Investing in Gold
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Product Description
Can you afford not to buy gold?
As many investors know, gold is a “safe-haven” asset that can actually increase in value during stock market slides and times of recession. But what else do you really know about this commodity? Are you taking full advantage of it? Do you know how to work it into your overall investment strategy?
This detailed tutorial provides you with a comprehensive understanding of gold, from mine to market. Jonathan Spall, a 25-year veteran of the metals market, explains everything you'll need to know for making gold a profitable part of your investment strategy. Investing in Gold gives you an inside look at how the precious metal is mined, refined, traded, and priced, along with valuable insight into gold's unique position in the marketplace. Spall explores such topics as:
- Simple and complex gold trading processes
- The pivotal role central banks play in the gold market
- Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs)
- How spot gold is traded
- Why gold mining companies have traditionally hedged and why they no longer do so
- Strategies for investing in the retail market
Spall provides an extensive glossary of terms you'll need to know, and he debunks various myths regarding this market, including the Fed's supposed scheme to keep gold prices artificially low during the 1990s.
The effects of global economic growth, the weakened dollar, the credit crunch, and the recent creation of enormous funds each affect the gold market; put them together and they add up to potential profits gold investors have never before dreamed of.
Gold is a surprisingly small market. When you learn how to navigate it, the potential for excellent rewards becomes evident.
From the Author
I have written the book as an effort to debunk much of the unnecessary mystique that surrounds gold. In doing so I have drawn on my wide-ranging experience in this market to make it understandable and accessible to as many people as possible.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an interesting and educative read from an author who clearly makes himself out as an insider with many years of experience and insight. Having closely observed the precious metals markets over the last couple of years; I learned a good deal from this book both in technical depth and broader international views.
However as a recent book from an insider:
1) There is no acknowledgement of the rumours of tungsten frauds; let alone explanation.
2) There is no consideration of the identical gold serial number appearing on stock lists; either duplicated within an ETF or duplicated between ETFs.
3) There is no consideration of the subject of gold audits of Fort Knox and other central banks.
To be sure time has passed since this was written but not much. As an insider he should have been able to comment on these three key issues knowing they would surface (e.g. the removal from "Loco London" of a vast tranche of gold to a Chinese facility in Hong Kong).
Furthermore his statement (p119): "All I can say, having worked for four of the largest gold trading institutions in the world is that I have never seen any evidence of governmental tampering in the gold market. " raises a few cogent thoughts:
a) The prime movers accused of conspiracy are the big banks (e.g. JPM) rather than governments so that's careful wording.
b) It appears that the German government have since had to bail out one of the big alleged shorting players - check that out.
c) The authority of his assertion is somewhat undermined by the lack of address to points 1 to 3 above.
Now I don't know if any of these conspiracy theories are being put into practice. A lifetime of experience tells me that if it can be done then some prize fool will be trying it out; and where "market stability and confidence" is concerned, another prize fool will be trying to hush it up.
The author tries to walk a safe, almost bland line and has left himself as a hostage to fortune in the process. Compared to some/ many of the other books on the subject, this is excellent value and covers good ground in an affable style. It should not however be your only reading on the subject.
However as a recent book from an insider:
1) There is no acknowledgement of the rumours of tungsten frauds; let alone explanation.
2) There is no consideration of the identical gold serial number appearing on stock lists; either duplicated within an ETF or duplicated between ETFs.
3) There is no consideration of the subject of gold audits of Fort Knox and other central banks.
To be sure time has passed since this was written but not much. As an insider he should have been able to comment on these three key issues knowing they would surface (e.g. the removal from "Loco London" of a vast tranche of gold to a Chinese facility in Hong Kong).
Furthermore his statement (p119): "All I can say, having worked for four of the largest gold trading institutions in the world is that I have never seen any evidence of governmental tampering in the gold market. " raises a few cogent thoughts:
a) The prime movers accused of conspiracy are the big banks (e.g. JPM) rather than governments so that's careful wording.
b) It appears that the German government have since had to bail out one of the big alleged shorting players - check that out.
c) The authority of his assertion is somewhat undermined by the lack of address to points 1 to 3 above.
Now I don't know if any of these conspiracy theories are being put into practice. A lifetime of experience tells me that if it can be done then some prize fool will be trying it out; and where "market stability and confidence" is concerned, another prize fool will be trying to hush it up.
The author tries to walk a safe, almost bland line and has left himself as a hostage to fortune in the process. Compared to some/ many of the other books on the subject, this is excellent value and covers good ground in an affable style. It should not however be your only reading on the subject.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Disclosure: I know Jon Spall, having worked with him for a couple of years and being an enthusiastic subscriber to (and correspondent with) the daily "Barcap Commodity Comment" mailing list which he edits.
Indeed, it's on the strength of that excellent electronic publication (highly recommended if you can get on the mailing list) that I got to know him: It's fascinating and informative but most of all hysterically funny and decidedly un-corporatised overview of the markets (all the more credit to Barclays Capital for sanctioning it) from an excellent fellow with long experience of the markets who happens to be sitting in the front line as it happens. As you can probably imagine has been essential, if excruciating, reading over the last eighteen months as the markets have ritually disemboweled themselves.
No better a time, therefore, to be bringing out a publication extolling the virtues of the traditional last bastion of safety in an uncertain world, gold. Since the abandonment of the gold standard oft dismissed as a fossilised anachronism, in these days of seemingly uniform cratering across asset classes gold, like Keynes, is staging a bit of a revival. Even hedge funds - those that are left, that is - are piling in. And gold is what Jon Spall knows best. He's been in the market for a quarter of a century, and this book distills that learning, and the sort of context that you don't usually get in a business book - there's much learning here on mining techniques, hedging, transport and the history of the market - and with the sort of jaunty tone that Commodity Comment faithful will enjoy - sample excerpt: "the task of explaining the many properties ascribed to gold to an alien would not be easy" - though consciously toned down for sober, old economy, publication. If I had a criticism it would be just that - it doesn't quite give you the full flavour of Jon Spall in all his fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden-shooting glory, but that's very definitely a minor niggle. As the book develops the level of technical detail increases - there's an interesting chapter analysing the current performance of gold in the market turmoil - but the detail is never overwhelming (it hardly could be as the book weighs in at under 200 pages)
Bang up to date with the zeitgeist in including an FAQ as well as a glossary, this is as good a place as any to start if gold is what you're about.
Olly Buxton
Indeed, it's on the strength of that excellent electronic publication (highly recommended if you can get on the mailing list) that I got to know him: It's fascinating and informative but most of all hysterically funny and decidedly un-corporatised overview of the markets (all the more credit to Barclays Capital for sanctioning it) from an excellent fellow with long experience of the markets who happens to be sitting in the front line as it happens. As you can probably imagine has been essential, if excruciating, reading over the last eighteen months as the markets have ritually disemboweled themselves.
No better a time, therefore, to be bringing out a publication extolling the virtues of the traditional last bastion of safety in an uncertain world, gold. Since the abandonment of the gold standard oft dismissed as a fossilised anachronism, in these days of seemingly uniform cratering across asset classes gold, like Keynes, is staging a bit of a revival. Even hedge funds - those that are left, that is - are piling in. And gold is what Jon Spall knows best. He's been in the market for a quarter of a century, and this book distills that learning, and the sort of context that you don't usually get in a business book - there's much learning here on mining techniques, hedging, transport and the history of the market - and with the sort of jaunty tone that Commodity Comment faithful will enjoy - sample excerpt: "the task of explaining the many properties ascribed to gold to an alien would not be easy" - though consciously toned down for sober, old economy, publication. If I had a criticism it would be just that - it doesn't quite give you the full flavour of Jon Spall in all his fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden-shooting glory, but that's very definitely a minor niggle. As the book develops the level of technical detail increases - there's an interesting chapter analysing the current performance of gold in the market turmoil - but the detail is never overwhelming (it hardly could be as the book weighs in at under 200 pages)
Bang up to date with the zeitgeist in including an FAQ as well as a glossary, this is as good a place as any to start if gold is what you're about.
Olly Buxton
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Gold draws a great deal of comment fueled by fiery passion, and often instigates discourses based on rumor, conspiracy theories and gossip. Allow Jonathan Spall, an expert on precious metals, to disprove the lingering myths about gold with his interesting, helpful little book. While Spall's treatise doesn't quite carry you on a complete tour of gold's role throughout human history, it does usher you down into the mines and through the gold refiner's fire. His ability to explain the basics of the gold trade so clearly may be based on his writing skill, but it also reflects his years of experience explaining these ideas to nonspecialists. The only math he uses involves the simple equations used to calculate gold prices. While you may already be familiar with some of Spall's information, getAbstract recommends his broad introduction to gold to those who are interested in all facets of the prized metal, from its extraction to its sale.
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