Hi Folks,

Can you guys help me in deciding to invest in gold or not?
Any suggestions?

thanks in advance

flip a coin

Well you would have done better to have bought it 15 years ago when it was out of favour & good value, why should you want to buy it because the price & risen & it's in favour. Can there really be any greater fools out there?

Buy oil and gas shares, buy Swatch shares. Gold is the worst choice.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/...2945&sn=Detail

No warranties of anything though.
GS has just had a very bad year predicting stuff.
Its good to have part of your portfolio allocated to precious metals.
If you are going to use instruments like ETFs, I would recommend ETFs based on the real stuff and not those based on paper Gold.
It is well known that Comex doesn't have enough Gold bars in stock in case shit hits the fan. And when shit hits the fan is precisely the moment in which you need to be backed by the bars, not promises.
Alternative: Store your own. A bit risky though, or expensive if you hire a bank security box. Unless of course, your intention is to store 25kg bars, in which case the rental, as a cost, becomes irrelevant.

Any sugegstions on a website or Bank to buy gold..

What should it be made of?

Here's a thread that might interest you.

If things get as bad as you depict, gold bars will be about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. In such circumstances, land to grow your own food and a means to protect it will be key.

I thought you meant you wanted to buy this kind of gold:

www.susanexpress.com

I would say It is a definite yes on the gold buying in my opinion.

It is a rate to the bottom in Fiat currencies. Lots of central banks devaluing their own currencies by printing money and there is still more to come. Just look up the huge upturn in global money supply since 2008.

I would only buy physical if you can, bullionvault is a good option as well. I don't trust ETF's (just look at the naked selling HSBS was doing in the silver market).

As with anything you should do your own research and a few good references to look up are

Jim Rogers
Marc Faber
Peter Schiff
Gerald Celente
Max Keiser (for humour purpose)

The cracks that were exposes in 2007/2008 were papered over and will get bigger in next 5-10 years. I mean look at america debt. It is the highest in the history of the world. The debt to GDP ratios in west are crazy and gold is a no brainer for anyone who does not trust the currency.

Hope this helps I can go on for hours...

I agree and disagree with jonbvn. I see Gold as weath protection not as an investment.

But growing your own food would be great. But Agriculture in general will be a great investment area in the next 20 years and not a bad place to put your money...

About " Agriculture in general will be a great investment area in the next 20 years "

If we could only forecast which areas will benefit from climate change & which not

In fact climate change can aid investment . As the world has more people demand for food rises. Any natural disaters that disrupt the supply or say wheat or rice.. will increase the value of the commodity so we can profit on the back of that... For instance the fires in Russia make me money in Wheat as they halted their exports and thus cut supply...

Gold is 1745 today. It is relatively on the high side looking at its historical chart.

However, as there will be continuous bad news coming from PIIGS, it is predicted that Gold price will continue to climb.

Nevertheless, for me, as Gold price is already high, though there is still upside potential, there is high risk as well as undeniably there is also possibility of sharp price drop (though not that likely due to PIIGS factor). I personally would prefer to wait for equity market, and buy resillient quality stocks (in the U.S. and Asia) when it crashes.

It is high, but with the continued bad decisions from the FED and other central banks, it doesnt look so high. I think the Fed will step in with QE3 this year. Which keeps me bullish for gold. I agree with the resilient stocks. But I think gold should make up a minimum of 25% of a portfolio.

If you look at some of the guys who might be considered mavericks by some like Mike Maloney who calls for $100 silver and $3500-$10000 gold. The current price might not look that high. These amount could be very realistic if there was ever a run on the dollar...

Agree. For those who are willing to take the risk, it is better to buy gold now, instead of any later, since PIIGS problems will be more to come on the way.

My Mother gave my two children a couple Swiss vreneli's for Christmas. How much are they worth? Are they liquid? Would they be a good way to accumulate gold?

To be honest, it still is out of favour representing somewhere north of 0.6% of global asset allocation - in the 60's-70's it was closer to 5%. It is for capital preservation rather than get rich quick.

The odds are certainly better than the army of fools who think that politicians, money printing, currency devaluation, ZIRP, bank bailouts and debt creation will lead to growth and prosperity in the long term.

Totally agree Lex. Anyone who doesnt want to see their wealth evaporate in Lost Decade that will follow should be buying gold.