If you’re an experienced investor, then you already know that gold, silver, and platinum are great investment choices, because they remain stable during times of economic uncertainty. With a recession looming, and a drawn out race to the White House, this decade has been some of the most uncertain in recent memory. Investment experts recommend that you keep 10-20% of your assets tied up in gold, silver, and platinum bullion and funds.

Precious Metals protect you against the falling US Dollar.

By diversifying your portfolio with precious metals, you can add stability, and even profitability. Precious metals are a solid hedge bet against the declining US dollar, which experts say still has a lot to fall before it goes back up. Trade imbalance, the war on terrorism, and a huge deficit are all contributing to the fall of the dollar.

The fact of the matter is that gold and silver are becoming more of a bargain on a daily basis. The reason is very simple: Every day, the central bank money spigots are spewing out at least ten times as much money, as miners are able to produce gold and silver!

Precious metals are a worldwide “currency”. The value of gold, silver, and platinum are not dependent on the US dollar alone.

Precious Metals protect your wealth.

At the very least, investment in gold and other precious metals is “safe” investment. While they won’t make you rich, they definitely won’t make you poor if all of your assets are tied up in US Currency. This is especially true for those who have retirement funds waiting which lose value by the day. If you’re protected with precious metals, you will know that some of your assets won’t be wiped away when your stocks fall.

Take a look at the graph to the right to see how gold has performed against the stock market.

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Soaring gold prices and rising inflation have caused a lot of people to sell their old gold and scrap jewelry. While gold was recently at $1,000 an ounce, it has fallen to about $930 an ounce. Many jewelers have seen slumping sales as the price of gold has risen over the past year. People find more financial sense in selling their gold rather than buying it if they are in a crunch.

But gold jewelry is not the best way to own gold. As a matter of fact it is probably the worst. The real value of the jewelry is subjective and prices change with the craftsmanship, design, and other gemstones. Unless you are a seasoned jeweler, stick to jewelry for what it is: an accessory. Sell it if you have and need money. Buy it if you can afford it financially.

What are some of the other ways to own gold if your plan is long-term investment?

Gold bullion bars and coins

This is a common way to own gold. Bullion bars and coins come in many different shapes and sizes, such as the American Eagle gold coin. They are a cost-effective way for investing in gold that you can actually touch. Weights will vary from piece to piece, but they should all be close to, if not all, solid gold.

Allocated Accounts and Gold Certificates

Allocated accounts are the most secure way to invest in gold. A recognized dealer stores and manages the gold, and you have an account to reflect the actual value. They do this for many people at a time.

Gold certificates are similar, but the transfers and payments in gold are made electronically instead of transferring the actual gold. The physical gold is stored in vaults whether at banks or currency operators.

Gold Futures

Gold futures are essentially contracts that promise to make or take delivery of gold, with a specified quantity and quality, at a predetermined date with a predetermined price. Gold futures are a risky way of investing in gold (as its not technically a long-term investment). You can make a lot of money with gold futures, but you can also lose a lot if you don’t know the gold market.

Shares and Funds

These shares and funds not only invest in gold, but in the companies that produce gold themselves. They offer a very diversified investment opportunity.

Funds like Merrill Lynch can perform very well, and have been known to outperform gold. You are essentially investing in a company, or many companies, that mine, refine, and deliver gold and gold products. The downside is that you are often investing in companies that operate in the 3rd world, so learn about the human rights performance of a country if that is something that concerns you.

Gold Exchange Traded Funds

Exchange traded funds are traded on the stock market and are close in value to the actual gold asset.

To learn more about gold investing, you can visit this gold investment website

At GoldIntoMoney.com, we are always looking to improve the gold, silver, and platinum selling experience. Today, we have launched our Scrap gold, silver, and platinum Cash Calculator

With this price calculator, you can estimate the amount of cash you can earn when you sell scrap, broken, or unused jewelry. Simply input the type of gold, silver, or platinum you have, and the amount along with the corresponding unit. Hit the Submit button and you will see an instant estimate!

The prices change frequently, so this tool is invaluable to anyone looking to sell their old and unused jewelry online. For example, at the time of writing this, we can estimate that we could get paid $98.77 for 10 grams of 24K gold.

This calculator is for estimation purposes only! We make no guarantee that you will receive less, more, or equal to the amounts displayed by this calculator.

The price of gold has reached an all time high of $1000 per ounce. With recession fears growing, many people need money to pay the bills. Right now, there’s probably no better way to get quick cash then to sell your broken and unused gold. Check out your jewelry boxes and look for gold jewelry that you no longer wear. That can include things like single earring pieces, broken chains, and gold jewelry you no longer wear that has gone out of style. With only a few pieces, you could make yourself well over a few hundred bucks very quickly!

But are you selling your gold to a pawn shop or jeweler? If you are, you should consider requesting a gold kit today directly from a gold refiner. Why? Pawn shops are known to give you rock bottom payouts for your items, and jewelers are known to skim a little off the top for the same exact service. Your scrap gold and jewelry will end up in the hands of the refiners anyway, so why pay the middleman?

Rocket Pawn and Jewelry Owner Cynthia Beavers says customers are coming in droves to trade in their old gold for cash. “Just scrap gold chains, necklaces, rings - they’re just cleaning out their jewelry boxes,” she says. News of the price increase of gold is all over town. Pawn shops are seeing people bring in broken jewelry, old wedding rings, and even gifts from ex significant others.

Source: It’s Worth It’s Weight

Looking to sell your old gold and jewelry? It might be a smart play to wait until next week when gold prices are estimated to hit new highs. You can still a free gold kit if you anticipate selling your old gold and jewelry.

SILVER and GOLD PRICES are blasting the hair off our heads, and it’s not over yet. Meanwhile, the dollar looks like squash on a dead vine. Stocks don’t look much better.

It’s obvious that SILVER & GOLD PRICES are in the last stages of their rally because they are moving straight up every day by leaps & bounds. The SILVER PRICE cleared the $17s in nine days, the $18s in three days, and after two days is 3/4 of the way through the $19s.

Source: Gold Price Could Hit $1000 Next Week

The gold coin is a tried and true answer for economic prosperity. From the Greeks to the Romans to the Middle Ages, gold was used to back governments because of its rarity. When societies base their currencies on “reputation,” also know as fiat currency, prosperous civilizations have fallen. American currency is backed by its government edict, claiming sound money that has no real value, no more than the paper it is written on. During the troubling times of the past few years, it is wise for Americans to invest in gold coins for the long haul.

For many millenniums, gold has proven a worthy backing for sound currency. Fiat currency proves to be very volatile, and is impossible to sustain in the long run. That’s why its wise for people to invest in gold bullion and coins. It preserves purchasing power as fiat currency fluctuates, and gold protects wealth. Buying gold coins is a convenient mans for profit potential and wealth protection. Gold coins can typically be 1-5% more valuable than bullion because of production and marketing costs.

You can sell your scrap gold for money and reinvest it into gold coins and bullion through a provider such as Monex. Monex is America’s premium gold coin dealer.

Understanding gold karats and color

Gold is one of the most precious metals in the world. It has been used in jewelry making for several thousand years because of its high value and high malleability (ability to mold and bend into shapes). Gold doesn’t fade, rust, or corrode, and has a high resistance to tarnishing. Its luster makes it the most important metal in jewelry making.

How is gold purity measured?

Gold purity is measured in Karats, or for European measurement, in fineness. To understand Karats, you must know that gold can be alloyed with other metals. There are numerous reasons for alloying, whether its to make the gold stronger, or getting more metal to work with while using less gold (which is more expensive than most metals). Nothing less than 10-karat gold can be legally marked or sold as gold in the United States.

Pure gold is 24K(arat). Lower karats will tell you the percentage of pure gold used in the piece of jewelry. It’s simple math really. 18 K gold, divided by the 24 K (pure gold), is 75% pure gold. (18/24 = 75%). Use the chart below.

How do other metals change the color of gold?

Alloying gold with other metals has different effects, depending on the types of metals used. Alloying can strengthen the gold for jewelry, as well as change the color of it. The amount of color change will depend on the amount of other metals used in alloying.

• Yellow Gold - comes from alloying with Copper and Silver
• White Gold - comes from alloying with Nickel, Zinc, and Copper
• Green Gold - comes from alloying with Silver, Zinc, and Copper
• Rose Gold - comes from alloying with Copper and Silver

Amid uncertainty in the US Dollar, central banks around the world will cut borrowing costs, boosting the appeal of precious metals such as gold. Now has never been a better time to sell your unused gold and jewelry for cash, no matter where you are in the world.

“You’re going to see central banks start to cut rates,” said Nick Ruggiero, a trader at Eagle Futures Inc. in New York. “Gold will stay very strong.”

Gold futures for April delivery rose $5, or 0.6 percent, to $910 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier touched $915.20.

Silver futures for March delivery gained 22.5 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $16.775 an ounce. The metal has climbed 12 percent this year.

Gold has rallied 26 percent since Sept. 18, when the Fed began cutting rates because a housing slump and losses in the subprime mortgage market threatened to push the economy into a recession. The fed funds rate is now at 3 percent, down from 5.25 percent in early September.

Source: Bloomberg

Cash4Gold.com is one of the more popular online websites that let you sell your gold, silver, and other broken jewelry for cash. They have a lot of marketing going on TV, so if you watch late night television you’ve probably seen their commercials. If you’re a Sirius and XM listener, you’ve more than likely heard one of their commercials.

What is Cash4Gold.com? Cash4Gold allows consumers to turn their unwanted, broken and outdated precious metals into immediate cash without the involvement of a middleman. Cash 4 Gold is discreet, quick and provides consumers the highest payout available. Cash4Gold is actually a refiner. You request a Free “PAK” to be sent to your home. You put all of your old gold and unwanted jewelry in the PAK and send it off. They will weight the materials and send you a check based on market prices. The price they pay for gold is updated almost daily, so you will always get fair payment for your gold. You can track your PAK through their website, so you will know where your order stands at all times.

Cash4Gold.com guarantees no fees, and no hidden costs. They also claim that you will get 5% more cash than their largest competitor. Cash4Gold.com is listed as #129 on Inc 500 fastest growing companies in America, as well as Entrepreneur Magazine’s Hot 500.
Cash4Gold.com’s website states it will accept the following things: Chains, Jewelry, Class Rings, Earrings, Dental Gold, Old Rings, Gold Watches, Charms, Wire
Bracelets, Necklaces, Loose Stones, Gold Partials, Mountings, Tangled Gold Chains, Bent or Broken Jewelry, Jewelry with Removed Stones, Unmatched Gold Earrings - Gold Pins/Brooches, 10k, 14k, 16k, 18k, 22k, 24k Scrap Gold and More.

Overall, Cash4Gold is a great company for selling your old gold and jewelry. Their refiner’s Pak is free, so it’s no loss to you to request one.

If you’re apprehensive about selling your gold and jewelry online, there has never been a better time to do it than now. Gold prices are skyrocketing among economic uncertainty, so the cash you receive for selling your gold and jewelry online will be at its maximum than any other time in recent memory. Experts say that gold will return to normal prices at the end of this year as the price of gold returns to normal rates.

Gold prices continued to skyrocket Thursday, reaching another all-time high on the falling U.S. dollar, supply concerns and high world-wide demand.

Gold futures have risen more than 42% since August. In early January, they surpassed the previous all-time high of $847 an ounce - a record that dated back 28 years.

Nadler believes that gold is selling with a $200 “anxiety premium,” amid the credit crunch, but he expects to see a price correction as the effects of the rate cuts boost the economy in the latter half of 2008.

“When we reach a return to normalcy, we will see gold trading in the mid-$600 range,” said Nadler.

Source - CNN Money 1/30/2008