Gold As A Hedge Against Inflation

By Garrett Strong

Gold is a hedge against inflation and a way to preserve your wealth. The movements in gold have been huge lately. The rate of inflation is about currently about 10%, and its essential to be invested in gold coins, gold bars, and gold bullion.

To protect yourself from out of control government spending and sky high inflation your money needs to be in gold bullion, gold ingots, and gold bullion coins

The demand for gold is going through the roof. The demand in 2008 was up 64% as scared investors searched for a safe haven for their money. Countries like China, India, Russia, and Arab states have been steadily increasing their gold reserves. India just made a huge purchase of 200 tons from the IMF.

The amount of gold available for each person is miniscule at 23 grams. That is only about $840 worth per person. The value of all above ground gold inventories is about $3.7 trillion, and is going up rapidly.

There is around--0,000 tons of gold above ground, and that number increases each year by 2,600 tons. That is an increase of about 2% per year, but that doesnt even come close to satisfying the demand.

The demand for gold each year is about 4,000 tons, so the mines are coming up short by about 1,400 tons. Until the recent gold price highs, gold has been selling for around the cost of production.

The laws of supply and demand have surely been lacking, and not making much since in this market. In 2001 the price of gold was about $250/oz and the current gold price is about $1,040/oz. So, even though the price has risen significantly, economists suggest that it should be at around $7,000/oz due to inflation.

Any situation where demand exceeds supply means the price must go higher, but until recently it has not. The gold price has risen from $250/oz in 2001 to $1,140/oz today, but the inflation adjusted price shows that gold needs to be around $6800.

This price manipulation by our government has occurred to keep the dollar falsely propped up. Central banks have played a part by selling gold bars onto the market and sending the price of gold lower. These tactics are coming to an end because central banks are running out of gold.

Paper gold like exchange traded funds (GLD) and COMEX contracts only give you price exposure to gold. With these investments you do not really own the gold. Some investors have even complained that the COMEX is defaulting when customers request physical delivery of their gold. The COMEX does not have the gold they claim to have.

ETF shares or COMEX contracts will only leave you wondering if the gold is really there. These investment vehicles are the governments way of keeping investors in dollars therefore strengthening dollars.

All of these gold suppression tactics are starting to come unraveled, and with inflation setting in there is no doubt the gold price will continue to explode. Stay away from paper investments if you can, unless you know for sure that they are legitimately holding the gold. Stick with American Gold Coins, American Gold Eagles, and gold bars.

The falling dollar is enough reason to invest in gold. The current price of gold is $1,140/oz, and the price of gold per ounce one month ago was $1,058/oz. Gold is the only safe bet in this inflationary environment. You wont be sorry if you invest in gold now! - 23199

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To learn more about whygold is a hedge against inflation then check out my site.

Learning Forex Basics

By Frank Rivera

The foreign currency exchange market is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing investment choices in the world. More than a trillion dollars each day is exchanged on the forex market. This is a truly global market that operates 24 hours a day. So why is this massive marketplace becoming so popular and what is forex?

Trading on the forex market is simply the act of exchanging the currency from one country for the currency of another. When the values of those currencies alter, you trade back for your original currency again, hopefully with a profit in your hand at the end of the trade.

Let's say that you are comparing the United States Dollar to the Great Britain Pound. If you thought that the United States Dollar would appreciate in value as compared to the Great Britain Pound, then you would buy. Then if the currency exchange rate goes up, you close out the trade and you've made the difference between what you bought it at and what you sold it for.

Pips are the pricing units using when you're trading currencies. Your trading prices will always be quoted in pips and you'll notice you're quoted two sets of prices. This is called your spread. You will need to spend a bit of time understanding how the pricing works if you want to succeed in forex trading.

There are a lot of different strategies available to trade forex including scalping, swing trading, and trending. Scalping is one of the most popular methods of trading and it utilizes a lot of quick, small transactions. You decide to buy a certain currency and then you sell it a few moments later. In this manner, you can gain a lot of small profits and hopefully minimize any risk to your account.

There are some amazingly versatile forex trading products, services and programs available to help solidify your trading strategies and formulate your research basis. These can range from coaching programs to forex robots that generate automated trading signals. If you haven't ventured into the forex market before, then learning materials can be of huge assistance to you while your experience levels grow. Just be sure you investigate any programs or products you find before you pay money.

With so many products on the market, you can be sure that some of them are scams. This is why you need to do your homework and talk to other people who have been successful with a system before you buy it. You can read reviews and see customer comments on pretty much any product you'll find.

The same rules apply when you're trying to find the right forex broker. Because the forex market is global and the internet is a global medium, you might find the broker is in a country where the regulations are not as strict as they could be. If you can, try to be sure to find a broker who operates from the same country in which you live.

While the forex market can be incredibly lucrative, it can also be equally volatile. Take a bit of time to learn how the market place works before you begin trading. - 23199

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Low Risk Option Trading System

By Donald Scott

NEW OPTIONS TRADING SYSTEM I have always considered my option strategies to be very safe, but recently, I developed a new twist on things that has given me a way to trade with risk-free insurance. I'm very excited about my new trading system, and I would like to tell you about it.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Over the last few months I have developed a new option trading system which I would say is quite simply phenomenal. I have invented a way to trade options with virtually risk free insurance. In the past I also traded with insurance; however, it had a price. Now, my insurance policy does not cut into my monthly profit potential, and in fact, it can add to my returns.

AN OPTION TRADING EXAMPLE Let's say you want to trade an Iron Condor, but you want to do this with insurance to the upside and to the downside. Well, 99.99% of all option traders only know how to design a trade where the insurance will eat up most of the profits if the Iron Condor is profitable, so it's almost senseless to even use insurance with an Iron Condor. With my newly designed Risk-Free Insurance Method, I can trade the Iron Condor with surrounding insurance plays which do not take away from the Condor profits. In fact, many of the insurance plays will also make money while simultaneously adding insurance to the position. It's a win-win situation.

PUTTING IT TO USE Finally I would like to say that I am very excited to put this new option trading system to use. I've already been implementing the new concepts into my current options portfolio, and I am seeing instant results. While I will be extremely happy if the market goes sideways, I will be even happier if the market moves over the next two weeks. Thank you for reading this article, and good luck in your option trading.

Before leaving today I would just like to let you know that there is an options trading system out there focused on maximum safety and maximum return, and if you just visit my website, then I'll send you a free options video to get you started on the right track. - 23199

About the Author:

Learn Risk Free Insurance Option Trading System focusing on Max Safety & Max Reward Options Trading. You will only find this strategy at San Jose Options Mentoring Course

How To Increase Your Income With Forex Trading

By Tom K Kearns

If you have heard stories about people making great amounts of money with Forex trading, then you probably have an interest in what the Forex market actually is and how you can make money from it too.

The Forex market is a huge multitrillion dollar market that is open twenty-four hours per day. The transactions on the Forex market occur all around the world. On average, there are an estimated 3. 1 trillion dollars traded on the Forex market every day. For this reason, the Forex market is considered the largest financial market in the world. Millions of dollars are exchanged every single second.

The value of the funds entering and leaving the Forex market makes it a very important part of most big financial guru's strategies. The Forex market trades currencies on its market. This makes it a very unique marketplace. Anyone can buy and sell in this market, but the risk can be substantial. The possibility of gains are wide open though too. This makes this the perfect market for beginners and financial titans, as long as you're not afraid of the risk.

You can increase your chances of making money through diligence and good information about the countries and financial markets that are involved in your investment. If you find a currency that is trading cheap based on its economic and political synopsis, it may be a solid investment. To give yourself more security, you may want to look into currencies that are issued by governments with long and stable financial records. The more stability the currency has held, takes away from possible gains a bit, but the security for the investment may be worth the smaller gains.

You actually can't be guaranteed that you will even keep your money in Forex trading. If you invest into currencies that originate from major countries, with a long history of financial stability, you will be more likely to make money or at least maintain your money at its initial value. Countries with strong political stability usually only see moderate decreases in their value. These can still be significant decreases, but they will not be huge percentage losses in very short periods of time.

The risk is offset by the possible reward. The rewards are limitless in this market. There really is no cap to the amount of money you can make from your investments. This makes Forex trading incredibly appealing to investors of all sizes.

Many people are drawn to the glamour and possibility of great financial gains in Forex trading. If you are new to this market, you need to understand that there are many factors that can affect the price of a currency. A thorough knowledge of the country's political system, financial structure, and even the day to day attitudes of the people of the country can be necessary for making a good investment. There are also technical systems available that take all of the complexities out of investing strategies. With these programs, you will be making your buying and selling decisions based on patterns found in the market's history.

If you find the traditional strategy of investing too complex, you may want to look at the markets in a different way. You can use technical analysis to perform Forex trading. This strategy uses repetitive dips and rises in the prices of currencies to judge when to buy and sell. You can also analyze momentum trends in prices to help inform yourself about which way the price is moving in the near future. - 23199

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To learn more about Autotrading the Forex visit Automated Forex Trading Systems.

Commodities ETF

By Ahmad Hassam

If you are interested in investing in commodities than you can invest in a commodity mutual fund! Many people are not aware that commodities as an asset class has a lot of potential especially in the 21st century. It is being predicted that the 21st century belongs to the commodities.

Just buy the shares of the commodity mutual fund and let its NAV appreciate before you can sell for a capital gain. This is the simplest way for you to get involved in investing in commodities as the mutual fund portfolio management will be done by a professional manager and you have to do nothing.

There is another investment vehicle that is really hot right now with the public. ETFs started off some three decades back but became highly popular as investment vehicles in such a short time. Now, you must have heard about the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are really hot investments these days. There are a number of ETFs that invest in commodities.

ETFs have many benefits. They trade like stocks but have the diversification advantages of a mutual fund. Now the good thing about investing in ETFs is that they give you the diversification benefits of a mutual fund with very low fees something like 0.7% as compared to 2-4% of the mutual fund. Driven by the growing demand of commodities by the investors many financial institutions are now offering Commodity ETFs.

ETFs have the added benefit of being able to trade like stocks giving you the powerful combination of diversification and liquidity. So unlike a mutual fund whose net asset value is calculated at the end of the day and the shares of mutual fund cannot be traded during the day, you can go both long or short on ETFs all the time. Something you cannot do with a mutual fund!

ETFs are mostly constructed to mimic some market sector index. Sector ETFs are a hot investment right now. Now, you can find thousands of ETFs in the market on different market sectors, stock indexes, currencies, commodities and so on. This diversification plus liquidity benefit makes an ETF a better investment tool as compared to the mutual fund and the stocks.

The Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Tracking Fund is listed on AMEX and tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index. This index is based on a basket of six commodities: light sweet crude oil, heating oil, gold, aluminum, corn and wheat. The first Commodity ETF in US was launched by Deutsche Bank in the start of 2006.

As always what you need is an ETF that tracks an individual commodity. Now, every month a new ETF gets launched. There are a number of Commodity ETFs that track individual commodities like crude oil, gold and silver. Do your research on Commodity ETFs, you may find a good investment. Now the ETF of our example invests directly in the commodity futures contract. If you have trade futures than you must know that futures are highly volatile. Now one of the downsides of investing in this Commodity ETFs is that it can be fairly volatile as it is based on commodity futures contracts that get rolled monthly. Another downside to this Commodity ETF is that it is based on a basket of six commodities only. - 23199

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !