Buy gold? But where?

[soggadu]

all...

One of my friend had an idea about putting all his savings until now in Gold 1oz bars... he thinks the return is better than the bank rates now and 1oz bars are easier to trade for money when ever needed...what do you guys think...

On other note, any good gold buying sites where they wont charge much over the 'spot' price of gold?

[mesan123]

Actually couple of years before my friend converted some if his savings in to gold. But he brought from some Bank.



all...

One of my friend had an idea about putting all his savings until now in Gold 1oz bars... he thinks the return is better than the bank rates now and 1oz bars are easier to trade for money when ever needed...what do you guys think...

On other note, any good gold buying sites where they wont charge much over the 'spot' price of gold?

[victorian]

Buying/selling physical gold has non negligible transaction costs, especially in periods of high demand such as now. In addition, there is a cost of storage and security (for ex. bank vaults). If buying purely as an investment, there is an option to buy an exchange traded fund (ETF) called GLD. It has an expense ratio of 0.4% and is extremely liquid.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/partsub/funds/etfsnapshot.asp?symbol=gld


all...

One of my friend had an idea about putting all his savings until now in Gold 1oz bars... he thinks the return is better than the bank rates now and 1oz bars are easier to trade for money when ever needed...what do you guys think...

On other note, any good gold buying sites where they wont charge much over the 'spot' price of gold?

[soggadu]

Buying/selling physical gold has non negligible transaction costs, especially in periods of high demand such as now. In addition, there is a cost of storage and security (for ex. bank vaults). If buying purely as an investment, there is an option to buy an exchange traded fund (ETF) called GLD. It has an expense ratio of 0.4% and is extremely liquid.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/partsub/funds/etfsnapshot.asp?symbol=gld

wow nice idea Vic... will study more on that...but YTD physical gold has so much gain but not the GLD etf (only 15%)...

thanks for the info nnnn... so no luck changing the username name yet? :-(

[victorian]

wow nice idea Vic... will study more on that...but YTD physical gold has so much gain but not the GLD etf (only 15%)...
(

Not sure where you are getting that. Physical gold on Jan 3,2011 was 1415.00 and is 1697.00 today (Aug 8). This is a gain of 11.99% YTD. GLD is up 11.95% YTD. (On Jan 3, 138.0, On Aug 8, 165.00). The difference in the spot vs GLD is attributed to the expense fees. However, we are only interested in the relative performance which it tracks very closely.
You can get the physical gold prices from www.kitco.com

[dec2007]

Not sure where you are getting that. Physical gold on Jan 3,2011 was 1415.00 and is 1697.00 today (Aug 8). This is a gain of 11.99% YTD. GLD is up 11.95% YTD. (On Jan 3, 138.0, On Aug 8, 165.00). The difference in the spot vs GLD is attributed to the expense fees. However, we are only interested in the relative performance which it tracks very closely.
You can get the physical gold prices from www.kitco.com

Friends, keep in mind the taxes associated with GLD. the profits are taxed at 28% irrespective of your holding time. Tax on normal stocks is only 15% if held for more than a year, if less than one year, it is 30%. But in GLD case, it is flat 28%.

[victorian]

Friends, keep in mind the taxes associated with GLD. the profits are taxed at 28% irrespective of your holding time. Tax on normal stocks is only 15% if held for more than a year, if less than one year, it is 30%. But in GLD case, it is flat 28%.

Yes, that is a good point. If you want to take advantage of LT capital gains tax, you could buy a gold miners ETF like GDX. However, these have been under performing the metal for a while. BTW, even selling physical gold requires you to pay this tax (28%), if/when you report the sale.

[sidd21]

Hi Soggadu,

My 2 cents:

There are good sites to buy gold .. but i usually buy them thru www.monex.com.

www.kitco .com has good information about all the markets..never bought it thru them

But lately I trade ETF (GDX), which are equally good as buying the physical gold.

Also please look at the Reverse ETF's for gold or silver (These are riskier ETF's ,price goes up up when the physical metal falls), so that way you can make money on both the directions of the Metal. Please follow theire trading pattern for few days and then invest on your risk..( do not invest in them now..)

[qesehmk]

sid
can u please name a few reverse ETFs?

Hi Soggadu,

My 2 cents:

There are good sites to buy gold .. but i usually buy them thru www.monex.com.

www.kitco .com has good information about all the markets..never bought it thru them

But lately I trade ETF (GDX), which are equally good as buying the physical gold.

Also please look at the Reverse ETF's for gold or silver (These are riskier ETF's ,price goes up up when the physical metal falls), so that way you can make money on both the directions of the Metal. Please follow theire trading pattern for few days and then invest on your risk..( do not invest in them now..)

[sidd21]

sid
can u please name a few reverse ETFs?

Hey Q.... Sorry just logged in after the meeting..

Reverse or Short ETF's are :

SILVER : ZSL ( ultras short ETF on NYSE)..please note that my 2 cents on this is not to buy this at this moment ).

GOLD: there are lot of inverse/or i say " reverse" ETF's.. but my favorite would be DZZ( this is a double short ETF trading on NYSE.. please note that my 2 cents on this is not to buy this at this moment ).

"ZSL" was good for us( me and my friends) in the month of may and june this year when the silver fell from 40 to 30's ...... my advise... you can day trade this when Silver prices are falling... watch pattern for few days ... and then do the trading...

generally for thses type of ETF's .. people do not buy when the metal price go up..but keep an eye on them... as it is just a matter of any kind of new reports suggesting that economy is getting better or monthly employment rate is getting better.. and these etf fluctuate in a dollar range... so it is risky but when palyed right.. can make money

[username]

Friends, keep in mind the taxes associated with GLD. the profits are taxed at 28% irrespective of your holding time. Tax on normal stocks is only 15% if held for more than a year, if less than one year, it is 30%. But in GLD case, it is flat 28%.

Some states like Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, TexasWashington and Wyoming have 0% tax rate (on capital gain).
Source: http://www.thereibrain.com/realestate-blog/2007/10/capital-gains-tax-rates-state-by-state/

So if you make profit on your stock than you don't have to pay anything in tax if you are living in one of these state.