BullionVault.com is still physical gold ownership but makes that much less of a PITA. For those interested in gold it is worth looking around that site and the help that goes with it even if you aren't planning on trading.

Disclaimer: Use that link to register and I get a little bit of the commission from your trades at no extra cost to yourself. And you can refer people and do the same. Apart from that I'm not connected with them other than being a satisfied user of their service and owning some gold, the referral scheme is part of the package.

I tried to use them or something similar a few years ago and there was a load of hassle needing an accountant or lawyer to verify documents. Buying an ETF was much less hassle, just use the same stockbroker account I do for other stuff. I'm happy with the security of PHAU.

What advantage in security do you see over ETFS PHAU?

Gold ETF Maybe a biased source but interesting.

Buy Gold and Silver at GoldMoney - Best Way to Buy Gold and Silver it was these I had trouble with the security before IIRC, far too much hassle.

Either you believe in physical or you don't. If you do then it's not a pita. Not sure what you mean by assay, if it's fully stamped up bullion. As for storage? Bury it in the garden! I take your point about a long term bullish wedlock with a single asset, but I'm not talking about having all your money in that form, just a percentage.

Most of your wealth is just paper and iou's. Why not have a small amount in a form that is real, tangible, cannot be destroyed and cannot be created?

With BullionVault you email them a scan of your passport and the top of a bank statement for the account you want to use to take money out. You can transfer money in without that, but the registration of docs is needed for withdrawal. That's about it, certainly no messing about with lawyers...

Lots of info about how their site works here: Gold Investment and Trading - Help and FAQs

The physical gold ETF was not suspended during the previous crisis, only my derivative silver. I'm quite happy with the arrangement to be honest. I really don't need yet another account/provider to keep track of, and I don't want to go digging in my (rented) garden, the landlady kindly provides a gardener to do that sort of thing. I grew potatoes once, but they got blight ;)

In terms of the amount, my gold exposure is presently about 6% of my portfolio, because the 3% or so I have in Merrill Lynch Gold and General tends to be leveraged about twice I believe. I have had as much as 40% of my portfolio exposed to gold at some points, although only briefly.

Gold on a tear after Non-Farm data!

I hope you had fun in the last 30 mins alloy, I wouldn't have known which way to trade that one, all over the place.

Got a shock there. :)

property has got to be an easier investment strategy - surely?

Had a nice run from the bottom there. :)

If I had the constant income for a mortgage that is definitely where my capital would be going at the moment, but I don't.

Yeah not too bad been pretty static all morning as per every non-farm friday, sold some VOD this morning short then on the data just whacked BAY.L, KAZ.L and AMEC.L all short and scalped a nice bit of profit in 10mins :thumb:

Employment data is always a lagging indicator anyway and with previous revisions i don't think it's as bad a news as it could be.... still think there are signs of stability and a few green shoots, but these could die of a frost this winter....

Things are looking quite positive for now. The Dow looking like it could hold above 10000, and the FTSE above 5000?

I remember reading a few weeks ago in the Mail on Sunday's financial section, that the writer was shorting the FTSE and had a stop at around 5400(IIRC). Wish I could find the article.

Seen a fair uptake in short products though not only Options and CFDs but ETFs as well. Could just be protection and not speculation but seeing the FTSE gap higher this morning is a healthy sign that 5300 will provide support now moving forward so its all building blocks. Still strange to see equities making 12mth highs with gold reaching all time highs though..

I'm very cautious with the gold trading at the moment. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but it's not going to advance at the same rate forever! Before I was holding positions for a few days... now I'm not so keen to do that. Was a good morning for trading it though.

Maybe the people are right with the shorts, who knows... a lot of people were getting ahead of themselves at the end of the summer. The same could happen again perhaps?

5,600 next resistance on FTSE100.


Do you have professional charting apps, GK, or are you trading on fundamentals?

Just typed up a lengthy reply, only to have it disappear when I clicked 'post'.

Bloody IB!! :mad:

Will give it another go...

At the moment I trade mostly on fundamentals :(. Think I need to invest in some apps.

My strategy(for gold) is to trade with the direction of a long-term trend backed by solid fundamentals. I aim to buy in the bottom quarter of a 'trading range' and sell in the top quarter. The amount I bet per point allows me to hang on in the event of an unexpected short-term correction, shorting on the way down, and buying again on the way up(in theory). All I do is keep an eye on the dollar index and any recent news. Pretty simple stuff :o.

This may not be the way a disciplined trader would go about things, and maybe I'll alter my 'trading' style as time goes on, but this is working for now.

So far I've grown the money in my spread betting account by over 60%(since around the time I started this thread, which is when I started trading gold really). There was quite a small amount in the account to start with compared to what I hold in stocks, but I'm taking things slowly while learning.

How long have you been trading? If you have any advice or criticism, feel free to let me know.

Much of gold's gain has been due to the dollar. I still have half my gold, and would still be better off right now had I not sold the other half, but I doubt it will last without taking a hit soon.

Not strange at all mate. Imho gold decoupled from it's classic relationship with equiities at least 6 months ago.

Gold will go to at least $1300, but I'm hoping $1500, and that's not stretching the imagination at all. I'll say again, don't forget gold reached $800 in the 80s, adjust that for inflation and you'll see what I mean.

I am however not a trader, I like physical. I don't trust anybody, I want to see and hold what I buy,

There is a little time left, buy real gold before it is too late.

Blimey you chaps make me realise how lucky I have been with my punts, TW, QED and GKP, missed the banks but turned 10 into 60. Now in GKP, PYC and PXS.

Remember the doulters on here dissing TW at 15p, I got out at 45p. I was lucky though.

Alloy - I may be in touch sometime

J

Ahh good old GKP, we had some of that down at 34p its fun to read the news and speculation about this little oil and gas explorer/producer, interesting little sector at the moment! Not got any HOIL then? PYC and PXS both things we've taken good money out of for certain clients in the past, i guess you love a good speculative story :D

Feel free to drop me a pM, hopefully pass on some better rates for you :thumb:

I've been in GKP on and off too. Also BMR, GRL, ENEG etc etc. Have taken a few punts. :D

ENEG the best for me so far.

Nothing wrong with what you're doing. It's simplistic but that doesn't mean it can't be effective. Technical analysts spend all day looking for patterns, and sometimes fail to see the bigger picture. Conversely, fundamental followers think they can ignore statistical patterns, but these have historically proved to be very useful in making money, basically because they're self-fullfilling prophecies.

I'd generally recommend a mix of the two, but the time you can devote to it will of course depend on whether you're looking to do this on a professional basis.

Me, i've been in this game since leaving Uni, and there are always things you don't know or can't/haven't taken account of. If it was that easy everybody would be doing it!!

Tel

I love the smell of a man who sold too low in the morning... :lol1:

Thanks, I was thinking a mix of the two would be the best way.

I have all the time in the world to devote to this; i'm officially self-employed now, doing this for a living. I'm 22, and the only reason I can give this a go, is because I'm still living at home with the parents. :lol1:

The goal for me at the moment is building up enough capital to be able to rent my own place(in the short-term) and support myself, while still increasing capital. I don't even know if that'll be possible yet, but I've got nothing to lose by trying.

I don't have a gambling personality, so I can't see myself losing huge amounts in the blink of an eye like some people, but whether I'll be able to make a living doing this... who knows! Will just have to see how it pans out. I'll keep this thread updated with the progress anyway. :)

Busted!

Well gold's up again... it seems there's no stopping it!

Bought yesterday at 1173 and sold first thing this morning at around 1179. Feeling a bit silly now, but profit is profit.

Also went long on Trinity Mirror today, so we'll see what happens there.

See post 81. As I said gold will hit a MINIMUM of $1300, $1500 is within reach. If we were to have another shock, geopolitical or economic, it'll be hello $1800/oz.

Dingdongler is very happy with his shiny stuff.