Gold Prices Move up Slightly, Investments Still Good

Gold, Prices, Investments, Precious Metals, Invest, Demand, Cash, Copper, Silver

Gold prices came up a little bit as the dollar weakened slightly. This means that gold will have more desire since its max price in early December at $1,227.50 per ounce. Experts say that investment demand will remain strong. 

Here are the basics, according to Reuters:

 

* Spot gold XAU= was up 0.2 percent at $1,114.55 an ounce
as of 0014 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of
$1,112.25.

 * U.S. gold futures for February delivery GCG0 inched up
0.4 percent to $1,115.40 per ounce, compared to $1,111.50 an
ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 * Gold prices rose on Friday, reversing declines in a choppy
session, but buying related to short covering, inflation worries
and geopolitical tensions trumped selling prompted by
profit-taking and a strong dollar.

 * Gold's appeal as a safe-haven play came into focus after
news spread of a dispute between Iran and Iraq, lifting oil
prices as well, which was also supportive for gold as a hedge
against inflation. Iraqi reported that 11 Iranian troops entered
Iraqi territory, raising the Iranian flag at a disputed oilfield.
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A Business Standard interview with a metal trader said that gold has been one of the better things to invest in this year:

“There is some buying interest,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group Inc. in Chicago. “You’re going to see more buyers come back at these levels.” For the week, gold fell 0.8 per cent as the dollar rallied 1.7 per cent against the six-currency basket. The metal has fallen for three straight weeks. For the year, the metal gained 26 per cent as the euro gained 2.4 per cent against the dollar. “There’s a lot of reallocation going on,” said Platt of Archer Financial. “Those markets which had done the best this year are starting to show disinvestment, and those that haven’t are showing some pop. Gold has been one of the bigger investment vehicles this year.”

The Nevada Appeal says that if you are going to purchase gold then you will need to pay some kind of premium on it:

When a person is looking to buy gold they should expect to pay a premium over and above the spot price of gold. Stock exchanges price gold and silver as any other commodity on the trading floor, but if one is looking to take physical delivery of gold the spot price is just a starting point. Premiums for physical delivery include manufacturing, storage, and shipping costs as well as commissions by those selling the product. 

Most of the major bullion products for gold are done by international mint facilities. The United States mint produces both the American Gold Eagle and Buffalo coins as bullion products. Other bullion products produced by world mints are Canadian Maple Leafs, Chinese Pandas, South African Krugerrands, Australian Nuggets and Kangaroos, Austrian Philharmonics, along with a few other various mints. All of these bullion coins will have denominations because they are struck as coins. Mints usually produce one ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce pieces, but are not limited to just those sizes. In fact in 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint minted several 100 kilogram (220LB) gold coins with a face value of one million Canadian dollars. 

Gold is also produced in bars by large bullion companies such as Johnson Mathey, Englehard, Credit Suisse, and Pamp Suisse. The most popular sizes for these products are one ounce, ten ounce, one hundred gram, and kilo size bars. Bars are made as small as 1 gram and as large as 400 ounces. These products do not have a denomination as they are not minted by a country, but rather by privately owned mints.