Precious Metals

amp2000

Hi

I'm interested in investing in gold & silver but not sure where to start. Is there any brokers in Ireland that do it, I checked out davys & goodbody's websites but it all looks like stocks to me, neither site has anything about trading in commodities.

I'm a bit lost so any advice is welcome.

Cheers

Takeshi_Kovacs

not too sure where you'd go to invest in metals, but i was reading an article on bbc , saying gold is at its highest in over 20 years, not sure if it keeps rising, or if it will fall..
i guess google is your best friend there...

ronbyrne2005

www.gold.ie

dunkamania

Consider ETF's(exchange traded Funds) which now trade on Gold.
(Its like owning a share of gold.)
Easier than investing in the physical commodity itself and easier than getting
into gold futures.
You have all the advantages of owning gold without having to store it.
Always seek imartial professional advice before you act.

amp2000

Thanks for the replies:)

dunkamania, ETF's are exactly what I'm was looking for, could you tell me please where I would go to get into trading it as you described.
Do davys or goodbodys do them?

cobblecobble

Dude, As a private investor you cant really buy silver or gold at the moment in its normal markets (spot & futures market) as you need to be an institution and deal in size. What you can do howver is buy something that tracks the underlying prices. There are two ways to do this for a private investors: ETF's and CFD's/spread betting. Gold ETF ticker is GLD.US thats best way to trade Gold. No silver ETF at mo but as it happens one is being launching one in a few weeks. If you want leverged exposure you could check out www.igindex.co.uk or www.cantorindex.co.uk and open a CFD or spread betting account which will allow you buy something (or short it) that tracks the underlying price of gold and silver. Theres a guy in Davy who specialises in this and he is excellent - but its not on their website.

My whole pension is in gold as it happens.

dunkamania

Glad I could help.

I think you will have to go to a broker like Davys,Goodbodys who can sell them to individual investors.I would recommend you seek advice from a qualified party who is independent from the broker you intend to use.

Good luck!

amp2000

Just emailed Davy's so I'll see how I get on.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated.

MichelRichmont

I'm thinking of investing in Copper, Platinum, Palladium and other metals in the next six months as I feel global demand for raw materials is high in the medium term.

I'm looking at companies such as Aquarius Platinum, RioTinto, AntoFagasta, Kenmare and Compania Vale Rio Doce(NYSE)

Any hints on other companies or related sectors?

Cheers

MRichmont

dunkamania

I have attached links to lists of miners in UK and US.
They are both yahoo Finance webpages,which I find is really helpful.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/cp?s=^FTEI

above are some UK mining stocks.
I think BHP Billiton is pretty diverse so its less affected by the movements of any one commodity price.It might be overpriced.
Vedanta provides raw materials for the India and China markets,amongst other things,but this one also might be overpriced.

http://biz.yahoo.com/p/1conameu.html

you should find most of the U.S miners here

Redmon

If you are interested in trading commodities and learning more about the different sectors you should check out (or google) Jim Rogers.

He's a very succesful financier who now believes the that the next century is not just China's, but also of commodities. He now holds a portfolio of commodities and has his own index.

I don't have his link to hand but he's a reputable guy - always on CNBC et al.]

He has written very interesting books (Adventure Capitalist) on global economics, finance and travel: he has travelled the world twice, once on a motorbike and once in a yellow merc.

I cannot reccommend him enough. Let me know what you think of him?

MichelRichmont

I read a book review about him a few years ago in the FT. Sounds like he knows what he is talking about all right.
His index results are pretty amazing. A perhaps silly question - does this index buy futures in the 5 commodity sectors and trade them every year - or how does it actually 'hold' the commodities in question.

I don't have the means or time to invest across all five sectors he mentions, and aim to focus on metals and hydrocarbons. I have not decided whether to trade in futures(I've never done this before) or plain equities. I'm in this for the long term, though I believe that certain commodities will peak in the next few years - (gold, copper)

Can you give me some tips on investing in commodities other than through equities?

I'm starting an online a/c with Internaxx soon
Cheer
MRichmont

dunkamania

I dont have first hand knowledge of investing in Futures,but I believe that there is a lot of hassle in setting up the accounts.ETF's and CFD's are the way I would do it,although I havent used either of them

shepthedog

Read an article in Biz And Finance, it was bout a month ago, it detailed two Irish entrepeneurs who have set up a company to allow private investors to buy gold. Think the minimum investment is 10k. Will dig up the article and post the contact details..

Best of luck..

CorporalCarrot

Guys the cheapest way to invest in gold (for individuals) is to buy the US Exhange Traded Fund, Streetracks Gold Trust, ticker GLD. This is a very liquid ETF, has perfect correlation with the underlying (the Trust is invested in the metal itself rather than Gold producing companies etc) and the bid/offer spread is very low (1-2cents).

The easiest and cheapest way to do this (as always) is to set up an account with one of the US brokerages (such as Etrade).

In fact, for the small individual investor considering any type of commodity investment (whether through ETF's or equities), a US account is essential.

C

RainyDay

cobblecobble wrote:

My whole pension is in gold as it happens.

I presume you're aware of the serious risks of having all your pension eggs in one basket?

Pal

cobblecobble wrote:

Dude, As a private investor you cant really buy silver or gold at the moment in its normal markets (spot & futures market) as you need to be an institution and deal in size. .

try worldspreads.ie
they quote gold silver copper and oil

cobblecobble wrote:

My whole pension is in gold as it happens.

good call. gold is up large this year.