Short description
Gold is a sterile asset that yields neither interest, dividends nor rentals and costs money to hold, but its price has surged to record levels, doubling since 2001.
Long description
Gold is a sterile asset that yields neither interest, dividends nor rentals and costs money to hold, but its price has surged to record levels, doubling since 2001. Why? Who is buying it and what are their reasons? How is its performance linked to the condition of the world economy and, especially the health of the US dollar? And, most pressingly, how can you decide whether it represents a useful way of diversifying your portfolio, an asset you should include in your pension provisions a good investment or an overvalued bandwagon? Goldwatcher explains the pros and cons of gold as a twenty first century investment when investing makes sense, when prices make sense and when they don't.The book addresses everything the independent investor needs to know about investing in gold. It addresses gold's history as a repository of value; what drives supply and demand, why and how the US dollar and global macroeconomic factors affect gold price, how experts in the filed of money management see its prospects and when prices are reasonable. Situations are explained in which gold will be invaluable to investors as stateless money that keeps its value even in the worst of times; a niche investment with value underpinned by scarcity; an investment to include in a portfolio to spread risks; and a suitable investment to include in pension provisions. As unbiased analysts the authors are neither bulls or bears, rather they examine different scenarios that could play out in currency and financial markets, the effects they would have on investors, and what investors can do to protect themselves from adverse developments.
Review
In these troubled times, the insights could be invaluable. City A.M. Thursday 26 June 2008 Katz & Holmes take over where Peter L. Bernstein's modern classic The Power of Gold left off... particularly timely. Spectator Business July 2008
Table of contents
- ContentsForeword by Dr Marc FaberList of Charts and TablesAcknowledgementsPART ONE - DEMYSTIFYING THE GOLD PRICE1. Introduction: Why Gold?Unbiased ResearchThe Stateless Money FranchiseCrisis and Financial Market Risk InsuranceA Niche InvestmentSquaring a Valuation Circle Leading Questions on Reasonable Prices Credible Analysis and CommentaryUS Defi cits and Missions Possible andImpossibleThe Road to Global Economic RebalancingWhy Gold Makes Sense NowInsight into the Post 9/11 World and the Jihadagainst America2. The Gold Mining IndustryGold Mining Past and PresentRising Costs and Declining ProductionSouth AfricaThe Bear Market for Gold in the 1980s and 1990s Rising Mining Costs and South Africa's MarginalResources3. Gold Supply and DemandPart One: Introduction to Gold Exchange TradedFunds - contributed by Neil Behrmann,Editor of Exchange Traded GoldA New Dynamic in the Supply andDemand EquationPart Two: Supply and Demand Fundamentalsand Swing FactorsSupply and Demand FundamentalsGrowing Investor DemandSwing Factors Affecting Supply andDemandThe Washington AgreementExchange Traded Funds and SovereignWealth FundsDo Central Banks Still Need Gold anddoes Gold Still Need Central Banks?4. The Rise and Fall of the Gold Standard Introduction: The Stateless Money Franchise Unfi nished BusinessThe Gold Standard and the Gold ExchangeStandardGold in 1980 and 2008Time Magazine on Bring Back the Gold StandardRobert Mundell on Gold at $10 000 The Offi cial US Enquiry into Restoring theGold Standard in 1982Overview on the Gold StandardTurning Points How the Gold Standard FaredUS Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the GreatDepressionThe Crash of 1929 and the Great DepressionRoosevelt and the Birth of the Gold ExchangeStandardThe Post World War II Bretton Woods Accord,the Dollar and the IMFThe Triffi n Dilemma and the Gold PoolVietnam, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon andthe End of the Gold StandardConclusion5. The Dollar Standard and the 'Defi cit withoutTears'The Dangers of Uncharted WatersThe Traditional ViewA New Paradigm: The Bretton Woods II TheoryNouriel Roubini's Criticism of Bretton Woods IIThe Defi cit without TearsBen BernankeMiranda XafaObstfeld and RogoffBarry EichengreenAssessing the Risks of a Hard Landing for theDollarThis Won't be Fun Exchange Rates US Sovereign Debt Credit Standing George Soros on the Demise of the DollarStandard Conclusion6. The Economic Consequences of 9/11 andGeorge W. BushFire Ready Aim War Costs without Any Sacrifi ce by AmericansDeja Vu Vietnam?LiquidityTax Cuts, Defi cits and Debts'Implicit Debt' on Entitlement Commitments Bush's Ownership Society: Dismantling theBarriers to Home Ownership and the RealEstate BubbleBorrowings Using the House as an ATMBudgets, Social Security and UnfundedEntitlement CommitmentsPresident Bush and Social Security Reform Bottom Line: Federal US Fiscal Policy RemainsUnsustainableThe Bottom Line: Federal Fiscal Policy isUnsustainableThe Realities of Implicit Debt andGenerational AccountingWhy We Should Consider GoldFor How Long Will Asians go on Lending forAmericans to go on Spending?7. The End of Cheap Oil, 'Chindia' and OtherTipping Points to InstabilityWorld Economic Forum Annual Risks ReviewThe End of the Days of Cheap OilConclusions from the International EnergyAssociation 2007 OutlookA Finance-based Economy with Excessive DebtDollar Falls as a Tipping PointSovereign Wealth FundsWill Alternative Energy Come to the Rescue?8. Globalisation &
- Global Economic RebalancingIntroduction: Skating on Thin IceFinancial Imbalances and Global EconomicMeltdownProtectionism, Mercantilism and Mutual InterestIMF Engagement on Global EconomicImbalancesExtracts from Headline Comments from IMFStaff Report on Financial ImbalancesThe $ as America's Currency and Everyone Else'sProblem Again?Scenarios Outlined by the IMFOutcome of the IMF ConsultationsChina's Approach to Growth, Reform andStabilitySustainable Development as China's PriorityChina's Current Account SurplusApproach Emphasizes StabilityUS Treasury Secretary Paulson's Approach toCooperation with ChinaCan the IMF Avoid Global Financial Meltdown?9. Gold Prices: Infl ation, Defl ation, Booms and BustsIntroduction: A Crisis of Confi denceInformation Resources Including the LBMAAnnual Gold Price ForecastsAccessible InformationDrawing the Threads TogetherProspects for GoldThe Refl ationary RescueAn 'Anti Risk Strategy'Messages from HistoryPrice OvershootsWhat's Different this Time?Gold Price SuppressionA One Way Risk to PricesPapering Over the CracksDo Trees Grow to Heaven?10. Investing ChoicesBullion, Coins, Shares in Funds and MiningCompaniesGold Bullion and CoinsGold Coins and Bullion BarsAdvice from a Coin DealerExchange Traded FundsFutures Contracts and Increased Risk RewardExposure with all DerivativesGold Mining Shares and Gold FundsInvesting in Gold Mining Shares and Gold FundsTiming and StrategiesTaxation'How to' Resources for Trading and MonitoringEagle Wing Research on Gold FundsPART TWO - GOLD INVESTING STRATEGIESBY FRANK HOLMES11. Inside U.S. Global InvestorsOur Golden Rule: ModerationHow We Work12. Investing in Gold EquitiesWhat's Driving Gold?The Investing UniverseGold Stock FundsThe Return on Capital ModelThe Five MsManaging VolatilityCorrelationGold Seasonality 13. Gold Mining Opportunities and ThreatsGeographical ShiftGold Production PeakExploration SpendingIndustry ConsolidationRising Operating CostsSummaryPART THREE - APPENDIXFact BookChart BookGold: ChronologyNotesBibliographyWebliographyIndex