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Your Golden Parachute!
Today when the stock and paper markets are in turmoil, inflation is on the rise and the Dollar is substantially weaker than any other currency in the world, Americans with IRAs, self directed 401k’s and other retirement funds must diversify their portfolios in order to protect their nest eggs. Unfortunately with the majority of portfolios these days invested in the stock market that is backed by the U.S. Dollar, these retirement funds run a high risk of devaluating rapidly as the Dollar loses its purchasing power.
So what’s the only viable solution to protecting your IRA, self directed 401k, or other retirement asset? The answer is simply… GOLD. When your retirement is backed by Gold which has been continuously increasing in value as opposed to paper assets that are depreciating with U.S. Dollar, you protect your hard earned retirement funds. GGG will help you easily roll over your existing IRA or self directed 401K to a Gold backed IRA. You will have no doubt that your Gold backed IRA will not only be fully in tact when you are ready to retire…but GGG believes it will be your ultimate Golden parachute after yielding high returns from being invested in GOLD!
What is a Gold backed IRA?
Simply put, a Gold back IRA is an IRA whose funds have been invested in the commodity of Gold. This precious metal is substantially less prone to decreasing in value unlike stocks, bonds or investments that are backed by paper currencies such as the Dollar-- making a Gold backed IRA a safer place to have your retirement funds.
Diversification of your portfolio is key
Any financial advisor or analyst will tell you that the best way to protect the wealth you have accumulated over time is to have a diversified portfolio. The best diversification occurs when the assets in the portfolio are not associated or connected to one another… and since Gold has traditionally had a substantially low correlation to stocks and paper backed assets, it is the best diversifier.
History has shown that tangible assets like Gold and other precious metals increase considerably in value and are less risky investments in times when non-tangible assets such as stocks are diminishing in value. This is only because when paper currency loses its value, so do the stocks that they are backed by. Those who do not want to see the value of their stock based pension plans gradually decrease as the Dollar has eroded in value, must diversify their portfolios to guard their savings before it’s too late…and what safer asset to invest in than GOLD.
How do you know its time to move your IRA or retirement funds into Gold?
In the financial sector Gold is popularly known as the “crisis commodity” because it is the best performing asset in
times of trouble and uncertainty. Historically when events such as wars, inflation, high budget deficits, falling stock and bond prices, weakening of the U.S. Dollar, or increasing oil and gas prices take place-- Gold prices are always driven up. Why? It’s because Gold is a natural resource, there’s only a finite supply of it in the world and unlike paper money, it cannot be endlessly produced by governments around the world. In turn, this always makes Gold a much stable investment. Today, almost all of these events have unfolded… there seems to be no end in sight for our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, oil is closing in on $100 a barrel and still on an upwards trend, as well as the Dollar continuing to depreciate in value everyday.
So in the end, only GOLD is the only rational dependable place to park your hard earned retirement funds during these shaky economic times in our country.
The proof is in the numbers from a Gold portfolio projection…
The following is a recent portfolio projection we completed for one of our clients who had his retirement funds invested in a conventional portfolio with stocks, bonds and annuities.
In the last five years Gold has yielded an average between 25 to 30 %. When GGG’s Gold specialists showed our client the amount of interest he stood to gain if he invested in Gold as compared to his returns on stocks and bonds, it was a no brainer for him… we think you’d agree:
After six years, this client stands to gain in excess of $470,000 more with this investment in Gold than he would have made in a conventional portfolio…and that’s the power of GOLD!
What is the difference between “Rolling Over” and “Transferring” your IRA?
A transfer occurs when you move your assets directly from trustee or custodian to another trustee or custodian of your portfolio. There are no requirements for an investor to report to the I.R.S. the transfer of his or her assets from one custodian to another.
On the other hand, a rollover is when you request the administrator of your plan to make the distribution of your assets directly to the new trustee or custodian. It should be noted that only one direct rollover from an IRA account to another IRA account is permitted per year and rollovers must be reported to the I.R.S.
IRA’s are easy to rollover or transfer to Gold…
Global Gold Group can help you easily transfer or rollover your existing IRA into a Gold backed IRA. This is done when our clients open a Gold IRA account with us and give us the authorization to transfer their funds from their previous IRA custodian. The beauty of transferring your existing IRA to a Gold backed IRA is that you need not report the transfer of funds to the I.R.S. GGG recommends all of its clients consult their CPA/accountant before rolling over any funds to a Gold IRA as there may be fees or penalties that their existing custodians charge for moving funds.
Where does the Gold for the Gold backed IRAs come from?
The United States government’s Mint has designed, produced and earmarked “Gold Proof” coins specifically for retirement accounts. These coins are given the official U.S. Mint Certificate of Authenticity and are backed by the government which allows them to be accepted for sales in markets anywhere in the world. These coins also can not be confiscated by the U.S. Government for any reason.
What time is needed to rollover or transfer an IRA into Gold?
We at GGG take pride in working meticulously and expeditiously to transfer or rollover the funds from your existing retirement custodian to your new Gold backed IRA. While the time it takes for each client’s plan to be transferred or rolled over is different, we roughly estimate it to be between 3 to 4 weeks.
We will also gladly provide you with an analysis of the performance of your current portfolio and give you an indication of how Gold would yield you a substantially higher return on your retirement funds.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
CALL NOW…
Contact us at 1-888-700-4148 to speak with one of our friendly Gold specialists that will provide you valuable information on how you can purchase Gold and shield your wealth from devaluation.
GLOBAL GOLD GROUP - 468 NORTH CAMDEN DRIVE - BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA 90210
TEL: 1-888-700-4148
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© 2009 IRA Gold Proof
GOLD is PRESERVATION "In Gold We Trust Not Dollars"! Gold is A SAFETY NET! Decline of the U.S. Dollar is a sad Reality! U.S. Dollar is NOT backed by Gold like the Euro Dollar is! A HEDGE GOLD The Perfect hedge against inflation AND ... GOLD REPRESENTS PROTECTION! Make Your Retirement Plan More Safe Secure & profitable with Gold!During periods of high inflation and weakness in the U.S. dollar, the value of gold has tended to increase, acting as a "hedge" for dollar-valued investments such as stocks, bonds, and cash. The very forces that weaken traditional investments often cause gold to rise. Gold is a good place to be in bad times.
Gold Back IRA New Trend
Simply put, a Gold backed IRA is an IRA that the funds have been invested in the commodity of GOLD. This precious metal is substantially less prone to decreasing in value unlike regular stocks, bonds or investments that are backed by paper currencies such as the Dollar! So that means that considering a "Gold backed IRA" might be a safer place to have your retirement funds sitting.
In a time of growing economic instability and doubt regarding the value of the U.S. dollar, GLOBAL GOLD GROUP INC. provides its unique and specialized expertise in helping to protect our clients' hard earned assets with investments in Gold. During these uncertain times, we offer our clients solid and proven solutions to guard their wealth through investments in precious metals as well as secure their retirement portfolios with Gold backed IRAs. Again and Again, Gold has proven to maintain its value as well as its worldwide purchasing power and we at Global Gold Group take pride in working with this vital global currency.
In such a troubling fiscal era that we're in today, protecting and preserving the value of your current and future wealth is of imminent importance to Global Gold Group. Whether you are looking to take physical possession of Gold to safeguard against the eroding U.S. Dollar, or putting protection on your current IRA
or 401K retirement plan, we are there for you.
Allow Global Gold Group to assist you in making "GOLD" a part of your financial portfolio an fiscal success!
CALL US NOW OR SIGN UP FOR A FREE BROCHURE ON OUR MAIN
LINK OR RIGHT HERE ON THIS SITE!
Gold is the most negatively correlated asset with U.S. stocks and bonds. Put simply, historically gold tends to move counter to the direction of U.S. stocks and bonds more than other investment assets. This makes gold an excellent diversifier for a portfolio made up of stocks and/or bonds.
Add Gold to your IRA Account.
Since the passing of the Tax Payer Relief Act in 1997, you can now include gold and other precious metals as part of your retirement portfolio holdings. And Global Gold Group makes it easier than ever. Global Gold Group set you with an investment consultant specialist can help you select the precious metals you would like to include in your IRA portfolio and answer all your questions.
Call us to add gold to your portfolio today!
Diversify with gold – we can help you get started.
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There are six primary reasons why investors own gold.
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Global Gold Group will buy back what we sell you!
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Buy gold bullion online or by phone.
Why Invest With Global Gold Group Inc.
An easy way to join the bull market in gold and precious metals.
Add Gold to Your IRA
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See how investing in coins and precious metals can help you diversify, increasing your portfolio value and earning high returns.
Why gold makes sense in your retirement plan
As the ultimate long-term store of value, gold coins and bullion may very well be the ultimate retirement asset. Among the primary asset classes most often used in retirment planning -- stocks, bonds, annuities and savings accounts -- the tangible king of metals stands out as the only one that does not rely on the performance of another individual or institution for value. Former French president Charles DeGaulle once famously said of gold, it 'has no nationality and is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence'. What better way to save for retirement than with the ultimate savings vehicle - physical gold. We invite you to establish your gold retirement plan through GLOBAL GOLD GROUP.
Rollovers
Rolling over a Traditional or Roth IRA into a gold-backed IRA is relatively simple. The term "rollover" actually refers to the rolling over of assets in a 401(k) plan when the employee has separated from his/her employment. Separation from employment is the key to the ability to rollover the 401(k) assets into a gold-backed IRA. If no separation has occurred, then chances are very high that the plan holder will be barred from moving the assets out of the employer's 401(k) plan. However, there are exceptions to every rule and a telephone consultation is always in order to see if the exception applies to you.
When it comes to existing IRAs, then the term "transfer" applies. Existing IRAs with banks, credit unions, stock brokerage firms or other financial service providers can be transferred directly to one of our referred trust companies. One very convenient option is to transfer either the cash in the account or the securities themselves. However, this arrangement is not always acceptable to the firm who is transferring your account. Again, for every rule there are exceptions which is why telephoneone consultation is highly encouraged.
Approved precious metals investments
GOLD BARS & COINS: At present, gold bars with a purity of 24 karat (0.995+ fineness) are allowed into an IRA. They must be hallmarked by a NYMEX- or COMEX-approved refiner/assayer. These bars come in the following sizes: 1 ounce, 10 ounces, kilo (32.15 ounces), 100 ounces, and 400 ounces. Gold coins having a purity of 24 karat (0.9999 fineness) are the only ones allowed in an IRA, with the exception of the 22 karat US Gold Eagle. Readily acceptable for gold IRAs are these bullion coins from America, Australia, Austria and Canada. The South African Krugerrand, being a 22 karat bullion coin, is not allowed.
Think of LONG TERM SECURITY IN GOLD! While a Twenty Dollar bill and a Twenty Dollar Gold coin held the same value back in the 1920s, and both enabled a man to purchase a brand new suit, times have changed today. Nowadays, as a result of our country's inflation and the decline in the value of our currency, that same Twenty Dollar Bill would not buy a new suit, let alone a new tie, yet, that same Twenty Dollar Gold coin from 1920 to today's date is worth more than $700 and climbing in value everyday!
In the financial sector GOLD is popularly known as the "crisis commodity" because it is the best performing asset in times of trouble and uncertainty. Historically when events such as wars, inflation, high budget deficits, falling stock and bond prices, plus weakening of the U.S. Dollar or increasing oil and gas prices take place, which is happening now, it is only natural that GOLD prices are always driven up! WHY? It's because GOLD is a natural resource, there is only a finite supply of Gold in the world and unlike paper money, it cannot be endlessly be produced by governments around the world. In turn, this always makes Gold a much more stable investment.
During these uncertain times, we offer our clients solid and proven solutions to guard their wealth through investments in Gold coins as well as secure their retirement portfolios with Gold backed IRAs. Again and again, Gold has proven to maintain its value as well as its substantiating purchasing power worldwide...and we at GLOBAL GOLD GROUP take pride in working with this vital global currency.
GLOBAL GOLD GROUP seeks to educate our beginner, intermediate and most savvy investors on how to diversify and insure their paper assets through Gold. Our knowledgeable staff with a combined 20 years of hands-on experience will furnish all our clients with the invaluable data on the market value of Gold and its true potential in shielding our client's assets from losses during these troublesome economic times. Global Gold Group investment specialists walk each client step by step through the process of Gold investment and also furnish the client with tailor made portfolios to match their specific needs as well as financial goals. GLOBAL GOLD GROUP takes pride in offering our clients various opportunities to place their savings so that they may have the least exposure to risk while protecting and giving them the highest yield of return on their investments ... In a global currency it should be GOLD!
GOLD BACKED IRA
Your Golden Parachute!
Today when the stock and paper markets are in turmoil, inflation is on the rise and the Dollar is substantially weaker than any other currency in the World. Americans with IRAs or self directed 401K's and other retirement funds must diversify their portfolios in order to protect their nest eggs. Unfortunately with the majority of portfolios these days invested in the stock market that is backed by the U.S. Dollar, these retirement funds run a high risk of devaluating rapidly as the Dollar loses its purchasing power.
SO what's the only viable solution to protecting your IRA, self directed 401K, or other retirement asset? The asnswser is very simple GOLD! When your retirement is backed by Gold (which has been continuously increasing in value) as opposed to paper assets that are depreciating with the U.S. dollar, you protect your hard earned retirement funds. GLOBAL GOLD GROUP believes it will be your ultimate Golden parachute after yielding high returns from being invested in GOLD!
Is Diversification of your portfolio the key?
Any financial advisor or analyst will tell you that the best way to protect the wealth that you have accumulated over time, is to have a diversified portfolio. The best diversification occurs when the assets in the portfolio are not associated or connected to one another and since GOLD has traditionally had a substantially low correlation to stocks and paper backed assets, it is the best diversifier.
History has shown that tangible assets like Gold and other precious metals increase considerably in value and are less risky investments in times when non tangible assets such as stocks are diminishing in value. This is only because of the fact that when paper currency loses its value, so do the stocks that they are backed by. Those who do not want to see the value of their stock based pension plans gradually decrease as the Dollar has eroded in value should consider diversifying their portfolios to guard their savings before it's too late and what safer asset to invest in than GOLD! What safer company could you depend on but GLOBAL GOLD GROUP to helm the rough waters and bring you to safer seas with GOLD.
How do we know it's time to move our IRA or retirement funds into Gold?
Today, almost all of the negative events are unfolding and more and more people are looking towards Gold. There seems to be no end in sight for war in the Middle East and Afghanistan, oil is ringing in at over $100 a barrel and still on the upward trend, as well as the Dollar continuing to depreciate in value everyday.
SO in the end GOLD is the only rational dependable place to park your hard earned retirement funds during these shaky economic times in our country.
Is the Proof contained in the numbers for a gold Portfolio projection?
In the last 5 years Gold has yielded an average between 25% to 30% so when GLOBAL GOLD GROUP's Gold specialists showed our clients the amount of interest they stood to gain if they invested in Gold as compared to their returns on stocks and bonds, it was a no brainer for them. We think you'd agree!
Consider this:
ASSET ALLOCATION
Gold has always been the path to protecting families wealth in times of economic uncertainties as we are facing right now in this new Millennium. With Gold prices increasing 25% annually for the last 7 years, thers's no doubt that GLOBAL GOLD GROUP is the only trusted asset to protect your hard earned dollars.
In a time of growing economic instability and doubt regrading the value of the U.S. dollar, Global Gold Group Inc. provides its unique and specialized expertise in helping to protect our clients hard earned assets with investments in Gold.
HOW IT WORKS:
How to get started CALL 1-888-700-4148
Physical Possession
How a transaction works
Once we recveive our funds, your Gold will be purchased at today's current market value and then moved from our inventory vault in Beverly Hills California to our shipping que under your reservation number. This number will be given to you by one of our Gold specialists, and then your gold will be shipped in your name to your requested address.
Form of Payment
We recommend our clients use a bank wire to transfer their funds for their protection, since the funds will be sent through Federally insured lines from their own bank to GLOBAL GOLD GROUP'S bank.
RETIREMENT ROLLOVER EASY AS 1-2-3 SIMPLY CALL TO BE GUIDED STEP BY STEP OR VISIT GLOBAL GOLD GROUP at http://www.aglobalcurrency.com!
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MORE ON GOLD FROM THE NET COURTESY OF "GLOBAL GOLD GROUP BEVERLY HILLS CA
GOLD ANALYSIS GOLD ANALYSIS
CRISIS TIME
Global gold group listed gold sector on the up! Led by Global Gold Group trading at record levels listed gold stocks run hard and move sharply back up the global resources performance ladder.
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA GLOBAL GOLD GROUP KNOWS ABOUT JOHANNESBURG!
Most listed gold stocks continued to surge on Tuesday as the dollar bullion price rose to multi month highs above $940 an ounce. Gold bullion investors appear to be reasserting the metal once again as a high-beta investment, a characteristic shared in particular with silver and agricultural futures, commodities that tend to outperform during times of crisis, or perceived crisis.
On Tuesday gold bullion, and other precious metals prices, were again lifted by a weaker dollar, growing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, and renewed concerns over roaring inflation as energy futures continued to trade at or close to record highs. Long dated NYMEX crude oil hit fresh records, along with benchmark Appalachian coal futures. Selected agricultural futures such as soybeans and oats were also trading at or around record highs, while cocoa set new records.
A number of wider-based commodity indices such as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB and S&P GSCI Enhanced traded at record highs as well, as investors continued to rotate investments into commodities and commodity proxies as perceived hedges against inflation, as cost-push factors from energy prices continued to dim the outlook for economic and profits performance across the world. While dollar crude oil prices have risen by around 110% in the past year, coal prices, such as the Appalachian contract, are up by 181%.
The global listed gold sector was led upwards by Goldcorp, which recently renewed its leadership of the Tier I gold grouping, followed by Newmont. South African gold counters continued to lag, despite recent sharp recoveries, as cost, reliability and political concerns continued to mount in southern Africa. Chinese gold stocks also remained relatively subdued, in line with the ongoing severe correction to stock markets in that country, where wider market indices have halved from bubble-type highs. Goldcorp traded at fresh record highs on Tuesday.
The recent lift in dollar gold bullion continues to leave the metal price well below the record $1,032.75 an ounce seen in early March, when worries over the collapse of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns were at highs. The recent lift in prices for most listed gold stocks, however, has pushed the global sector's performance back into respectable territory. With the dollar stuck in no man's land, and uncertainty over the future of US interest rates, gold is likely to continue benefiting from high beta characteristics for the time being.
Gold and silver were an integral part of business and trade as far back as the early civilizations of Sumer (the land between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in what is now Iraq) and Egypt.
The great French historian Fernand Braudel saw these precious metals as the "lifeblood of Mediterranean trade in the 2nd millennium BC". Initially, however, they were traded simply by weight in the form of ingots, which could then be cut up into small chunks or drawn into wire. And the metals, particularly silver, were regarded more as a standard of accounting or for taxes to rulers or temples, rather than for general circulation among the population.
The first real coins were not struck until the 6th century BC in Lydia (Western Turkey). They were made from electrum, natural alloy of gold and silver found in the rivers of the region. They usually had a lion or a bull on one face and a punch mark or seal on the other, and weighed from 17.2 grams (0.55 troy oz) to as little as 0.2 grams (.006 troy oz). Their introduction is attributed to the Lydian king Croesus (561-547 BC). Improvements in refining soon led to the distinct minting of gold and silver coins.
Coinage was swiftly taken up in the blossoming Greek city states just across the Aegean sea, though it was predominantly of silver until Philip II of Macedon
359-336BC acquired gold and silver mines in Thrace (now Bulgaria). His son, Alexander the Great (336-323 BC) then consolidated the Greek Empire with his conquest of the Persian empire, securing an immense gold treasure built up by the Persians from gold sources on the river Oxus in northern Afghanistan. Alexander is reputed to have taken over 22 metric tonnes (700,000 troy ounces) of gold coins in loot from the Persians. For both Philip II and Alexander, gold coin became an essential way of paying their armies and meeting other military expenses. Under the Greek empire, the coins were stamped with the head of the king instead of lions, bulls and rams that had previously adorned gold coins elsewhere.
The Romans, for whom gold coins became the crucial way of paying their legions, also adopted the custom of striking the emperor's head on their gold aureus coin. The aureus was usually 950 fine (22 carat) and weighed 7.3 grams (0.23 troy oz); 45 aurei weighed one roman pound (libra).
Although this coin was too valuable for most daily transactions, they were used by administrators, traders and for army pay (a legionnaire was paid one aureus each month).
In Britain, one aureus bought 400 litres (28.57 gallons) of cheap wine or 91 kilos (200 pounds) of flour. A smaller gold coin, the solidus, weighing 4.4 grams (0.14 troy oz) was introduced after 300 AD, as gold supplies from Spain and Eastern Europe declined.
The Romans minted gold coins on a scale not seen before and not equalled until modern times. Between 200 and 400 AD hundreds of millions of coins were struck and distributed throughout the empire. The extent of circulation is demonstrated by the hoards of roman coins that have turned up across Europe, particularly in Britain, which can be seen in many museums, notably the British Museum in London.
The British Museum's HSBC Money Gallery provides a unique display of the evolution of early gold coins.
The Roman empire brought a remarkable unity to much of western Europe through coherent public institutions and coinage. When that empire fell apart soon after 400 AD, it was almost one thousand years before widespread gold coinage returned. The solidus survived as the main gold coin of the Mediterranean world, being minted by the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople as the nomisma or bezant.
The bezant personified gold coinage from the fall of the Roman empire until the rise of Venice with its famous gold and silver ducats. "It is admired by all men and in all kingdoms, because no kingdom has a currency that can be compared to it," noted a 6th century observer. But due to a shortage of new gold supplies, minting was very limited and the coins were increasingly debased. By 1081 the gold content was only 250 fine (six carats). The Emperor Comenus restored some credibility in 1092 with a new coin of 4.4 grams (0.14 troy oz) called the hyperpyron, which many still nicknamed bezant and the Venetians called perpero. The coin never attained much prestige, however, as gold supplies were still limited.
Indeed, much of the gold that was available from Africa after 700 AD went into dinars made by the rulers of the growing Islamic empire that stretched through the Middle East and along the north African coast. These gold coins, made initially in Damascus, Baghdad and Tripoli, were beautifully decorated by calligraphers in Arabic script, since Islam forbade the depiction of people.
By 1200 the growing power of Venice brought more trade between the Islamic world and Europe. That prosperity sucked in gold that had long been coming across the Sahara desert by camel caravans from West Africa to North Africa. Gold coins were minted in Sicily, just across the Mediterranean, in 1231 using African gold and then in Florence and Genoa in 1252. Venice soon became the main market for gold, opening its gold mint in 1284. The next year the first gold ducat of 3.55 grams (0.114 troy oz) was struck; it was a symbol of wealth and power for the next five hundred years, becoming the most widely accepted coin since the Romans' aureus and solidus.
The supply of gold was enhanced soon after 1300 by new mines in Hungary. Suddenly all Europe was making coins. In France the king's mints produced nearly 10 tonnes (350,000 troy oz) of coin in 1338-39. In 1344 the mints of Florence, Genoa, Venice, Bruges (Flanders) and London coined over five tonnes (170,000 troy oz) between them. The diversity of coins can be seen in a single display case at the British Museum in London which houses 25 types of gold coins from European nations and city states minted during the 13th and 14th centuries.
As the pattern of gold supplies changed by 1500, first with more gold moving directly from West Africa to Europe by sea and then with the new sources in the Americas, so did coin production. In 1457, Portugal issued a new cruzado coin made of African gold. In England in 1489 Henry VII minted the first sovereign of 15.55 grams (0.5 troy oz) at 958 fine (23 carats), valued at £1.00. By 1503 the mint in Seville was handling gold from the Americas.
Thereafter much of that gold was made into Spanish crowns which were exported to England, the Netherlands (under Spanish rule), Genoa and Venice, where they were often recast into local coinage. But the supply of South American gold was relatively limited compared to the flood of silver so that, during the 16th and 17th centuries, silver coinage was more widespread in Europe than gold. In England, Queen Elizabeth I did launch new gold angels and crowns in 1558 to restore the prestige of gold coins which had been much debased by her father Henry VIII, but coinage was usually under 300 kilos (10,000 troy oz) annually. Silver coinage was in everyone's purse.
Gold coinage made its comeback only after gold discoveries in Brazil in the 1690s gave a new dimension to world production and Britain moved onto an unofficial gold standard with gold coins replacing silver as the main circulating currency (see Millennium in Gold - 17th & 18th centuries). Brazil's gold was initially coined into moedas de ouro at mints in Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon (Brazil being a Portuguese colony), but much of this coin came on to England where it was recoined into guineas, which had first been struck in 1663. The guinea, named after Africa's 'gold coast', weighed 0.27 troy oz (8.7 grams) at 916.6 fine with a nominal value of £1. The mint in London coined over 31 tonnes (one million troy oz) of gold into guineas between 1713-16.
The new flow of gold coincided with a slight over-valuation of gold, compared to silver, at the mint, which had followed a major recoinage program a few years earlier. Thus, traders found it profitable to send gold to be minted, while selling silver for shipment to India and China where it was valued more highly. The premium for gold coinage was confirmed in 1717, when Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint, set the historic gold price of £4.4.11½d (£4.35) which lasted for two hundred years. His action confirmed the preference for gold coins and accidentally put Britain on a gold standard, with gold forming the major coin circulation until 1914, when World War I broke out.
Throughout the 18th century; huge quantities of guineas were put into circulation, with the mint often striking three to four million annually; virtually no silver was coined. Not since Roman times had gold been so widely used and accepted both in Britain and abroad, although most other nations stayed with silver coinage.
The sovereign, which replaced the guinea under the Coinage Act of 1816, made the gold standard official. The sovereign, of 0.25 troy oz (7.77 grams) at 916 fine, was the sole standard of value and had unlimited legal tender.
The final triumph for gold coinage followed the gold rushes in the United States and Australia after 1848, as gold production rose five-fold. Gold coin minting soared in France and the United States in the 1850s and ultimately most nations switched from silver to gold coinage by 1900, when the United States finally switched to the single gold standard from a bimetallic gold and silver policy.
Virtually all gold mined during the 19th Century was turned into coins. Sovereigns in Britain and Australia, Eagles in the United States, Marks in Germany, Roubles in Russia, Crowns in Austria, Florins in Hungary and Napoleons in France accounted for over 13,000 tonnes (418 million troy oz) in the classic period of the gold standard prior to World War I. But when the world went to war in 1914, governments started to husband their gold, the minting of gold coinage largely stopped and coins were often called in.
In 1933 during the Great Depression, the U.S. recalled all gold and gold coins from their citizens. After that, the era of almost universal gold coinage was over.
The United States Mint issued the first gold coins in 1795. The U.S. Dollar Value was set at 24 grains of gold, based on the world price of gold at $19.39 per troy ounce (480 grains). As the Western Frontier expanded, U.S. gold coins were struck at 7 different mints from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Sizes ranged from a $1 gold piece up to the $50 denomination. Back then, money was "worth it's weight in gold" no more, no less.
Congress changed the gold specification in 1834 and 1837 when it set the price of gold at $20.67 per ounce. In 1933, during the height of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt made it illegal for U.S. citizens to hold gold. He ordered all gold coins removed from circulation and returned to the U.S. Treasury where millions were melted into gold bars. The value of the U.S. Dollar was then adjusted from $19.75 per ounce to $35 per ounce. The worldwide effect was to devalue the buying power of the dollar over 40%.
After the great gold recalls and meltdowns, millions of previously common Gold Coins suddenly became very rare and difficult for collectors to obtain at all. Today, the total surviving Pre- 1933 U.S. gold coin supply is fixed and extremely limited. Experts estimate that less than 1% of those coins have survived the test of time. Consequently, each one is highly prized by both rare coin collectors and investors.
Each U.S. gold coin minted before 1933 is individually valued based on its date, rarity, appeal among collectors, and state of preservation known as the grade.
The Value of Rare Coin Grading
Rare coins are graded on the American Numismatic Association scale from 1 to 70. They are certified authentic and graded by two of the leading grading services PCGS or NGC. A gold coin with a grade of 1 has a barely recognizable date, extreme wear and is worth little more than its weight in gold or precious metals. The better preserved the condition of an old coin, the more a serious collector is willing to pay for the privilege of owning it. In the past, the highest graded coins or the rarest coins have outperformed the lower grades and more common dates.
Here at Global Gold Group we often recommend Pre- Civil War dates in grades ranging from Extremely Fine condition of XF-40 and up. Gold coins grading MS-60 to a perfect MS-70are said to be in "Mint State" Brilliant Uncirculated condition. These coins exhibit no signs of cleaning or wear on the surfaces. The fewer bag marks and scratches, the higher the grade of a coin up to MS-70. The Importance of Owning US Mint Double Eagles.
Collectors often start a Pre-1933 U.S. Gold Coin Collection with the $20 Double Eagle sizes. The Liberty series was minted from 1849 to 1907. In 1907 the Double Eagle was changed completely by the U.S. Mint to the Saint-Gaudens designs which were issued from 1907 to 1933. The Double Eagles are a great way to get started for several reasons: "Pure Gold Content" Each one contains nearly one troy ounce of gold (.96750) and common dates can be acquired in mint condition for under twice today's price of gold.
"A Double Profit Opportunity" In a rising gold market, $20 Double Eagles have a history of going up in value 2 to 3 times higher in value than the price of gold bullion alone. Coin dealers often refer to this as the "Double Profit" opportunity in Pre-1933 gold.
Why Global Gold Group's Expert Advice Is So Important
Global Gold Group Beverly Hills CA specializes in U.S. Gold coins minted from before the Civil War into the Wild West Frontier Days through 1933. Our Austin Buying Trust is known worldwide as a leading authority on Rare Date Pre-1933 U.S. Gold. Our team of experts attend private showings, exclusive auctions, and every major U.S. coin show acquiring coins for our Preferred Collectors. We will give you the best information on gold and US coin prices.
Due to the complexity of buying rare U.S. coins, no individual collector alone would have the buying clout or first pick of the finest Pre-1933 U.S. Gold Coins like we have.; There are a number of trade secrets that make doing business with us especially unique. First, we always seek coins with rarity. We identify with the unique benefits of each rare coin and it's place in the market. Finally, we focus on "value investing" which means we search and acquire exclusively rare coins that have exceptional eye appeal for the grade and ones we feel are presently under valued in the market and poised for excellent upside potential.
We completely avoid coins that are cleaned, spotted, and have distracting scratches. While collectors may trade these low-end coins on the Ebay and over the Internet at lower prices, we feel these coins have no place in a serious investor portfolio and have a minimum of long-term profit potential. Please beware of coins that are often misrepresented online by novice collectors or unscrupulous dealers. Price always has a relationship to the true value of a coin.
Which Gold to Buy
Which gold to buy can be an important question for the gold enthusiast.
There are so many types of gold one can buy. These can include gold investments such as stocks in mining companies or gold futures, gold accounts such as goldmoney.com or gold bullion such as gold bars or coins.
Firstly, gold investments, stocks and futures are very much a professional market and not for the hobbyist, more for the speculator in gold. For this one needs experience and a very good and trustworthy commodity broker. In addition there are some tax considerations to be aware of which may not apply with buying gold coins for collections.
Gold accounts can be held with banks in some countries but not all. This is an area banks are moving away from. However there are private companies that store actual gold in escrow for those who have accounts with them and this is one way one can own and store gold, usually purely for investment purposes.
Then we have gold bullion. This is in the form of gold bars and gold coins. When it comes to which gold to buy, this is probably the best way for most people. It is easy to obtain gold coins and small bars. They are not difficult to store and, best of all, they retain their value even in times of crisis or economic need.
However, sometimes it is a matter of personal choice which gold to buy. Either way there are some criteria to be aware of.
Learn as much as you can about the various type of gold you can buy.
Select your plan of which gold to buy and what your budget is.
Do an extensive browse on which gold you want to buy. Check out the various web sites such as which gold to buy for example.
Which gold to buy is your choice, but which ever type you choose, ensure you have fun and enjoy your gold, whatever form it may take!
White gold
Compare Prices
White gold, and so did white gold jewellery like white gold engagement rings, began gaining a lot of popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century as an alternative to platinum.
Platinum was steadily becoming more and more fashionable, but because of its scarceness, many people could just not afford to buy it.
Whether it is platinum or gold, these metals are considered to be noble metals because they are very resistant to corrosion and oxidation. They are also extremely scarce and expensive to buy.
The turning point came when during the Second World War many governments like the one in the United Kingdom put a ban on the use of Platinum for any non-military functions. As a result, the demand for white gold engagement rings and other type of jewellery simply went through the roof.
White gold is not something that is being found naturally like yellow gold. You actually need to mix the gold with a specific alloy.
The most common metal mixture added to gold to produce white gold are nickel, palladium and silver. Most white gold jewellery is also given an electroplated rhodium coating to intensify brightness and make it looks better.
Throughout this tricky and complex process, white gold retains many of the benefits of gold. It will not blemish and due to the metals added, it is actually stronger than its yellow counterpart.
It seems that actually, a small percentage of the population, approximately twelve to fifteen percent, has an allergic reaction to nickel causing skin irritation and rashes on their skin. It is now required by law that jewellery pieces containing nickel be labeled “nickel-containing” to make sure people with allergic reactions don’t buy them and go for alternatives.
The highest quality white gold that can be found is at least around eighteen karat and usually made up of gold and palladium rather than nickel or sliver, especially since people can get skin irritation when their skin is in contact with nickel.
Another kind of gold is very popular, especially in Russia is pink and red gold. This type of gold is usually mixed with copper alloy that will give the gold this pink or red colour. The proportions to make rose gold are usually twenty five percent copper and seventy five percent gold. Those figures would change depending on what you want.
For We all know how good it feels to buy something pretty and wear it with pride, for all those jewellery lovers. But when you just can’t get enough of the shiny stuff, where are the best places to feed your fetish?
“Diamond” comes from the Greek word “adamas” which is used to describe something which is invincible. The word eventually became synonymous with diamonds because of their incredible strength and durability and due to their beautiful form; diamonds have been loved and cherished by humans for thousands of years.
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Potash, iron ore, coal and the mining majors - continue to outrank gold stocks in rankings for 12-month returns from listed names. Platinum stocks, driven by uncontroversial fundamentals, are now only marginally outperforming gold stocks over the past year.
Oil stocks continue to disappoint, with investors apparently preferring to invest in energy futures, or proxies for futures, such as commodity indices and exchange traded funds. This is echoed to some extent in the gold arena, where gold ETFs, which hold physical bullion, continue to outperform gold stocks, but to nowhere the same extent as oil futures are outperforming listed oil stocks.
Across the broader resources sector, the most disappointing performance has come from listed base metals stocks, despite the two biggest base metals, copper and aluminium, trading close to record highs on Tuesday. Tin, the smallest base metal, has performed well on tight supply factors pertaining to Chinese and Indonesian miners. Listed uranium and diamonds stocks remain heavily out of favour.
GLOBAL GOLD GROUP LISTED RESOURCES STOCKS
Composite weighted 12-month net price gains
IMC*
Stock
USD bn
Potash
241.8%
223
12
Iron ore
72.7%
348
78
Mining majors**
50.8%
1300
18
Tin
43.2%
Coal
37.3%
539
122
Gold ETFs
34.4%
29
9
Platinum
34.3%
99
58
Gold
33.9%
Oil
20.5%
2928
44
Oil sands
20.0%
68
15
11
Copper
15.1%
Uranium
9.1%
Aluminium
7.8%
Silver
3.9%
Nickel
1.2%
Molybdenum
-7.6%
Diamonds
-8.1%
Zinc
-16.3%
Totals
4181
725
* Investable market capitalisation
** IMC counted in other sub-sectors
Note: the 12-month price gains calculation assumes
1. A weighted amount of USD are invested in each of 725 stocks
2. At the stock's lowest price in the past 12 months, and
3. That each stock is still held at the current date.
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OTHER PAGES: GOLD ANALYSIS AFRICA
Gold miners in SA need new ways to fight rising costs and increase production
Wednesday , 27 Aug 2008
South Africa's big three gold miners, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony, are all having to seek new ways of coping with rising costs as their mines get deeper and more costly, and more dangerous, to operate.
One PCS potash mine restarts at half rate - two to go
Anti-Pebble copper/gold project ballot measure appears to be going down to defeat in
Alaska
Copper miner Antofagasta reports increased H1 earnings
U.S. gold coin demand suggests Asian-style physical metal hoarding spreading to the West
U.S. jewelers oppose FTC proposal to broaden use of ‘platinum’ designation
WAGES DISPUTE
Impala/ARM platinum mine faces strike action
7 PERCENT STOCK TUMBLE
CHINA COMING OFF THE BOIL
Mining giant BHP Billiton looks to 10 percent growth in 2008/2009
“NO WORK, NO PAY RULE”
NUM criticises AngloGold for penalising mourners
MINAS DE MOATIZE
Mozambique coal miner waiting for project approval Select a region below NEWS BY REGION
Your own two hands will change your life. Physical gold has been the solid monetary foundation of trade, commerce, and sustainable economic booms for almost all of human history. Once you buy your first gold coins, you immediately begin to understand the timeless allure of the Ancient Metal of Kings down through the ages. We humans seem to be psychologically hardwired to have vast reverence for the warm yellow metal.
GLOBAL GOLD GROUP GOLD WIDENS THE FIELD!
Once you have established a core position in gold itself, however, you may wish to consider deploying some capital in the wonderful world of gold stocks. A gold stock is simply a publicly-traded company, just like any other stock you can buy or sell in the open markets, that primarily engages in the fascinating business of chiseling gold out of the belly of the earth.
Buy physical gold coins around the world, buying gold stocks is even easier in some ways if you already have a GLOBAL GOLD GROUP TO HELP YOU AND SET UP AN ACCOUNT. Once you have done your own due diligence and are ready to deploy gold all you have to do is fill out a buy order to your Global Gold Group broker and a few minutes later you will be the proud new owner of a real-life honest-to-goodness gold mine!
Remember that popular idiom that describes any lucrative venture as a “gold mine”? You can own the real thing! Gold mines have produced legendary and almost unfathomable wealth throughout six millennia of history, and they will continue to be fantastically rewarding in the future.
Gold Investing Portfolio is a portfolio that is not for 100% of your total investment capital, only for the fraction of that 100% which you choose to deploy into gold-related investments after doing your own due diligence. The higher up the face of the pyramid you climb, the higher are both the risk and potential rewards of any given gold-related investment or speculation.
Global Gold Group feels that it is absolutely crucial to remember to remain diversified. Owning only one single gold stock is foolish and an invitation to financial disaster. Watch for the out-of-the-blue calamities that destroyed the stock prices of various individual gold mines over the years. A prudent gold stock portfolio is well diversified within the gold sector, with quality gold mines spanning the globe.
Investors can never afford to forget the timeless wisdom of ancient Israeli King Solomon, a man who had an unimaginable amount of gold, wealth, and power. His message is still immensely important even three millennia after he uttered it…
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, King Solomon, ca 1000 BC
Gold investment can be a risky business in many ways, and unlike physical gold coins you own, individual gold stocks can certainly plunge to zero in worst-case scenarios just like the tech darlings from the NASDAQ bubble days. Prudent diversification within your gold stock portfolio is absolutely essential because we are all mere mortals and no one can predict the future.
The 2 most important strategic concepts for all gold stock investors to fully understand is leverage and hedging.
Imagine that Global Gold Group told you about gold coins and gold bullion, both well-managed, both unhedged, and both with equal annual gold revenue would rise. The only real financial difference between our gold coins and gold bullion is how much it costs to get the coins as opposed to the bars or bullion just expect each ounce of gold from the bowels of the earth to yield this.
Adding in one more crucial datapoint for our little model, let’s assume the Ancient Metal of Kings is trading in world markets at around $275 per ounce.
Leverage, the Holy Grail of Gold Stock Investing
The only logical reason to invest in gold is if you believe after you have done your own due diligence and research that the gold price is going higher. If you arrive at the conclusion that gold is heading lower, you are better off not owning any gold stocks. Gold stock investing ultimately boils down to a bet for higher gold prices.
As the gold price runs higher, a crucial concept known as “operating leverage” or “accounting leverage” kicks in. Leverage, in my opinion, is the single most important concept to understand when investing in any stock of any commodity-producing company. I don’t believe it is possible to be a successful gold stock investor reaping legendary profits in a major gold rally unless one fully understands the key idea of leverage.
In the stock markets, there is nothing more important to long-term stock prices than corporate earnings. The only reason equity investors are willing to shoulder the considerable risks of investing in stocks is because, in turn for their capital and risk, they are offered a fractional share of future earnings spun off by a corporation. A company’s earnings are the ultimate driver of its long-term stock price. While a given stock’s price can certainly be buffeted short-term by the powerful investor emotions of greed and fear, it always eventually regresses back to some reasonable multiple of the underlying company’s earnings. Earnings are everything!
In gold stocks, leverage is so immensely powerful because it directly multiplies corporate earnings which ultimately drive gold stock prices over the long-run.
In terms of our thought exercise above, the difference in leverage between LowCost and HighCost totally alters the optimal investment strategy. Without knowledge of leverage, most investors would probably intuitively choose to deploy capital in LowCost because it was the most profitable at $275 gold. When leverage enters the picture in a gold bull market, however, the tables are turned dramatically.
Potential investment returns in this gold rally environment?
On the other hand, while struggling with tiny $5 per ounce profits at $275 gold, witnesses an enormous explosion in total profits as gold rallies 27% to $350. Gold costs remain constant at $270 per ounce, but its profits explode by 16 times from $5 to $80 per ounce, a massive 1500% gain! Because earnings ultimately drive stock prices, the market will factor in a glorious new profit picture and, given a constant earnings multiple, Gold's stock price will eventually rally by 1500% as gold stock investors bid on it.
The power of leverage!
Leverage is certainly not the only important factor in selecting gold stocks. If a company has high costs, it may have serious problems that should best be avoided. High-cost stocks must be carefully investigated before deploying capital in them. High-cost gold mines are often marginal producers and are much riskier investments than low-cost producers.
Leverage is very important to consider, but investment decisions should never be made based solely on it. Nevertheless, the greatest gold stock gains are inevitably born from the gold stocks with the highest leverages.
Lost Leverage Regained
The primary problem with gold stock leverage is that it decreases as the gold price runs higher. Have no fear if you are new to gold investing and are concerned you missed the amazing leverage from $275 gold!
Like Global Gold Group and other gold advisors they have a whole portfolio of separate services to help you. Gold stock leverage, even though most powerful and potent at the beginning of a gold run, can be found throughout an entire gold bull cycle if an investor looks carefully.
Hedging, the Scourge of Gold Stock Investing
After leverage, all gold stock investors must understand hedging.
Hedging, in the gold stock world, has evolved into something more closely resembling pure speculation as retired Swiss banker Ferdinand Lips documents in his awesome new book “Gold Wars”. A good thing in theory has been transformed today into a nightmare of a mess for some gold companies.
Gold hedging, in its most basic sense, is simply the contractually locking-in of a price today to be paid later in the future when gold is actually produced. A hedging gold mine makes private deals with bankers to sell the gold it will mine in the future at a fixed price regardless of whether the actual gold price in the future turns out to be higher or lower than the agreed upon contractual price.
Gold hedging was the legitimate pursuit by gold mine managers of protecting a small portion of their cashflows to ensure their operations would survive without interruption if there was an unforeseen gold price drop. By hedging on the order of 10% of their total annual production, gold mines could ensure in a worst-case scenario that they would have sufficient cashflows to pay operating expenses through lean times.
Gold hedging has ballooned far beyond a legitimate business practice and far beyond speculation into naked Vegas-style gambling. A speculator is someone who takes large risks to make a bet on a future price in the hopes of large rewards. Speculation is ultimately little more than professional gambling.
Wall Street bankers chasing fat profits for themselves, gold stock shareholders be damned, have seduced most of today’s hedger gold companies into making enormous bets that the gold price is going to fall forever. What lunacy! No price moves in one direction forever! Yet some of today’s major gold mines hedge an incredible 300%+ of their total annual gold production, a stupendously large bet!
While a 10% of annual production hedge may be a legitimate business transaction, a 300%+ of annual production hedge is nothing more than pure gambling. I call any gold mine that in total has the equivalent of over 100% of its annual production hedged a “mega-hedger”. All gold stock investors should avoid the mega-hedgers like the Black Death! Hedging kills profits and robs shareholders. It is exceedingly dangerous and yet remains widely practiced today.
Hedging may have looked intelligent, because HighCost locked in future gold prices higher than today’s. But, as gold begins to rally, massive problems arise. When gold crosses $300, HighCost’s profits can no longer rise because it has a private deal with bankers to sell its gold at a contractually-fixed $300 price. At $350 gold, each HighCost ounce of gold mined carries a huge $50 opportunity cost. HighCost can only sell an ounce of gold at $300 per its hedging contracts, but the market price of gold is $50 higher.
If HighCost was aggressively hedging, its shareholders’ profits will be slashed by 2/3 using our example above! Instead of HighCost’s profits and stock price soaring up by 1500% in a 27% gold rally, they would top off at 500% regardless of how high gold runs. Investors begin hemorrhaging potential returns they are entitled to at the $300 hedge price. All profits after that are effectively stolen from shareholders and handed to bankers. The higher the gold price goes, the worse the situation becomes for hedged gold mines. Shareholder losses begin to grow exponentially as the gold price marches higher.
The glorious gold mine leverage described up above is effectively assassinated by gold mine managers who stoop to aggressive “hedging” (read gambling) practices.
Amazingly enough, if gold is particularly aggressive hedgers a rapid spike in the price of gold can actually push them into bankruptcy! There is something very wrong with a gold price if higher gold prices, which should help it, actually prove lethal due to the complex and unpredictable derivatives hedging contracts.
In his fantastic new “Gold Wars” book mentioned above, Mr. Lips reports that once-strong Ghanan miner Ashanti Goldfields, which was ruined in the sharp gold rally in September 1999, had entered into no less than 2,500 separate derivatives contracts with 17 different banks! As I have explained in depth in past essays, derivatives can be extraordinarily dangerous in volatile environments.
Global Gold Group markets definitely realize how foolish gold derivatives are while gold is a multi-year strategic bull market, so they mercilessly punish the companies whose managements betray shareholders with excessive derivatives abuse. The following graph (from “Gold Defies Naysayers”) compares the unhedged companies in the American Stock Exchange Gold BUGS (Basket of Unhedged Gold Stocks) Index (symbol HUI) with the heavily-hedged companies in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index (symbol XAU). Unhedged stock performance is slaughtering the hedgers!
Since their bottom in mid-November 2000, unhedged gold stocks have rocketed up by 278% while hedged stocks have only managed a 95% gain. I call the difference the “Hedge Tax”, a tragic but voluntary opportunity-cost penalty that investors pay by investing in hedged gold mines. On the exact same 21% gain in gold over the same 18 months, investors deploying capital in hedging gold stocks made 183% less than investors deploying capital in unhedged gold stocks! It is amazing anyone still holds the hedgers!
On an individual company level, notorious mega-hedger Barrick Gold (symbol ABX) was only up 60% between mid-November 2000 and today while similarly-sized world-class unhedged miner Gold Fields (new symbol GFI, formerly GOLD) managed a stellar 369% gain. The differences between these two top-10 global gold mines’ share price performance could not be more striking! Unhedged gold companies soar while hedged gold companies trail miserably in the dust.
Gold hedging, by destroying profit leverage to the gold price, annihilates investors’ returns.
This gold ore still in the ground is known as reserves and resources. Reserves can be farther subdivided into “proven reserves” and “probable reserves”.
The larger gold reserves and resources, the longer its life and the higher its worth. Gold in the ground is the lifeblood for gold mines, the more the better!
Global Gold Group stresses the importance to diversify your gold stock portfolio across different quality gold and different regions of the world!
As a new gold stock investor, just please be aware that political risk is simply part of the game in gold stock investing. It can be managed but it can never be eliminated.
Today, with the stock market and economy on a seemingly endless roller coaster ride, many investors with traditional portfolios are seeing their dreams of a secure retirement slip away
Gold - Part of a Well-Balanced Retirement Portfolio
Experts believe that gold and other precious metals are wise investments because they can reduce the volatility of your retirement portfolio. Because historically as stock, bonds and mutual funds values fall, the price of gold increases.
SILVER: Regarding silver investments, only silver coins and bars with 0.999+ fineness are allowed. These include the 1 oz. US Silver Eagle, Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, and the Mexican Silver Libertad bullion coins. Investors can purchase 100 oz. silver bars and also 1000 oz. silver bars. Pre-1965 bags of US silver coins (dimes, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars) are not allowed in an IRA because their alloy contains only 90% silver and thus does not meet the fineness standard.
PLATINUM GROUP METALS: Platinum and palladium bars and coins of 0.9995+ fineness can also be placed into a precious metals IRA. Both the US and Canadian Mints make 1 oz. platinum coins. Other countries, such as Great Britain and Australia, have 1 oz. platinum coins which are not as well known but qualify as well. All platinum and palladium bars and coins must be from a NYMEX or COMEX approved refiner/assayer. Private companies with well-established hallmarks, such as Johnson Matthey and Englehard, manufacture platinum and palladium bars ranging in size from 1 oz. to 100 oz.
Preferred IRA Custodians
IRA Investing in the News
IRA Investors Increasingly Turning to Precious Metals
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Is Gold a Good Investment?
Q: Is gold a good investment these days?
A: While gold has long been valued as an investment because it doesn't tend to move along with stocks or the dollar, analysts disagree over whether it makes sense to invest in now.
Gold, whose price hit an 11-month high Monday as the dollar weakened, is often seen as a refuge in times of economic uncertainty. Lately, with gold prices hovering below $700 an ounce, experts seem torn on its prospects. In any case, moderation is in order.
"I'm very bullish from the demand viewpoint," said Frank Holmes, chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors Inc. He contends rising income in developing countries with a cultural affinity for gold _ particularly India where it is widely used in jewelry _ is a good sign for gold demand. Holmes noted that prices for gold have lagged those of metals such as copper, zinc, platinum and nickel. Those metals, he said, are in greater demand as countries develop infrastructure. Later, as such development increases economic prosperity, demand for gold begins to rise, he said.
"In India you basically buy gold with only a 10 percent markup so you wear your money," he said. He added countries with rising wealth, such as Russia, look to gold as a way to hold their national reserves, as occurs in the United States.
Even if demand increases, adding to supplies has become more difficult. Production has fallen from years past because it now takes longer to win approval for new mines and to shepherd them into production in part because of environmental concerns.
Even if production were to increase, however, prices might still increase. Gold, which came close to topping $700 an ounce in late February before pulling back, has seen prices follow the ebb and flow of political tensions in the Middle East.
Holmes also noted the gold often moves in a similar direction as oil; recently oil prices have climbed amid increasing demand, in part from developing countries like China and India.
Ultimately, while he contends gold can be a wise investment, he recommends investors not make it more than 10 percent of their overall holdings.
Not diving too heavily into gold but rather moving in as part of a larger focus on commodities could be a sound move, contends Michael Kimmel, an analyst at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC.
"Even though it's had a great return in the short term, it's not as good over a longer period," he said. "Inflation has outpaced gold, which hurts the investor's purchasing power in the long run." He cited the performance of gold over the past 30 years.
Global Gold Group describes gold as a very "frisky" asset class, noting its volatility could prove unnerving to some investors.
"We like to say it has all the volatility of stocks with the return of bonds," he said.
But he added it often holds up well during tough times for stocks: "If the stock market is doing poorly and the dollar is weak, it's a great hedge."
So for investors concerned about a pullback in the stock market, the strength of the dollar or increased political turmoil, a moderate investment in gold can be wise _ if they're willing to stomach possible volatility.
Question. What kind of gold should I buy?
Answer. We probably get that question more than any other -- pretty much on a daily basis. The answer, however, is not as straightforward as you might think. What you buy depends upon your goals. We usually answer the "What should I buy?" question with a question of our own: "Why are you interested in buying gold?"
If your goal is simply to capitalize on price movement, then bullion coins will serve your purposes. If you are interested in long-term asset preservation and you have additional concerns about capital and/or monetary controls -- a more complicated scenario -- then you might want to include the lower premium variety of pre-1933 European and American coins in the mix. These have been treated by the government since the 1930s as historical, collector items and, as a result, afford the privacy-minded investor with a greater degree of safety than gold bullion.
But what I just gave you is a rough sketch. To develop a more refined strategy, we recommend spending time with your representative here at USAGOLD-Centennial Precious Metals. He or she can help you match the type of gold you buy with your goals. All of our client representatives are seasoned professionals with substantial experience. They can help you zero in quickly on your needs, and make sure you are not going in a direction contrary to your goals and needs.
Q. When should I buy?
A. The short answer is 'When you need it.' You cannot approach gold the way you approach equity investments. Timing is not really an issue. The real question is whether or not you feel the need to diversify your present portfolio with gold. If you feel the need, the best time to start is now. With rising competition for the limited gold supply from both nation states -- like China, Russia and South Africa (to name a few) -- and individuals across the globe, there is the chance that small investors can be crowded out of the market at some point down the road. It is better to be a day early than an hour late.
Q. You frequently mention gold as insurance. What do you mean by that?
A. Those of you who have read my book, The ABCs of Gold Investing: Protecting Your Wealth Through Private Gold Ownership, know that gold's baseline, essential quality is its role as the only primary asset that is not someone else's liability.
This is precisely what people have discovered during countless crisis situations over the centuries and in financial meltdowns in recent history like the Pacific Rim in 1997, in Argentina and Brazil in 1998, in Turkey in 2002, and in the MidEast now. When crunch time came, those who owned gold understood what we mean when we say "gold is bedrock."
Over the years, we haven't altered this fundamental philosophy about gold ownership. In everything we do at USAGOLD-Centennial Precious Metals -- from our highly-regarded website to private conversations with our clientele -- we constantly emphasize this same fundamental precept of gold ownership. Needless to say, there are millions of people around the globe, including many Europeans and Americans, who agree with us on gold's utility in this respect.
Q. What percentage of my assets should I invest in gold?
A. Once again the answer is not cut and dried, but a general rule of thumb is 10% to 30%; and how high you go within that range depends upon your analysis of the current economic, financial and political situation.
Obviously, the individual with a low level of concern about the current economic situation will tend toward the 10% level. Those with lagging confidence in the way things are going will gravitate to the higher end of the range. In recent months, we have had a number of investors go substantially over the 30% figure based on their own reading of the economy and the various investment alternatives available.
In the current investment environment, with yields still running below the inflation rate and stocks and bonds still suspect, gold remains a healthy and viable alternative. Many, including even the die-hard stock investors, still see gold as the most undervalued primary asset group in the standard portfolio mix. As a result, gold is getting a lot of attention. Gold is still in the beginning stages of what many financial experts see as a long term bull market. Since 2001 gold has tripled in value.
Q. Can you give us a profile of the typical gold investor?
A. Traditionally, wealthy, aristocratic European and Asian families have kept a strong percentage of their assets in gold as a protective factor. That same philosophy has caught hold in the United States over the years, particularly in the upper middle class, and there are a number of investors who add gold to their portfolio on an on-going basis as part of a regular gold savings program. This has been good for gold.
Most investors, as I alluded to before, acquire gold not so much because they feel that the price is going to go up, but because they want to insure their portfolios from destruction related to currency debasement -- no matter if their currency is the dollar, euro, yen or reminbi, for that matter.
Our clientele represent an approximate cross-section of America and Europe, but the heavy buying is concentrated in the professions and among people who own their own businesses. Those with family wealth have also moved to diversify into gold in recent years.
Q. In your book, The ABCs of Gold Investing, you start the chapter by saying "Who you do business with is one of the most important aspects of gold investing." Why is that?
A. A solid, professional gold firm can go a long way in helping the investor shortcut the learning curve. A good gold firm can help you avoid some the problems and pitfalls encountered along the way -- provide some direction. It is very important to pick the right firm -- one that is highly professional, doesn't have a political ax to grind and can help you choose the right gold product mix to hedge your portfolio. Unbiased, objective advice from ones gold advisor is key to this process. So are market information and education. Pricing, product selection, fulfillment and on-going support also rely on that relationship. Picking a gold firm will be one of the most important decisions you make on the road to gold ownership. That's why we started this website and why it has become one of the most important gold sites on the internet.
Q. Can you briefly describe what you believe to be the biggest mistake investors make when starting out as gold owners?
A. The biggest trap investors fall into is buying a gold investment that bears little or no relationship to his or her objectives. Take safe-haven investors for example. That group makes up 90% of our clientele, and probably a good 75% of the current physical gold market. Most often the safe-haven investor simply wants to add gold coins to his or her portfolio mix, but too often this same investor ends up instead with a leveraged (financed) gold position or a handful of exotic rare coins (often costing five or six figures). These have little to do with safe-haven investing, and most investors would be well served to avoid them -- except as a sideline.
Q. What is your view of gold stocks?
A. Many of our clients own gold stocks and we believe they have a place in the portfolio. However, it should be emphasized that gold stocks are not a substitute for real gold ownership. Instead, stocks should be viewed as an addition to the portfolio after one has truly diversified with gold itself. Gold stocks could actually act opposite the intent of the investor, as some justifiably disgruntled mine company shareholders learned in the recent past. We cover some the differences between gold stock ownership and metal ownership in 'The Differences between Owning Stocks and Owning Metal' (see link below) so I won't go into the details here. Suffice it to say that gold stocks are stocks first and metal second. There is no such ambiguity involved in actual gold ownership.
Q. What about gold futures contracts?
A. Futures contracts are generally considered one of the most speculative arenas in the investment marketplace. The investor's exposure to the market is leveraged and the moves both up and down are greatly exaggerated. Something like 9 out of 10 investors who enter the futures market come away losers. For someone looking to hedge their portfolios against economic and financial risk, this is a poor substitute for owning the metal itself.
Q. What is the best approach for the safe-haven investor?
A. If you want to protect yourself against inflation, deflation, stock market weakness and potential currency problems -- in other words, if you want to hedge financial uncertainties, there is only one portfolio item that will serve you in all seasons and under most circumstances -- gold coins.
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The Differences between Owning Stocks and Owning Metal
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GLOBAL GOLD GROP Quality Gold
On gold ownership:
"In recent years, gold has regained its glitter among American investors. This renewed interest in gold is not so much a hedge against the devastation of war but instead against something much more subtle - the potential destruction of wealth from an international collapse of the dollar and a subsequent economic breakdown. The telltale symptoms of a currency and an economy in stress dominate the U.S. financial and political scene. The litany is familiar: massive federal government deficits, a burdensome and virtually unpayable national debt, a rapidly growing foreign-held debt, unsustainable levels of private indebtedness, confiscatory taxation, high structural inflation rates, and declining productivity across the board. However, only a handful understand that these problems are deeply rooted and that they directly affect the viability and value of investment portfolios for all Americans. These problems have not suddenly appeared on the horizon and demanded attention. They have been with us for a long time, and they have been steadily eating away at the foundation of the American economy: the value of the U.S. dollar. Many are hoping this deteriorating situation will simply disappear. But most of us know that is unlikely. More likely, the situation will worsen."
The ABCs of Gold Investing
On structuring your gold portfolio:
"Essentially there are two broad categories of gold investors: those who want to hedge disaster and those who simply want to make a profit. There is a third type of investor who seeks to combine both objectives. Your needs will determine what you include in your portfolio. Some thought and attention must be given to which of the three categories you belong. Along these lines, if you place yourself in the "hedge disaster" category, you must also determine which economic disaster you consider most likely to occur - inflation, deflation, or both. What you decide in this respect will play a determining role in how your portfolio should be structured. Portfolio planning is inherently a very personalized business. It cannot be done without strong input from the client. Do your homework. It is very important to the process. To plan your portfolio properly, consult with a professional. By that I mean, specifically, a professional in the gold business. Stock brokers, financial planners, mutual fund sales personnel, and the like have little knowledge of this highly specialized field. As a result, they sometimes confuse more than help. . . Whether to preserve assets or to make a profit, plan carefully under the guidance of a gold professional."
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The thing so sought after in our time that gold, silver, and jewels do not compare to its worth. It is thus because it is so rare, true purity, the unblemished heart, mind, and soul is found so little that few would know them if they were seen. So it was with Christ, His pure life was so different from all that had come before that few realized its beauty. Today purity is lost. Yet maybe purity is too beautiful for us, maybe, when we see its light we find ourselves blinded. We've lived in the darkness of deceit and impurity for so long, that we're stung by the brightness of true purity. Guided by truth, displayed by grace, grounded in love. Purity of the body is destroyed by our culture. It is looked at as week and abnormal. People see it as foolish and pointless, but only because they have never been pure themselves. In their heart though, they truly, truly, desire to be so. It is so easy for the pure to lose their purity and so hard for the impure to find it.
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