Victory Investment

Posts Tagged ‘Safely’

Gold (element symbol Au) means ‘shining dawn’ in Latin and carries the atomic number of 79. The shiny metal holds value in coins, jewelry and artifacts, and has been a symbol of wealth and power since the beginning of recorded history. It’s been a store of value for more than 5000 years. Historical accounts of ancient Egypt say that gold was abundant than dirt. Millenium later, governments used gold for buying power and commerce, known as the gold standard, where paper money or instruments represented a store of gold reserves. The gold standard came to an end in 1971, and in 1975 the price of gold was finally allowed to fluctuate in the free market.

About 180,000 metric tons of gold have been unearthed in history, which is a little more than the amount needed to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools. More than half of that gold has been mined during the last 50 years. The world’s largest deposits are being depleted, and new large gold discoveries are rare. Extracting gold is most cost efficient in large, easily mined deposits. Since 1880, South Africa has been the source of most of the world’s gold supply. About 50% of all gold ever produced has come from South Africa. In 2007, China overtook South Africa as the world’s largest gold producer. Searching for gold is now a family affair involving small mines in developing countries, where women and children are often employed in hazardous labor at minimal pay. Motivated by rising prices, corporations and individuals are searching for gold the worldwide.

Holders of gold commonly store it in the form of bullion coins or bars, or through investment vehicles like ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), futures contracts or mining company shares . Investing in or owning gold is used most commonly as a hedge against inflation, political or other economic uncertainty. The current economy is no exception. The continued collapse of the U.S. dollar and the failing of the United States economy under the mulatto Muslim President, Barack Hussein Obama, sent many investors to flock to gold as a possible safe haven.

The investment firm Goldman Sachs put a ,650 price target on gold for 2011. As of Oct 7, 2010, gold futures contracts reached an all-time high of ,364.77 (unadjusted for inflation). Like the recent internet and real estate bubble, some claim that gold is starting to show signs of a speculative bubble. With jewelry accounting for two-thirds of the demand for gold worldwide, some analysts say there is no fundamental support for the rally.

Advance fee fraud, romance scams, investment scams and other criminal operations related to gold are increasingly common. Such scams can range from a business claiming to be a gold bar, gold dust or gold coin supplier to an individual involved in the shipping, investment or sale of gold. Gold scams are common in West Africa but no country is immune. Scams can take place in any country. Investing or buying gold via the internet is especially suspectible to fraud and scams. Gold coins, bars and dust can all be manipulated in quality, or even fake.

Gold investments in West Africa are booming, and the relative political stability in Ghana, West Africa has made the country one of the most attractive new mining investments in Africa. Ghana is Africa’s second-largest gold producer after South Africa. Large international players like Newmont Mining Corp and AngloGoldAshanti have been joined by smaller players like Randgold Resources, Keegan Resources, and others. Industry observers see potential for more deposits in Ghana, and consider the country as still under-explored. New gold finds here fast become the acquisition target of large corporations.

Scam and criminal operations are growing at least as fast as the gold boom. More criminals and scammers mean the risk for getting in on the action in West Africa is very high. Gold scams can involve real government agencies and documentation. Criminals and fraudsters can speak the industry lingo and even provide detailed contracts, shipment details and photos of operations and facilities. Ghana gold scammers are quickly becoming experts.

Deals involving gold purchase, shipment or gold investment via the internet is especially prone to fraud and scams. For cases involving West Africa, a Ghana private investigator, due diligence or Ghana background check service should be used to verify representatives and business operations. For reliable and professional services, there is U.S.-based Wymoo® International which has global operations and field investigators in Accra, Ghana. Another option is Oak House Company which is a small private investigation firm in Accra. Investigators conducting due diligence or background checks for gold should have contacts Ghana government agencies like the Ministry of Lands and National Resources, eological Survey Department of Ghana, and the Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation (PMMC).

Many false companies are now registering with government agencies, making the verification process even more complex. Because of all the gold scams that can take place, conducting international due diligence or a background check is key. To be safe, all international gold deals and transactions should be verified by a professional investigation company.

All the Best,

S. Birch
© 2010 S. Birch

As gold prices continue to trend upward, this is the time to zero in on your investment strategy. Historically, investing in gold has been an excellent way to grow your nest egg and provide a hedge for your other investments. Here at Gold Miners Research it is our job to provide you with all the information we can find when it comes to investing in gold. As a result we want to introduce you to one of the most helpful gold investing guides on the net, “Buy Gold Safely”.

Buy Gold Safely was written by expert investor Doug “Digger” Eberhardt who discusses all the tips and tricks of the trade when it comes to investing in gold. Full of eye opening information, Doug turns first time investors into gold investing experts. To prove his point he even provides an interesting anecdote about his parents who knew nothing about investing in gold. Through his steps his parents were able to invest in gold the right way and keep the rest of their investments safe.

You see, safety is an important issue when buying and selling gold. The playing field is expansive. It is imperative you correctly assess the risk/reward profile for the various ways one can invest in gold. Doug’s guide teaches you how to understand the process of investing in gold safely that only few well informed gold buyers know. One of the greatest things about Doug’s guide is that it is very straightforward and at no time while you are reading it do you experience information overload. His guide is truly all-meat and no bones stuff. A true blessing for all of us with concerns about how to increase our income and keep it safe from the greed of Wall Street.

So is investing in gold the answer to your own personal economic freedom? We sure think so here at Gold Miners Research. I purchased his Gold Investing Guide, Buy Gold Safely, a while back and it was one of the better investments decisions I ever made. It is important to have an edge and to invest with a sense of informed purpose, while keeping one’s risk as low as possible.

One of the world’s most famous commodity investors, Mr. George Soros, also think so as he has started to invest heavily in gold long ago. His track record is exceptional. So, is this the way to go? Everyone at Gold Miners research certainly thinks so. With the help of this gold buying guide, you can keep your investment in the safety zone and maximize the upside. It is a great read and an outstanding guide to expand on your investing knowledge. But don’t just rely on my personal experience and assessment. Judge for yourself. The small investment I made in this Gold Investment Guide (“Buy Gold Safely”) has paid for itself a thousand times.

So you want to invest in silver and gold now? There are a few ways to do it, but only one way that is best for most small to average size investors. Lets go over a few of your silver and gold investing options.

First, you can just go over to your local coin shop and buy physical gold or silver bullion in the form of gold or silver bars or coins. This is the fastest way to get gold and silver in your hands, but its not the cheapest. When you buy precious metals from a coin dealer, the dealer will usually charge you a higher premium than other sources. For instance, if the price of silver is currently an ounce, a coin dealer could charge a 12% premium which would mean you would pay .16 per ounce of silver. This is just the premium for generic silver. If you want to buy specific types of silver bullion or coins like American Eagle Silver Dollars, the premium will be even higher!

Next, as you’ll see below, you can buy silver and gold directly from Amazon.com, however, this isn’t that good of a deal either plus you have to pay for shipping.

There are also what is known as “Silver or Gold ETFs”. ETF stands for exchange traded funds. These are basically funds set up to track the price of silver or gold. So if you invest in a silver ETF, each share should(not always) go up and down with the price of silver. The problem with silver and gold ETFs is that you do not actually own any silver or gold and cannot exchange your shares in for real silver or gold. ETFs were the brainchild of Wall Street and the fix is in on many of them. If you’re looking to invest in silver now, stay away from these guys.

So, in my EXPERT opinion, the best way to start for the small to average size investor is through a service like Silver Saver. Silver Saver lets you start investing in real silver in automatic weekly or monthly increments or a one time purchase. The minimum purchase is only . My favorite way to do it is to set up an automatic investing plan with them for 0 a month. This means that each month, Silver Saver will deduct 0 from my account and buy 0 worth of silver. That silver is then deposited directly in my account. I can chose to let them continue to store it in the Delaware State Depository or I can choose to have the physical silver delivered directly to my home.

The cool thing is that if you set up an automatic investment plan with silver saver, they only charge you a 7% premium. Much less than Amazon and your local coin dealer. Plus, Silver Saver also gives you a “Silver Rewards” link. If you have any friends who are interested in investing in silver and you pass your silver rewards link onto them and they start saving in silver with silver saver, you get 50% of the premium they pay silver saver. Silver Saver pays this premium to you in silver! So if you get five or ten friends to start investing in silver, you could end up earning a ton of free silver every month.