Many investors decided years ago to buy gold and not stocks. Gold bullion quadrupled in value over the last ten years and the stock market plummeted. The market closed on January 29, 2010 with its worst month in almost a year. Even with promising gains in the GDP, traders are concerned about a slow recovery of consumer spending. It would appear as though picking gold versus stocks over time has been an intelligent move.
Saving in dollars remains questionable to many investors with banks still collapsing even with the FDIC paying debts using deposit insurance. Although the dollar has moved up a percent or two recently, its decade long performance has been to slide versus other currencies and against gold; this is part of the problem with stocks versus gold. Stocks and bank accounts can go up in dollars but over time dollars have been worth less in gold.
There are two basic ways to buy gold; the first is to buy bullion. Bullion is available as gold coins and gold bars. The American Eagle gold bullion coin is guaranteed to contain an ounce of gold by the United States Mint. Gold bars from the likes of Johnson Matthey, Pamp Suisse, and Credit Suisse have been favored tools for saving gold bullion for years. Since the early 1970’s, gold bullion has appreciated more then thirty fold, easily beating the Dow Jones Industrials.
For those with a longer investment view, certified rare coins are an excellent way to buy gold. Mint state rare gold coins as a group have increased in value one hundred twenty fold compared to 1970; this is more than three times the appreciation of gold bullion. For reasons like these, it is no wonder that many investors have chosen gold over stocks.
John Halloran
Senior Gold Specialist - Buy-Gold.org
