Daily Investment Tips

2009 has to be the year of commodities. If you are a follower of trend following you must have made lots of cash by trend of gold, Silver & Platinum.

Look at this 2009 Price trends of this metals

2009 Gold Price Trend – up 34%

2009 Silver price trend – up 63%

2009 Platinum price trend – up 56%

2009 Palladium price trend – up an impressive 98%

If your mind was focused on the falling prices of real estate & non-starter stock market recoveries, you might have missed this commodities bull.

Should investors jump in? No! I don’t think just because this metal commodities have done well in the past they will continue doing well.

Strategy for making money in Metal commodities.

Whatever goes up, eventually comes down, one strategy is to focus on shorting the metals or sell the futures contract.

Strategy two, only for the seasoned pro, if you know how to play the speculation game keep buying the futures contract.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amp, Contract Strategy, Follower, Futures Contract, Game, Gold Price, Gold Silver, Investors, Making Money, Metal Commodities, Metals, Palladium Price, Platinum Price, Price Trend, Price Trends, Real Estate, Silver Platinum, Silver Price, Speculation, Stock Market

Jim Rogers, a commodities guru and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index, gave an interview to businessweek, giving his assessment of the ever rising gold price.

Jim Rogers Gold price prediction

Jim Rogers expects it to be over a couple thousand dollars an ounce sometime in the next decade.

Jim Rogers on what is driving the price of gold

• Demand from Central Banks, central banks which were selling gold a few years ago are now buying.
• The US Fiscal & Monetary Deficit – Throughout history, printing money has led to weaker currencies and higher prices for real assets.
• The Herd Mentality – Everyone is bullish about Gold and this is enough reason to drive prices up.

Read the whole Jim Rogers interview at this businessweek article.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amp, Businessweek, Central Banks, Currencies, Gold Demand, Gold Price, Guru, Herd Mentality, International Commodities Index, Jim Rogers, Next Decade, Ounce, Price Of Gold, Printing Money, Real Assets, Rogers International Commodities Index, Thousand Dollars

The price of Gold futures continue to shoot over the roof. One driver of the price is the recent gold purchases by India Central bank from the IMF.

The central bank of India has purchased 200 metric tonns of gold from IMF.

According to this economics time article.

India is spreading its assets which are said to be currently over-weighted with foreign currency, mainly in the form of sovereign US Treasury bonds. In other words, it is a hedge against a falling dollar.

India is the world’s largest private gold consumer, but the government’s holding of gold as an asset is modest. Even so, the latest purchase puts it at Number 10 among the list of top 10 gold-holders in the world.

Of India’s current foreign exchange reserves of nearly $285 billion, foreign currency assets account for more than 90% ($268.3 billion), followed by gold ($10.3 billion), IMF’s Special Drawing Rights ($5.2 billion) and a reserve position in the IMF of $1.59 billion.

While India’s current gold holdings, accounting for just 3.7% of assets, are said to be historically low, buying 200 tons in addition to the 358 tons it already holds is expected to bump up the gold reserves to more than 6%.

As India, China and Brazil buy gold it means more Dollars sales. The dollar may continue sliding downward.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Bank Of India, Brazil, Buy Gold, Central Bank Of India, Currency Assets, Foreign Currency, Foreign Exchange Reserves, Gold Futures, Gold Holdings, Gold Reserves, Imf, India Central, India China, Private Gold, Reserve Position, Sovereign, Special Drawing Rights, Time Article, Tonns, Us Treasury Bonds

In a tough economy other people may be looking for “alternative” sources of money. This alternatives may be suing others.

The fact is that anyone can find themselves a target of an overblown lawsuit. If you have a house, cash or investments – heck, if you just have a job – you could be seen as a cash cow by someone else . . . someone who could “slip” on your sidewalk or “fall down” your steps.

There are affordable ways to protect yourself. Your home insurance provides liability protection up to certain amount (sometimes $300,000). But that’s not enough to protect your assets if someone gets greedy or can prove that they suffered a substantial injury that’s your fault. Personal umbrella coverage, which gives you liability insurance above and beyond your home and car insurance, is relatively inexpensive and is a vital part of fortifying your finances.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, you can buy a $1 million umbrella policy for about $150 to $300 a year. The next million will cost about $75, and about $50 for every million after that.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Million, Assets, Car Insurance, Cash Cow, Economy, Heck, Home Insurance, Insurance, Insurance Information Institute, Insurance Institute, Insurance Protection, Investments, Liability Insurance, Liability Protection, Personal Umbrella, Sidewalk, Substantial Injury, Target, Umbrella Coverage, Umbrella Policy

Money fraud is a big problem. If you take simple protection ideas you can prevent yourself from being a victim of money fraud from con artist

Keep checks in a safe place

1. Don’t sign a blank check allowing someone else to fill in the amount.
2. Never give someone your ATM, credit card or PIN or Social Security number.
3. Check your bank statements carefully for unauthorized withdrawals.
4. Be careful of joint accounts as both parties have equal access to the money.
5. When in doubt, contact the bank to stop payments or checks, to flag or put a hold on the account or to close an account.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Atm, Bank Statements, Blank Check, Checks, Close Account, Con Artist, Contact, Credit Card, Joint Accounts, Money Fraud, Safe Place, Social Security, Social Security Number, When In Doubt, Withdrawals