criteria can be met, then the answer to should I invest in gold is always a definite yes.

Investors who purchase gold will find that they have a hedge against market crashes, political disasters, currency crises, economic turmoil, taxes and devaluation.

Gold has always been a steadying influence throughout history, with investors achieving financial security and stability, due to the steady rise in gold, a safe haven for their investments.

Most people would want to find an investment that is secure, that can’t nosedive. With rapid fluctuations in forex and stock markets, investors want a safe place to put their money, and there are many reasons why gold ticks all the boxes.

Governments can’t make gold, they can make paper money, which is devaluation, but gold holds its value. Gold has always been around and will be around for a long time yet, steadily, or rapidly rising in value. Gold is the one perfect investment instrument which has the means to survive any financial catastrophe.

The Chinese and the Indians are starting to invest heavily in gold, they are increasing their gold reserves, and so is Russia. Investors in these countries are also looking for safe investments, and of course, realize the value of gold. Many Governments have dropped restrictions on the purchase of gold and so it is now possible to store gold with very low overheads, making gold a very viable investment.

You now can take control of your investments and protect against inflation, and create wealth when others are seeing their finances deteriorate. Governments can always rescue themselves by printing more and more money. The US and UK are printing more money now than at any time in history. This of course makes your cash worth less, but it also means that gold is worth more, gold always rises when confidence in Governments is at its lowest, with confidence in the economy at an all time low and markets sliding, what do you feel confident investing in?

In a turbulent time, if you have invested in gold, you have secured your assets, which means peace of mind for the future. Your risk is minimal against other investments because it tends to outperform others in times of turbulence. Gold has quite rightly been called the ‘crisis’ commodity.

With the US Dollar falling over 40% since 2001, and stocks at an all time low, the dollar could soon be in freefall, but gold is still a solid haven for hard earned cash, why?

Because since 2001 the value of gold has increased by 150%, try beating that. Over the last eight years it has outperformed all markets, and unlike stocks which can quickly fall, gold remains valuable and stable. For gold to collapse in line with other markets, it would need to rocket to over $6,000 per ounce (I hope it does, but if it does get out quick). Gold remains stable, therefore, is a secure way to protect your money and assets.

As a more promising outlook for the economy emerges, the focus should then fall on the possibility of inflation, which will increase with time, therefore increasing the demand for gold. The demand for gold investment in 2008 increased by 10% over previous years, and is expected to rise year on year as supply dwindles.

Gold is still going strong despite many critics predicting a fall in gold prices during last year, of course this was not the case, the bubble did not burst, with gold investors making a steady profit, from $800 to $950 per ounce, and certainly not losing as predicted. Gold is not subject to a bubble, unlike real estate or stocks; it is very rare to see a sudden movement in precious metals. No, there was no crash, indeed gold proved what a reliable investment it is, with its price during the first half of the year still producing a steady return, and should continue to do so.

Summing up, gold has, throughout history always been a strong, reliable, solid investment. Crashes in the economy, stocks and real estate we have all seen, but who can remember a serious crash in gold? If you don’t believe it now, you never will.

A good investment?

Make up your own mind.

by Raymond Carr has worked for government security for many years.He has also worked for a leading central gold bullion dealer and has also been a partner in a successful life coaching practice.A successful gold investor, he is proud to say that many people who have taken his advice on gold investing have enjoyed returns of over 30% in the last two years. If you would like to learn more about gold investing for the small investor go to > secretsofgoldinvesting.com

Gold Bull Opportunity

A bull market is associated with increasing investor confidence, and increased investing in anticipation of future price increases capital gains. And a bull market is also sometimes described as a bull run. A bullish market trend in the stock market often begins before the general economy shows clear signs of recovery. But bull markets can also happen as a result of an economic recovery, an economic boom, or investor psychology. Could we see another 1970s magnitude gold bull market again today? Sure!

Real interest rates haven’t been negative for over 20 years, when the last Great Gold Bull peaked. Negative real interest rate environments are the most potent fuel known for igniting out-of-control and spectacular gold bull markets.

So gold should form the core of a portfolio in times of depression and recession.
During the great gold bull market of the 1970s, the average monthly gold price increased from under $35 to over $675 an ounce... representing a 1,833% gain.

If today's gold bull market makes similar moves forward, gold prices could skyrocket well over $5,000 per ounce. With gold riding high peaks lately, it's hard to imagine that any investor could still remain in the dark about the potential of the yellow metal. But despite the record-breaking prices, the greater investing public just hasn't jumped on board the gold train. When you think of how much gold has risen since 2001—it's nearly quadrupled—it still doesn't seem to have excited an awful lot of people. There doesn't seem to be much public participation yet. There's no sense of a mania, at this juncture. One day, there probably will be, and then it will be really big. So some people who suggest that this is a bubble already, I think are probably mistaken.

So the danger lies in the government printing press. And true wisdom is to hold gold in the face of the devalued dollar. And as long as the world is restless with our increasing money supply, our trade deficits, our unfunded liabilities, and the complete inability of Congress to stop the government spending... the price of gold will continue to rise. Clearly, these problems won't end any time soon.

While gold has shown a healthy appreciation, the stock market still remained in the doldrums. Despite the run-up in bullion prices and precious metal shares, the bull market in gold has just begun. The analysis is mainly derived from the bullish fundamentals of the yellow metal as well as the bearish fundamentals of the U.S. Dollar. In addition to favorable fundamentals, there are sociological signs that the bull market in gold has just started.

Gold has been in a secular bear market and is now in a secular bull market. Market experts use the term secular to indicate a long time period. Not an entire century, but perhaps to represent events that occur "once in a lifetime" because they are so long. The price of gold over the last decade displays one major cyclical bear market from early 1996 to early 2000 and a major cyclical bull market from early 2001 to the present.

There continue to be very strong fundamentals driving the gold market. These fundamentals are driven by basic economics. There is a small finite supply of gold; while there is a very large and growing very significantly, supply of government bonds as governments internationally print money and create public debt on a scale never seen before in history. In the battle between the huge supply of government debt versus the small finite supply of gold, there can be only one winner for the foreseeable future.

Gold is unique among asset classes as it is the only asset class not dependent on the performance of auditors, management, corporations, financial institutions, banks, politicians and governments. Nor should physical gold be dependent on the performance of trustees, custodians or sub custodians. Gold does not depend on the performance and health of the wider economy and as importantly when you buy gold in its physical form there is no third party liability or credit risk. Gold has an intrinsic value in of itself that is not contingent on someone else’s or some entities performance or mere promise to pay. Thus, gold in its physical form is still the ultimate form of financial insurance. This is why every major central bank in the world still maintains a significant portion of their reserves in gold bullion and many, such as the Chinese, are now increasing their gold bullion reserves.

Most ordinaly people have difficulty understanding why gold is the investment opportunity of a life time. There is actually huge physical demand for gold as opposed to paper demand. A high demand for gold coins, gold bars, and it is getting increasingly difficult to deliver it, (for example the US mint) is no longer selling the american eagle gold coins, simply because they ran out of gold.

All the above fundamentals and factors are indicators that there is a large price spike on the horizon for gold. This is leading to what is clearly a real bull market in gold - and a bear market in the dollar and other currencies
source free articlesbase

History Of Gold

Gold has a place in history regardless of the country of origin. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that gold is seen as a common currency in every country in the world. Gold sees no boundaries. History states that gold coins have been minted since around 670 BC when King Gyges of Turkey minted some gold coins for his personal currency when traveling. The Roman Legions were apprehensive when Julius Caesar first issued gold coins as payment for their service. However, the tune soon changed when the legions realized that the gold coins actually increased in value.

Today, bouillon gold coins have a face value that is pretty much just symbolic. The true value of a gold bouillon is the gold weight by content and the ever-fluctuating price of gold on the world market. A one-ounce gold coin is worth the market value of one ounce of gold minus around 5% for minting and shipping. Of course, bouillon coins come in various common weights: 1/20 of an ounce, 1/10 of an ounce, 1/4 of an ounce, 1/2 of an ounce and finally a one-ounce coin. Gold bouillon is a legal tender and gold coins are guaranteed authentic by the country of origin. Almost anyone can purchase and sell gold coins because of the diverse market acceptance.

In 1489, King Henry VII introduced the first gold currency into the world market. In Britain during World War I, Britain issues banknotes because gold bouillon was needed to finance the war. Soon, these banknotes completely replaced the use of gold sovereign. The gold sovereign ceased gold mint production in 1917 and started again in 1925. Then production was stopped for World War I and restarted in 1957.

There are many famous finds of gold in various regions of the world. These gold finds caused huge gold rushes. Gold rushes caused large amounts of people to migrate to these areas. Such places as the Klondike Gold Rush of Alaska, which occurred at Forty-Mile creek in 1886. In August of 1869, gold was then discovered at Bonanza Creek - a part of Klondike River, Yukon Territory. In the one-year starting in the winter of 1896 and ending in 1897, miners pulled out millions of dollars in gold bouillon. In the year 1915, over $50 million USD was exported from Alaska to the United States. The 1898 gold rush was a modern event. With the addition of media, the gold rush had world wide media coverage. This media coverage sent people rushing to the gold locations.

The history of gold is an amazing display of human endurance. It is estimated that only 120 to 140 thousand tons of gold is available above ground. Surprisingly, there is only $1.8 trillion USD total in gold above the ground. Compare that to the total US debt of almost $7 trillion USD. In addition, only $375 billion USD is held in reserves at banks around the world; $1.3 trillion USD in gold is owned by private parties.
source free articlesbase by Steve Thomas writes about gold history