Alternative Outlook

Gold looks set to shoot back up to $2,000 per ounce in the near future, says Angelos Damaskos, the chief executive of Sector Investment Managers.

Although gold is currently in the eleventh year of a boom market, as much as 20% has been wiped off the spot price more recently from the high of $1,921 recorded in early September, according to Damaskos, who is fund adviser to the Junior Mining fund.
Investors are scrambling to free up liquidity in the face of a constrained lending market and, in the face of sustained uncertainty, could well cont…

Following BRICs and CIVETs, Joe Roseman identifies the next acronym to hit the investment world as silver, wine, art and gold (SWAG) punch well above their weight.

A few years ago, Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs almost revolutionised the way many people thought about emerging markets. He coined the term ‘BRICs’. It is successful because it works on so many levels.

Investing in the BRICs has become an asset class of its own.

This got me thinking about asset classes generally and just what it is that differentiates one asset class fr…

Gold’s rally will extend beyond $2,000 an ounce in the next year, but won’t match the torrid record-breaking climb of the last 12 months, according to gold investors and analysts attending the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) annual conference.

With no let up seen in the financial markets uncertainty that fanned the safe-haven investment spree, bullion is expected to rise to $2,019 an ounce by November 2012 when the next LBMA conference takes place in Asia, delegates polled by event organizers at the end of the meeting on Tuesday s…

Gold could push through the $2 000/oz level by year-end on the back of strong investment demand, the latest Thomson Reuters GFMS Gold Survey 2011 Update states.

The report, the first to be prepared by the precious and base metals research consultancy since its acquisition by Thomson Reuters, was released in London and Hong Kong on Thursday.

Speaking at the Hong Kong launch, the consultancy’s global head of metals analytics Philip Klapwijk said investment in all forms could rise to a record of above 1 000 t during the second half of 20…

Gold surged to a record above $1,920 an ounce on speculation that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen, damping economic growth and driving investors to protect their wealth. Futures in India and China, the world’s two largest consumers, touched all-time highs.

Gold for immediate delivery gained as much as 1.1 percent to $1,921.15 an ounce, surpassing the previous peak of $1,913.50 reached Aug. 23. It was at $1,919.85 by 2:12 p.m. Singapore time. December delivery futures in New York also touched a record $1,923.10, up 2.5 percent from th…

Commodities are a hot topic at the moment, with prices soaring as other asset classes falter. In August, the price of gold hit a record-breaking $1,900 an ounce, and the price of a barrel of Brent oil – dubbed ‘black gold’ – is consistently hovering above $100.

Recent stockmarket volatility and increasing UK inflation have driven investors towards tangible assets. Commodities, like much else, are subject to the economies of supply and demand.

When supply falls, as in the case of oil, the price will steadily rise. Likewise, when demand ri…

Gold rose to fresh highs on Monday as more investors sought the safety of the precious metal to escape the threat of unresolved tensions in the global economy.

The price of gold hit $1,894.80 an ounce in early trading despite a bounce in European stock markets.

Jeremy Cook, chief economist at foreign exchange brokers, World First, said: “Gold is a rocket ship at the moment and there are many factors that make us expect further gains.

“Firstly, the global recovery has juddered to a halt and, with the obvious uncertainty surrounding …

Investors are piling into commodities, but choose well to minimise risk. writes Jeff Salway

THE price of gold has been tipped to reach new record highs as worried investors pile into commodities in search of a safe haven. But the flight to caution has to be navigated carefully, advisers have warned, with investors urged to avoid staking too much on the precious metal.

The flow of money into gold bullion, mining companies and commodities funds has surged as investors, spooked by sharp market falls, inflation, sovereign debt crises and pol…

Standard & Poor’s is recommending gold and gold miners as top investment picks only days after downgrading U.S. Treasuries, which sparked a firestorm in financial markets worldwide that boosted the price of the precious metal.

S&P’s Equity Research Services unit made the recommendation Wednesday. It is independent of the firm’s Ratings Services division, which lowered its long-term credit rating on the nation’s debt to AA-plus from triple-A with a long-term negative outlook Friday.

Gold futures tumbled today after CME Group, owner…

This month I wanted to write about one of the major alternative asset classes – commodities. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the spectacular run commodities have had for the last ten years and I’m sure many of you and many of your clients are wondering whether now is a good time to buy, sell or continue to hold commodities. In this month’s column I’ll outline the arguments for and against investing in commodities and give you some ideas for adding commodity style investments into your offering to your clients.

The Investment…