Buying Gold | Is Now The Time To Buy Gold? (IAU,GLD,GLL,PHYS) - Investopedia | News2Gold

Is Now The Time To Buy Gold? (IAU,GLD,GLL,PHYS) - Investopedia

Posted: 14 May 2014 03:10 PM PDT

Is the recent rebound in gold too good to be true? After falling hard in 2013 – posting a decline of 28% – the precious metal managed to claw its way upwards to revisit $1,300 an ounce. Many analysts began to believe that the yellow metal was about to rally. As such, funds like the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE Arca:IAU) once again saw inflows.

But some big-name strategists are saying that investors shouldn't be buying into the bling just yet. There are more declines and better prices around the corner. And when they hit, investors should be buying all they can.

Down To $1,000 Per Ounce

First, according to technical analysts at Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), gold's charts aren't telling a great story. Analyst MacNeil Curry expects gold bullion to be range bound before moving downwards to $1,215 per ounce. That echoes similar predictions from investment bank UBS Inc. (NYSE:UBS). The reason for the dour forecasts has to do with the strengthening U.S. and European economies. Additionally, higher interest rates and a strong greenback continue to weigh heavily on the metal. According to one stagiest, if it wasn't for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, gold could fall to the $800 to $1,000 per ounce range.

Which is exactly where famed investor Jim Rogers says to begin buying.

Rogers, who has been a big supporter of gold and other commodities for years, believes that a big gold correction could come soon. The former hedge fund manager estimates that a 50% correction every three-to-five years is normal for any asset class, and gold is no exception. Gold peaked at just over $2,000 per ounce back in 2011. Rogers also says that dwindling demand from China will weigh heavily.

Rogers adds that many of the long term catalysts for higher gold prices are still in place. The various quantitative easing programs and money printing will end badly, resulting in the potential collapse of the euro and dollar as well as triggering higher commodity prices and inflationary pressures, he believes. Gold remains a good insurance policy any of that happens.

Getting Ready To Buy Gold

Investors with a longer term view or those who are worried about the return of inflation may soon be getting a gift in lower gold prices. They should be ready to pounce. The easiest way continues to be the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE Arca:GLD).

The $32 billion ETF is physically-backed and represents the share of gold bars stored in a vault on behalf of investors. The ETF features high liquidity and relatively low operating expenses at 0.40%. Likewise, the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (Nasdaq:SGOL) stores its bullion in neutral Switzerland, while the UBS E-TRACS CMCI Gold TR ETN (NYSE Arca:UBG) uses futures to get its gold exposure. Both SGOL and UBG are perfect substitutes for the GLD.

Another potential option for investors could be the various gold-backed closed-end funds or CEFs. Due to their structure and fixed number of shares, CEFs can trade at discounts to underlying values. That means investors can snag gold at even bigger discounts to market prices. The two most popular funds – the Central fund of Canada Limited (NYSE:CEF) and Sprott Physical Gold Trust (Nasdaq:PHYS) – can both be had for discounts of 4.92% and 0.50%, respectively.

Finally, for those investors not willing to just wait for lower gold prices, there is the option to short the metal before buying it. The ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSE Arca:GLL) is designed to deliver twice the daily inverse return of gold bullion prices, while the PowerShares DB Gold Short ETN (NYSE Arca:DGZ) can also be used- minus the leverage effect. Investors can ride these two funds down, before selling them and switching over t one of the long funds.

The Bottom Line

According to several strategists, gold could fall further this year. Does that make it the best buying opportunity in years? If so, is now the time to short the shiny stuff?

Bust billionaire Sean Quinn accused of buying $400 million worth of ...

Posted: 31 May 2014 04:15 AM PDT

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Sean Quinn leaving the Anglo trial earlier this year. Photo by: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland

Bust billionaire Sean Quinn and his family have been accused of buying up $400 million worth of gold and hiding it from the banks.

Ireland's High Court has heard claims by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation that the Quinn family may have hidden as much as $700million worth of assets.

The court heard that unidentified 'informants' told the bank of the alleged dealings.

The former Anglo Irish bank has also told the court that the two informants will receive a fee of three per cent of any money they lead them to.

IBRC has applied to foreign courts seeking information about email addresses from Yahoo and other internet companies.

The Irish Times reports that applications were made this year by the State-owned bank on the back of information given to it by two informants.

The paper says gagging orders were in place over court cases in London and Delaware up to midnight on Thursday.

On Friday, IBRC informed Justice Peter Kelly in the High Court of the foreign actions and the deal with the informants. The bank said it would now notify the Quinns.

The Quinn family members declined to comment when contacted by the Irish Times.

The report says the bank has already received details of substantial email traffic between addresses given by the informants and parties the bank believes are involved in a conspiracy to hide Quinn assets.

It expects to receive new information from Yahoo in the coming days via the court in Delaware, including the content of this email traffic sent between June 2012 and February this year.

The Irish Times adds that in June 2011, Irish courts ordered the Quinns to desist from efforts to put a foreign property portfolio beyond the reach of the bank.

The informants claim that a named individual in Investec Bank in London was instructed to buy $400 million in gold for the Quinns and that the transaction occurred in Dubai or Fuji.

They say the same individual transferred $260 million from Dubai to the Virgin Islands.

The informants have claimed that a man called Qasim Mukhtar or Mukhtar Ahmed acted as a 'travelling fixer' for the Quinns.

They have also named a Cavan man as the Quinns'secret cash dispenser to oil the wheels of the conspiracy to hide assets'.

However information from Investec has shown no trace of the alleged transactions.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/quinns-bought-300m-of-gold-in-attempt-to-hide-assets-ibrc-told-1.1815750

Bust billionaire Sean Quinn and his family have been accused of buying up $400 million worth of gold and hiding it from the banks.

Ireland's High Court has heard claims by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation that the Quinn family may have hidden as much as $700 million worth of assets.

The court heard that unidentified 'informants' told the bank of the alleged dealings.

The former Anglo Irish bank has also told the court that the two informants will receive a fee of three per cent of any money they lead them to.

IBRC has applied to foreign courts seeking information about email addresses from Yahoo and other internet companies.

The Irish Times reports that applications were made this year by the State-owned bank on the back of information given to it by two informants.

The paper says gagging orders were in place over court cases in London and Delaware up to midnight on Thursday.

On Friday, IBRC informed Justice Peter Kelly in the High Court of the foreign actions and the deal with the informants.

The bank said it would now notify the Quinns.