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