The Best Ways To Invest in Gold

Ada berbagai cara untuk menyimpan nilai ringgit dalam bentuk emas, seperti gold coin, gold bar, gold stock dan gold paper. Saya masih percaya lagi pemilikan physical gold lebih berfaedah kerana ianya tidak melibatkan spekulasi dan riba.

Petikan journal ini diperolehi daripada http://investing-school.com/lessons/the-best-ways-to-invest-in-gold/. Semoga ianya memberikan kita pengetahuan tambahan dalam mengusai ilmu perlaburan dan penyimpanan emas.

When it comes to investing in gold, the best way to make it happen is to spend some capital on many different gold products. One of the biggest mistakes that investors make when investing in gold is that they put too much faith in one product.

Gold is nice because you can invest in things like coins, bullion, and bars, but you can also buy gold certificates and gold-related funds, too. If you want to be as diversified as possible, you will combine all of these things, while also investing in some of the gold stock that are out there on the market today. Each has its advantages that you can exploit.

Picking the best blue chip gold stocks

Talk to savvy investors and it will become clear and apparent the best way to get your money into the gold market. These people buy coins and bars, but they go a little bit further than that. Buying blue chip gold stocks is a solid option because these companies have consistently posted nice returns over the last decade. Blue chip gold stocks are in a better position right now than they have been in the past for one reason. With their economic superiority, they are able to buy out the small exploratory companies and completely dominate the marketplace. This stranglehold on the market gives them power and bargaining ability.

Using exploratory gold company stock as a growth option

Few items in the gold investment world offer a competitive chance at growing your money. There is one exception, though. Exploratory companies sell stock to the public and they go out to find gold all the time. If you put in the time to research and find good up and coming companies, you can reap the rewards when they do well. Most of these companies will eventually be bought out by the big gold mining firms, so the stock will explode in value when that happens. This is a riskier strategy, but it is something worth considering as a small part of your overall gold buying plan.

Buying gold coins

Probably the most common and popular way to invest in gold is through the purchase of gold coins. These are available through a host of different sellers, with some of them being on the internet and some of them being out in the “real” world. Buying coins is a good way to go about gold investment because it provides you with something that is highly liquid and highly portable. Gold coins have the same value as things like bars, but you can keep them in a little sack or you can store them in a safe without taking up too much room. For those who are worried about the safety of their gold, this is a nice choice.

With coins, it is easy to buy and sell them when you see an opportunity. Most folks who want something tangible to add to their investment portfolio will purchase a certain dollar amount of these, since gold coins are pretty valuable all around the world. You are definitely not limited in when and where you can sell gold coins, which adds a lot to their practical value.

Buying gold bars

A slightly less common way to buy gold is by purchasing bars. You can buy pure gold bars known as bullion, as well. The downside to purchasing bars is that it requires a lot of space to store them. With each gold bar having a lot of value, it is important that you keep these items locked up and in a safe place. Just leaving them around is a good way to have a lot of your gold portfolio stolen out from under you.

Bars and gold coins can usually be purchased from similar sellers and the benefits are basically the same. As tangible gold assets, they are a nice security blanket, because their value is not going to plummet. Even if the markets go bust, these items will retain their value all over the world.

Pendidikan Kewangan

Agak ganjil bila subject ini diutarakan. Saya sendiri tidak beberapa memahami konsep Pendidikan Kewangan ataupun Financial Education. Kebanyakan kita yang tidak mempelajarinya samada di sekolah menengah dan universiti tentu agak kekok untuk mengendalikan wang gaji ataupum hasil untung perniagaan. Ahli perniagaan tentu bijak memusingkan wang tunai mereka dalam beberapa bentuk seperti modal berniaga, gaji pekerja, simpanan bank dan sebagainya. Bagaimana pula dengan diri kita?
Setiap insan yang sudah mula bekerja akan memikirkan beberapa perkara iaitu hidup berkeluarga, rumah, kereta, keperluan asas, bantuan kepada ibubapa dan hutang pinjaman bantuan pendidikan. Bagaimana hendak memulakannya sedangkan gaji permulaan ialah RM 2000-4000 sebulan? Disinilah perlunya Financial Education yang betul. Bagaimana mempelajarinya? Dari siapa? Ada ke kursus tersebut? Saya sendiri tidak dapat menjawab soalan tersebut.
Pengalaman hidup banyak membantu kita dalam menghadapi masalah ini. Beberapa perkara penting perlu di fikirkan:-
1. Perlukah kita berhutang? Sampai bila kita harus berhutang?
2. Bolehkah kita dan pasangan hidup dengan ala kadar dan sederhana?
3. Apakah keutamaan kita? Televisyen, radio hifi, handphone, kereta dan barang kemas.
3. Bagaimana dengan isu-isu insurance kesihatan dan pelajaran anak-anak?
4. Fahamkah kita mengenai bank, cara bank mengambil keuntungan dari kita dan hak-hak kita?
5. Apa itu kad kredit? Kenapa bank beria benar menyuruh kita mengambil kad kredit?
6. Pinjaman peribadi mudah benar diberikan? Untuk apa? Kenapa?
7. Konsep refinance (pinjaman hutang dua kali!), riba dan transfer hutang ke kad kredit lain. Fahamkah kita?
8. Apa akan berlaku jika kita tidak dapat membayar hutang- hutang tersebut kerana masalah-masalah tertentu? Bankrup?
9. Masalah pinjaman bank yang tidak diuluskan mengakibatkan ramai yang pergi meminjam dengan orang lain ataupun ALONG (ceti moden). Masalah berat pula yang akan muncul!

Bermacam-macam masalah akan terus kita hadapi melibatkan ahli keluarga yang telah terlibat didalam kancah hutang. Semuanya akan berakhir dengan cara yang sama iaitu bila pencen, hutang selesai dan dapat duit KWSP ataupun pencen seumur hidup. Beberapa konsep ini perlu kita ubah dan diganti dengan sikap yang sebenar disisi Islam supaya keturunan kita tidak terus terjebak dengan perkara-perkara haram untuk selama-lamanya.
Kita ingin hidup yang bebas daripada hutang dan mendapat berkat Allah swt. Insyallah akan saya ulas perkara diatas jika berkeupayaan.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why Should You Invest In Gold?

Article from Casey Research.com

Kenapa kita perlu melabur didalam emas. Sering kali menjadi perbincangan ialah samada emas sebagai pelaburan atau satu bentuk wang untuk disimpan.
Saya mengambil kedua-dua konsep tersebut. Emas tulin yang dibeli dengan wang fiat seperti Gold Bullion disimpan sebagai pelaburan. Ia belum lagi di anggap sebagai wang. Mengikut pembacaan saya, sejarah kegunaan emas sebagai wang ialah sebagai dinar dan dirham, campuran emas dan perak dalam ratio tertentu.

Pada waktu ini emas boleh ditukar kembali dengan nilai wang fiat, jika kita terdesak. Emas tulin ketika ini sukar digunakan untuk berjual beli. Jika tidak terdesak simpanlah emas tulin dan jangan di jual. Kegunaan dinar dan dirham, belum lagi di iktiraf diseluruh dunia diatas sebab-sebab tertentu, tetapi kita boleh membeli dan menyimpannya.

Lapuran dibawah adalah perkara yang berlaku di USA dan mungkin ada kaitan dengan negara kita. Di harap ianya dijadikan bahan ilmiah yang baik untuk kita semua.

Why Should You Invest in Gold?

Let’s call the global crisis what it is: the worst financial
collapse since 1929. Housing prices are down 30% from
their bubble peak in 2006 and we believe the end of
the decline is still not in sight. While worldwide stock
markets have recovered some of their 2008 losses, few
investors are confident that a lasting recovery is here to
stay. Unemployment continues rising in most developed
countries.

Governments the world over are debasing their
currencies by lowering interest rates, and many have
resorted to “quantitative easing,” a fancy term that means
nothing more than printing money. As evidence, M2,
one measure of money supply, is up in all G7 countries,
which signals that tomorrow’s inflation is being baked in
the cake today.

And the U.S. government’s proposed 2010 budget calls
for a deficit of $1.75 trillion – but the real number is
actually more like $2.5 trillion, because that’s how much
they will have to borrow to get through the year. By the
end of 2010, U.S. debt is expected to exceed $14 trillion.
And how has gold responded to all of this? Between
January 2007 and January 2010, gold rose 75%, while
the S&P 500 fell 21% in the same period.
And for 2009, take a look at the chart above how gold
has fared against other major investment categories.
Gold’s long-term picture is even more dramatic. Since
January of 2000, when the price of gold bottomed at
$282.05 an ounce, it’s up 297% over the course of the
decade.

1001 Reasons to Own Gold

Pilihan terletak pada kita. Fikir dan buat rujukan dengan baik.
By Jeff Clark, Senior Editor, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report
Tracking the numerous ongoing bullish factors for gold is quite a chore. There are, quite literally, so many compelling arguments for holding our favorite metal that I used to catalog them each month in our letter.
The reason there are so many “reasons” is because gold is unlike any other asset. It...
- responds to its own supply and demand
- protects against short-sighted government actions and interventions
- is a bellwether of market sentiment and economic outlook
- protects against currency devaluation and inflation
- is global
- is one of the most beautiful metals ever found in the earth’s crust
- is a store of value
- is timeless
- is money

How many assets can you say have all those characteristics?
In spite of gold’s recent correction, the reasons haven’t decreased. In fact, the case for holding gold is stronger than ever. And over the past two weeks, a few “reasons” have surfaced that have fallen mostly under the radar. These, I believe, portend a higher gold price. In fact, it is catalysts like these that could end up in our children’s history books that, in retrospect, were obvious to see...
1. For the first time ever, China has invested in GLD, the gold exchange-traded fund. Their sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, recently invested $155 million in the ETF. The amount represents only 0.05% of the sovereign funds’ $300 billion, meaning there’s a lot more where that came from.
Those mainstream lemmings who predicted China was done buying gold now have to deal with the reality that this move more likely signals they are closer to the beginning – and not the end – of a long-term strategy to diversify into gold.
2. The Prime Minister's Office in India is creating a stream-lined process so that the country’s state-owned corporations can “aggressively pursue the acquisition of strategic mineral resources.” The Indian government, normally known for thick-layered bureaucracy, has created a centralized body that will have “rapid strategic and decision making powers.” This is telling, both from the perspective that they see some urgency to the matter, and that the acquisition targets are minerals.
Given the country’s historic propensity to own gold, it’s not a stretch to think the yellow metal will be high on the list of “strategic investments.” Recall their government purchased almost half the IMF gold for sale last year in one fell swoop.
The upshot? Don’t be surprised to soon hear of India following China’s lead of buying precious metal companies and resources.
3. “Iran is now a nuclear state,” declared President Ahmadinejad last week. The Islamic republic has produced its first batch of high-level enriched uranium, which they claim is solely for electricity purposes but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons if enriched to 90%. In response, the U.S. imposed new sanctions, and the U.N. is considering adding more of its own sanctions, too.
The West recently proposed that Iran export its uranium for enrichment and then have it returned as fuel rods for a reactor. Iran demanded changes to that plan, which were rejected, so claimed they had “no choice” but to start enriching to higher levels on their own. “God willing,” declared Ahmadinejad, “daily production will be tripled.”
I’m sure this will all just blow over, right?
4. The U.S. government must inflate. Here’s another reason we think that sooner or later inflation trumps deflation... by 2020, government economists project that entitlement benefits (Social Security, Medicare, etc.), along with interest payments on the national debt, will devour 80% of all federal revenues.
This assumes entitlement benefits don’t grow, which, of course, they are. The overall national debt, meanwhile, will rise to 100% of GDP within a few years, an alarming level by any measure. Even Moody’s warned that our credit status could lose its triple-A rating if the nation's finances don’t improve, an unheard-of prospect just a few years ago.
So, we’re abruptly fleeing our debt-adding habits, right? As you probably heard last month, Obama signed legislation that raised the cap on government debt from $12.4 trillion – already close to being breached – to $14.3 trillion to permit more borrowing. As Doug Casey has pointed out numerous times, this is the exact opposite of what the government should be doing and will have serious inflationary ramifications.
There’s only one way out: devalue the dollar to reduce the debt burden. And the direct result of that is a rising gold price. We may very well see another round of deflation, but the endgame is inflation.
What I would point out is that any one of these reasons would be sufficient for wanting to put some gold in your portfolio. It’s the cumulative effect that’s potentially scary, one that argues we should be overweight precious metals at this point in history. The reasons are numerous and, in my opinion, overwhelming.
Physical gold and select gold investments should be a cornerstone in everyone’s portfolio.
Article from:http://www.caseyresearch.com/editorial/3228?ppref=DLC064ED0210B

Lagi cerita mengenai emas ...

Bila IMF hendak menjual emas didalam pegangannya, tiba-tiba harga menjunam ... masing-masing berebut hendak membeli dengan harga murah ataupun ada sebab lain ...? Kenapa IMF hendak menjual emasnya menjadi banyak tanda tanya.
Manakala.....
George Soros pula menambah pelaburan emasnya .... mula-mula tak berminat.

IMF to sell 191.3 tonnes of gold on market 'shortly'
(AFP) – 14 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it was ready to sell 191.3 tonnes of gold on the market in a bid to reduce its dependence on lending revenue.
At Wednesday's market price of about 1,120 dollars an ounce, the gold to be sold would be worth nearly 6.9 billion dollars.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hd-kESCr6kVFWIdGXsouA5p0UBYA


George Soros doubles gold investment

Mr Soros has doubled his bet on the price of gold
US billionaire George Soros has more than doubled his investment in gold, despite calling it the "ultimate bubble" just weeks ago.
Mr Soros' investment vehicle Soros Fund Management increased its holding in SPDR Gold Trust to 6.2 million shares, worth $663m (£425m) at the end of 2009.
It had held 2.5 million shares at the end of the third quarter of 2009.
The gold price hit a record high of $1,226.56 an ounce in December, but has since fallen back to about $1,100.
Mr Soros himself has suggested that gold will not be a good investment.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, he said: "The ultimate asset bubble is gold." However, he did not say whether he was investing in the precious metal.
As well as raising its stake in SPDR, Soros Fund Management also increased its holding in Canadian gold producer Yamana Gold.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8521680.stm

Masalah pinjaman pelajaran ke menara gading

Ini adalah masalah yang bakal menimpa pelajar-pelajar yang bakal memasuki universiti apabila memohon pinjaman kewangan. Perkara ini jarang di dedahkan kepada masyarakat, tapi ianya akan dan mungkin telah berlaku keatas graduan kita

The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden
by Mary PilonTuesday, February 16, 2010
provided by THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
When Michelle Bisutti, a 41-year-old family practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, finished medical school in 2003, her student-loan debt amounted to roughly $250,000. Since then, it has ballooned to $555,000.

Michelle Bisutti borrowed $250,000 to pay for medical school. The debt has since ballooned to $555,000.
It is the result of her deferring loan payments while she completed her residency, default charges and relentlessly compounding interest rates. Among the charges: a single $53,870 fee for when her loan was turned over to a collection agency.
"Maybe half of it was my fault because I didn't look at the fine print," Dr. Bisutti says. "But this is just outrageous now."
To be sure, Dr. Bisutti's case is extreme, and lenders say student-loan terms are clear and that they try to work with borrowers who get in trouble.
But as tuitions rise, many people are borrowing heavily to pay their bills. Some no doubt view it as "good debt," because an education can lead to a higher salary. But in practice, student loans are one of the most toxic debts, requiring extreme consumer caution and, as Dr. Bisutti learned, responsibility.
Unlike other kinds of debt, student loans can be particularly hard to wriggle out of. Homeowners who can't make their mortgage payments can hand over the keys to their house to their lender. Credit-card and even gambling debts can be discharged in bankruptcy. But ditching a student loan is virtually impossible, especially once a collection agency gets involved. Although lenders may trim payments, getting fees or principals waived seldom happens.
Yet many former students are trying. There is an estimated $730 billion in outstanding federal and private student-loan debt, says Mark Kantrowitz of FinAid.org, a Web site that tracks financial-aid issues -- and only 40% of that debt is actively being repaid. The rest is in default, or in deferment, which means that payments and interest are halted, or in "forbearance," which means payments are halted while interest accrues.
Although Dr. Bisutti's debt load is unusual, her experience having problems repaying isn't. Emmanuel Tellez's mother is a laid-off factory worker, and $120 from her $300 unemployment checks is garnished to pay the federal PLUS student loan she took out for her son.
By the time Mr. Tellez graduated in 2008, he had $50,000 of his own debt in loans issued by SLM Corp., known as Sallie Mae, the largest private student lender. In December, he was laid off from his $29,000-a-year job in Boston and defaulted. Mr. Tellez says that when he signed up, the loan wasn't explained to him well, though he concedes he missed the fine print.
Loan terms, including interest rates, are disclosed "multiple times and in multiple ways," says Martha Holler, a spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, who says the company can't comment on individual accounts. Repayment tools and account information are accessible on Sallie Mae's Web site as well, she says.
Many borrowers say they are experiencing difficulties working out repayment and modification terms on their loans. Ms. Holler says that Sallie Mae works with borrowers individually to revamp loans. Although the U.S. Department of Education has expanded programs like income-based repayment, which effectively caps repayments for some borrowers, others might not qualify.
Heather Ehmke of Oakland, Calif., renegotiated the terms of her subprime mortgage after her home was foreclosed. But even after filing for bankruptcy, she says she couldn't get Sallie Mae, one of her lenders, to adjust the terms on her student loan. After 14 years with patches of deferment and forbearance, the loan has increased from $28,000 to more than $90,000. Her monthly payments jumped from $230 to $816. Last month, her petition for undue hardship on the loans was dismissed.
Sallie Mae supports reforms that would allow student loans to be dischargeable in bankruptcy for those who have made a good-faith effort to repay them, says Ms. Holler.
Dr. Bisutti says she loves her work, but regrets taking out so many student loans. She admits that she made mistakes in missing payments, deferring her loans and not being completely thorough with some of the paperwork, but was surprised at how quickly the debt spiraled.
She says she knew when she started medical school in 1999 that she would have to borrow heavily. But she reasoned that her future income as a doctor would make paying off the loans easy. While in school, her loans racked up interest with variable rates ranging from 3% to 11%.
She maxed out on federal loans, borrowing $152,000 over four years, and sought private loans from Sallie Mae to help make up the difference. She also took out two loans from Wells Fargo & Co. for $20,000 each. Each had a $2,000 origination fee. The total amount she borrowed at the time: $250,000.
In 2005, the bill for the Wells Fargo loans came due. Representatives from the bank called her father, Michael Bisutti, every day for two months demanding payment. Mr. Bisutti, who had co-signed on the loans, finally decided to cover the $550 monthly payments for a year.
Wells Fargo says it will stop calling consumers if they request it, says senior vice president Glen Herrick, who adds that the bank no longer imposes origination fees on its private loans.
Sallie Mae, meanwhile, called Mr. Bisutti's neighbor. The neighbor told Mr. Bisutti about the call. "Now they know [my dad's] daughter the doctor defaulted on her loans," Dr. Bisutti says.
Ms. Holler, the Sallie Mae spokeswoman, says that the company may contact a neighbor to verify an individual's address. But in those cases, she says, the details of the debt obligation aren't discussed.
Dr. Bisutti declined to authorize Sallie Mae to comment specifically on her case. "The overwhelming majority of medical-school graduates successfully repay their student loans," Ms. Holler says.
After completing her fellowship in 2007, Dr. Bisutti juggled other debts, including her credit-card balance, and was having trouble making her $1,000-a-month student-loan payments. That year, she defaulted on both her federal and private loans. That is when the "collection cost" fee of $53,870 was added on to her private loan.
Meanwhile, the variable interest rates continue to compound on her balance and fees. She recently applied for income-based repayment, but she still isn't sure if she will qualify. She makes $550-a-month payments to Wells Fargo for the two loans she hasn't defaulted on. By the time she is done, she will have paid the bank $128,000 -- over three times the $36,000 she received.
She recently entered a rehabilitation agreement on her defaulted federal loans, which now carry an additional $31,942 collection cost. She makes monthly payments on those loans -- now $209,399 -- for $990 a month, with only $100 of it going toward her original balance. The entire balance of her federal loans will be paid off in 351 months. Dr. Bisutti will be 70 years old.
The debt load keeps her up at night. Her damaged credit has prevented her from buying a home or a new car. She says she and her boyfriend of three years have put off marriage and having children because of the debt.
Dr. Bisutti told her 17-year-old niece the story of her debt as a cautionary tale "so the next generation of kids who want to get a higher education knows what they're getting into," she says. "I will likely have to deal with this debt for the rest of my life."

Article Yang Menarik. Gold Asset of The Century

Gold: Asset of the Century
CRAIG R. SMITH & DAVID BRADSHAW
Dec. 23, 2009

Time to Buy, Sell or Hold?

Most agree the "panic" is behind us and we're now recovering, slowly, but recovering nonetheless. However, inflation remains the lingering danger that will not go away anytime soon. No informed observer believes the Federal Reserve will be able to drain all this excess liquidity at the pace necessary without harming the economic recovery. The FED has always been either ahead or behind the curve. This time will be no different. The same can be said for all central banks.

You will be hard pressed to find an economist, money manager or even a cab driver that would argue that the massive money creation we've witnessed worldwide to address the financial panic will not ultimately result in rising inflation in the future. To what degree and when is yet to be seen, but inflation is on it's way, which explains why the U.S. dollar is in a secular or long-term orderly bear market.

Since September 2008 the FED and central banks worldwide have flooded the markets with liquidity, causing the money supply and their balance sheets to triple. During the same period gold prices shot up from a 2008 low of $750/oz. to 12/2/09 high of $1,215/oz., a 62% price rise. Gold's 11% correction this month could expand, perhaps to 15%, even 25%, like we saw in 2006 and in 2008 from $1,000/oz. to $750/oz., but the secular bull market remains strong and healthy as we look ahead into the next decade.

Gold's price move started in 1999 at $256/oz. and hit a high of $1,215/oz. in 2009 during a period in which inflation was rather "tame", if government official CPI numbers are to be believed. Gold prices climbed 62% during a period of "deflation", if the official numbers are to be believed. If during deflation gold prices rose over 60%, what is a reasonable expectation of growth during an inflationary period?

Could inflation double today's price? Triple? During the last major U.S. inflationary period (1977-1980) gold prices rose from $150/oz. to $850/oz.-- almost sixfold. So far gold prices are up fourfold without inflation. Unless you think the government will stop spending and printing, gold prices must increase.

In 2010 the discussions will turn from deflation to inflation. Inflation fears will push gold prices higher in 2010. Just like gold's price corrections of 2005, 2007 and now of 2009, pull backs will be viewed in hindsight as great buying opportunities. No, it is not too late for long-term investors to buy gold right now, even if they have procrastinated in riding one of the strongest and longest-lived gold bull markets in the history of money.

Gold is again exhibiting to the world how a healthy bull market correction works. I hope prices drop further because then India, China, central banks, hedge funds and individual investors will view this dip as a rare buying opportunity. No market goes straight up if it's a real market propelled by legitimate buying and selling. If anyone believes the dollar will regain the strength lost over the last decade, while the government is borrowing and printing their way out of a financial crisis, then they're dreaming. The dollar may have short rallies but long-term it's headed lower, pushing gold prices higher.

Introducing the New Gilded Age

"Gold's rocketing boom from $260 an ounce a decade ago to $1,200 now is a vivid daily example of what a real bull market looks like," reported Marketwatch on 11-30-09, referring to the yellow metal’s 12.8% price gain last month (the largest monthly gain since 1979!).

A decade ago a few of us noticed the political, ideological and economic pendulum was beginning a historic swing toward real assets: gold, land and commodities. "The world is about to become a very different place," we said. And so it has.

In just ten short years confidence has been shaken in stocks, real estate and currencies - culminating in the credit crisis of 2008-2009. A crisis we allowed the Fed to create, via loose monetary policy, now has the Fed boxed in between deflation, stagflation and inflation worry. All of which has helped the world rediscover the value of owning an asset with no counter-party risk.

Back in 1999 gold bullion prices were pushed lower by central bankers, financial experts, mass media, etc. All declared boldly, "Gold is Dead!" Gold bugs were marginalized further out onto the fringe.

But in 2000, in the wake of a deflated tech/stock bubble, everything started to change. Gold beat the Dow for the first year in decades. Little did the "experts" know this was to mark the start of a new secular bull market super-cycle.

We've entered this new 'gilded age' rather gradually up until recently. Now all systems are go for an explosive next stage as the public finally begins to understand gold is the only trustworthy form of money.

In less than a decade gold ownership has been transformed from a fringe investment to a universally recognized asset class. Precious metals offer investors, big and small, an opportunity to preserve and grow wealth in our modern, debt-addicted world.

The last decade is now often referred to as "the lost decade" for both Wall St. stocks as well as Main St. jobs. No wonder individuals, institutions and governments are turning to gold once again as the only trustworthy foundation to build a brighter financial future upon.

Ben Bernanke is stuck in the middle, with many people thinking he is following the path of Argentina and Zimbabwe to hyperinflation. When governments start adding zeroes to their money it means their freedom and stability as a nation is also being reduced to zero. Gold alone has always stood as the financial light of the world.

Key gold drivers in 2010

Gold has become the investment for all seasons over the last few years. As we look ahead gold's future looks very bright regardless of whether a recovery has indeed begun or the economy dips back into recession. Gold is the world's ultimate money, a truth most forgot during the roaring 1990s. The key drivers for gold are an unusual mixture of bad news and good news.

The Bad News
* Out of control of government spending, deficits, debt, stimulus, etc.
* Global distrust of the dollar, reserve currency status in question.
* Distrust of Wall Street as free markets appear to be in decline.
* Misuse of real estate as a "bubble-proof" asset or personal ATM.
* Declining consumer confidence, higher savings and lower spending.
* More government stimulus, 30% spent, 70% more, plus G-20 talk of even more, all postponing our day of reckoning.

The Good News
* Political change is about to be driven by economic and monetary change.
* We see the notion of "too big to fail" coming under increasing fire.
* Town hall meetings are sending a message to leaders that we don't need and can't afford a new government healthcare option.
* The majority of Americans want less central government and more self-government.
* The economy may be global, but government functions best when it is local.
* Transparency and accountability are the new trend in both financial assets and in politics.

Gold Market in a Bubble? Ha!

People referring to the gold market as a "bubble" market are making a huge mistake. They are attempting to tie the current market to what occurred in 1979/80. This time the circumstances are very different.

The 1979/80 gold rush was a "bubble" that went straight up for six months then crashed over the next 20 years. Russia invading Afghanistan, Iran taking Americans hostage coupled with 14% inflation and 20% interest rates sent gold prices skyrocketing. But it was a short-lived rally. Once those issues passed so did the 79/80 gold rush.

This time gold has been on a steady, long-term climb since 2000. This gold price move has been nine years in the making. In 2010 the G-20 will provide unlimited stimulus to revive the world from recession, bringing all currencies under scrutiny. It is not just U.S. dollar problems propelling gold, it is the question of the future store of value of ALL G-20 currencies fueling this secular bull market rally.

India's recent purchase of 200 metric tons of gold at $1045/oz. illustrates a new trend toward government central banks deploying reserves to purchase gold. Central banks only sold just 27% of their expected quota in the first two quarters of 2009 and recently have been net buyers.

ETFs (exchange traded funds) are now one of the top six holders of gold in the world, ahead of China. Investors want a hedge against future currency value deterioration, especially if this debt crisis is addressed with more money printing to prop up the recovery.

Gold is the ultimate currency and is an asset class that cannot be created out of thin air. Gold has proven it's worth in every major economic event since the days of Kublai Khan. This time will be no different.

No, gold is not in a "bubble" market. To the contrary, as Marketwatch noted, "gold is what a real bull market looks like"! Gold is one of the only assets not tied to a liability. If you own a bond it is your asset and the issuer's liability. Gold is not, it stands on its own.

Conclusion

Back in 1992 Rush Limbaugh introduced the concept of, "the triumph of symbolism over substance", referring to the new Clinton Era. But as we look forward, beyond the Obama years, we see a light at the end of the tunnel. A triumph of monetary and political substance over symbolism. That should give all freedom-loving Americans real hope for real change in the next generation.

Gold is right smack in the middle of an historic, generational bull market, shifting from ancient relic to most respected asset class. A truth even TIME magazine recently acknowledged.

Historically secular bull markets usually last 15-23 years, so today we are just getting warmed up. This bull market is not following the same path as the 1979/80 gold run up, but it could easily rise 20-fold before this next phase is over. We expect $2,000/oz. will become the ‘new normal’ over the next decade. For many fundamental reasons, such as:
-Government central banks are now buying gold again, China/India/IMF.
-Demand by institutional buyers and hedge funds adds support and volatility.
-New gold supply may have peaked in 2000 + rising demand = $2,000/oz.

Remember fundamental change always comes from the grassroots up, not from the top down. Trends often lead to mega-trends, which birth movements. Today we have both a grassroots awakening propelling gold from the bottom up PLUS we have Wall Street and Central Bank buying at the very highest levels. This helps explain why all roads are now leading to gold. $1,200/oz.gold, at just over half of its inflation-adjusted high in 1980 of $2,300/oz., remains a good buy.

Gold investors are on the right side of history as our nation, and the world, continues to rediscover gold in the 21st century for safety, liquidity and growth. Long live the sovereign king of all monetary assets: GOLD!

Article from: http://www.swissamerica.com/article.php?art=12-2009/200912030506f.txt

Dinar Islam oleh Craig R. Smith, CEO SATC

INTRODUCTION:
WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC GOLD DINAR?

A.D.700 - A.D. 1924: From the very beginning, Muslims used a gold coin called a Gold Dinar as their form of money. The Gold Dinar remained the official Islamic currency until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1924... when it disappeared for 77 years.

But on Nov. 7, 2001 -- less than two months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 -- the Islamic Dinar was officially re-launched by the Islamic Mint in West Malaysia and is now available to the public.

Although a beautiful coin, the Gold Dinar could pose a serious threat to the U.S. economy! In fact, its supporters believe the Gold Dinar will become the official currency of more than 1.5 BILLION Muslims worldwide. Now radical Islam is urging Muslims worldwide to drop the U.S. Dollar and adopt the Gold Dinar as their primary currency!

WHY IS THE DINAR A THREAT TO THE U.S. DOLLAR?

Since the reissue of the Gold Dinar in November 2001, the U.S. Dollar has dropped to a RECORD LOW against the euro... while the price of gold has SOARED from about $260 per ounce to an 8-year RECORD HIGH of over $410 per ounce. And this is just the beginning!

As the dollar continues to drop, the priced-for-perfection stock market could be impacted dramatically. Unprepared investors could lose BILLIONS! It's no coincidence that Osama bin Laden chose to strike the World Trade Center on Sept. 11... Why?

Because, the World Trade Center represented the heart and soul of the U.S. economy. And destroying the U.S. economy is the main pillar of bin Laden's strategy to bring down the United States.

Back in 1997, there was a huge and devastating currency raid by the famous trader, George Soros, who leveled Asian monetary units and caused the major Asian economies to falter. It is true that some of those economies have not fully recovered. However, it is also true that history may point to this currency raid and raider as the germination of the seed for the uniting factor of Islamic economic power that changed the economic and monetary world.

FROM OIL FOR DOLLARS ... TO ... OIL FOR GOLD!

On Jan 18 Forbes reported that Sell oil for gold, Mahathir tells Saudi Arabia ... "Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia should sell oil for gold, not dollars, to avoid being "short-changed" by a decline in the U.S. currency ... He suggested countries tally their total annual imports and exports and settle the difference at the end of the year in "gold dinars."

Recent news supports the idea that the Gold Dinar, with support from 53 other Islamic nations, is a planned offensive against the use of the dollar as a settlement currency for oil. It is perceived, and correctly so, that the Islamic world is controlled via the use of the US dollar as the main settlement currency.

When I say "controlled" I mean whatever happens economically in the USA is exported there via the dollar. Dollars exchanged for the Gold Dinar currency as a measure for gold settlements quarterly or gold convertible to pay for certain oil imports would end all the debate of whether or not gold has a place in the monetary system.

CAN RADICAL ISLAM CONVINCE MUSLIMS TO USE THE GOLD DINAR INSTEAD OF THE DOLLAR?

IF it was just the radical fundamentalists that were pushing the gold Dinar, you could presume that this movement would never get off the ground, BUT it is not.

On Jan. 8, 2004 the Malaysian Star reports, "Malaysian gold mine bought to promote gold dinar -- MALAYSIA-BASED IGD Practice (Labuan) Ltd is buying into a gold mine in Kazakhstan in a bid to promote the use of gold dinar globally."

According to John Myers, Outstanding Investments A 1,300-year-old gold dagger;

"Many Muslims believe that the United States is responsible for the enormous devastation suffered by hundreds of millions of Muslims during the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997. This ANGER will provide a powerful incentive for Muslims to get even with the United States by selling dollars and buying Islamic Gold Dinars.

Just take a look at this quote from the Islamic Mint Web site:

"... he heard the Messenger of Allah say: "'A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing [left] which will be of use save a dinar...'"
-- Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

I think it's obvious. These folks don't just want the dollar to drop, they want the U.S. dollar to disappear. Permanently!

Last year SwissAmerica.com posted a ground-breaking story by Jim Sinclair, "The Gold Dinar: A Nuclear Wild Card," which quoted the Islamic "AL-FATH AL-'ALI AL-MALIKI" (PP. 164-165)

"This Fatwa considers paper-money to be fulus, because it only represents money and does not have value as merchandise. It follows that since Zakat cannot be paid in fulus, which has no value as merchandise, it cannot be paid in paper-money, which value as weight of paper is null. On this basis, it becomes clear the urgent need to restore the use of the Dinar and the Dirham as payment of Zakat. If the millions of Muslims who now make their payment of Zakat in paper money would do it in newly minted Dinars and Dirham's, they will put in circulation millions of gold and silver coins into the mainstream of daily commercial activities of our communities. That single act will became the most important political act of the century, opening the path towards the establishment our own halal free currency breaking away from the usurious financial system. The return to the payment of zakat in gold and silver is an essential part of the reestablishment of Islam."

Those are serious words and should not be taken lightly. You see, the establishment of a gold-based currency is rebellion against the IMF as it is distinctly forbidden under IMF rules.

RESTORING THE FOURTH PILLAR OF ISLAM: ZAKAT IN GOLD & SILVER

Here is where the Gold Dinar story gets interesting -- and even somewhat ironic to those who understand the Judeo-Christian principle of both tithing and the biblical requirement of just weights and measures in an honest money system. [More on these topics at our Christian Worldview of Economic website (www.true-wealth.com) SEE ... INFLATION: THE PRICE OF UNHOLY MONEY ... TITHING: THE PATHWAY TO BLESSING].

According to Islam, Muhammad was reported to have said, �Islam is based upon five pillars:
� to make Shahadataan (declaration of faith)
� to establish Salaah (formal prayer)
� to make Sawm (fasting in the month of Ramadaan)
� to give Zakat (or Zakaah) (charity)
� to perform Hajj (pilgrimage to the Ka'bah)."

It is this fourth �pillar� that I want to focus on for a moment. The fundamentalist branch of Islam (about 10% of 1.3 billion followers � that�s 130 million! � about 1/3 of U.S. population) holds to the belief system stated above � �The return to the payment of Zakat in gold and silver is an essential part of the reestablishment of Islam."

The literal meaning of the word Zakat is: grow (in goodness) or 'increase', 'purifying' or 'making pure'. The vital importance of Zakat is reflected in Islamic law: "My mercy encompasses all things, but I will specify it for the righteous who give Zakat" (7:156). �Zakat must be given away "on the day of harvest" (6:141). Whenever we receive "net income," the "known amount" of Zakat should be paid or set aside. This known amount is 2.5%.� SOURCE: Submission.org

According to Viewislam.com��Zakat (or Zakaah) is an obligatory form of charity on savings. It is not an income tax, but a savings tax. Its major recipients are the working poor, who cannot meet all of their needs without some additional help, and the destitute, who cannot even meet their basic needs. It is also used to pay off the debts of those who are unable to pay off their own debts, to free slaves and ransom prisoners of war and to reconcile the hearts of new Muslims who may not yet have a firm foundation of faith. Other lawful recipients are stranded travelers, those engaged in jihad and employees of the state working to collect and distribute zakaah. Their wages come from it.

"Zakaah is due on the following forms of wealth: Gold and silver, Business inventory, Livestock, Agricultural produce and even buried treasure. The amount due is 2.5% of savings when it reaches the equivalent value of 85 grams (approximately three ounces) of gold. This minimum amount on which zakaah is due is called the nisaab. Although some scholars say that money should be pegged to the nisaab of silver, i.e., 595 grams, the majority considers gold to be a more reasonable peg for developed economies." [The Practice of Zakat by country]

So, under Islamic law Zakat is a form of Muslin tithing to God for the support of the less fortunate or jihad -- and it is to be paid in gold or silver, not paper currencies without any intrinsic value.

It is clear that the restoration of a gold and silver dinar is part of the mission of Islamic fundamentalist and, if successful, it could send the value of the U.S dollar spiraling downward if the Arab world decides to start valuing the price of oil in gold dinars instead of U.S. dollars.

CONCLUSION: BE PREPARED FOR THE THIRD GREAT JIHAD!

The U.S. dollar has never had as many enemies as it has today. Does it make sense to have all of your assets linked to the U.S. dollar right now -- OR -- to have a portion of your assets directly linked to gold?

According to author and geopolitical expert, Larry Abrahams ...

This war [on Terror] is what the Jihadists themselves are calling the "Third Great Jihad." They are operating within the framework of a time line which reaches back to the very creation of Islam in the seventh century and are presently attempting to recreate the dynamics which gave rise to the religion in the first two hundred years of its existence.

The strategy for this "holy war" did not begin with the planning of the destruction of the World Trade Center. It began with the toppling of the Shah of Iran back in the late 1970�s. With his plans and programs to "westernize" his country, along with his close ties to the U.S. and subdued acceptance of the State of Israel, the Shah was the soft target.

The Third Jihad now had a base of operations and the oil wealth to support its grand design or what they call the "Great Caliphate". What this design calls for is the replacement of all secular leadership in any country with Muslim majorities. This would include, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, all the Emirates, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia, Indonesia and finally Israel.

As a part of this strategy, forces of the jihad will infiltrate governments and the military as a prelude to taking control, once the secular leadership is ousted or assassinated. Such was the case in Lebanon leading to the Syrian occupation and in Egypt with the murder of Anwar Sadat, along with the multiple attempts on the lives of Hussein in Jordan, Mubarak of Egypt and Musharraf in Pakistan. Pakistan is a particular prize because of its nuclear weapons.

The long-range strategy of the Third Jihad counts on three strategic goals. First, the U.S. withdrawing from the region just as it did in Southeast Asia, following Vietnam. Second, taking control of the oil wealth in the Muslim countries, which would be upwards to 75% of known reserves; third, using nuclear weapons or other WMDs to annihilate Israel. A further outcome of successfully achieving these objectives would be to place the United Nations as the sole arbiter in East/West negotiations and paralyze western resistance, leading to total withdrawal from all Islamic dominated countries.

We are in the battle of our lives, a battle which will go on for many years possibly even generations. If we fail to understand what we are facing or falter in the challenge of "knowing our enemy" the results will be catastrophic. Imagine a world where al Qaeda regimes control 75% of the world's oil, have at their disposal nuclear weapons, legions of willing suicide soldiers, and our national survival is dependent on the good graces of Kofi Annan and the United Nations.

SOURCE: THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: The Third Great Jihad

My recommendation is to understand that terrorism can take many forms, including currencies. The rapid decline of the U.S. dollar in the last two years should be telling us something which historians have long warned ... "the destiny of a currency determines the destiny of a nation."

Every paper currency without a gold/silver backing in history has ultimately fallen to it's true value ... ZERO!! Could it happen to the precious U.S. dollar? YES!

The U.S. Constitution demands a gold and silver-backed money system. Recently New Hampshire proposed moving to a gold/silver state currency (HB-1342) for that very reason. Other states are now considering the same.

My advice is to get ahead of the currency curve by converting a reasonable portion of your assets into gold, thereby putting yourself on a "Personal Gold Standard." Your alternative is to wait for next attack upon the U.S. dollar either from within ... under the crushing weight of our national debt and deficits ... or from without ... under the weight of international competition from a gold-backed currency like the Gold Dinar.

---

Article from: http://www.swissamerica.com/article.php?=SID&art=01-2004/200401220305f.txt

Sejarah Dinar Dan Dirham: di petik dari Islamic Mint

The History of the Dinar & Dirham

In the beginning the Muslims used gold and silver by weight and the dinar and dirhams that they used were made by the Persians.

The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver dirhams of the Sassanian Yezdigird III, struck during the Khalifate of Uthman, radiy'allahu anhu. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". Since then the writing in Arabic of the Name of Allah and parts of Qur'an on the coins became a custom in all mintings made by Muslims.

Under what was known as the coin standard of the Khalif Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the weight of 10 dirhams was equivalent to 7 dinars (mithqals)

In the year 75 (695 CE) the Khalifah Abdalmalik ordered Al-Hajjaj to mint the first dirhams, thus he established officially the standard of Umar Ibn al-Khattab. In the next year he ordered the dirhams to be minted in all the regions of the Dar al-Islam. He ordered that the coins be stamped with the sentence: "Allah is Unique, Allah is Eternal". He ordered the removal of human figures and animals from the coins and that they be replaced with letters.

This command was then carried on throughout all the history of Islam. The dinar and the dirham were both round, and the writing was stamped in concentric circles. Typically on one side it was written the "tahlil" and the "tahmid", that is, "la ilaha ill'Allah" and "alhamdulillah"; and on the other side was written the name of the Amir and the date. Later on it became common to introduce the blessings on the Prophet, salla'llahu alayhi wa sallam, and sometimes, ayats of the Qur'an.

Gold and silver coins remained official currency until the fall of the Khalifate. Since then, dozens of different paper currencies were made in each of the new postcolonial national states created from the dismemberment of Dar al-Islam.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

And amongst the People of the Book there are those who, if you were to entrust them with a treasure (qintar), he would return it to you. And amongst them is he who, if you were to entrust him with a dinar would not return it to you, unless you kept standing over him. Qur'an (3,75)

Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi, the greatest authority on Qur'anic Law wrote in his famous "Ahkam al-Qur'an" about this ayat:

"The benefit that can be taken from this is the prohibition of entrusting the People of the Book with goods".

Qadi Abu Bakr said: "The question concerning entrusting property is legislated by the text of Qur'an." This means that the ayat is a legal judgement of absolute validity and of the greatest importance to the deen.

Entrusting wealth to non-Muslims is not allowed, but furthermore, taking a non-Muslim as a partner outside Dar al-Islam (where we stand over them) is extremely restricted, because they might cheat or might use our wealth in forbidden transactions.

Since paper-money is a promise of payment, can it be permitted to trust the issuers while they hold the payment (our property) outside our jurisdiction? History has also demonstrated repeatedly that paper money has been a permanent instrument of default and cheating the Muslims. In addition, Islamic Law does not permit the use of a promise of payment as a medium of exchange.

Article from: http://www.islamicmint.com/islamicdinar/history.html

Gold Bullion

Gold bars are called gold bullion bars or ingots. Gold bars range in weight from one gram to 24 kilograms. According to the dictionary the word bullion derives from the Old French words billon (from bille, stick) and bouillon - bubble on the surface of boiling liquid (from boilir, to boil). The word ingot comes the Old English word goten (in+goten to pour in). Thus, ingot can refer to a bar or a mould for casting bars.Bullion refers to any form of gold whose value is based only on the quantity and quality present. This value is specified in terms of weight, Troy ounces, grams, or kilograms, and purity.The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has established a standard, ISO 4217, that defines three-letter codes and three digit numbers for currencies including gold bullion. Gold bullion's code is XAU and number is 959. By definition gold bullion, XAU, is expressed in US dollars per one Troy ounce of gold.Coins, such as the gold bullion Krugerrand, are called bullion coins because it is only the gold content that is being valued. However, bullion coins do carry a premium because they are minted and are widely recognized.Gold bullion bars are either cast or minted. Cast bars are normally produced directly from gold that has been melted. The traditional method is to pour molten gold into a mould. A modern method is to put gold granules or cut pieces of gold in a mould and melt them in a furnace.Minted gold bullion bars are cut from a cast gold bar that has been rolled to a uniform thickness. The cutting is done with a die to create blanks that have the required dimensions and weight. The surfaces of minted gold bullion bars are smooth and even. Markings are applied by to the gold bullion bars buy a minting press. Minted gold bullion bars are manufactured in a variety of shapes and often incorporated in jewellery.The gold industry and exchanges specify the types of gold bars they will accept. These gold bars are referred to as "good delivery" bars meaning they meet the required specifications for the particular industry use or exchange. For example, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) specifies good delivery gold bullion bars must be 400 ounces of 99.95% gold or better. The COMEX requires 100 ounce gold bullion bars of 99.95% gold or better.

Article from: http://goldprice.org/gold-coin/2009/04/gold-bullion.html

Gold

Gold is one of the chemical elements. Gold's chemical symbol is Au and its atomic number is 79. Its chief characteristics are that it is inert and malleable. Inert means gold does not interact with other chemicals or compounds. Gold doesn't tarnish and even the strongest acids have no effect. Thus, gold lasts forever - and stays shiny the whole time!Gold has many industrial uses, but its main historical uses have been for jewellery and money - both are a store of value. Gold has been used as a store of value for at least 5000 years. Gold is measured and prices are quoted in Troy Ounces and Grams. As an example of gold's ability to store value, 2000 years ago one ounce of gold would buy a fine man's outfit. Today one ounce of gold will still buy a good quality man's wool suit with enough left over to buy a few shirts, a tie, some underwear, socks, a pair of shoes and a belt!Gold has been called a "barometer of fear." When people are anxious about the economy - they turn to gold and bid the price up. The two main things that make people anxious are deflation and inflation. Most think that deflation is "falling prices" and inflation is "rising prices." Actually, rising and falling prices are symptoms. The root causes are decreases (deflating) or increasing (inflating) of the money supply. Gold has the remarkable ability to store value in both deflationary and inflationary times.The correct way to think about owning gold is as insurance. Gold is a store of value virtually independent of economic conditions. Unlike shares of a company or government bonds - gold will always retain value. Gold's most important use is insurance against the paper (fiat) currency of the country you live in. Almost every country has had at least one major "currency crisis" over the last one hundred years. Those that had some of their wealth in gold survived. Unfortunately many people saw their saving become worthless - sometimes in a matter of days.So, think of gold as insurance. Do not think of gold as a way to "make money." Do not try and "time the market." It is better to buy gold in small amounts regularly, every month for example, over a period of time.The percentage of your total wealth devoted to gold is a personal decision and depends on your particular situation. A conservative goal would be ten percent. In times of uncertainty the percentage should be much higher.Do not worry about selling gold when that time comes. Gold is recognized and valued everywhere in the world. It is easier to sell gold than to buy gold! Of course gold can be used in barter or trade as it has for thousands of years.To summarize, gold is an insurance policy against economic uncertainty. Gold can protect against both deflation and inflation. Everyone should store some of their wealth in gold if at all possible.

Article from: http://goldprice.org/gold/2008/11/gold.html

London Gold Market Report Friday 12th February 2010

THE PRICE OF GOLD lost half yesterday's rise vs. the US Dollar on Friday in London, heading into the weekend some 1.9% higher from last week as government bonds rose and European shares held flat overall.Gold priced in Euros rose back above €800 an ounce, nearing yesterday's 1-week high ­– and only 1.5% below its all-time peak of Dec. – after Thursday's EU summit ended with no action on Greece's deficit crisis.The Euro today fell to a new 9-month low on news that Germany's economic recovery stalled in the last quarter of 2009."Clearly, the Dollar price of metals does badly when the Dollar is rising," says the VM Group's latest Fortis Metals Monthly report."There is [also] good reason to believe the price of metals in other currencies will fall" when the Dollar rises on the forex market, the London consultancy adds, "because there will be a real impact from a rise in the Dollar price, and the Dollar area is important for producers and consumers of most metals."Reviewing the Dollar's three bull runs since 1980, however, metal prices measured in a basket of other leading currencies "actually tended to increase" in 1995-2002.In the Dollar's bull run of 2008-2009, all metals fell "except gold". "In Euro terms," notes the latest Weekly Commodities from French bank Natixis, the recent "fall in gold prices was only 2.5%, demonstrating the importance of your perspective when considering the use of gold as a safe-haven store of value. "Gold may be an excellent store of value in protecting you from debasement of your own currency, but it may be of little use when it is someone else's currency that is under pressure." As Germany today reported zero GDP growth for the last 3 months of 2009, the 16-nation Eurozone said industrial production shrank 5.0% year-on-year in Dec.That helped drive the Euro down through $1.3600 – a level which set a 28-month high after first being hit at the end of the Dollar's 2002-2005 bear market.Here in London, meantime, "Investors' patience with the UK's deficit [may be] closer to breaking point", notes Marc Ostwald at Monument Securities, adding that the Bank of England could stem the rise in interest rates by extending its £191bn purchase of government debt.But "If investors are [thus] frustrated in venting their anxieties," warns Ostwald, "the risk is they will find an alternative channel through the currency market, where the dynamics of their selling may be less easily controllable."Ten-year UK gilt yields today slipped back to 4.01% as prices were bid higher and the FTSE100 stock index cut this week's rise to 1.7%.Gold priced in Sterling eased £5 lower after very nearly touching £700 an ounce on Thursday."We see a number of headwinds for investors in gold, most notably potential increases in interest rates," said banking & markets analyst Daniel Major at the Royal Bank of Scotland in a report this week."The opportunity cost of investing in commodities is going to be important."Currency strategists at RBS – now 84% owned by the UK government, and set to award £1.3 billion in bonuses after recording a 2009 loss of £7bn – are forecasting "further strength in the Dollar against the Euro," says Major, "and potential rate hikes in the second half of next year."Both of those are potentially negative factors for gold investment."In the US on Thursday, "A tidal wave of commercial-loan failures" threatens more than 3,000 small US banks announced the Congressional Oversight Panel, while new data from RealtyTrac showed a 15% year-on-year rise in US home foreclosures."If history repeats itself," RealtyTrac's CEO James Saccacio is quoted by Tech Ticker, "we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan-modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works."

Adrian Ash http://news.goldseek.com/BullionVault/1265984081.php

Hati-hati bila membaca berita seperti ini ..

10 reasons why gold price will boom
Published on February 10, 2010 15:00:00 IST
Gold price has been in a volatile condition in the last two months. While some analysts have predicted that gold price is doomed and would plunge to a low of $800 per ounce, others hold faith saying that the yellow metal price will only continue to rise and rise.Following are 10 reasons why gold price will continue to boom:

The Stimulus Effect: Including $1 trillion in cash infusions, the stimulus plan will pump $9.7 trillion into the economy, according to Bloomberg. As the Globe & Mail reports flatly, "Many believe that the monetary stimulus efforts will cause a spike in inflation," driving gold higher.

COMEX Traders Predict $1,600 Gold... by December: If gold trades at or above $1,600 by December, some 100,000 call option contracts will be "in the money." Big-money players Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are reportedly helping to drive the action, ahead of a huge purchase of gold futures contracts.

"Big Money" Inflows: In 2008, NYC-based hedge fund Paulson & Co's flagship fund returned 37%, as the world markets burned. Paulson's bullish on gold, big time, including the Mar. 17 purchase of 39.9 million shares of AngloGold, worth $1.28 billion. Other major hedge funds are piling into gold, too, including Eton Park Capital, Greenlight Capital and Hayman Advisors.

China's Doubling Down! China just revealed that it has doubled its gold holdings to 1,054 tons. Yet that still only equals 1.6% of its overall reserves. As China moves out of U.S. Treasuries and into gold, this will help fuel the next leg of the run-up.

Demand Building across the Board: Worldwide demand for gold jumped by $29.7 billion in the first quarter, a 36% bolt, according to the World Gold Council. Demand for gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) rocketed 540%... another trigger for the coming gold boom.

The Paper Dollar's 30% Drop: Since 2001, the U.S. Dollar Index has tanked 30%... while gold has risen 300%. With all the downward pressure on the dollar, and inflation on the way, this trend is about to pick up steam.

Gold/Dow Ratio Signals $8,000 Gold: During major gold bull markets (and corresponding equity bears), gold and the Dow converge at a 1-to-1 ratio. During the last gold bull, the Dow sank to 850 and gold rose to $850. The Dow is now over 8,000... But even if it fell to 4,000, we could see $4,000 gold before this bull run is over!

U.S. Treasury Dept. Signals $5,468 Gold: Currently, the U.S. government holds about 286.9 million ounces of gold. It has printed about $1.569 trillion worth of paper dollars. If each dollar were backed by gold, that would put the price at $5,468.80 an ounce.

Riding the "Commodity Super Cycle": Jim Rogers expects the Commodity Super Cycle to drive commodity prices higher for another eight years... including gold. And he's stockpiling the yellow metal by the day. Every pullback, says Rogers, is another buying opportunity. Considering he's been dead right on every major trend of the past 40 years, we wouldn't bet against him.

Historic Model Predicts $6,214 Gold: During the last gold bull, the yellow metal ran from $35 an ounce to $850, a 24-fold increase. This bull started with gold at $255.95, meaning that if historic trends hold, the price target would be $6,214 an ounce.Courtesy: moneymorning.com
Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/futures-trading/technical/10-reasons-why-gold-price-will-boom-14406.html

Artikel ini diambil dari laman web Public Gold.

Penipuan Pembelian Emas

Sering kali penipuan pembelian emas berlaku seperti yang disiarkan diakhbar. Pembelian emas dengan kaedah2 yang menarik, modal yang sedikit dan pulangan yang besar menyebabkan ramai yang terjebak. Kaedah-kaedah tersebut amat mengelirukan dan kita diberikan angka-angka yang menarik sebagai keuntungan. Pada awalnya memang cukup menarik, dan biasanya masalah mula timbul beberapa bulan kemudian.

Pembelian dan pemilikan emas, tidak memerlukan kaedah-kaedah tersebut. Ia hanya memerlukan wang tunai dan sikap yang positif. Sebenarnya pembelian emas amat mudah. Cara yang selamat ialah membeli terus dari Maybank untuk KE. Pembelian emas daripada pihak lain memerlukan kepercayaan kepada mereka. Kalau kita tidak percaya mereka boleh membeli kembali, cuba elakan kerana berbagai- bagai alasan yang akan diberikan.

Ada juga yang memajakan emas2 mereka untuk mendapatkan tunai dan membeli lagi emas. Bagi saya ini bukanlah cara yang sesuai walaupun 'legal' dari segi undang-undang untuk memiliki emas dengan 'segera' dan 'banyak'.

Sikap sabar dan berwaspada akan membawa kejayaan. Pembelian 'wang' emas ialah untuk jangkamasa panjang.

Understading Gold in a Goldless World

By Alan Lemerande
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Lemerande/feb032010.html

What you need to keep in mind is that the floating exchange rate system is essentially a dishonest system, a system of constantly changing weights and measures that only appears to have stability because a tremendous amount of work goes into the system to attempt to keep it that way. Martin Armstrong (www.martinarmstrong.org) is probably better than anyone else at elucidating the inadequacies and inherent detrimental qualities of such a system. Where no media of exchange have fixed values and are only regulated by artificial interest rate controls and quantitative easing, i.e. printing of money, i.e. inflation, there simply cannot be lasting prosperity or honest production without corruption of numerous processes. A good analogy has been given several times by James Dines, that being like a carpenter trying to build a house with a ruler that was constantly changing the length of its inches. Such a task would be problematic at best. Impossible at worst.

Commerce, trade and industry, all bases for what might be termed civilization, the ability of one man to freely trade, without fighting, his products or services with another, must have an honest, unchanging system of weights and measures, i.e. money, or the system will inevitably break down and cease to function.

Through trial and error for thousands of years, civilization after civilization has found only one thing that can do this. That one thing is gold. I understand your concern and argument about gold having no intrinsic value. All I can tell you is that gold has acted as money in every culture, in every civilized society since the beginning of man. Wars have been fought over it. Kingdoms have been destroyed over it. There is a reason for that.

When paper currencies are strong, gold acts as an industrial metal. When currencies collapse, as they always do, gold remonetizes and becomes money again, until things are set in order. The mistake in reasoning you are making is the same many great rulers have made throughout history, mistaking a time of relative peace to mean the end of war forever. Such a ruler drops his defenses and spends his funds on other aspects of life until a foreign power invades him and massacres his men and enslaves and carries away his women and children.

James Turk gave me the best bit of advice anyone has involving gold. He advised me to buy some and hold it in my hand. I regret that when you were here the other night I did not pull out a one ounce gold coin and allow you to hold it for a few moments. Thousands of years of history sits right there in your palm, and you suddenly get an understanding of what I am talking about. It is difficult to describe without experiencing it. It is quite real, however.

The fact that you have trouble seeing the real value of gold is not surprising. It is that exact difficulty that has been enabling me to prosper financially during this cycle as gold continues to remonetize. It is very difficult to make money in any venture that others are acutely aware of involving its inherent advantages. Eventually, that time will come, as it always has, and as if must, where the general populace suddenly recognizes that there must be something more to gold than just a name. Members of the greater society around us will suddenly realize how much they absolutely need something that only weeks before they considered totally worthless. When this happens, things will change suddenly to reflect a new monetary reality as they have done repeatedly for millennia. I write a "new" monetary reality here. The truth, however, is that such a reality is quite ancient. The only truly "new" thing is our inability to understand it.

Be careful in calling gold just a metal with no intrinsic value as you would in calling the Bible just another book or the Complete Works of Shakespeare just another collection of plays. Indeed, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

All the best,

Dr. Alan Lemerande Jr., M.D.

****

Dr. Al Lemerande is an emergency room physician, gold investor and freelance writer, and he hopes you are having a great day.

Emas Malaysia

Emas yang terdapat di Malaysia ada berbagai-bagai jenis seperti 'gold bar', 'gold bullion', barang kemas dan dinar. Ianya berbagai bentuk dan saiz.

Kijang Emas (KE), adalah gold bullion Malaysia, yang di keluarkan oleh bank negara malaysia. Ianya mempunyai 3 saiz iaitu, 1 oz, 1/2 oz dan 1/4 oz. 1 oz bersamaan 31.105g. Ia adalah emas asli 999.99.

Oleh itu ia sangat lembut dan mudah kemek dan tercalar. KE hanya boleh didapati dari cawangan Maybank yang tertentu. Sila rujuk kepada laman web Maybank. Untuk membelinya amat mudah. Kalau ada akaun di Maybank, kita hanya perlu menulis di atas sekeping cek. Nak bayar tunai pun boleh. Simpan resit dan gold coin KE di tempat yang selamat. Kita hanya boleh berurusan waktu dan hari bekerja sahaja.

Satu syarikat yang baru beroperasi iaitu Public Gold, juga mengeluarkan gold bar, dinar dan gold coin. Harga dan cara membelinya boleh di perolehi melalui laman web mereka. Kita boleh berurusan dengan mereka setiap masa. Banyak syarikat lain juga mengeluarkan emas mereka, seperti dinar emas oleh Ar Rahnu.

Bentuk penyimpanan emas lain ialah 'Gold Paper' ie akaun bank yang di beli dengan nilai harga emas. Setakat ini hanya Public Bank dan Maybank yang mempunyai perkhidmatan ini. Dari segi hukum syarak, jenis pembelian ini di kira haram kerana ketiadaan 'barang emas' yang nyata.

Saya lebih gemar berurusan dengan Maybank untuk membeli KE, kerana mudah memperolehinya dan 'back up' kewangan yang kukuh. Tidak perlu membawa wang tunai. Urusan hanya melalui cek dan akaun sahaja. Margin harga jual beli sekitar 3-6%.

Harga Emas

Untuk melihat harga tempatan, sila rujuk kepada laman web Bank Negara Malaysia (www.bnm.gov.my) dan Maybank (www.maybank2u.com.my)

Harga emas dunia lebih kepada nilai USD. Ketika ini harga emas berlawanan dengan USD iaitu harga emas naik, USD turun atau sebaliknya. Ramai melihat emas sebagai pelaburan dan sebagai 'precious metal', bukan sebagai mata wang. Bagi saya emas sudah di gunakan oleh umat islam sebagai mata wang. Wang kertas sebenarnya tiada nilai yang kukuh, ianya lebih kepadan'jaminan' bank untuk membayar nilai barang tanpa sandaran khusus. Ianya sebagai satu resit hutang!

Banyak faktor yang menyebabkan harga emas turun dan naik. Pada asasnya ialah permintaan dan nilai USD. Bila pemintaan naik atau/dan USD turun, nilai emas naik dan sebaliknya. Kadang2 spekulasi pembelian emas oleh bank pusat, berita ekonomi yang teruk juga boleh mempengaruhi harga emas.

Kita menyimpan untuk jangkamasa panjang. Adalah rugi kalau beli emas dan menjualnya dalam jangkamasa pendek. Kalau dilihat graf, semenjak 2002, harga emas semakin meningkat. Belilah emas jika ada duit lebih yang tak akan di gunakan, dan di simpan emas dengan baik dan di tempat yang selamat.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wang Kertas Dan Emas

Saya mula menyedari kepentingan emas sebagai 'wang' sebenarnya semenjak Julai 2008. Bila memikirkan bagaimana keadaan ekonomi di dunia yang selalu bercelaru, satu kaedah yang betul perlu di cari. Umat Islam sendiri telah menunjukan dengan begitu baik, bahawa emas dan perak lah satu-satunya yang melambangkan 'wang' yang sebenarnya.
Perkara-perkara yang disebut didalam Al Quran pasti ada makna dan kaitan dengan kehidupan. Emas dan perak perlu di keluarkan zakat.
Pada zaman ini, kita telah dipermudahkan untuk memperolehi bacaan daripada internet dan buku-buku yang menarik. Kita boleh menganalisa fakta-fakta berkenaan emas dan perak dari masa ke semasa. Dalam masa yang sama, jangan pula kita terlupa mendalami ilmu quran, hadith dan sebagainya.