Monday, 25 April 2011

Gold And Silver As The Best Investment

By Jack Wogan


Given the serious international financial crisis caused by the bankruptcy of major banks worldwide, and the poor economies and huge sovereign debts weakening some of the strongest currencies in the world, it's difficult to find some stable assets to put your money into, except for hard assets - as tangible as any other commodity or raw material, which won't vanish into thin air, were something really bad to destroy all major printed bank assets, like currencies and bonds.

Unlike the latter, gold and silver have a long and proven track record of some 5,000 years, as jewelry or currency. Besides, they had been also used to back modern currencies until after WWII, when they were substituted with the US dollar.

Though as shown they have been always present as commodity or currency, gold and silver are making a spectacular comeback today, as the safest assets to be got on the market. After long years of maneuvering so as to keep gold bullion prices as low as possible, central banks in developed countries are acquiring now as much gold and silver as they can, and you can see the same appetite at the world's moguls. Warren Buffet is the owner of 20% of the global silver supply and Bill Gates of 20% of the Pan American silver mine. They are searching for the best cover against currencies losing their value, especially the dollar, and, as such, against bonds becoming worthless, by including in their portfolios assets that are to retain their value whatever may happen to currencies or economies as a whole.

Ordinary citizens also feel that gold and silver are the best investment, especially the residents of developing countries such as China. The most important Chinese bank, for instance, sold 7 tons of gold and 13 of silver only this January, for satisfying the voracious demand from its clients. Besides, all the shops selling precious metals there, whether as jewelry or as bars, have had a hard time to meet the incredible appetite of their customers, only gold sales increasing by 40% against 2010.

The soaring increase in global demand has led, as expected, to an increase in precious metal rates, gold prices undergoing a 30% appreciation in 2010, whereas spot silver an 83% one. And don't believe this is just a bubble, because gold, for example, has known an annual appreciation of 17% over some nine years. Moreover, considering the inherent value of these assets, you can't risk if putting your money into them; on the contrary, by buying and selling wisely, you can make a profit. So the least you can do is to buy some gold coins (such as gold sovereigns) or bars now.




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