Buying Gold - The Logic Behind Buying Gold

Humans have been fascinated by gold for thousands of years, by the way it never tarnishes and by its unique color.

Sadly, gold is useless in engineering terms, except for plating electrical contacts, to ensure they never tarnish and lose their conductivity. The metal is too soft, with too low a tensile strength to be used for much besides necklaces and rings.

As an investment though, gold is a different story altogether. Why do people buy gold? It has zero intrinsic value.

Gold prices fall and rise, according largely to the degree of fear that people have about the future. When war is imminent gold prices soar.

When economic conditions are good, inflation low and employment rate high, gold prices fall. Under these conditions there are investments that are probably going to produce a better return than holding gold bars.

People buy gold because they fear the inflation and catastrophic share price collapse that normally accompanies war and political uncertainty. They buy gold because they think gold will hold its value.

Historically gold holds some value, whereas shares can lose all of their value overnight. However, anyone who buys gold at the high price associated with war will almost certainly lose money, when they sell at a lower price.

Conclusion - buy gold when everyone is saying to invest in the stock market. Sell gold when things are looking grim and there are lots of buyers out there.

If you do buy gold you need to appreciate that this investment has risk. The price of gold may fall. It may be years before you can sell your gold at a profit.

Until recently many countries made it illegal for individuals to hold gold bars or bullion. Individuals could buy gold coins and other items however. The South African Krugerrand was minted to exploit this opportunity and to earn much needed foreign exchange for that country during the years of economic sanctions.

Nowadays you can buy gold, silver and platinum coins in many denominations, including Canadian and US dollars, sterling crowns and sovereigns.

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Basic Investing Rules

Investing your money can be a great way to ensure your financial future. With the right investment choices, you can be sure to have money for emergencies, to put towards the education of your children, and to have available when the time comes for you to retire. There is a key word in the preceding phrase however- ìrightî. If you make the wrong investment choices, you may just end up where you started or worse, flat broke. Most people who invest wisely by making the right decisions with their money follow the same basic investment pattern, although they may define it by another name. It might be that you are the cynical type who chooses to believe that the basic rules could not possibly be as easy as they seem, in an area that seems so complex. It is true. However, that these rules have withstood the test of time.

First of all, make sure that the money you choose to invest is indeed earmarked for the purpose. As in any form of gambling, there is nothing to be gained and everything to be lost when it comes to investing. Do not put up money that you cannot afford to lose should the market take a downturn.

One rule that people seem to refuse to apply in any area of their lives, including the world of investing, is lean not on your own understanding. Most of the time, this is the result of people balking at entrusting another person with their money, believing that with a little understanding they can work the market themselves. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed. In the first place, most people will not be able to begin to unravel the complicated graphs, pie charts, and statistics by which the investment world relates its information. In order to understand what the numbers mean, you will need to have some basic training. There may come a time after you have had some experience in the market that you will be able to make sound decisions on your own, but the initial get-your-feet-wet phase is not the time to attempt it. Check the background of the advisor you choose, as there are a lot of brokers out there looking for a quick fleece. The best brokers will have years of experience, a variety of investment backgrounds, and will probably cost you much less than you might think.

Think long term. Unless you invest millions of dollars initially, it will take time for your investments to mature and begin to accumulate substantial gains. The best investments are proven over time, and thus it is best to place your funds in long term choices. The details of this are plain- it is best to forget about this money in terms of a cash fall back, at least for a number of years.

Diversification is an oft-flogged truism of the investment world. A good portfolio will include cash and cash equivalents (GICs, fixed annuities), growth investments (stocks), and growth and income investments such as mutual funds. Diversification ensures that you do not have all your eggs in one basket should any part of the market experience a downturn. Note that diversification means not only investing in several areas, but also making sure that no one area contains a disproportionate percentage of your funds.

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International Investing: It Makes Sense

Of the world's 40,000 publicly traded companies, 77 percent are located abroad, a pretty good sign that there are compelling investment opportunities outside the United States. Viewed another way, 51 percent of the world's $38 trillion total market capitalization belongs to the international arena. U.S. mutual funds hold $491 billion in overseas investments.

With so many potential investments outside the United States, investing internationally becomes a great way to diversify an equity portfolio. Some people contend that there is an increasing correlation in performance between the United States and international markets. But while world markets often tend to react similarly to news or developments occurring around the globe, over time, international and domestic markets tend to behave differently, helping to smooth out the ride in a diversified portfolio.

Consider the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australia and Far East Index, which charts the progress of stocks in developed markets located in Europe, Australia and the Far East, versus the S&P 500, considered representative of the broader U.S. stock market. When one is going strong, the other tends to lag behind, and that has been the case going back as far as 1970. In addition, when the MSCI EAFE outperforms the S&P 500, it has done so by a greater margin than when performances are reversed.

In fact, during the past 10 years, the U.S. stock market has never been the leader in the global investment arena. Top performance has been the exclusive domain of international indices during that time, and the returns of the S&P 500 sometimes have lagged those of overseas peers by wide margins.

Global funds invest about half in the United States and half in the rest of the world, making them a smart way for someone with little or no experience in international investing to test the waters. A good example is American Century Global Growth, whose managers scour the globe for the best growth investment opportunities for the fund's shareholders.

You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before you invest. The fund's prospectus, which can be obtained by calling or visiting American Century's Web site, contains this and other information about the fund and should be read carefully before investing.

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Asset Capital Finance ñ What Else Do You Want

For a businessman or even for a person involved with other things the one way to increase oneís worth is through our business or by the asset we possess.

With that some people get a head start whereas others have to work for it. What it means is that some have financial backing and others need financial backing from the outside. That is where we can use asset capital finance for your business.

As the name suggests asset capital finance is the financial help that is provided to people to either buy or go in for the improvement of the asset.

Capital asset finance can be the most appropriate way by which you can fund your business as with this you can equip your business without the restriction of an outright purchase.

Asset capital finance can be taken from many creditors which are willing to provide the loans, however the following documents would be required for you to get the finance:

∑Tax returns

∑Through and detailed business plan

∑Personal financial statements

∑Plan of how loans would be used

∑Management profile

The organization and timely presentation of these documents plays a critical role in whether and how much asset capital finance we get so we should pay close attention to these details.

Asset capital finance is easy to get and the finance can be applied for one of the following or other uses:

∑Cars and Commercials

∑Trucks and Plants

∑Production equipment

∑Business equipment

∑Farming equipment

∑Venture capital

∑Factoring

The loans can be applied for the following uses and then got for as well.

Asset capital finances have the following features which the borrowers must be aware of to ensure that they get the best deal according to their requirement.

∑The borrowers can choose their own loan terms i.e. interest rates.

∑The borrowers can choose the repayment schedule choose the method by which they intend to pay.

∑The borrowers can also choose the overdraft facility as well.

∑The loans can be approved quickly sometimes as quickly as 24 hours.

∑The borrows can choose between either a secured asset capital finance or an unsecured asset capital finance depending upon their credit requirements or financial standings.

∑Bad credit usually does not create many problems when it comes to asset capital finance the only difficulty could be that you may be charged a higher rate of interest.

With that many features it is pretty hard to overlook the asset capital finances. These loans help us in many ways and make it easy for anyone to achieve the intended target without much hassle.

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Accounting - All Businesses Need One.

As business becomes more and more global, and complexities continue to emerge, certain fields have gained prominence in today's career market. One of these is accounting. Accounting is a very conceptual career or task, more a question of information handling than any hands-on approach to product development. However, as trends change, accounting is becoming a little more diverse and less just a question of 'crunching numbers'.

These days, there are specific kinds of accountants who do separate jobs as part of a given company. There are accountants who monitor spending and resource use; these are called 'audit' accountants. Then there are other professionals who use accounting information to guide procedures and to facilitate decision-making, and these are referred to as 'management' accountants.

One could say that while audit accountants are involved in book-keeping history, management accounting is a process of looking to the future to try to foresee events and plan for these in terms of a company's resources. 'Ledgers' and classic ideas of accounting belong more to audit accounting, while management accounting deals directly with the machinery of a firm. Both positions require people skills and analytical skills; both types of accountants need to know how to use computers. Spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel is popular in keeping accounting information available in a flexible format.

As to the issue of how the two are related, audit accounting is often considered more essential to small businesses. A small business may not need any more oversight than the owner or general manager can provide, but someone always had to keep the books. Also, in management, the old adage may apply that 'too many cooks spoil the broth'. Management accounting seems to be a more useful role in large companies that need many consultants to micro-manage a variety of projects.

In general, accounting is becoming a popular career choice. Some may shy away from it due to an aversion to how accountants have been described in the past. Some people 'don't like numbers' and consider accounting work to be unbearably dry or tedious. Others, however, have already completed their degree to become a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and these may find themselves well placed in high-profile audit accounting positions. For others, management accounting provides a new look at a classic career.

Either way, the study of this valuable field can be a good way to get into a certain kind of company. many companies are hiring temporary accountants, and the abundance of opportunities means that employers and university graduates may be able to find each other through the phenomenon of accounting, as the majority of businesses turn their efforts toward the study of resource allocation, asset management, or more simply, crunching numbers.

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4 Tips to Build a Successful Portfolio

Walking through the financial maze of stocks, bonds and mutual funds can be quite a challenge. American Century Investments offers the following tips to give you the know-how on building a profitable portfolio.

* Know your goals. Consider how much money you'll need for your children's education or your retirement. Whatever your vision for the future might be, set your goals and develop a concrete plan for meeting them.

* Define your investment time horizon. If you're not planning on retiring anytime soon, you might want to have a portfolio that includes more long-term investments. If retirement is just around the corner, consider a more conservative approach.

* Determine your risk tolerance. Figure out your risk comfort level and compare that with what you can afford. In general, the longer you have to invest, the bigger risk you can take.

* Consult a professional. In order to avoid financial pitfalls later on, it is often wise to seek professional guidance when putting together a portfolio.

"Recent research shows that investors continue to grapple with some of the most basic investment concepts, suggesting a greater need for financial advice and guidance," said Doug Lockwood, a certified financial planner.

To help investors meet their financial goals, American Century Investments has developed On Plan Investing, a program designed to help investors build and maintain diversified investment portfolios - at no additional cost.

Combining educational tools, advice, market insight and investment products, On Plan Investing helps investors develop a personal investment strategy, whether they are new to investing, seeking guidance but still want control over their investment mix, need help positioning their portfolios with a long-term perspective or need help understanding how the markets work.

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The Advantages Of Trading Stock Options

Just recently, options in stock trading have been getting the attention they deserve from many traders. However, for quite some time now, investing on options has created quite a stigma in the market especially with the financial media and a few popular figures attaching such implications that trading options may be too risky or dangerous.

What you should knowing about trading options however, is that there are a lot of advantages that one can get from it. And as long as you are smart in handling your trades and with the use of the right strategies, you may be able to prevent risks from actually happening.

Cost Efficient

One thing about stock options is that they are well capable of leveraging or borrowing money in order to increase returns. It can be very possible for an investor to obtain option positions that copy stock positions without going overboard with the cost. A strategy known as a stock replacement, allows mimicking stocks possible but in a cost efficient way.

For example, for you to be able to purchase 200 shares of a $50 stock, you must pay $10,000. But if you were going to purchase a couple of $20 stock options, with the options representing 100 shares each, then you would only have to outlay $4,000 instead of $10,000. As an investor, you would be able to gain $6,000 for you to use in your discretion.

Of course, the whole process may not be as instant and as simple as the example provided. But if you are able to choose the right stock option for the process, then you may be successful in your attempts for this strategy.

High Potential Returns

Another fact about stock options is that you can actually spend less money, but still make almost the same profit. Because of this, you can surely expect to gain a much higher percentage of returns as compared to normal stock trading. Of course, this would mean that you can actually earn so much more and your investment can surely pay off.

More Investment Alternatives Are Offered

Another very good advantage in trading options is the fact that they can offer more strategic alternatives for investment as compared to traditional stocks. Because options are very flexible, there can be a lot of way to use them.

Take in mind that options are actually the rights to trading a particular stock, and so, there may be various ways that an investor can actually use these rights to benefit him or herself.

The use of these options allow an investor to trade not only through stock movements, but through the passage of time and unpredictability in the market as well. And this can be very beneficial because most stocks rarely move significantly. Options strategically offer alternatives for a trader to do business in every type of market.

These are only a few of the major advantages of trading stock options, but as you can see, they are enough reason to tell you that going into this type of market can really be beneficial. With the low costs, direct access to stock options through the Internet, and with such benefits at hand, it is no wonder why stock options trading have become a part of the financial circles these days.

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