A golden outlook

So another year has passed, and a new one has started. So many people have new dreams for the following year ahead of us. Some want to go on vacations. Some want to move to a nicer or bigger house. Some want to get a shiny new car. And most of us want to have good health and prosperity.

I of course plan on working as hard as I can to help paying down my debt. It's looking pretty good since this time last year, so I must be doing something right. I just want to be able to do a little better this year. Okay a lot better is fine too! It would be nice to be debt free and be able to invest more for my retirement. I wouldn't lock everything into any sort of registered retirement fund though. Uh-uh. I would like to be able to spread it around a bit, and invest in other avenues as well. Take gold and silver for example. Have you ever followed the prices of these precious metals for any length of time to see how they're rising? Gold has more than doubled in price over the last five years -- almost tripled, in fact. Same goes for silver too. It sure would be nice to be able to have a few extra bucks to spend at Monex on some gold and silver, and sock it away in a safety deposit box for a couple decades, but for now I have to concentrate on paying that loan of mine off! ;-)

Olivia

All gold shines

I had an old man in the bank the other day, and when I asked him if there was any particular way he would like his cash, he said to me, "It doesn't matter. All gold shines." I loved that line! And how true is that? Yes, gold is shiny, there's no doubt there.

Gold, silver and platinum make great additions to an investors portfolio. From time to time we've had clients bring in gold and silver bars, also known as bullion for trading purposes. Did you know that the standard size for gold bullion weighs 10 ounces? This is also referred to as the .995 fine bullion bar. And if you were wanting a little bit heavier of a portfolio, you can also purchase your gold bullion in kilobar size, which is the equivalent of 32.15 ounces of the shiny stuff.

Standard sized silver bullion, on the other hand comes in a heftier size of 1000 ounce bars. Of course silver is priced considerably lower than gold, by about $650.00 or so an ounce currently. Mind you, the experts say that our silver resources are shrinking quickly, and that is sure to boost prices in the coming years.

Platinum, just like gold comes in standard sized bullion of 10 ounces. However, platinum resources are much more rare, and because of this, it's worth almost double the price of gold. No wonder why platinum jewelry is so dearly priced. I guess that's why they're all called precious metals!

If you'd like to stay up to date on the latest prices for gold, silver and platinum, go where I go -- to the Monex Deposit Company. They've been dealing with precious metals for over 40 years.

Olivia

It's all about the gold!

So today is my birthday. I'm not big on birthdays anymore as I get older, but it's still nice to have a little fuss made over me. My husband came home from the cottage last night, and this morning gave me a little gift and a card. He bought me a pair of gold earrings. They're really nice hoop earrings. I have a metal allergy and can't wear anything but gold and it kind of makes things pretty limited to what I can wear. I really like some of the cheap fashion earrings, but the horrible infection I get from wearing them for even a couple hours isn't worth it. But these are really nice hoops, which is mostly what I own. They have a filigree sort of insert inside the actual hoop. And one good thing about only being able to wear gold, is that it makes a great investment as well. Gold prices just seem to keep rising all the time, making it a great investment. Maybe one day he'll buy me a nice shiny gold bar, although he did buy me a charm once that is a small one ounce bullion. I love that charm!

Ever since we once panned for gold, like the old wild west days when we lived out in Alberta, both of us have had a fascination with gold! We were at the Klondike days festival that they have every year in Edmonton, and they had a little panning set up, where you were of course guaranteed to have an itty-bitty gold ingot in, but you had to actually go through the process of panning it to find the gold. It was something fun to do, and we got to learn the technique of the panning. We still have those little bead sized ingots. Wonder how much they're worth today? :-)

Olivia

The golden mile

Hehe! I have to share this story, although we won't tell my husband that I'm telling it now, will we? When he was a kid still living at home, his father had a really good dental plan through his job, and of course their family dentist knowing this had to take full advantage of that. So my husband, and all of his sisters each have some gold caps on their teeth. My husband has two of them, on two back molars. I've always teased him about this, that they are an investment in my future, and when he dies and is cremated, those two gold nuggets in his mouth will make a nice tink-tinking sound in the urn.

So the other night we're eating dinner, and all of a sudden he makes this horrible face, like he was going to be sick or something. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me one of his gold caps had become loose lately and he had just swallowed it! I started howling with laughter, and making all kinds of remarks about the golden bowl movement he was going to have, and how he'd be panning for gold in the toilet. He wasn't too amused, but I'm sure he'll get over it and find it funny at some point too -- just not at that point.

Well today when I got home from work, he was all smiles, like grinning ear to ear, so I asked him what was up. He held out his hand and dropped something in mine. There was that gold cap from his mouth that had made the journey through his intestinal highway, now dubbed the golden mile! I screeched until he assured me he completely scoured it clean!

I couldn't help but noticing how much that gold tooth nugget weighed, and I told him I really was going to be rich from his teeth one day! That his two caps were like little gold ingots to me appreciating in value over the years. Precious metals make for a great investment, and I think I may have half an ounce of investment in his mouth, so I think I'll take a jaunt over to the Monex Deposit Company site and see what this precious metal is going for at the moment! Then I might send his old family dentist a thank you note for thinking of my financial future! ;-)


Olivia

More on gold

Did you know that gold investments are sold in ingot form? An ingot is formed when a metal is heated past it's melting point, and then the molten metal is poured or cast into a mold, such as a bar or a block. This makes it easier for transporting, rather than irregular shaped pieces such as nuggets.

The other day I was talking about adding gold to your financial portfolio as an investment. Well, if you're wanting to find out more about how you can go about purchasing gold in an investment form, then I would suggest you head over to the Monex Deposit Company's site. They've been the precious metal investment leader in America for over thirty years now, which should give you a feeling of comfort dealing with the best there is.

Olivia

All that glitters is not gold

Gold. One of our worlds most precious metals. We wear it in jewelry, some of our coins are made of gold, and many people, including my husband have it in their mouth used for dentistry purposes as capped teeth. But do you have it in your safety deposit box as an investment? The wise investor will have some gold bullion included in their investment portfolio.

Unfortunately, I'm not in the financial situation at the moment to have any gold in my own portfolio, other than my jewelry and those two gold capped teeth of my husbands, but it is something I would like to consider investing in somewhere down the road.

Another thing I have always wanted to do is pan for gold, just like they used to back in the days of the Klondike. I think it would make for a pretty cool vacation. A nature trip, so to speak. Camping in the great outdoors somewhere out west near a river, with a blackened pan searching for a gold rush. Maybe I could discover a new gold vein to mine! Hey, I might as well dream big! These things do happen after all. See what I mean by reading what General Metals Corporation has to say about their latest gold mine purchase in the following press release...

Gold Expected to Dominate the Investment Horizon, Experts Advise Early Stock Purchases (Reno, NV – March 5, 2007) Traditionally, gold has had an inverse relationship with the stock market. When stocks go up, the price of gold usually falls; when stocks flounder, the price of gold usually skyrockets. Some experts believe it could mean a lot for investors in 2007, because gold is once again catching the eye of the investor. For General Metals Corporation, the news couldn't come at a better time. “With our plans to begin drilling at Independence Mine, we’re more than thrilled to hear gold is making a comeback,” states company CEO Stephen Parent. “We’re even more excited with our location; it’s a proven producer.” General Metals acquired the Independence Mine in northern Nevada and became a public company last year, trading under the symbol GNLM. Predominantly a silver mine from 1938 to 1987, the Independence Mine is estimated to contain over two million ounces of gold, as well as over two million ounces of additional un-mined silver. As the Independence Mine is essentially an island within Newmont Mining’s Phoenix Mine, the area is already a proven producer. According to Parent, they plan to remove the precious metals in two phases. “Phase one includes our ‘shallow’ targets,” says Parent. “The shallow targets contain less gold, but they’re easily and quickly accessible, which will encourage early cash flow. Phase two is where the majority of our gold will come from. It’s deep mining, but we expect it to produce 1.4 to 2 million ounces of gold.” They expect to produce 20,000 ounces of gold in the first year, 60,000 ounces in the second year and 70,000 ounces in the third year -- approximately $101 million from early estimates. The company also anticipates an additional $1.36 billion to be gained from phase two production. In an effort to increase their mining production, General Metals has recently acquired the Nyinahin Mining Concession in Ghana. Located in one of the most active exploratory areas in the world, this concession shares borders with several major mining companies, including Newmont Mining, Napoli Gold and Dunkwa Continental Goldfields. “Financial experts are predicting gold to play a key role in investor’s profiles during 2007,” adds Parent. “But due to the timely nature, potential investors will need to act quickly in order to maximize their gains.”

Olivia



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