Gold Money opens Hong Kong and Singapore Vaults

In my past blogs, I have shared how I accidentally was able to open an account in Gold Money in 2009 through BDO Unibank.  That was a one hit wonder and I could not fund my holding account since BDO said that it was illegal to do so and that they were penalized for allowing my transactions to Gold Money.

According to the increase in the price in gold and silver, my investments have since grown by 150 to 200% since that time.  I wonder at the peculiarities of our national laws, banning the participation of citizens in the acquisition of precious metals when in fact, the scams that have ravaged Philippine society in the past years headed by the recent "Aman" have remained unpunished.

Had those citizens especially in the parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula resorted to buying gold and silver where it is graciously found, they would have been in a better predicament than they are now and tons of cash could have been preserved than believing on these financial saviors who have left them sheepishly cashless.

Anyhow, for those who are seeking still to invest in this segment of precious metals, here is a statement from the Gold Money website:

Quick, online sign-up process for residents in Singapore & Hong Kong

Customers resident in Singapore and Hong Kong can get started quickly with a Basic Holding and later upgrade to a Full Holding as more funds are transferred-in for metal purchases.

What is a Holding?

To buy precious metals with GoldMoney, you first need to open a Holding, which is the digital customer file where the ownership of your metal and your transactions are recorded. We have deliberately chosen the word ‘Holding’ instead of ‘Account’ to make it clear to our customers that they own the metal and it is held in their name. GoldMoney does not charge a fee when you first sign up or when you upgrade from a Basic to a Full Holding.

GoldMoney Holding Types

Residents in Singapore and Hong Kong can choose between two types of Holding: Basic and Full. Basic Holdings are easier to set up due to lighter regulatory requirements, but offer less functionality than Full Holdings.

Photo courtesy of : www.goldmoney.com

 At least, this investment institution will now be at arms length to the Filipino who wants to preserve their purchasing power and enjoy the maximum returns that come from owning precious metals.

As the investment grade rating of the Philippines has just been declared, we hope that Gold Money would consider opening their vaults here in the country as well.

Fresh news from Kiyosaki

Here is an online post from Conspiracy of the Rich author, Robert Kiyosaki. This will explain further why metals are the hottest investments in the next few months and years. Buy while they are still at a low.

"Online Exclusive Update - #91
July 18, 2011

Gold on Fire
On July 1, 2011, gold was $1,486. By July 13, 2011, gold hit $1,583, a rise of $97.

As followers of Conspiracy of the Rich, you’ve probably been expecting this rise and have a better understanding than most people of the historical reasons why gold is on fire. I still stand by my prediction of gold sailing past $7,000 in a few years.

The rise in the price of gold is not good news for the world. It means more and more people are losing confidence in our leaders. If gold passes $7,000 an ounce, a gun and lots of ammunition may be the best investment. Oh, and don’t forget food, water, and gasoline.

As you may know, the US is locked in a disgusting battle to raise the national debt limit by early August. The Democrats want to raise taxes and the Republicans want to reduce welfare.

If you’ve read my latest book, Unfair Advantage, you know that the increase in taxes will not be on the rich. The increase in taxes will be on the high-income professionals—people such as doctors and lawyers—and the middle class.

As far as welfare and pension recipients go, they’ll probably be taking pay cuts. The biggest targets of all are Social Security and Medicare. I wonder what will happen when those large deficits are cut—if they’re cut—as Greece and Italy have done.

If that happens, it’s likely the US will experience riots much like the riots seen during Vietnam. Interestingly, it will be the same group of people rioting, the baby-boom generation. Maybe their kids and grandkids will join them.

As stated in Conspiracy of the Rich, the rules of money changed in 1971. The problem is that the baby-boom generation didn’t get the news and didn’t change their rules of money.

It’s still not too late to change your rules of money. In fact, it’s during times of chaos that the most opportunities appear.

As stated in Unfair Advantage, “2010 has been my best year so far.” As gold and silver continue to rise in price, and more dead real estate deals float to the surface, 2011 may be even better than 2010 for me and Kim.

I encourage you to not expect our political leaders to save you and to instead continue to save yourself. And the best way to save yourself is to change your personal rules of money and not follow the thundering herd that is being driven over the cliff.

Rising gold prices aren’t a good sign for our future."

SILVER SUMMIT ASIA

Silver Inc.Asia will be organizing the first inaugural Silver Summit Asia in Singapore. Mr. Mike Maloney and David Morgan will be the keynote speaker at this Summit.

Dates: March 29 & 30, 2010

Location: Singapore

Keynote Speakers : Michael Maloney & David Morgan

For more information please visit www.silversummitasia.com

Maloney is a Rich Dad Advisor and is the author of the book "Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver" while David Morgan is a respected Silver expert. This is obviously a great seminar with great value.

Click HERE to know more.

Investing in the Precious Metals Market

By Jeff Nielson (www.seekingalpha.com)

Knowing that there are growing numbers of precious metals investors who are new to this sector, I've tried to provide some educational commentaries to help people learn to invest in this sector on their own. Previous commentaries have explained the “leverage” offered by precious metals miners, grouped these companies into specific categories, and provided criteria for evaluating these investments.

This time I will seek to pass along some strategic advice on how investors may want to manage their precious metals portfolio. Given that investors have different needs/goals, different levels of risk-tolerance, and different perspectives on this sector, these tips should be considered merely guidelines – rather than some rigid formula.

The place to start in planning your strategy for precious metals investments is to decide on how you wish to allocate your capital between gold and silver. I have made no secret that I consider silver to have superior supply/demand fundamentals. This is due in large part to the fact that global silver inventories have been severely depleted, with two-thirds of current inventories comprised of silver supposedly “held” by silver bullion-ETF's.

However, more conservative investors may prefer to focus their holdings on gold – given that (currently) it has superior status as both a “store of wealth” and a currency, in most markets around the world. For convenience, I will simply assume that investors have no preference for either metal, and base my advice accordingly.

Many commentators in this sector (including me) have urged investors to focus on the gold/silver price ratio to guide them in which metal to buy at any given time. As I have mentioned on several previous occasions, during the roughly 5,000 years that our species has used these metals as currencies, the average price ratio is roughly 15:1. As of this moment, the gold silver ratio is very close to 60:1. Thus, even accounting for a preference for gold over silver, this ratio is clearly skewed to favor silver.

For those who would like a very simple means of allocating their precious metals dollars, let the gold/silver ratio dictate where your dollars go, through purchasing silver in a percentage equal to the current ratio. In this case, with the ratio at 60:1, this would dictate putting 60% of new dollars into silver/silver mining stocks, and the remaining 40% into gold/gold mining stocks.

Even as someone who strongly favors silver over gold, this is approximately the ratio I'm using with my own investments. The reason for not investing even more heavily in silver (given my own preference) is that commensurate with a price ratio which values gold heavily above silver, assets in the gold sector are currently getting better valuations than in the silver sector.

Assuming that no investors are simply buying and holding everything for the long-term, this implies a desire to take profits to lock-in gains along the way. During this current rally, almost all my profit-taking has taken place with my gold mining stocks, because I'm simply not willing to sell any of my silver holdings – given their very modest valuations (in my own assessment).

Lest some critic jump to the conclusion that my “profit-taking” implies that I'm starting to “bail-out” of my own positions, I just finished re-investing two-thirds of those profits – on the brief pull-back which occurred in the “delayed reaction” to the Dubai default. At this point, I've seen no indications that the current rally is over-extended, and was happy to put more of my own money into two of my favorite miners.

Once investors decide how they wish to distribute their precious metals dollars between gold and silver, the next decision to make is in what form of precious metals holdings should they invest. As I have warned on many occasions, do not invest in the large (so-called) bullion ETF's – like GLD and SLV. There are many reasons to doubt the legitimacy of these funds, which I have detailed in several previous commentaries.

IT IS TIME TO INVEST IN YOUR EDUCATION ABOUT PRECIOUS METALS!

Gold will hit $2,000 an ounce within decade, says Jim Rogers

By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold prices, which just reached a new record high above $1,060 an ounce Thursday, will top $2,000 in a decade, according to Jim Rogers, a famed investor known for his bullish calls on commodities.

Rogers, speaking Thursday at the sidelines in a conference held by ETF Securities in New York, said gold prices will keep rising as a protection against a weaker U.S. dollar.

The dollar "is a terribly flawed" currency, he said. "Foreign debts are increasing rapidly every year, and I don't think Washington seems to care."

Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said prices of other commodities, such as oil, copper, and sugar, will continue to rise in the long term as the world will face more demand but shrinking supplies.

"There was very, very few new production capacity brought on line in the past 30 years for commodities," he said. "We have shortages developing throughout the world."

Demand, meanwhile, is on the rise, especially from Asia, he said.

"Thirty years ago, the last time we had a bull market in commodities, Asia was not in the game," said Rogers, who moved from New York to Singapore in late 2007. "And now they are all trying to live like we do."

"If you are going to diversify [your portfolio,] it's got to be commodities, because they will go in a different direction from your other assets," he said.

Rogers's remarks came as commodities prices, after suffering a big slump in the second half of last year and early this year, have mostly rebounded.

Oil prices, which tumbled below $35 a barrel in February, recently rose to as high as $75 a barrel. Crude futures ended Thursday's trading up 3% at $71.69 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. See Futures Movers.

Gold futures, meanwhile, made a fresh record high Thursday for the third session in a row. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 102.84, -0.80, -0.77%) , the biggest gold exchange-traded fund, ended at $103.64. See Metals Stocks.

Rogers, who also wrote several books including "Hot Commodities" and "A Bull in China," said he owned gold futures, ETFs, and physical gold.

"I like gold," he said in the interview, pulling a Chinese Panda gold coin from his pocket.

While bullish on gold, Rogers said silver and palladium will perform even better.

"There are better opportunities in silver and palladium," he said. "Silver is still 70% below its all-time high," while palladium, standing at around $310 an ounce, is also much lower than its high above $1,000 an ounce hit in early 2001.

Rogers said he owns all four major precious metals: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. He also owns currencies such as the Japanese yen and the Singapore dollar and agriculture commodities such as sugar.

A native of Demopolis, Ala., Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund in the early 1970s with George Soros.

He retired in the 1980s at age 37. While continuing to manage his own portfolio, he embarked on two round-the-world voyages, concluding the most recent in 2001.

In 1998 he founded the Rogers International Commodity Index, which consists of 36 commodities, including some not traded on U.S. exchanges such as azuki beans, silk, rubber, and wool. The index has risen 13% this year.

"And what are you waiting for, let us find sources for the yellow metal since it is still at 1000$ per gram."

Metals Price Updates

fr THE DAILY TIMES Friday, Sep 18,2009

LONDON: Gold eased on Thursday after hitting 18-month highs earlier in the day. Spot gold was at $1,014.20 an ounce at 1307 GMT against $1,016.70 late in New York on Wednesday, having earlier touched a high of $1,023.85. Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium hit their highest levels since September 2008 and silver hit a 13-month peak, because of a better industrial output outlook. Silver hit a peak of $17.63 as base metals took on a firmer tone. The ratio of gold to silver has fallen to 58.4 from around 64.5 a month ago. Spot silver was bid at $17.32 an ounce against $17.35 on Wednesday. Spot platinum was at $1,334.50 an ounce against $1,344.50, having touched a 12-month high of $1,348, while palladium was flat at $296 an ounce.

Copper falls on demand worries: Copper fell nearly one percent, erasing earlier gains on Thursday. Aluminium touched a three-week high earlier. Copper for three months delivery on the LME fell to $6,350 a tonne in the open outcry trade, versus Wednesday’s $6,415 a tonne and compared with an earlier high of $6,470 a tonne. Aluminium rose $20 to $1,947. Zinc rose to $1,944 a tonne, versus $1,937. Nickel rose to $17,525 from $17,250 while battery making material lead fell to $2,261 from $2,294 a tonne. Tin edged down to $14,595 a tonne from $14,600 a tonne. reuters

The bull prices of Silver is starting and hopefully will continue to last.

Gold-Silver price ratio

Silver has undoubtedly outperformed Gold in terms of pricing and is now breaking away from the 15$ per ounce price. When I started this blog and was also beginning my precious metals savings, silver was at 10$ per ounce. If you are a trader then this would mean a 50% gain in what you have invested in, in just a matter of 8 months, not bad for someone wanting to do an honest living.

For those wanting to be long-term investors in this metals bull market which is just beginning, it is imperative to understand that there is what we call a Gold Silver price ratio. This just means that at the present price, it would take silver multiplied approximately 61 times to get to the price of gold. Based on economic history fundamentals, this is too high and some experts say that a ratio of less than 50 has been more parallel with history. This just means that for silver to get to the price of Gold, it needs to be at the 20$ per ounce level.

I am not investing in metals for the short term and I am looking to increasing my portfolio. I would rather buy metals than hold on to pre-need insurance to fund my child's education someday which is full of deception and greed. Increasing one's financial literacy as to investing in precious metals may help hedge income from unfavorable economic times ahead.

A new way to own GOLD and Silver in the Philippines

Through this blog and the comments that you have shared about the present economic crisis, I have come across certain people who are also believe in empowering the masses with their own possession of precious metals.

It is a system that will help in the accumulation of Gold and Silver. Wherever you are, the system is will deliver to your door actual gold and silver. Before I recommend this type of system and vehicle of investing I am still verifying the details and seeing that it is backed and managed by credible people who know what they are doing and have track record to show for it.

If you have your own story to tell about how you accumulated your Gold and Silver, you can email me at pregusay@gmail.com so that we can post your investing success map so that other people may also know it.

The papers and other press releases tell that there are signs of recovery for the later part of 2009, this would be a very subjective claim to make since there is a hyperinflation coming our way due to the irresponsibility of the US Federal Government to print more dollars to supposedly 'save' their economy. The lagging of the great economic recession that is coming our way leaves us ample time to gather our logic, our wallets and precious metals to be part of our portfolio. The way I see it, you have nothing to lose since if you buy it cheap and then the experts are wrong then you can always convert the metal into something valuable. If the experts are right then you will become a very wise investor and wealthy at that.

The best is still to come. I will keep you posted in this new investment vehicle on precious metals.

CTAB Comments Regarding Silver Price, Demand

By: Bill Cara Thursday, April 16, 2009 12:06 PM


Here are some facts as derived from the USGS website and Kitco.

In 2008 the average gold price($871.96/oz) was 58.2 times the average silver price ($14.99/oz). At the same time silver production from mining (672 Moz) was 9 time that of gold mine production (74.9 Moz) and silver reserves (8.68 Billion oz) were 5.7 times more than gold reserves (1.51 Billion oz).

Looking at this another way, silver reserves are equivalent to 12.9 years of mine life at current production rates whereas gold reserves are equivalent to 20.2 years of mine life at current production rate. By this measure, silver can be considered more scarce than gold.

So if you were to consider gold and silver to be equal in terms of their utility as a precious metal or store of value and equal in terms of their industrial utility, then you would consider silver to be undervalued based on their relative scarcity and metal value.

So then I thought, how do these ratios compare to other metals such as copper and zinc.

The current gold price ($900/oz) is 7,200 times higher than the current copper price ($0.125/oz or $2.00/1b). Copper production in 2008 (15.7 mt) was 6,700 times greater than gold production and copper reserves (550 Mt) were 11,700 times greater than gold reserves. Copper reserves were equivalent to 35 years of mine life compared to 20.2 for gold.

The current gold price ($900/oz) is 24,000 times higher than the current zinc price ($0.0375/oz or $0.60/lb). Zinc production in 2008 (11.3 mt) was 4,850 times greater than gold production and zinc reserves were 3,830 times greater than gold reserves. Zinc reserves were equivalent to 15.9 years of mine life compared to 20.2 for gold.

A direct comparison of copper and Zinc indicates that the copper price is approximately 3 times that of zinc. This would suggest that zinc would be more scarce, but the data indicates that copper production (15.7 Mt) was 1.4 times greater than zinc production (11.3 Mt) and copper reserves (550 Mt) were 3.05 times greater than zinc reserves (180 Mt).

So it can be seen that from the supply point of view, zinc is more scarce than copper but the price of copper is three times that of zinc. This tells me that scarcity of supply is not the overriding factor in metal prices and that demand has a large role to play and in this case is the overriding factor. Obviously the demand for zinc is much lower than copper and if the demand for zinc was ever to approach that of copper, you would expect the zinc price to soar to well above that of copper due to it’s relative scarcity of supply.

So going back to the relationship, the imbalance between the ratio of supply and the ratio of their prices is most likely due to the current demand for each metal. If the demand of silver was ever to become equivalent to that of gold, we could expect the price ratio to decrease from 72:1 currently to about 9:1 based on production or about 6:1 based on reserves. This would be achieved either through a massive decrease in gold price or a massive increase in silver price, or a bit of both, depending on the change in demand.

*There is an indirect correlation between the metals themselves and so with the other commodities like Oil. It is interesting to see the relationship of the metals and understanding this relationship can help one make good investment decisions.

How do I invest in Precious Metals?

Before you start any investment, we recommend you invest in your education on a certain investment vehicle that you would like to go into. You need a plan and a road map of your investment future. Remember, Investing is a PLAN and not a procedure!

This is usually a common question and one that needs to be answered:

Q: I have 10,000 pesos, you think I can invest in Precious Metals?
A: Of course, if you act now, silver is still very affordable and undervalued. You can either buy a metal or open a metal account. 10 Thousand pesos is a lot of silver and if you buy at current spots, with the way the market is theoretically going (BULLISH) you will have handsome returns later on.

Q: What kinds of jewelry should I invest in?
A: Even though jewelry is made up of gold and silver, most experts believe that it will not sell WELL (it will still sell) in a major recession since the premium on jewelry lies in it's craftmanship and not on the metal itself. Jewelry is EXPENSIVE compared to bullions or other forms (this includes raw gold and silver).

Q: How do I know if the gold and silver I am purchasing is true?
A: There are various ways of checking but this is beyond the scope of this blog, suffice to say, gold is etched through a 'stone' or a gold metal karat detector may be used while silver testing is done by a mixed chemical that is placed on the surface. It is better to find an assaying expert on this part. We recommend hiring one rather than doing it yourself since this is very crucial and may make or break your investment.

Q: What kinds of coins should I collect?
A: The coins department or 'numismatics' is considered to be a highly volatile market since you need YEARS of experience to spot these gems and there are just a few of them lying around. It is good only for the trained eye and people with the education to spot great value items. But let's face it, there are just so few coins in the world that are really rare and it is a principle that when there is a lot of fiat money circulating, the good money goes into hiding.

Q: Where can I open a Metal Account?
A: There are several that we recommend, GOLD MONEY is one of them but if you are based in the Philippines (like the most of us), you can open an account through paperwork and their latest software where the requirements can be electronically faxed BUT you will have difficulty 'wiring' funds to your holding since banks would question the 'purpose' of the transfer. Please see a related article in the blog archives. This can be great if you are based in a foreign country where they can transfer funds to their holding (via Bank of America) easily.

There is another account,called Anglo Far East Metals based in Peru with offices in Hong Kong which can help you as well, but the very high premiums (9.75%) tend to be less tempting but nevertheless, this is a fairly easy way of holding metals personally since you can use a credit card.

Q: Are there metals available in the Philippines?
A: Yes there are, but you will need to be careful of bandits and hoodlums that tend to con people. There are a few that can supply through a form known as 'popcorn' gold and silver, there are also gold dust. A few of our suppliers have been successful in supplying us true .999 metals, since we pay experts to assay them for us. You can get in touch with the author for more information. These forms of metal investing is more of a pang-masa approach but you still have a rare metal in your hands. For those who want to hold them in 'Bars', this too can still be possible since we also have contacts that can easily convert your metal into bars, of course for a certain premium.

Q: Can I sell my metal acquired easily when the price goes up?
A: YES YOU CAN! We can help you dispose of your metal whenever the prices go up and you want to liquidate your acquired metals. You can still contact us for more details. (pregusay@gmail.com)

If you have more inquiries, please comment and we would love to answer your questions.