Investing in Gold: The Essential Safe Haven Investment for Every Portfolio [Hardcover]

Jonathan Spall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jonathan Spall is director of commodities at Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank. He has over 25 years experience in gold and related markets, including working nine years in Asia/Pacific.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071603468
• ISBN-13: 978-0071603461
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,433,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful, informative, and concise guide to gold as an investment, January 13, 2009

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Investing in Gold: The Essential Safe Haven Investment for Every Portfolio (Hardcover)

A lot of books on gold are written by cranks, but this book is a delightful exception. Jonathan Spall is a professional who has been involved in trading commodities, including gold, for more than twenty-five years. He knows what the markets are really like, and what the industries around gold really do. This delightfully concise book will provide you with a solid understanding of the basics of what gold as an investment is really all about in the West and around the world.

While he does not cover the history of gold in various world civilizations, he does take you through the basics of how gold is mined and refined around the world. I found the information fascinating. He also explains why gold miners pre-sell or hedge the value of their production.

Spall then takes us through government uses of gold and which nations hold their reserves in gold and which in foreign currencies. You then get a quick tour through the markets of borrowing and lending gold and banks which hold gold reserves for various purposes.

So what does this mean to you? Well, you can invest in gold and the author shows you the various gold exchanges around the globe, how they trade and what they trade. You can also invest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that allow you to purchase allocated gold but trade it like stock. Of course, you can buy gold that you can own. This is mostly done in jewelry. Outside the West most of the gold jewelry is of much higher fineness than our jewelry and is mean to store wealth more than it holds sentimental value. Spall explains why this is so, but it mostly has to do with the lack of trusted financial institutions as places to store wealth.

He then takes you through a few of the common gold myths and the realities behind them, why gold prices are trading higher now (there is no single reason) and how you can expose your portfolio to gold for various investment goals.

Pretty neat book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what the title implies, June 23, 2009

By 

Walter N. Reed - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Investing in Gold: The Essential Safe Haven Investment for Every Portfolio (Hardcover)

I purchased "Investing in Gold" for the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the precious metal's (or gold) market and how best to invest in it as a hedge against inflation. The author is no doubt an expert in Gold. However, he spends the vast amount of his attention to describing mining operations and the amount of gold acquired by various countries, etc. When you get to the last chapter, if you last that long, there is a short discussion of how people invest in gold, but no clear recommendations. I see ad after ad on TV and radio recommending that I buy Gold. I still do not know how to do that without getting ripped off. The book was a waste of time and money as far as I am concerned.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A broad crash course on gold investing, July 29, 2009

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Investing in Gold: The Essential Safe Haven Investment for Every Portfolio (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.