Ben Bernanke’s Four Options

US Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, tells us that slack in the economy will tend to suppress inflation and that he has four options for removing excess liquidity.

In other words reversing the effect of the (so far) one trillion dollars of cash and new money pumped into the US economy. Hints that monetary policy will not be tightened “ for an extended period” do not suggest to us that the “green shoots” are expected to burst into flourishing growth any time soon. Read more

Platinum Backed ETF Planned For U.S. Launch

There are plans to launch a platinum ETF in the U.S. backed by the physical metal.

It is expected that the ETF will be run on similar lines to the SPDR Gold Trust and IShares Silver Trust, both highly successful ETFs.

A palladium ETF is also reported as being under consideration.

Both ETFs will give more trading freedom to the average retail investor looking to enter the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) sector of the precious metals market. Read more

How to Trade the Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Way

Up until the last few years the only practical ways for the retail investor to gain exposure to the gold market was to buy either the physical metal and/or coins or invest in gold mining companies.

Buying bullion and coins has three main problems for the investor to consider.

Of course they can be stored at home, but that gives rise to security problems and insurance costs, they can be stored in a safe deposit box or “bullion vault’ where access can be a handicap as well as incurring storage charges.

Your bullion sales are limited to the weight of the individual ingots you own, they cannot be ’sliced and diced’ to give you flexibility in the amount you wish to raise. Read more

Gold Dives Just Like a South Sea Pearl Diver

The deeper a pearl diver has the courage and stamina to dive the greater is the chance of finding a priceless pearl.

We think the same applies to gold. The lower it drops the more potential wealth it will generate for brave and patient investors.

Buying the bottom for the vast majority of us is just a pipe dream but we do have the opportunity to add to our positions when those troughs, like today’s, beckon.

Of course we have to have the funds and, as there are signs that stock markets are firming up, this may present some opportunities to cash in profits or at least take manageable losses in order to be poised for greater profit opportunities elsewhere. Read more

Expert Market Analysts Talk Gold Garbage

What a load of garbage about gold is being tossed about in the media by so called expert market analysts in these days of looming financial Armageddon.

For example we read that the Swiss based bank, UBS AG, hardly a shining light in the banking sector with colossal losses and under fire in the US for not disclosing details of account holders some of whom, god forbid, may actually be tax evaders, tells us that “parts of the gold market are in a decidedly weak position” and as evidence cites the complete absence of jewelry demand and that refineries are full and busy converting scrap. Read more

Gold ETFs Hold Record Amounts of Bullion

It is estimated that by the end of last week Gold traded ETFs had increased their bullion holdings to a record of almost 1400 tonnes while sales of gold coins by the US Mint is running at double that of a year ago.

Morning trading in Asian markets saw gold under some selling pressure with traders pushing the price below $938 an ounce but Europe’s opening quickly saw the price back above $940 an ounce. Read more