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Confessions of a Money Manager: Gold isn't a glittering investment Ray Unger — 7/25/2008 12:13 pm Have you heard those clever spiels on the radio coaxing us to buy gold in lieu of common stocks that can go to zero? Are they true? Yes, in a way. But sometimes the truth is mixed with a bit of chicanery. Those gold ads remind me of a funny golf story. Ben Hogan is about to play an approach shot to a green fronted by a yawning pond. He asks his caddy what club he should use. "I caddied for Sam Snead yesterday,...

Russian Mogul's Planes Took al-Qaida, Taliban Gold To Sudan9-3-2 Planes owned by Russian businessman Viktor Bout have been used to fly al-Qaida and Taliban gold to Sudan in recent weeks, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Several shipments of gold were delivered by boat from Karachi, Pakistan, to either Iran or the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said, citing unidentified European intelligence officials. From there, the gold was flown on charted planes to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where al-Qaida has broad business contacts, the paper said. European officials believe the gold was transported by Air Bas, an airline set up...

Gold Drops 4% to Hit Two-Week Low as Dollar Bounces, Oil Sinks, Bear-Market Rally in Stocks Continues -- Posted Wednesday, 23 July 2008 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com London Gold Market Report from Adrian Ash THE PRICE OF PHYSICAL Gold dumped another $12 per ounce Wednesday morning in London, falling more than 4% from yesterday's four-session high. World stock markets continued their sharp rally, meantime, with Europe's 300 largest shares just climbing out of the 20% bear-market loss that hit between Nov. and June. Crude oil fell towards $126 per barrel. The US Dollar pushed the Euro down...

E-Gold, an Internet-based payment service, and three owners have pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday. E-Gold, based in Nevis, West Indies, and corporate affiliate Gold & Silver Reserve each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Douglas Jackson, 51, of Melbourne, Florida, the principal director of E-Gold and CEO of Gold & Silver Reserve, pleaded guilty to the charges, the DOJ said in a statement. E-Gold's other two senior directors, Barry...

What does everyone here think of the Federal Reserve? Does it do too much or too little? What should it's role be? Is it necessary? Should we actually have it at all? Just curious to get people's opinions.

Gold Adds To Multi-Month High (RTTNews) - The price of gold climbed again on Monday and added to a multi-month high. Gold for August delivery moved to $973.90, up $13.30 on the session. Prices climbed as high as $974.50 in mid-morning trading, its best mark since mid-March. Gold soared on Friday and closed at its highest level in almost four months. August gold ended the day up $18.60 for the session. Prices soared as traders turned to a hedge amidst record oil prices and a weakening U.S. dollar. The dollar was fighting back versus other majors Monday morning in New...

Gold futures close at two-and-a-half-month high Dollar weakness, strength in oil feed gold's risk aversion traits By Polya Lesova & Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch Last update: 4:23 p.m. EDT July 1, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures climbed Tuesday to close at their highest level since mid-April, as weakness in the dollar and rising crude-oil prices burnished the precious metal's investment appeal. Carrying forward with its recent rally, gold for August delivery rose $16.20 to finish the session at $944.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It climbed as high as $948.50 earlier in the session. Gold's...

A satire about the decline of the US dollar, written in a mock biblical style reminiscent of *Private Eye's Old Testament-based spoofs. In the last days of the ancient world, the people of Egypt loved their chariots above all. Each chariot was pulled by many horses, and each horse was an oats-guzzler, consuming many barrels of oats per mile traveled. And the land of Egypt was bountiful in all but oats to feed the horses to pull their chariots. So the Egyptians traded with the lands of the Arabites, which had plentiful oats. But the Arabites wanted gold and silver...

Nanoparticles of gold too small to be seen with the naked eye have been created in laboratories, but up until now, have never been seen in nature. The search for these natural but ‘invisible’ nanoparticles is important. If they can be proved to exist, the knowledge will help give us a deeper understanding of how gold can be transported and deposited by geological processes, and therefore help explorers to find new gold deposits in Australia.

US Commodities: Gold Climbs, Moves Over $900/Oz; Grains Slide By: iStockAnalyst Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:39 PM NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Gold futures climbed and moved above $900 an ounce Thursday, as rising prices have brought in more buyers thinking gold prices will continue to increase. August gold rose $10.70 to settle at $904.20 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

There are some 103 million ounces of gold at the IMF, deposited by member countries when the fund's mission was to defend the gold standard in a balance-of-payments crisis. With an original value equivalent to $56 an ounce but now worth more than $850 an ounce, the ingots have generated huge gains for their owners. These are not only rich countries; some 25% of the gold belongs to developing nations. India has a paper gain of more than $2 billion, the U.S. about $21 billion. This money rightfully belongs to the members. But the fund now has a budget that...

2,000-year-old treasures tell wild storyNEELY TUCKER; The Washington Post Published: May 25th, 2008 01:00 AMThis sculpture likely depicts a supervisor of Greek athletics. It was unearthed in Afghanistan.Pendants showing the Dragon Master, a mythical nomadic man holding dragons by the leg, date back to the days of Christ.PHOTOS BY THIERRY OLLIVIER/MUSEE GUIMETA detailed ivory statuette of a woman probably adorned a piece of furniture in the 1st or 2nd century.An exhibit in Washington, D.C., reveals gold, intrigue and jewelry once buried in Afghanistan. The finds have survived looters and wars. WASHINGTON – You can go see Indiana Jones and the...

In October 2007, when gold was USD 750/oz and a US dollar fetched 7.5 Chinese renminbi yuan [RMB], I published an article titled “Gold and RMB – Last Shoe to Drop for the dollar”, in which I said: For a US family that spends $300 to $500 a month on Chinese goods, a further 40% appreciation of the RMB will translate into a $100 to $200 monthly cost increase. The logic of asking the Chinese to revalue their currency upwards is no different from asking the Saudi’s to jack up their oil price further, which is no logic at all...

In this photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, a tiny solid gold combination toothpick and earwax scoop is displayed inside a clam shell Monday, May 19, 2008, in Key West, Fla. A Blue Water Ventures salvage diver recovered the artifact Sunday, May 18, about 40 miles west of Key West during a search for remains of the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita that shipwrecked in a 1622 hurricane. According to archaeologists, the 3-inch-long grooming tool is more than 385 years old and was probably worn on a gold chain. Estimated value could exceed $100,000. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News...

Gold rush fever returns to the California hills By Tom Leonard in Happy Camp, California Last Updated: 1:39AM BST 19/05/2008 Almost 150 years after the first ’49ers swarmed into the mountains of California, a new gold rush is sweeping across the United States. "Some will get very lucky and even make a few thousand dollars a day, but not for long" says 'Klondite' Mike LaBox [right] Soaring gold prices, a recession and ingrained American optimism have combined to prompt thousands to head into the hills. With the discovery of gold there in 1848, the California Gold Rush brought 300,000 people...

World War I made gold unstable. . . . In addition, uncertainty over exchange rates and reparations (which were fixed in gold) increased the demand for reserves. In the face of this situation would not the increased demand for gold brought about by a return to the gold standard bring on a deflation? A few economists, like Charles Rist of France, Ludwig von Mises of Austria and Gustav Cassel of Sweden, thought it would. Cassel(1925) had been very explicit even before Britain returned to gold . . . After gold had been restored, Cassel pursued his line of reasoning further,...

No substance of value has held its allure longer than gold. It is found in prehistoric burial sites, in jewelry designs the world over and in modern-day electronic circuitry. Gold can also be found in recent investment reports noting that it topped out at more than $1,000 an ounce in mid-March, up from about $680 a year ago. Although it dipped to just under $900 late in April, it has had a tremendous run, up from $350 five years ago. What has driven these price gains? What does gold tell us about the economy's future? Should ordinary investors buy it?...

Unpopular Sarkozy turns 'gold into lead' By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 8:13pm BST 24/04/2008 President Nicolas Sarkozy is battling to convince an angry and disillusioned France that he deserves another chance a year after claiming power, amid accusations that he has turned his political capital from "gold into lead". President Sarkozy's government has been damaged by bickering between ministers Mr Sarkozy had an hour and a half last night on prime time television to counter claims that his reforms are half-baked, his glitzy style and turbulent private life inappropriate for a president, and that he has failed to...

Oil prices have surged to almost $115 a barrel as China builds up stocks before the Olympics and hedge funds pour money into commodity futures as a way to exploit the collapse of the dollar. The Total oil refinery in Belarus Global crisis: the Total oil refinery in Belarus. Russian output has dropped 1pc The Opec producers cartel yesterday defied calls from Gordon Brown for a boost in output to help ease the global shortage, sticking to its target of 32m barrels per day (bpd) for the next three months. There is some evidence that Opec has actually cut output...

China became the world's biggest producer of gold last year, overtaking South Africa which held top spot for 100 years, the independent precious metals consultancy GFMS said here on Wednesday. Meanwhile the price of gold was on course to reach a record high of 1,100 dollars an ounce in 2008 amid global financial turbulence, the respected research group added in its latest annual Gold Survey. Gold struck an all-time peak of 1,032.70 dollars an ounce on March 17, four days after the yellow metal breached 1,000 dollars for the first time. "Global mine production fell by a slight 0.4 percent...

This elegant gold necklace looks as if it was only made yesterday. In fact the nine inch necklace is four thousand years old and marks the oldest known worked gold artifact ever uncovered in the Americas, also representing the earliest evidence of an elite emerging among the simple people who lived there. Is this gold necklace the first evidence of elite society in the Americas In short, it marks the very early steps towards the appearance of royalty in the region, along with politics and luxury. The nine bead necklace, found near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru, is described by...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures dropped more than 3% Tuesday in a broad-based commodities sell-off, as strength in the U.S. dollar exerted heavy selling pressure on the precious metal. Gold for June delivery tumbled $33.70, or 3.6%, to close at $887.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal earlier fell to a low of $876.30. Other metals futures were also sharply lower, with platinum selling off 5.2%

The gold bugs are coming out of their holes again. When I last wrote on gold, the metal was challenging $1,000, a level which was passed that day. See March 17 column. After that, gold's stumbled, down $70 at one point, although up $10.60 over this past week. But two crucial factors have swung encouragingly, rallying the gold bugs. The first: the price of gold in India, by far the world's largest importer of the metal. India is a massive buyer of bullion for jewelry and cares little for the rest of the world's concerns. If the Indians want to...

NEW YORK (AP) - Commodities prices fell in a broad sell-off Monday as profit-taking on the last day of the quarter and a bearish U.S. agriculture report battered everything from precious metals to grains and energy futures. Relentless global demand for agricultural coupled with dwindling world stockpiles has exacerbated the supply crunch for wheat, soybeans and corn, which have spiked to historic levels in the past year. Hoping to capitalize on the boom, U.S. farmers are expected to plant about 75 million acres of soybeans and nearly 64 million acres of wheat in 2008, year-to-year increases of 18 percent and...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Finance Ministry said on Saturday a magazine report that the government wants the Bundesbank to sell some of its gold reserves to help ease pressure on the federal budget was untrue. Der Spiegel magazine reported in a preview of its latest edition that Finance Ministry State Secretary Werner Gatzer had proposed selling part of the central bank's gold reserves, currently worth around 65 billion euros ($103 billion). According to the plan, the proceeds could then be either invested to earn interest or debt could be paid off freeing up cash that would have been used to...

Seventy-five years ago this month Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States. Within days after swearing to uphold the U.S. Constitution, through a Presidential Proclamation he closed the U.S. Mint to gold. Recall that the Mint had been established by the Constitution to protect the people’s right to sound money. Roosevelt had been elected on a platform of sound money. Barely in office, he reversed himself. He grabbed the gold of the people, marked up its value, leaving Federal Reserve notes in the hands of the people that were to lose 95 percent of...

ELKO, Nevada (Reuters) - When Elaine Barkdull Spencer's two sons were growing up, she vowed they would never work in gold mining, because of its capricious cycles of boom and bust. These days, both sons are in the industry and Barkdull Spencer isn't complaining. One of her sons, who is 27, earns $100,000 a year and the other, who is 25, makes $90,000. It is hard to outshine gold in rural northeastern Nevada. With gold at record levels on a weak dollar, inflation concerns and U.S. economic uncertainty, Elko (population 22,000) is enjoying a boom. "We're at the peak of...

Gold coins of rebel British Emperor uncovered Two rare gold coins of the rebel Roman emperor Carausius have been discovered on a construction site in the Midlands. Gold coins of Carausius are extremely rare. Only 23 are known, and the last was found as long ago as 1975 in Hampshire. Carausius was a Menapian (an ancient Belgian) who commanded the British Fleet (Classis Britannica) operating in the English Channel and the North Sea in the AD 280s. Carausius fell out with reigning emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Hostile sources have it that he was lining his own pocket with plunder recovered...

I'm watching the nuttiness going on with gold in the market place. At the time of this blog, Eliot Sptizer, former Governor of New York has just been caught in a compromising position with an alumni of Girls Gone Wild; the stock markets are whip sawing.the scared investors, one of the most venerable firms on Wall Street just got sold like a cheap section eight house, and I got a cold call from someone telling me gold is going to $2000 an ounce. I have to tell you that there're a lot of things I'm intrigued by but gold at...

Gold cup find led to graves discovery by Nick Evans AN important archaeological find by Broadstairs man Cliff Bradshaw prompted further excavations which uncovered centuries- old Anglo-Saxon graves. These later finds, thought to be the graves of women from the fifth and sixth centuries, were the subject of an inquest held last week by coroner Rebecca Cobb to decide if the finds should be declared treasure. She heard the excavations followed the discovery in 2001 by Cliff Bradshaw of what has since become known as the Ringlemere Cup, which was later declared a national treasure and is on show in...

Could the commodity currencies fall further? Yes. According to the Baltic Dry Index charts below, commodity prices will continue to fall. For those of you who do not know what the Baltic Dry Index is, it was once termed the “Best Economic Indicator You’ve Never Head Of” by Daniel Gross. This index is closely followed by all Wall Street Insiders because it is a good indicator of economic growth and production. In a nutshell, the BDI reflects how much it costs to ship raw materials (like coal, iron ore, cement and soft commodities like grains and sugar) by sea. The...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- With gold off more than $90 an ounce over two days, commodity producers were hammered again Thursday, but banking stocks managed to rebound after U.K. regulators stepped in to quell rumors about the sector's health. Gold and other metals remained under pressure amid calmer waters on Wall Street and ideas the Federal Reserve is no longer as unconcerned about inflation as previously believed after the central bank was somewhat less aggressive than expected in cutting its key interest rate earlier this week. April gold futures were down $22.80 an ounce to $922.50, and silver and platinum futures...

In his recent letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett quoted a Silicon Valley bumper sticker: "Please God, just one more bubble.” Well, that driver got his wish, but the bubble is in commodities this time around — not tech. From wheat to gold to copper, commodity prices have exploded over the past five years. Many experts say a bust is imminent. "We’re seeing bubble-like trading activity from speculators that has sent markets to levels that basic fundamentals probably don’t justify in the near term,” Bill O’Neill, former director of commodity research for Merrill Lynch and now a partner at LOGIC Commodity...

Frank Holmes, chief executive officer at U.S. Global Investors, says that gold will hit $2,000 an ounce and that while the move won't be straight there from current levels investors should not be surprised by it. Holmes noted that virtually all commodities have gone through their "inflation-adjusted 1980 price levels," with the notable exception of gold, and that to get to that range the price of gold would have to top $2,000 an ounce. Holmes said he expects a short-term pull-back in gold -- based on a correction he sees coming in oil and a short rally in the dollar,...

NEW YORK (AP) — Gold futures had their worst day in nearly two years Wednesday, beaten down after a smaller-than-expected interest rate cut bolstered the dollar and diminished the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Other commodities also traded lower, with crude oil, silver, copper and agriculture futures all falling sharply as part of a broad commodities sell-off. The Federal Reserve on Tuesday lowered interest rates for the sixth time since September, moving aggressively to counter growing turmoil in financial markets that led to the near-collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. The Fed cut its benchmark federal funds...

If things continue this way, St. Pats day will be remembered as the crash day. Hope for better but with the Asian markets down 2-5%, it is hard to imagine a good day tomorrow.

Rare Roman gold coins regarded as "priceless" by experts have been unearthed in Derbyshire. The coins, which date back to AD 286, were discovered by Derrick Fretwell while he was out digging near Ashbourne. After an internet search failed to shed any light on his discovery, he turned to Derby Museum who, in turn, sought help from experts at the British Museum in London. Their studies have revealed that one of the coins has never been classified before and the other is the first example to be found since 1975. The museum's Sam Moorhead, an expert in Roman antiquities, said:...

This week, as the financial sector began to give way under the unbearable weight of bad mortgage debt, the Federal Reserve stepped in to save the day. At least that’s what it says in the script. In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve announced its intention to swap $200 billion of treasury debt for $200 billion of potentially worthless mortgage-backed securities. The Fed may have been partially spurred to take the step as a result of the rapid collapse of Carlyle Capital Corp. a publicly traded private equity firm that is a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group. The Dutch firm...

CHICAGO (AP) — A new kind of gold rush is unfolding at jewelry store and pawn shop counters — featuring not prospectors, but consumers. White-collar workers, retirees and many others have been digging through jewelry boxes and safety deposit boxes to cash in as gold prices flirt with $1,000 an ounce. Coins, old wedding rings, necklaces given by ex-boyfriends, hand-me-down gold pieces — everything is fair game when it brings this kind of profit. Shop owners across the country are marveling about the phenomenon they say began in the latter part of 2007 and accelerated through the winter, reflecting torrid...

To all of you financial wizards out there. I currently own 30 oz of silver and bought it around $15.00 per oz I check the spot price every know and then and have seen a rapid jump in the daily spot price. In the past 3 days it has gone up 5%. Is it a good time to sell or is $30 or $40 silver possible?

Spot gold prices hit an all-time peak in Europe on Thursday as a dollar slump and inflation fears prompted investors to look for safe-haven assets. Spot gold rose as high as $999.90 an ounce and was at $991.00/991.80 at 2:15 p.m EDT (1815 GMT), compared with $981.90/982.70 late in New York on Wednesday. This sparked buying of U.S. gold futures, which extended a record-breaking advance across the $1,000-an-ounce threshold. Analysts said spot prices could soon reach that level as well. The active U.S. gold contract for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up...

The price of real gold is currently soaring Ethiopia's national bank has been told to inspect all the gold in its vaults to determine its authenticity. It follows the discovery that some of the "gold" it had bought for millions of dollars was gold-plated steel. The first hint that something was wrong reportedly came when the Ethiopian central bank exported a consignment of gold bars to South Africa. The South Africans sent them back, complaining that they had been sold gilded steel. An investigation revealed that the bank had bought a consignment of fake gold from a supplier, who...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks saw their losses accelerate on Thursday, after proposals announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to fix the problems that led the mortgage and credit crisis failed to immediately convince markets. "Paulson didn't say anything new," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies. "We expect bold and decisive plans like we got from the Fed on Tuesday."

Gold at $1,000 on Weak Dollar, High Oil Thursday March 13, 11:02 am ET By Lauren Shepherd, AP Business Writer Gold Futures Hit $1,000 Per Ounce Benchmark on Falling Dollar, Rising Oil Prices NEW YORK (AP) -- Gold futures hit $1,000 an ounce for the first time Thursday, pushed past the benchmark by the sinking dollar and record crude oil prices. The dollar fell below 100 yen during Asian trading Thursday, its weakest level against the Japanese currency in 12 years. The dollar also dropped to all-time lows against the euro. After reaching $1,001 on the New York Mercantile Exchange,...

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Gold's near vertical climb to historic highs approaching the key $1,000 mark shows no sign of abating as bullish forces such as a sinking dollar and record high oil are not seen fading anytime soon. Fears that expensive oil will stoke inflation combined with worries over potential stock market losses and the U.S. on the brink of possible economic recession will propel gold higher still, analysts say. "Don't be surprised to see gold trade up to $1,100 (an ounce) or even $1,200 before year-end 2008," said Jeffrey Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors....

With the price up 250%, many are questioning his decision as chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to sell half of Britain's gold reserves nearly a decade ago was coming back to haunt him last night as the price of the precious metal looked poised to break through the $1,000 an ounce barrier for the first time. With the dollar plunging and the credit crunch continuing to bite, investors have sought a safe haven for their cash in gold - pushing its price to almost four times the level at which the Bank of England dumped 395 tonnes of the metal on...

So might US investors want to switch out of gold bullion ahead of Easter this year and move into the single currency instead? After all, the Euro still pays 4.0% interest per year – a feat that dumb gold could never promise or achieve – and with Eurozone inflation holding at a record 3.2% year-on-year in February, the European Central Bank (ECB) is clearly in no mood to start slashing rates now. "Inflation will not slow as markedly as supposed," warned the ECB's Axel Weber last week. Colleague Juergen Stark added that he was "highly dissatisfied" with the current surge...

Gold and dollar to gain in a financial meltdown This Wednesday arguably the most pessimistic economist in the world, Professor Nouriel Roubini, Chairman of Roubini Global Economics, will address the Hedge Funds World Middle East 2008 conference in Dubai. He says the global economy is heading for a $1 trillion financial meltdown. Sunday, March 02 - 2008 In an article last month entitled 'The Rising Risk of a Systemic Financial Meltdown', he claimed that there is now 'a rising probability of a catastrophic financial and economic outcome'. This he sums up as: 'A vicious circle where a deep recession makes...

From The Times March 1, 2008 Britain accumulated so much gold in its Imperial heyday that the floor of the Bank of England vault is said to have collapsed beneath the weight. More than a century later, the boom in oil and mineral prices has led to another bout of state-driven gold-buying. This time, however, the beneficiaries of the oil-price explosion are driving the demand for gold. Research by the World Gold Council shows that Qatar, the gas-rich Gulf state, has been buying about one tonne of gold - worth more than $34million today - every month for at least...

Gold rises to record on weak dollar By STEVENSON JACOBS, AP Business Writer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago Gold futures surged to their highest level ever Wednesday after the dollar plunged to a record low and crude oil spiked above $102 — inflationary signs that fed buying of precious metals as alternative investments. Silver continued its record-setting rally and copper also hit a fresh high. Other commodities traded mixed, with wheat extending recent gains and soybeans falling. Speaking to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank will again lower interest rates to right the shaky U.S. economy,...