Ways To Invest In Gold And Buying Gold For Cheap

Unless you have been away on a distant planet, you are probably aware of the huge boom in the gold price. In this article we will look at ways to invest in gold, how to evaluate gold stocks and buying gold for 

Cheap.

The gold price inflation has been savage since the 1970, when gold was available for under $40 per ounce – today it stands at the thousand dollar mark. Not many investments have returned so well and so consistently over time.

So what are the different ways to invest in gold? Here are a few of the best and most recognized ways:

1. Another of the recommended ways to invest in gold is by investing in gold stocks. However, you need to know how to evaluate gold stocks to do this correctly.

2. One of the best ways to invest in gold is to buy gold bullion or gold coins, though there is most.

3. You can buy gold through gold jewelry.

There are also advantages to investing in gold – it is always in demand and it is fairly liquid with banks, jewelers, coin collectors and even specialized gold buying shops willing to buy your gold. It is also a good hedge against the increased cost of living, and versus economic and political volatility and decline as happens frequently in the world.

Generally, it’s not possible to pay very far below the market price for gold. Having said that, you may be able to get a reasonably good deal by buying gold coins and gold rich items.

Also, investing in the right gold mining stocks is effectively a way of buying gold for cheap because some stocks are always undervalued. That means their gold stock is worth far more compared to the share price you pay to acquire it. However, you must know how to evaluate gold stocks before doing this.

If you do decide to buy gold stocks, you must have the correct investment skillset and know how to evaluate gold stocks. That’s what we will look at next.

How To Evaluate Gold Stocks:

1. Always go for sound management. Make sure that the management team that is running the gold stock have pedigree. A good management can do wonders for a company and it’s ability to strike gold.

2. You need to understand how to read a balance sheet, profit and loss account and cashflow statements to make sure that your gold company is sound. There is often a lot of false hype surrounding certain gold stocks, and too often the hype does not pan out. When you understand how to read financial statements, you can identify dangerous investments and just stick to the safe ones.

3. Do your maths – try and calculate how much of your investment in the gold stock is backed by actual gold. The higher the figure the better.
Hopefully this article will help you in your quest to find the best ways to invest in gold.

Investing In China 2012

China is the hottest business and investment story on the planet. The 21st century has already been proclaimed the "Chinese century," and shock waves from China's frenzied entrepreneurialism, manufacturing prowess and low-cost labour are rocking industries throughout the world. As in every gold rush, fortunes are being made, and each new tale of a freshly minted zillionaire fuels the China fever. China is the biggest growth story in history. We can't afford to miss it! Well, we aren't going to miss it, because, like other economic tidal waves (the Internet, for example),

China will affect us whether we invest in the country or not. And before we rush in, we should remember that the Internet craze melted down not so long ago, and one other megatrend, real estate, may yet do the same. But we wouldn't be human if we didn't dream, and China's size and three decades of spectacular wealth creation certainly offer much in the way of inspiration. So how can we cash in?

The safest but most labour-intensive China investment strategy is to move to the country, learn the language(s) and settle in for a decade or two. This way, you can be close to the action, and if you don't strike it rich on your own you can sell your China expertise to someone else. If you're not up for this level of commitment you can buy China-related securities, either directly or through funds.

If you go this last route, of course, sometimes what you will be buying is not the actual stock of a Chinese company, but the stock of, say, a Cayman Islands company that has a contractual relationship with a Chinese company, one that you must pray will last longer than many contractual relationships in China (where contracts are often viewed as a snapshot of an ever-evolving arrangement). The same Chinese companies also occasionally list stock simultaneously in Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York, and trade at different prices on each market—so you might end up paying more for the same asset than a professional investor with global reach.

Which brings up a key point, one that is often lost in the din of do-it-yourself investing propaganda: you can buy China stocks, —if you really want to, but there is absolutely no reason for you to do so. On the contrary, there are dozens of reasons for you not to do so, starting with the competition.

Professional China investors live in China, speak Chinese, visit Chinese companies, drink baijiu with Chinese managers, schmooze with Chinese lawmakers and party members and have dozens of China-focused Wall Street analysts calling them day and night with every crumb of China-related information they find. These investors have multimillion-dollar research budgets, deep China expertise and armies of Chinese analysts, and many were born and raised in the country (before being educated at Harvard et al.). Once in a while we may uncover some gem that these experts miss, but chances are slim that we can do it consistently.

So if buying individual China stocks sounds nerve-racking, you can (wisely) opt for a mutual fund. But here, too, beware. Even dime-a-dozen U.S. funds often charge egregious fees, and fees on foreign ones can be especially steep (2 percent of assets per year, or more). Also, although many China funds have posted excellent performance over the past few years, this performance may have been the result of market trends or luck (the H shares, for example, have had a strong three years).

It may be true, as some argue, that China's markets are so inefficient that most managers can deliver above-market performance (contrary to the case in the United States, where they can't), but the jury is still out on this. In any event, you're probably best off seeking low-cost active funds, passive index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In Hong Kong and New York, on the other hand, China stocks may actually be cheap. Merrill Lynch, for example, estimates that the Hong Kong H shares are trading at about 11 times 2005 estimated earnings, versus a long-term U.S. average of about 16 times earnings, and this valuation appears attractive for long-term investors. Whether this is the result of the market's anticipating an economic slowdown or simply an appropriate discount to compensate for China's risks and uncertainties, is unclear, but at least the stocks don't appear to be incorporating much of a China premium.

But this still doesn't mean that it makes sense to buy them. Despite the attractiveness of China's long-term story—presumed future economic superpower and so on—its stocks are still just a subset of a minor asset class: emerging-market equities. As such they should constitute, at most, only a tiny fraction of the average portfolio.

China, moreover, is only one of dozens of emerging markets—it currently represents only 7 percent of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, for example—so the total China exposure should usually be far less than 1 percent of assets. Most investors can get all the China exposure they need by owning U.S. companies that do business there or small helpings of Asian and emerging-markets funds.

Investing In Silver: Double Down On The White Metal's Gains

Gold remains the favorite of precious metals investors, but silver is now a strong number two...with a bullet.

That means you should consider investing in silver now before it goes even higher. In case you haven't noticed, after wallowing around in the mid-20s for months, silver prices have shot back over $30 an ounce. And thanks to wildly bullish technical and fundamental indicators, silver could soon retest its 2011 high, or even blow through it. 

Strong Signals For Silver Price Rally

From a technical viewpoint, the rally in silver may be just beginning. You see, the silver futures markets are in what's known as "backwardization." It's a rare condition that occurs when the current cash price is higher than distant contract prices. In other words, it costs more to buy silver today than it would to buy silver a month from now, or six months from now. For instance, the September 2012 silver contract closed on Aug. 27 at $30.90. The December 2012 contract closed the same day at $29.64. And the March 2013 contract closed at $27.28. There's only one reason for this - there's a shortage of physical silver on the open market.

There are also signs that industrial demand is improving. Unlike gold, silver has a bevy of critical industrial uses.

There's silver in just about every electronic device out there - from televisions to computers to cellphones to tablets. But since July 3, stockpiles in warehouses dropped 6.5%, posting a four-month low on Aug. 8, according to COMEX. Inventories had grown every month since November to 147.1 million ounces. Investors bought 797 tons of silver-backed exchange-traded products this year. They now hold 18,093 tons, or more than eight months of global mine output. That brings total silver assets to just 2.9% below the record 18,639 tons held in April 2011. Investors will likely buy another 500 tons in 2013, Barclays PLC (ADR NYSE: BCS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) predict. 

Turnaround In Silver/Gold Ratio

Historically, the price of silver per ounce has usually been equal to around 1/16th of an ounce of gold,meaning it took 16 ounces of silver to equal the value of a single ounce of gold. But over the past decade, gold has taken off, trading as high as 60-70 times the price of silver. That is, until last year. As silver prices rose to nearly $50 an ounce, the ratio fell to 30-1. But as prices for the white metal settled near $27, the ratio has skyrocketed back up. Right now, you get 55 times more silver for your money than gold. But it would still have to triple in price to even sniff where it should be in relation to gold.
And there are signs that this is just what's going to happen. 

The Two Best Ways For Investing In Silver

Like gold, there's a variety of options for investing in silver - but two in particular stand out from the crowd.

One popular option for silver ownership is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSEArca: SLV) has over $9 billion in assets and trades more than 9 million shares daily. SLV shares represent approximately 1.0 silver ounce each and are easy to buy and sell through your broker. The ETF has gained approximately 110% since inception, delivering both performance and liquidity. But ETFs can only establish a paper claim on silver.

Fact is, there's no substitute for owning physical silver in times of crisis. But it's simply not practical to own large amounts of bullion and keep it in your house. That's why owning a combination of both paper (ETF's) and a small amount of coinage is the way to go. You can buy "junk" silver -- bags of pre-1965 dimes, quarters, and half-dollars -- that contain about 90% silver.

Collectible silver coins often have premiums of 25%-50% or more than the spot price of silver. But because they don't have collectible value, you can buy "junk" coins now at just 1%-2% above the current spot-market price for an ounce of silver. They usually come in $1,000 face-value bags worth about $23,600 at today's prices. But many dealers will split them into smaller bags.
 

What Would You Do If You Were Starting To Invest In Real Estate Today?

What Would You Do If You Were Starting Today?

The very first thing I would do is get down on my knees and thank my lucky stars to be beginning my investment career at absolutely the best time of our lifetime!!!  Remember fortunes are made by investing at depressed levels and at the bottom or near bottom of cycles

Establish Your Deal Selection Criteria

After I have built my basic understanding of the market I would decide on what criteria I want to use to decide on what is and isn’t a good deal.  I recommend every investor pick one metric that is easily transferable between property types.  For me that metric is “Yield” or my expect return on all cash outlaid to secure and rehab a property. Today I personally look for expected yields in excess of 20% in my market.

Research Phase: Analyze Your Market & Learn What DEALS Really Are

The next thing I would do is get off my butt and start doing my basic homework.  I would go out and see no less than 50 and probably 100 properties in my investment area of choice.  I am not kidding!!! I would immediately build a spreadsheet with data on no less than 100 properties.  Things like Prices, Expected Rents, Repair Budgets, etc.  This would give me the basis or foundation to understand what is a good deal, what is a bad deal and what is a great deal!!!!

Find Passive Real Estate Investment Opportunities

Now if my market didn’t offer these types of returns or I didn’t have the time to devote to learning a new market I would still find away to participate.  I would find an investor with a proven track record, a simple to understand process and become a passive investor.  This would insure a decent return with a lot less headaches, reduced risks and still give me the upside I want.

Start To Make Offers

After understanding my market and deciding on my criteria for identifying a great deal I would start making offers on properties that met my criteria.  I would hold fast to my criteria and not let bidding wars drive up prices.  In fact you should only expect to get 1 out of every 10 properties you make an offer on.  If your success rate is higher than that I believe you are offering too much on your properties.

By following this strategy I am convinced I could secure 4 investment properties with Government-backed loans inside of 90 days and secure 10 properties inside my first year. Every property I bought would have a 30 year fixed interest rate and I would be a very happy man!!!!


In the end if I was starting today I would not let this investment cycle pass me by.  I would become a very active investor in my market and if my market didn’t offer returns I would find a way to be a passive investor in another market that offered great returns.

Top 10 Real Estate Predictions For 2012

There is a lot of talk in media about shadow inventory. When I hear reporters talk about shadow inventory, it's often reported incorrectly as though the reporters do not understand the term shadow inventory. This is not the number of homes going into foreclosure. Shadow inventory is the numbers of homes that have been foreclosed upon and yet not available for sale.

Bulk sales is typically the most profitable for investors because the discounts are steep. The catch is investors are required by the bank to buy a bundle of homes at one time to get that discount. Then, investors will fix up the homes and put them on the market, staggering the sales so the market is not inundated with inventory. That's because investors want to maximize returns on investment.

Investors have 3 ways to buy a foreclosure home. They can buy the home on the courthouse steps during a bidding frenzy, they can buy the home through MLS after an REO agent has listed the home, or they can buy a group of homes offered as bulk sales by the banks that have foreclosed on those homes.

How To Negotiate The Best Deal

Buyers are finally being able to take advantage of cooling trends in previously hot markets. Multiple offers are no longer being thrown at sellers as soon as the For Sale sign hits the front yard.
Competition has dwindled in many areas as investors disappear and buyers take to the sidelines. Unless a buyer thinks his local market is headed for a big downturn, this could be the pause that allows him to get into the market with a few perks unheard of in recent years as a bonus.

Here Are 5 Things Buyers Need To Know To Negotiate The Best Deal In A Market Shifting To Their Favor:

1. When you make an offer, know the recent comparable sales; it’s the best bargaining tool. “See what’s going on out there,’’ says Beverly Durham of ReMax Gold Coast Realty in Camarillo, Calif., where entry-level single-family homes begin at $500,000. “Make an offer $10,000 to $15,000 under what the last one sold. Even in this market, if you insult your seller, they won’t want to deal with you. Sellers know what the last one sold for. You want them to at least look at your offer.”

2. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) properties usually state what the seller owes. If not, your agent should be able to track down the figures. There’s a big difference in negotiating with an owner who owes more than the house is worth and one who has a lot of built-up equity.

3. Human nature is the biggest problem for sellers and buyers to overcome in a changing market. Prices stagnate or drop a few percentage points and it’s amazing how different buyers and sellers react. Sellers still think their house is “special” and immune to the market. Buyers figure every seller is about to be foreclosed on and make ridiculous low-ball offers. Smart buyers do their homework, know what size home they need, how much they can afford and then search the market for what they want and negotiate fairly.

4. Find out as much as you can about the seller’s motivation -- retirement, job, divorce, wants to move up but only if he gets the right price. Durham says if a buyer knows the seller’s motivation they can negotiate a better deal or move on to the next property.

5. “After 45 to 60 days the seller is usually absolutely sick of keeping their house spotless and sick of people walking through,’’ said Durham. This is when a seller may be the most anxious about selling their house as traffic to their house has likely fallen sharply.

Real Estate Investing Basics

The details of real estate investment can be overwhelming. There's a whole new language to learn: closing costs, resale value, liquidity, and inspections. But if you're willing to overcome your apprehensions, you'll find that real estate can be a wise investment. If you are considering investing in real estate, it's important that you do your research so that your investment will turn into a profitable venture. It's harder to get out of real estate than a stock or bond purchase, so educate yourself and make sure you understand exactly what you're doing.

You must consider inflation when investing in real estate. Believe it or not, a real estate investor can reap profits from inflation alone. Check out this example. An investor has $30,000 worth of equity in a $100,000 property. With a 3 percent inflationary increase in property values, her holdings are now worth $103,000 — a $3,000 increase. That $3,000 increase on her $30,000 investment translates into a 10 percent return — due solely to inflation.

A real estate investment is generally tangible — you buy land or property that you can actually see. Think about how stocks and bonds work. You invest your money in a company you do not physically own. By buying shares, you are in essence lending the company your money and hoping for a profit. With real estate, you own the “company,” so you need to sell “shares” of it to see a profit — by selling or renting the property