What Makes Gold So Valuable?

Why do people invest in gold? And what makes the hunk of metal so valuable anyway?

Do you hold gold in your investment portfolio? Why?

The History of Money Revealed

Throughout history a many variation of things have been money. Before the invention things like livestock, rocks, shells, beads and metals like gold and silver were all forms of money. In fact, in ancient time's people physical exchanged goods directly for other physical goods. For example, if I have fish but needed coconuts and in turn you had coconuts but needed fish, then there would be a mutual agreement between us and a transaction could be made. This way of carrying out exchange was known as the barter system.

The barter system however, brought with it some challenges such as double co-incidence of wants. What if we both needed coconuts? Also, there was no common measure of value and no medium to measure the value of goods so who decides if your coconuts are actually more valuable than my fish?

Commodity money was then created to address this concern. A commodity is a basic item which can be used by almost, if not, everyone. Things like seeds, tobacco, tea, salt and even cattle were considered commodities however, carrying bags of these items over a period of time proved to be extremely difficult... especially trying to carry cattle! There were three main functions to money in these days: money must be a medium of exchange, a unit of account and, a store of value. Although these commodities were considered to be mediums of exchange it was difficult to consider them units of account and given that these commodities were also perishable items they could never truly be considered to be a store of value either.

Then came the introduction of coins and paper money. However, according to Wikipedia 'due to the complexities of ancient history and because of the fact that the true origins of economic systems actually precedes written history, it is impossible to trace the true origin of the invention of money'. That-said, metal objects were introduced as money because metal was readily available, appeared easy to work with and, was recyclable. Countries around the world were minting their own series of coins with specific values making it easier to compare the cost of various items. Some of the earliest known paper money dates back to ancient China, where the issuing of paper money became common from about AD 960 onward.

Paper money began, what we would call in today's generation, trending. Nations around the world today all use paper money. Through the evolution of paper money has come a longer list of functions from the previous three. Money must continue to be a medium of exchange and a unit of account however, it must also be portable, durable, divisible, and fungible, which means the dollar in your pocket is worth the same value as the dollar in my pocket. Money has always maintained that it is a store of value however, this is where things begin to turn a bit grey.

Why?

Consider that $100 US dollars from just a decade or two ago purchased a lot more goods and services than it would today. The same is true for the euro, the pound, and the yuan. All around the world the money of many nations are suffering what is known as devaluation meaning year after year our money is buying less and less. How then can we maintain that paper money is a store of value?

People all over the world today seem to be working harder for money that is continuously buying less. So, just like the barter system could not be maintained as a viable way of trade, the current system we use on a global scale has also become a broken one. In all parts of the world we have one major inherent problem and that is that our money does not maintain its value.

There are ways to solve this problem just as our civilization found ways to solve the barter and commodity system. Take the time now to educate yourself on how.

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As an independent insurance advisor and income protection specialist, Ryan has been providing clients with customized personal insurance and financial solutions through disability, life, critical illness, long-term care, and other personal insurance products while providing strategies for hedging income and preserving wealth through physical gold and silver acquisition.

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4 Current Commodity Tips You Need to Know About

Commodities are an incredibly strong investment choice. A great way to build a diverse portfolio, they lack the volatility of stocks while providing great room for financial growth.

But investing in commodities without knowing what you're doing is a bad idea.

If you want to make this investment, you'll need to develop an intelligent strategy. Here are some commodity tips to help you make that move.

Commodities Explained

Before you read any other commodity tips, you need to understand the concept. Commodities are structured trades around the delivery, sale, import, and export of a particular good. Popular commodities include oil, gold, and soybeans.

The most popular strategy for investing in commodities is signing a futures contract. These ensure that you will own the commodity for a set amount of time before selling it on a certain date at a specific price.

Here are a few tips for making the most out of your commodity trades in 2017.

Why ETFs Are A Good Choice

If you're looking for an effective way to invest in commodities, one of the best ways to do it is through ETFs. ETFs, or Exchange-traded funds, can either monitor a commodity or a specific market index.

ETFs can be a great way for beginners to invest in commodities. They are easy to manage and involve a lot less red tape than a futures index. While investing in ETFs is not the only way to make a profit off of a commodity investment, it is the best way to get acquainted.

How To Use a Short Position

Many have a strong preference for the simple game of going long on their commodities. But this can be a mistake. There's a lot of money to be made off of the short sell, and it also isn't particularly difficult.

If you detect a market depreciation, you should sell shares in a commodity. Let the commodity depreciate in value: when you feel it has bottomed out and will experience a resurgence in value, you should buy shares.

This will allow you to minimize the cost of purchasing valuable commodities while profiting off of purchases of a commodity at a low value. Every trader should stop worrying and love the short.

Read The News (Financial and Otherwise)

Commodities are very complex. But in a way, they can also be relatively simple to understand. As a matter of fact, indexes for every commodity from corn to currency will appear in the newspaper. And not just in the business section.

Staying on top of everything from policy to boardroom rumors can help you make the right decision. So devote at least an hour to the news each day.

Be An Oil Skeptic

Oil is one of the most popular commodities. And while it can perform well or poorly in various technical analyses, an essential part of risk mitigation involves taking a look at the international political environment.

Whether it's through long-term transformations in the energy market or instability in OPEC nations, the future for oil is questionable. In the name of risk mitigation, we would advise approaching oil with caution.

Beyond Commodity Tips: Work With The Best

Tips can take you far. But you can go even further by working with seasoned financial professionals.

Work with the experts in various areas of trading. One of these areas is commodities trading. But whether you're looking to succeed at the trading of commodity ETFs or to continue boosting an already thriving portfolio, always look for the best people to work with.

Trade Finance Consultant, Business Development Strategist, Strategic Trade Risk Mitigation Solutions Provider Visit http://www.adamsmith.tv for more details.

It is one of India's leading Trade Finance Company, performing business of arranging trade finance and providing consultancy, advisory, structuring and management services relating to trade finance transactions. One of its main expertise is in commodity trade finance.

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All About Futures Trading

In layman's language, futures trading is a form of paper investment where you speculate the price of a commodity. If you speculate, correctly you make a profit and vice versa. The commodity can be anything from currency to corn. It's known as a paper investment as you don't have to hold the physical product for you to make money. In fact, you speculate the prices based on the contract of the product.

Who trades in futures?

There are two main types of people that trade in futures: speculators and hedgers. The hedgers are manufacturers of the product. They trade to protect themselves in the event the price of the product changes. For example, a corn farmer would buy plenty of corn futures contracts when he expects the price of the product to shift.

Speculators are investors with interest in a given area. For example, investors interested in the milling industry, will buy flour futures. They don't produce the product and often don't have a connection with the products. All they are interested in is making money in the event the market moves to their advantage.

Benefits of futures trading

There are plenty of benefits that come with futures trading. Some of these advantages include:

Huge returns: In the event, you make the right speculation, you stand to make a lot of money. This is because futures are highly leveraged investments. In most cases, the profits you gain from your speculation are multiplied tenfold. The cool thing is that you don't need to have all the money that you are speculating. You need 10% of the amount. This is known as margin, and it's a form of security bond.

In the event the market goes against you, you can lose some, all, or even more than the margin that you had placed. If the market goes according to your speculation, you make a tidy profit and get back your margin.

You deal with papers: The other advantage of futures is that you work with papers-you don't have to hold the actual product. This means that if you are trading with corn, you don't need to buy corn and store it in your home or place of work. Unless you are a hedger and in extremely rare cases, you will exchange hands with the product.

No inside information: In other forms of trading such as stocks trading, some people have information about companies thus buy and sell their shares with inside information. This is unfair for people without the information as it results to loses. Futures trading doesn't have this. At the end of a trading session, an official market report is released, and everyone interested can look at it. This keeps everyone at the same level as no one has more information than the other.

Conclusion

This is what you need to know about futures trading. Just like any other form of trading, futures trading has its ups and downs. Sometimes you can lose money, and other times make a tidy profit. Before you jump into it, take the time to study it.

To reduce your chances of making costly trading mistakes, you should invest in futures trading education. One of the easiest and best ways of getting the knowledge is attending trading webinars. To know more visit the given links.





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This Hated Commodity Could Make Huge Gains in 2018

The forecast showed an extra 20 million pounds of uranium production for 2018... with no buyers. As you can imagine, the uranium price plummeted.

It hit its lowest price in October 2016 at $18.75 per pound. That touched a 13-year low price.

The downtrend began back in 2011. The uranium price peaked at $72.50 per pound in January 2011. It fell steadily since then, down a total of 74%.

This is a shocking result for an energy source that many embraced as a "green" rescue from hydrocarbons just a few years ago. Nuclear power creates safe, carbon-free energy.

The problem is, it can cause huge disasters. That's what we discovered when the Fukushima disaster struck Japan.

The Demise of Nuclear Power

An earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011. The earthquake damaged a reactor. Then the tsunami inundated the area, destroying vital backup generators.

Without the backup power, cooling water couldn't get into the plant. That caused a runaway reaction, a meltdown - the greatest fear for all nuclear power plant operators.

A series of human errors compounded the damage. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, was completely unprepared for the situation.

The result killed the nuclear power industry.

Fukushima turned the world against nuclear power. Germany shut down all its reactors in response. Demand for uranium fell, and the uranium price collapsed.

This finally led major uranium producer Cameco Corp. to cut production in early November 2017. The company's earnings fell and fell. It struggled to maintain profitability. It finally announced that it would suspend operations at its flagship McArthur River mine for 10 months.

Cameco's decision cut the surplus to just 5 million pounds... and then the unthinkable happened: The world's largest uranium producer followed suit. Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium miner Kazatomprom cut production by 20% for the next three years.

The result could be a massive bull market in uranium.

The Uranium Price and a Windfall for Uranium Producers

Shares of Uranium Participation Corp., which hold physical uranium for investment, soared in response. Shares are up 30% in just a month and a half.

Shares of uranium companies surged too. However, this is just the beginning. Analysts that cover the uranium sector believe these cuts could add $30 per pound to the price of uranium. That's more than double the current spot price.

For uranium producers, this will be a windfall. Companies like Cameco and Ur-Energy Inc. will see revenue and earnings rocket higher.

This appears to be great news for the uranium sector. It's a story we'll continue to watch in 2018.

Matt Badiali has a hands-on, go-anywhere, talk-to-everyone approach to his investment prospects and research. His work has taken him to Papua New Guinea, Iraq, Hong Kong, Singapore, Haiti, Turkey, Switzerland and many other locations around the world. He's visited countless mines and oil wells the world over, interrogated CEOs about their latest resource prospects and analyzed all manner of geologic data. You can read more read more here.

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Introduction to Commodities - MoneyWeek Investment Tutorials

Out of all the asset classes to invest in, commodities are considered one of the most solid ways to hedge your risk in case of a serious economic downturn. Do you understand how these assets move in relation to the wider market of stocks and FOREX? It pays to understand the key relationships between them and how they can be used to protect your net worth!

Did you find this video helpful? Let us know in the comments below!