Investment Guide|Precious Metal Investment Expert » gold bullion

The Purest Gold at the Tightest Prices

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:58:03 +0000

How to Make Investing in Gold Simple, Secure & Cost Effective

DEEP UNDERGROUND in a secure vault in Zurich, Switzerland sits a gram of gold.

It’s yours if you’d like it, for free, today.

The gram is part of a 400-ounce gold bar, the only kind of bullion that professional dealers and international banks will buy and sell. It is 99.5% pure gold or better.

And it’s never left the care of professional bullion vault operators…not since the day it was first cast, assayed, and delivered by armored truck through the streets of Switzerland.

This means your free gram of gold is guaranteed to be top-quality. So you can forget about wide “dealing spreads” between the buying and selling price. It will trade on the international gold market almost bang on the ‘spot’ price you see quoted on the internet and in your newspaper.

Find out more, and to claim your free gold here.

No, you can’t fly out to Zurich tonight and collect your free gram of gold after breakfast tomorrow. It has to remain within that 400-ounce bar to keep its integrity and value.

And that bar — worth more than $365,000 at today’s price — has to stay in the bullion vault.

You see, the quality of a gold bar must be guaranteed if it’s going to trade on the international gold market. Wall Street banks, London bullion traders and Tokyo investment funds only deal in top-quality warranted gold.

And now you can join them.

BullionVault enables you to trade the purest gold at the tiniest spreads…with no delivery charges, minimal insurance fees, and storage costs to make your local bank blush.

Your free gram of pure gold — just like the seven tonnes of gold BullionVault now stores on behalf of people from 62 different countries worldwide — is held in the form of 400-ounce “good delivery” bars. It will retain full resale value on the professional market.

And most importantly, your free gram will belong to you outright if you choose to fund your account and add to this gold, just as it would if you bought it and kept it at home.

This is the crucial difference between BullionVault and holding “unallocated” gold with a bank, or dealing in exchange-traded gold shares through a stockbroker.

When a bank sells you unallocated gold, you become the bank’s creditor. It owes you the gold in other words, and you do not own the asset you’ve bought. The gold is only available to you if the bank remains solvent.

And if it doesn’t…?

Your BullionVault gold, on the other hand, will never be used, lent or sold by the vault where it’s stored. Nor is it merely “backed” by gold like a trust-based certificate.

Legally and in all eventualities, even a run on the banks…the collapse of the Dollar, Sterling or Euro…a stock-market meltdown…or a crash in the $700 trillion global derivatives market…your gold will be yours.

You can find out more at BullionVault now.

BullionVault offers you an easy, cheap and safe way of buying, owning, storing, and selling gold. Because it marries two technological breakthroughs that had both passed the precious metals market by entirely.

The first innovation is the Depository Trust Company’s model for making financial trading simple, safe and efficient. Just like CREST — the UK’s central stock depository in London — it keeps shares and government bonds in safe-keeping, immobilising them in a physical location.

Only ownership needs to change hands between buyer and seller, making for much faster and cheaper settlement. And at BullionVault — whose founder and director, Paul Tustain, developed I.T. systems to handle CREST dealing for Europe’s very biggest investment banks — this means all trades are settled instantly with gold that’s already safe inside the vault.

That cuts your risk of counter-party default down to zero.

The second innovation is modelled on Betfair, the internet-based gambling system based in the UK which matches orders from private buyers and sellers directly across the internet. This cuts out the middleman entirely at BullionVault, reducing your costs once again and giving you direct access to the dealing spread.

To test-drive this ground-breaking service for yourself today, starting with a free gram of Swiss gold, go to BullionVault now.

No middlemen, no delivery costs, and no risk of losing your gold if crisis hits the banking world. You can buy or sell whatever quantity of gold you like, starting from just one gram today.

Your gold investment will be stored and insured by ViaMat, the privately-owned Swiss storage company in your choice of New York, London or Zurich.

So if you don’t trust the government to leave your investments entirely in your hands, the option of storing gold deep underground in Switzerland may be of interest!

If you’ve not heard of ViaMat, don’t be surprised. This professionally-recognized bullion transporter and vault operator likes to remain quiet and discreet, just like its wealthiest clients.

But be clear on this point — ViaMat is not a bank. Instead, and for the last 62 years, it has simply stored valuable goods without getting involved in unallocated arrangements and other financial wizardry.

Keeping your gold in ViaMat’s high-security vaults makes the actuarial risk of loss so small that it costs only 0.12% per year to store your gold with insurance included. That’s less than a third what you’ll pay to store gold in a bank through an exchange-traded gold fund.

And thanks to BullionVault‘s instant online trading and settlement system, you can take profits or add to your position the very moment gold makes the move you’ve been waiting for.

The live gold-market order board is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That gives you the chance to trade gold long after the London stock market closes, and even before Asia opens the next morning!

The crucial thing is that your gold will have stayed inside that specially approved bullion vault. So its resale value will be right up there with the “spot” price you see quoted in the newspapers and on the internet.

To find out more, and claim your complimentary gram of Zurich gold, just go to BullionVault now.

When you buy gold through BullionVault, you do NOT buy a financial security, like a share or a warrant. You’re buying the metal itself. It’s your property; it belongs to you.

But to keep your costs low, and to make sure you can sell your gold straight back onto the international bullion market…where the spread between ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ prices runs almost to zero…you simply take legal delivery via a custodian — ViaMat International, the leading secure vault operator in Switzerland — without taking possession at home.

You see, your gold is part of a Good Delivery bar. Weighing 12.4kg, these bars have a minimum assayed purity of 99.5%. BullionVault buys these guaranteed, market deliverable gold bars, and store them at ViaMat on your behalf.

“Of course, we accept the sensitivity of what we are doing,” says Paul Tustain. “Which is why we publish our daily audit. This means you can safely check your holding within the vault — from any internet computer anywhere in the world — and prove it to the actual physical bars evidenced by the ViaMat bar list that’s issued to us.”

This is so simple, but so important. When you open an account with BullionVault, you are given your own unique ‘nickname’. It’s only known to you, of course. No one else will know that you’re storing a portion of your wealth offshore.

Every day, BullionVault then publishes a full list of every single ‘nickname’ holding gold through its unique system. This list is published on a public internet page. And the sum value of the list (with your nickname on it, remember) adds up exactly to the value of the bar list issued by ViaMat.

In short, this means that you can see in a transparent yet discreet way what your holding in the system is, every day.

To open your account — and to start trading your complimentary gram of Zurich gold now — click through to BullionVault today.

“Love the service and the site,” says one British user of BullionVault. “Actually, your whole business model is a good one and like many excellent ideas is simple and just leaves me wondering why it hasn’t been done before.”

“If there is an easier route to purchasing bullion I have not found it.”
TH

“I have yet to find a more convenient way to own investment-grade gold bullion…Excellent customer service, total security and peace of mind.”
Garry Knott, sovereignlife.com

“I think you have the best online service bar none. It seems to me the customer is guaranteed to obtain the closest to the spot price of gold via your service”
JT

“Everything has been of excellent quality: service, information, explanatory steps (Help file) etc…Thanks a lot to you and your team.”
EFR

“Just a quick message to say I absolutely love BullionVault. Your website provides one smart, efficient service…I can’t see how it could be improved on!”
TJ

“I am new to gold ownership and had been looking to add some to my investment portfolio for some time…I came across your web-site and it was exactly what I was looking for – an easy method of buying, selling or just holding gold without any hassle, and at very reasonable commissions. The order board is very simple to use, even for a novice like myself.”
JS

“Your company is just what I was looking for, great site with excellent information and a very intuitive navigation system.”
JDC

“FIVE STARS…The website scores highly for being easy to read and well-designed. It is clearly laid out for even an inexperienced user and the home page has links to detailed but simple instructions and FAQs…”
thegoodwebguide.com

“It’s an absolutely incredibly good service/website, from everything to presentation, ease of use and security it’s very clear and a pleasure to use.”
BR

Just what is it that’s got all these people so excited? To find out more — and claim your complimentary gram of Zurich gold now — go to BullionVault now.

PLEASE NOTE: We will receive a small referral commission for any accounts opened through this email. But the tiny dealing fees and storage charge you will pay would be no smaller without it.

And this ground-breaking service really does give you unique access to live gold market prices, cutting out the middleman and slashing the costs of investing in gold “dramatically” as the Financial Times recently noted.

To find out for yourself, go to http://www.bullionvault.com/ now.

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

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:15:13 +0000

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.

Thirdly, the average investor has no easy access to trade in the highly specialised gold and silver market and an additional problem occurs with delivery.

Coins are a specialised market but modern minted coins are valued on their gold content plus a premium, it is just a case of finding a dealer and accepting his mark up.

Playing the mining market can be a hazardous experience, mining companies seem subject to so many more risks than most other investments, geo-political, accidents, hedging mistakes, and in the case of juniors even some con artists!

On the other hand getting it right can lead to huge profits. Unless you are a specialist, this is not a route we would advise the average investor to take unless they stick with the giants in the business.

The first gold Exchange Traded Fund (or GETF) was launched on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) as recently as March 2003. Known as Gold Bullion Securities (GOLD), each share then represented one tenth of an ounce of gold.

Now every major stock exchange lists one or more GETFs as they have become established as the easiest way to trade gold and its derivatives.

The first and foremost advantage of investing in gold through an ETF is that they are traded in the same way as shares on the major world Stock Exchanges.

There is now an option market in the more important funds such as the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.

Gold ETFs can either be backed by their holdings of physical gold as in the case of GLD which is now the worlds sixth largest holder of the physical metal, just ahead of Switzerland, or track the spot or forward price, a basket of miners, etc.

Gold backed ETFs charge a small annual sum for storage, etc. and your brokerage costs will be the same as for any other share transaction. Their gold holdings are managed by dealing on the open market. e.g. The London Bullion Market, Comex in New York.

Before playing the gold market via ETFs be sure to check out and to consider with care what makes the fund tick, for example there are gold ETFs that will trade short as well as long on the spot or futures price and even doubling up on the index moves.

These ETFs do not have any underlying hard assets and can be called products of the derivative markets.

Gold, Silver and Platinum ETFs give the retail investor the easy option of playing the price of the metals, a basket of miners or a variety of trackers and additionally, for the more speculative minded, the opportunity of doubling up on profits (or losses) in short or long ETFs that follow the precious metals market.

Finally we should point out that there is now a trading vehicle that allows a retail buyer or seller to deal in any weight from a gram upwards or specify a sum to buy or sell either in US$, Euros or GBP. Bullion purchased is held in your choice of vaults in Switzerland, London or New York and selling involves no delivery problems to take care of. Visit bullionvault for full details.

Many observers, fundamental and charting analysts, media gurus and investment site tipsters are forecasting a rise in the price of gold over the forthcoming months, some even predicting $3000 and over, an ounce within two years.

There are others that see gold as an outdated store of value and no longer a safe haven asset in the modern financial world who anticipate that gold will drop from it’s present level of circa $880 an ounce to below $600 an ounce and even much lower.

A carefully chosen gold ETF is just about the easiest quick in/quick out way to participate in this market whichever way you see the gold market playing out over the short or long term.

Bullish News For Gold Continues To Mount

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:42:10 +0000

The bullish news for gold continues to mount up while hesitancy prevails in the market.

In Asia overnight the spot price again came under pressure dropping to near $920 an ounce down from $930 in New York late trading on Thursday.

As we write the price in Europe has staged a recovery to $925, no doubt due to the announcement by the Swiss National Bank of its intention to depress the value of the franc by selling it off to avoid domestic inflation.

Apparently the thinking is that buying foreign bonds and currencies will do the trick. We wonder what countries bonds and currencies are on the buy list for the Swiss franc which, until today anyhow, was considered to be one of the worlds most stable and conservatively managed currencies?

What hidden nasties are about to emerge from the murk of the secretive Swiss banking community? Surely it must be more than the likelihood that they will soon succumb to pressure and give up the identities of the tax evaders they have been sheltering.

On this note perhaps UBS, the troubled Swiss banking giant, might know a lot more than it is prepared to admit when it forecasts gold to reach $2500 an ounce within a few years.

The latest forecasts are that global gold mining production will continue to fall. That in parts of the world, delays of up to two weeks are taking place in the delivery of gold and silver bullion bars and supplies of American Eagles are questionable.

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) the worlds biggest ETF now holds gold bullion to the tune of a record 1041.53 tonnes as of yesterday. No lack of confidence evidenced by this management as its’ holdings have now overtaken Switzerland.

Gold and other precious metal miners did well in New York yesterday as the major indexes continued to rally, indicating that not all of gold’s recent drop was due to some renewal in confidence in stocks and shares as funds were removed by bargain hunters from the safe haven asset.

As the weekend looms it is anybodies guess how the markets in gold and silver will close tonight although profit takers will likely rule the roost in stocks and shares.

We take the view that such is the short-term uncertainty in the direction of gold and silver that it is wiser to stay out of temptations path.

Take the long term view and keep your holdings, the time whether to be a buyer or seller is in the balance, there could well be favourable buying opportunities if the price drops below $900 and continues down to $850, we cannot see any justification for that resistance to be breached while the present bullish news scenario stays in place.

Conversely a break out of substantial proportions could occur at any time as the realisation of the imminent damage that the introduction of vast amounts of new money under the guise of quantative easing will do to the prospects of diminishing purchasing power of the currencies taking part in this ill advised politically motivated short term palliative.

We started writing this at 1300 CET, it is now 1330 CET and spot gold has leapt by $10 an ounce to $936 in just half an hour – we wonder why?

European stock markets are up which should have kept the gold price steady at least. No other news has broken that we are aware of, although the rumours of a large seller that has overhung the market for a few days may have been put to rest, or, if true, the sale is concluded.

Watch this space!

Gold Bullion Price Takes a Breather

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:24:42 +0000

Tuesday morning trading on the London Bullion Market saw gold drop back to steady at around $895 an ounce from Mondays high of $916.30 on profit taking and conversely the dollar weakening against the euro.

More evidence of the loosening tie between the US currency and the price of gold! The bullion price was driven yesterday to all time record levels in non US dollar currencies as investors worldwide sought the safety of buying gold bullion either directly or via an ETF holding the physical metal.

An alternative that can appeal to investors who prefer to have their assets under their direct control is to buy gold coins when they can be delivered to their home. The best approach to this market is to buy newly minted coins that will reflect the going price for the metal plus a premium.

These can be safely purchased from national mints or from a dealer authorised by the mint. Buying gold bullion does present annual storage, insurance and administrative costs whereas buyers of gold coins delivered to their home can make their own decisions.

Do beware of being tempted to invest in collectible gold or silver coins as this is a highly specialised market more dependent on rarity than the value of the metal content.

In the current climate of investment fear as the value of fiat currencies are being progressively weakened by ever increasing government attempts to lessen the effects of the current financial mess that they and the bankers have created, gold is seen as the only safe refuge.

Activity in the gold futures market has grown by over a fifth since December while the latest surveys show bullish sentiment at all time highs. It seems that the only question to address is how high will the price eventually reach. Investors should be in for the long haul and ignore the bouts of profit taking that is bound to occur.

Day traders tempted to short should beware that the underlying fundamentals do not catch them unawares as the lows may be very short lived. Now is the time to take a close look at gold and silver miners.

You can play it safer with Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) for a basket of top miners. We see Goldcorp Inc. (GG) as a reliable major but for some real speculative plays that could pay off big time take a look at Hecla Mining (HL), Stillwater Mining (SWC) and Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE).

If you are bullish about silver but not keen on gambling with mining stocks then Ishares Silver Trust (SLV) an ETF that owns the physical metal offers a good entry to the market.

Readers should note that we hold positions in these stocks so we strongly suggest that you carry out your own research before making any investment decision.

How To Buy Gold – Bullion Bars and Coins

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:33:01 +0000

In these days of uncertainty, owning physical gold in the shape of bullion bars and coins and storing them at home, in a safe deposit box or secure vault gives many investors the confidence that they may lack in paper gold virtual promissory notes such as shares in gold investment or mutual funds.

Gold ETFs arguably also come into this category.

Gold bullion bars are available in various weights ranging from one troy ounce upwards as well as in metric sizes. For example a one kilo bar weighs 32.15 ounces.

Gold bullion bars will almost always sell at a smaller premium than the more popular coins, and the larger the bar the smaller the percentage mark up.

The most popular size for the average investor buying less than one hundred ounces of bullion is the one ounce bar; they are easy to store and readily saleable when cash is needed or profits taken.

Larger investors may opt for ten ounce bars and in India and Asia the kilo bar is popular. Larger bars are available up to one hundred ounces but none have been minted in the US since the nineteen eighties.

Gold bars and coins come in different degrees of purity. Look for .9999 fine, older bars available on the secondary market may be .9995 fine or even .995 fine. If buying in the secondary market be aware of the difference over the spot price plus premium if the bar or coin is not .9999 fine.

Newly minted bars will be well packaged and protected, older bars may have damaged packaging or none at all and may be suffering from minor damage such as fine scratches so be aware!

There are around fifty accredited manufacturers of gold bars worldwide.

Among the most well known are

Johnson Matthey
PAMP (Produits Artistiques de Metaux Precieux) based in Switzerland
Midwest Refineries in the U.S.

To avoid the many pitfalls of buying gold bars in the traditional manner, it is now easier to buy and trade physical gold, with access to up-to-date prices, charts and commentary on line.

Whilst we don’t guarantee this company we have sufficient confidence to commit our own funds to them.

Be sure to carry out thorough checks on any on line physical gold dealer as their authenticity is difficult to monitor over the internet, proceed with great caution before committing any funds.

Gold coins fall into two principal categories. Newly minted coins together with coins that are in effect bullion coins, the Krugerand is an example, and collectors gold coins.

There are numerous gold coins minted and issued by governments whose value is based upon their gold content, most usually one ounce or half an ounce in weight.

Purchasers must expect to pay a premium or mark up over and above the spot price of the coins’ gold content. There have been rare occasions when a direct application for a newly minted issue has not involved a premium but don’t hold your breath waiting for the next time.

The advantages of investing in gold coins are ease of storage and liquidity, although be prepared for the dealers profit margin when selling.

Collectors gold coins are a highly specialised market and is best left to the specialists or keen hobbyists. The premium is dependent upon the rarity of the coin and may even be double or more the value of the coins’ gold content.

When buying or selling gold bars or coins it is important to trade through reputable and reliable dealers. A list of authorised dealers can be obtained from the U.S. Mint.

Other countries have similar lists and in most cases these can be accessed on line.

For those who like the idea of building up an investment in gold coins, a good move is to establish a relationship with an established authorised dealer. As they are specialists in gold coin and bullion bars and rely on the goodwill of their customers they are in a position to give good advice to beginners in this investment arena.

Simple Explanation of Gold Depositories

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:00:53 +0000

The simplistic definition of a depository is that it is a place where anything can be left for safekeeping.

The safekeeping of gold, because of its worldwide status as the traditional store of value, is of paramount importance internationally.

Again to put it simply, the wealth, importance and influence of a nation can be measured by the amount of gold it owns.

Gold is stored in secure vaults located in various centers throughout the world with the US holding, in its three largest storage facilities, more than any other country.

It is important to be aware that much of the gold held in the US vaults is the property of other countries but is left in the US for security reasons.

The world’s best known gold depository is Fort Knox in Kentucky and is known as The United States Bullion Depository. Situated very nearly below the World Trade Center in New York is the US Federal Reserve Banks´ vault rumored to be the size of two football pitches.

At the time of the 9/11 attack it was at first feared that the Fed vault was the target.

One of the rules and regulations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) states: Gold Depositories of the Fund shall be established in the US, UK, France and India.

The gold of the Fund shall be held with the depositories designated by the members in whose territories they are located at places agreed with the Fund.

The growing trade in physical gold from hedge funds to private individuals has highlighted the importance of the role of Gold Depositories.

If, as many individual investors are now doing, you are considering trading in gold, it is impractical to collect and privately store the metal in bullion form.

Limited quantities of gold coin can be purchased and delivered but secure storage at the buyers home can become a problem, insurance will be an added annual expense and then there are the costs involved when selling and passing on the metal to the buyer.

When dealing in physical gold transfers of ownership in any but exceptional circumstances take place by exchange of Depository Receipts.

In other words the physical metal stays in the same secure vault before and after the trade with proof of ownership being passed on by paper.

It is therefore of importance to deal only in physical gold stored in an Authorized depository where receipts can be relied upon as proof of ownership.

If in any doubt check it out

Begin by going online to the depositories website and carry out your due diligence from that starting point.

This is big business and as such it is closely regulated so it is unlikely that any problems will be encountered but it never hurts to take the trouble to be on the safe side.

Advantages of and Disadvantages of Investing in Bullion and Coin

PreciousMetalInvestment.com — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:52:17 +0000

The simplest and most efficient method of participating in the precious metals market is by the direct purchase of the physical metal in the form of bullion or coin.

For the serious and financially secure investor large bullion bars are usually available at lower premiums than smaller shapes and coins.

The downsides are the regular charges for storage and insurance and the limited market when it comes to selling.

It is clearly not practical to attempt to sell part of a one kilo bar of gold or platinum and finding a buyer other than a larger dealer limits the dealing options open to the holder.

Storage and maintenance need no longer be a consideration. Read on for information on ways to hold Gold bullion without significant maintenance costs.

For those who wish to trade physical precious metals easily, one ounce bullion coins have the edge over other one ounce bullion shapes such as wafers.

Governments guarantee coins, bullion is guaranteed by Refiners.

Bullion coins are mass produced, easily recognized so easy to sell on and usually attract a competitive premium.

The older the coin the more likely it is to have a higher premium.

Bulk purchases of the newer coins, say 100 or more are likely to have premiums close to those enjoyed by larger bars.

It will pay to shop around on-line for the best price and lowest premium for the weight of coin irrespective of the country of source.

Always be sure to check out the amount of pure precious metal contained in the coin or bullion and the authenticity of the source.

Older coins such as the British sovereign may be a better buy than newer coins.

The market and the premiums constantly fluctuate so no long-term price presumptions should be made. All investment gold, including coins, is exempt from VAT in the entire EU. Before investing in physical precious metals check out the tax implications in your country of residence.

Investment Guide|Precious Metal Investment Expert » gold bullion

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