Sunday 14 August 2011

SAFE HAVEN ?! Let's go "GOLD" !!

As connoted in my last post; when all investment options fail, it's time for investors to GO GOLD ! As promised; let's do a reality check as to why the 'yellow metal' will certainly yield good returns.


GOLD AND DOLLAR - the inverse relationship 
The price of the US Dollar and Gold are inversely proportional. As investors start losing faith in the green currency, they start to invest more in gold and hence lead to the shooting up of the price of gold.

Let's understand this with a simple example ( Source : Economic Times)

"Like most other commodities, gold is priced in US dollars in the international market. And the US dollar has been losing value against other currencies, including the Indian rupee. The rupee has appreciated by around 6.2% over the past two years, and currently quotes at around . 45.6 against . 48.6 two years ago. This has limited the returns in rupee terms. Let us understand this phenomenon through a simple example. Let us say at a certain point of time gold is at $1,000 per ounce. A year later, it is 
at $1,200. The return in dollar terms is 20%. 
    Now, let us say one dollar was worth .Rs 50 
initially. So, at that point of time in rupee 
terms, one ounce of gold was worth 
. 50,000 (. 1,000 x . 50). A year later, one dollar is worth . 48. At that point of time, one ounce of gold will be worth . 57,600 (1,200 x . 48). This would mean a gain of . 7,600 (. 57,600–. 50,000) or a gain of 15.2% (. 7,600 expressed as a percentage of . 50,000). So even though return in dollar terms is at 20%, the return in rupee terms is rather limited at 15.2%. Of course, an appreciating rupee will limit gold returns, but that does not mean that gold
 is not a good investment bet.
 "

So here we have it : 
The governments of nations constantly print currency notes to keep an economy running. The idea was and is that with more money in the financial system, banks will lend more. The increased lending will help people buy more goods and services which, in turn, will benefit companies and thus generate more employment and hence more consumption.
However, when anything is suddenly available in excess quantity, it tends to lose value. So, if the US government prints dollars, as it has in the recent past, the dollar will lose value against other currencies. This, in turn, means that other currencies will appreciate or gain value against the dollar, as the Indian rupee has over the past two years. 


Consequently as more and more currency across the world is printed, all the smart investors will head towards gold, driving up prices of the yellow metal.

P.S: This post has been inspired by the "GOLD VS DOLLAR" ARTICLE that showed up in ET a few months back.

Saturday 6 August 2011

Investment Guide - for "Fresh off The Boat" Investors

Alright...the world economy no doubt is going through a bad patch; in fact a really "dismal" phase of cluelessness, commotion and intonation. With the news of US Debt Crisis, and it's projection as the one event that could show the world what intense recession meant or the ongoing Domino EU Debt Crisis that is just not ready to cease; the world market is just not ready to stabilize.

Unstable share prices, unstable sensex, unstable foreign exchange rates et al; the modern day investor is just not ready to decide what to expect out of the market or how to choose an investment portfolio that would minimize his/her risks and guarantee an equally healthy return on investment.
The coeval investor is just not ready to see his/her hard earned money lose its value. Let's see what investment options we have in the current day scenario :

  • Share market ( way too risky)
  • Govt. Bonds ( a safe bet, but not so lavish returns)
  • Debentures ( naah..I don't think they are in a state of safe level)
  • Mutual Funds ( alright...not an unsafe bet..you have your set of marketing gurus to invest your money)
  • WHAT ABOUT GOLD ??!! Strange is it..or is it the safest investment commodity ?
Well, let's see what GOLD can actually do to your investment ! Let's analyse the graph ! (goldprice.org)
What does the increasing graph connote ? Perhaps gold price in 1990's was much less than what it is today, signifying a clear increase in the price exponentially.  A comparison shows that if the price of gold (USD/oz) in 1990 was around $490, it today is close to $1700; a whopping 257% increase in the price. One more thing worth noticing in the graph is it's close to stable increase, without any drops or lows.
The interpretation : 
A person who invested INR 1000 in gold in 1990, would have got close to INR 3570 in 2011; and the return on investment just doesn't stop rising; making INVESTMENT IN GOLD one of the safest investment options in today's 'not so stable' economic scenario.

Invest a currency note in gold; and the market will ensure that you get a bigger currency note in the future in return !!

THE REASON FOR THE EVER RISING PRICE OF GOLD WOULD BE DEALT WITH IN MY NEXT POST !

P.S : All my posts are my personal interpretation of the current economic scenario. Any discrepancy if noted can be intimated without hesitation.