History of Gold

A child finds a shiny rock in a creek, thousands of years ago, and the human race is introduced to gold for the first time.

Gold was first discovered as shining, yellow nuggets. "Gold is where you find it," so the saying goes, and gold was first discovered in its natural state, in streams all over the world. No doubt it was the first metal known to early hominids.

Gold became a part of every human culture. Its brilliance, natural beauty, and luster, and its great malleability and resistance to tarnish made it enjoyable to work and play with.

Because gold is dispersed widely throughout the geologic world, its discovery occurred to many different groups in many different locales. And nearly everyone who found it was impressed with it, and so was the developing culture in which they lived.

Gold was the first metal widely known to our species. When thinking about the historical progress of technology, we consider the development of iron and copper-working as the greatest contributions to our species' economic and cultural progress - but gold came first.

Gold is the easiest of the metals to work. It occurs in a virtually pure and workable state, whereas most other metals tend to be found in ore-bodies that pose some difficulty in smelting. Gold's early uses were no doubtornamental, and its brilliance and permanence (it neither corrodes nor tarnishes) linked it to deities and royalty in early civilizations . 

Gold has always been powerful stuff. The earliest history of human interaction with gold is long lost to us, but its association with the gods, with immortality, and with wealth itself are common to many cultures throughout the world.

Early civilizations equated gold with gods and rulers, and gold was sought in their name and dedicated to their glorification. Humans almost intuitively place a high value on gold, equating it with power, beauty, and the cultural elite. And since gold is widely distributed all over the globe, we find this same thinking about gold throughout ancient and modern civilizations everywhere.

Gold, beauty, and power have always gone together. Gold in ancient times was made into shrines and idols ("the Golden Calf"), plates, cups, vases and vessels of all kinds, and of course, jewelry for personal adornment.

 

The "Gold of Troy" treasure hoard, excavated in Turkey and dating to the era 2450 -2600 B.C., show the range of gold-work from delicate jewelry to a gold gravy boat weighing a full troy pound. This was a time when gold was highly valued, but had not yet become money itself. Rather, it was owned by the powerful and well-connected, or made into objects of worship, or used to decorate sacred locations.

Gold has always had value to humans, even before it was money. This is demonstrated by the extraordinary efforts made to obtain it. Prospecting for gold was a worldwide effort going back thousands of years, even before the first money in the form of gold coins appeared about 700 B.C.

In the quest for gold by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Indians, Hittites, Chinese, and others, prisoners of war were sent to work the mines, as were slaves and criminals. And this happened during a time when gold had no value as 'money,' but was just considered a desirable commodity in and of itself.

The 'value' of gold was accepted all over the world. Today, as in ancient times, the intrinsic appeal of gold itself has that universal appeal to humans. But how did gold come to be a commodity, a measurable unit of value?

Why Invest

Gold is a foundation asset within any long term savings or investment portfolio. For centuries, particularly during times of financial stress and the resulting 'flight to quality', investors have sought to protect their capital in assets that offer safer stores of value. A potent wealth preserver, gold’s stability remains as compelling as ever for today’s investor.

As one of the few financial assets that do not rely on an issuer's promise to pay, gold offers refuge from widespread default risk. It offers investors insurance against extreme movements in the value of other asset classes.

A number of compelling reasons underpin the widespread renewal of interest in gold as an asset class:

Portfolio diversification
Most investment portfolios primarily hold traditional financial assets such as stocks and bonds. Diversifying your portfolio can offer added protection against fluctuations in the value of any single asset or group of assets. Risk factors that may affect the gold price are quite different in nature from those that affect other assets. Statistically, portfolios containing gold are generally more robust and less volatile than those that do not.

Inflation hedge
Market cycles come and go, but over the long term, gold retains its purchasing power. Gold’s value, in terms of the real goods and services that it can buy, has remained remarkably stable for centuries. In contrast, the purchasing power of many currencies has generally declined, due for the most part to the rising price of goods and services. Hence investors often rely on gold to counter the effects of inflation and currency fluctuations.

Currency hedge
Gold is employed as a hedge against fluctuations in currencies, particularly the US dollar. If the world’s main trading currency appreciates, the dollar gold price generally falls. On the other hand, a fall in the dollar relative to the other main currencies produces a rise in the gold price. For this reason, gold has consistently proved to be one of the most effective assets in protecting against dollar weakness.

Risk management
Gold is significantly less volatile than most commodities and many equity indices. It tends to behave more like a currency. Assets with low volatility will help to reduce overall risk in your portfolio, adding a beneficial effect on expected returns. Gold also helps to manage risk more effectively by protecting against infrequent or unlikely but consequential negative events, often referred to as “tail risks”.

Demand and supply
The price of gold tracks the shifting balance of supply and demand. Long lead times in gold mining mean production of gold is relatively inelastic, regardless of increases in demand. That’s why the rally in the gold price since 2001 has not engendered a meaningful increase in gold production levels.

Demand for gold has shown sustained growth recently, due at least in part to rising income levels in key markets. These supply and demand factors have laid foundations for gold’s most positive outlook in over a quarter of a century.

Simpanan Bijak

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Why gold



Why hold gold
Monetary authorities have long held gold in their reserves. Today their stocks amount to some 30,000 tonnes - similar to their holdings 60 years ago. It is sometimes suggested that maintaining such holdings is inefficient in comparison to foreign exchange. However, there are good reasons for countries continuing to hold gold as part of their reserves. These are recognised by central banks themselves although different central banks would emphasise different factors.

Diversification
In any asset portfolio, it rarely makes sense to have all your eggs in one basket. Obviously the price of gold can fluctuate - but so too do the exchange and interest rates of currencies held in reserves. A strategy of reserve diversification will normally provide a less volatile return than one based on a single asset.
Gold has good diversification properties in a currency portfolio. These stem from the fact that its value is determined by supply and demand in the world gold markets, whereas currencies and government securities depend on government promises and the variations in central banks’ monetary policies. The price of gold therefore behaves in a completely different way from the prices of currencies or the exchange rates between currencies.

Economic Security
Gold is a unique asset in that it is no one else's liability. Its status cannot therefore be undermined by inflation in a reserve currency country. Nor is there any risk of the liability being repudiated.
Gold has maintained its value in terms of real purchasing power in the long run and is thus particularly suited to form part of central banks' reserves. In contrast, paper currencies always lose value in the long run and often in the short term as well.

Physical Security
Countries have in the past imposed exchange controls or, at the worst, total asset freezes. Reserves held in the form of foreign securities are vulnerable to such measures. Where appropriately located, gold is much less vulnerable. Reserves are for using when you need to. Total and incontrovertible liquidity is therefore essential. Gold provides this.

Unexpected needs
If there is one thing of which we can be certain, it is that today’s status quo will not last for ever. Economic developments both at home and in the rest of the world can upset countries’ plans, while global shocks can affect the whole international monetary system.
Owning gold is thus an option against an unknown future. It provides a form of insurance against some improbable but, if it occurs, highly damaging event. Such events might include war, an unexpected surge in inflation, a generalised crisis leading to repudiation of foreign debts by major sovereign borrowers, a regression to a world of currency or trading blocs or the international isolation of a country.
In emergencies countries may need liquid resources. Gold is liquid and is universally acceptable as a means of payment. It can also serve as collateral for borrowing.

Confidence
The public takes confidence from knowing that its Government holds gold - an indestructible asset and one not prone to the inflationary worries overhanging paper money. Some countries give explicit recognition to its support for the domestic currency. And rating agencies will take comfort from the presence of gold in a country's reserves.
The IMF's Executive Board, representing the world's governments, has recognised that the Fund's own holdings of gold give a "fundamental strength" to its balance sheet. The same applies to gold held on the balance sheet of a central bank.
Income
Gold is sometimes described as a non income-earning asset. This is untrue. There is a gold lending market and gold can also be traded to generate profits. There may be an "opportunity cost" of holding gold but, in a world of low interest rates, this is less than is often thought. The other advantages of gold may well offset any such costs.

Insurance
The opportunity cost of holding gold may be viewed as comparable to an insurance premium. It is the price deliberately paid to provide protection against a highly improbable but highly damaging event. Such an event might be war, an unexpected surge of inflation, a generalised debt crisis involving the repudiation of foreign debts by major sovereign borrowers, a regression to a world of currency and trading blocs, or the international isolation of a country.

How much gold?
This is a matter for countries and central banks to decide in the light of their particular circumstances. The international average is about 10.2% at current market prices but, in the EU it is over 50% and the USA holds around 75% of its reserves in gold. Countries facing particular volatility in their economic and/or political circumstances will want to consider the level of gold in their reserves.

COMEX gold and silver futures began October doing the thing they did most often in September – setting new all-time and 30-year highs, respectively. After reaching a record of $1,321.80 this morning, gold for December delivery settled up $8.20, or 0.6%, at $1,317.80 per ounce.


Silver for December delivery, after climbing to $22.155 this morning – its highest level since 1980 - closed with a gain of $0.24, or 1.1%, at $22.06 per ounce.


Short URL: http://www.goldalert.com/?p=4275

INFLASI

APA ITU INFLASI?
Inflasi adalah sesuatu keadaan ekonomi di i berlaku kenaikan harga (kebanyakan gan don perkhidmatan) yang berterusan. 

APAKAH PUNCA INFLASI? 

1. Inflasi Tarikan Permintaan
Berlaku apabila bekalan barangan dan erkhidmatan fidak mencukupi untuk memenuhi permintaan. la berpunca daripada pertambahan permintaan acara tiba-tiba dalam jangkamasa pendek. Pengeluar kesuntukan masa untuk menambah pengeluaran bagi memenuhi permintaan. Peniaga pula mengambil kesempatan untuk memperolehi keuntungan yang lebih. 

2. Inflasi Tolakan Kos
Berlaku apadla kos pengeluaran meningkat. Pengeluar akan memindahkan kos yang ditanggungnya kepada pengguna dengan menaikkan harga barangan atau perkhidmatan untuk mengekalkan keuntungan. 

3. Inflasi Bekalan Wang
Berlaku apabila bekalan wang meningkat melebihi bekalan barangan atau perkhidmatan dalam pasaran. Inflasi ini iasanya berlaku semasa peperangan. Wang yang banyak dicetak untuk membiayai perbelanjaan peperangan. Wang yang akhirnya menyebabkan inflasi. Oleh itu adalah penting untuk mempastikan peningkatan bekalan wang pada tahap tertentu bersesuaian dengan barangan don perkhidmatan yang ada di pasaran setiap masa. 

4. Inflasi Pentadbiran Harga
Berlaku apabila hanya terdapat sebuah syarikat (monopoli) atau sebilangan kecil syarikat (oligopoll) yang membekalkan barangan atau perkhidmatan, pengeluar biasanya mempunyai kuasa untuk menentukan harga. Jika pengeluar menggunakan kuasa itu, harga akan meningkat. Pengguna tidak mempunyai pilihan dan terpaksa membeli pada paras harga yang ditentukan oleh pengeluar atau pembekal. Pengeluar atau pembekal berkemungkinan akan menaikkan harga barangan atau perkhidmatan untuk menikmati keuntungan yang lebih besar sama ada kos meningkat atau tidak. Harga sedemikian dipanggil harga pentadbiran, 

5. Inflasi Yang Diimport
Faktor-faktor luar negara juga boleh menyebabkon inflasi. Apabila kos bahanbahan mentah, barang siap atau perkhidmatan yang dilmport dari luar negara meningkat, ia akan menyebabkan harga barangan dan perkhidmatan di pasaran tempatan meningkat tanpa mudah disedarl. Kenaikan harga barangan import boleh berlaku secara langsung iaitu inflasi yang berlaku di negara pengeksport atau ticlak langsung melalui perubahan kadar pertukaran wang asing yang memlhak kepada negara pengeksport. 

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Gold

The Value Of All The Gold In The World

$6,379,441,820,866
Yep - That's trillions
Based on current spot gold price of  $1,301.25

---

Not so long ago, November of 2005 to be exact, we reported that the value of all the gold ever mined in the world since the beginning of human history was some $1.89 trillion dollars.

At the time, that number was fairly accurate, given a round estimate of some 140,000 tonnes extant of the shiny yellow stuff, and the then-prevailing spot price.

But since that time, a lot has happened to the dollar/gold equation.

Here we report daily, the latest value adjusted for new production and current gold price.

ETF

Commodity ETFs or ETCs
Commodity ETFs invest in commodities, such as precious metals and futures. Among the first commodity ETFs were gold exchange-traded funds, which have been offered in a number of countries. The idea of a Gold ETF was first officially conceptualised by Benchmark Asset Management Company Private Ltd in India when they filed a proposal with the SEBI in May 2002.^[22] The first gold exchange-traded fund was Gold Bullion Securities launched on the ASX in 2003, and the first silver exchange-traded fund was iShares Silver Trust launched on the NYSE in 2006.
However, generally commodity ETFs are index funds tracking non-security indexes. Because they do not invest in securities, commodity ETFs are not regulated as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940 in the United States, although their public offering is subject to SEC review and they need an SEC no-action letter under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. They may, however, be subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.^[23][24]
Exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) are investment vehicles (asset backed bonds, fully collateralised) that track the performance of an underlying commodity index including total return indices based on a single commodity. Similar to ETFs and traded and settled exactly like normal shares on their own dedicated segment, ETCs have market maker support with guaranteed liquidity, enabling investors to gain exposure to commodities, on-Exchange, during market hours.
The earliest commodity ETFs (e.g. GLD and SLV) actually owned the physical commodity (e.g. gold and silver bars). Similar to these are NYSE: PALL (palladium) and NYSE: PPLT (platinum). However, most ETCs implement a futures trading strategy, which may produce quite different results from owning the commodity.
Commodity ETFs trade just like shares, are simple and efficient and provide exposure to an ever-increasing range of commodities and commodity indices, including energy, metals, softs and agriculture. However, it is important for an investor to realize that there are often other factors that affect the price of a commodity ETF that might not be immediately apparent. For example, buyers of an oil ETF such as USO might think that as long as oil goes up, they will profit roughly linearly. What isn't clear to the novice investor is the method by which these funds gain exposure to their underlying commodities. In the case of many commodity funds, they simply roll so-called front-month futures contracts from month to month. This does give exposure to the commodity, but subjects the investor to risks involved in different prices along the term structure, such as a high cost to roll.^[25][26]

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