The Bull Hunters Guide

Welcome back! If you are new here, or haven’t been here for a while, you might like to catch up on our last 7 part series on asset allocation, where we touched on quite a few points about establishing a functional, diversified and profitable investment portfolio.

Today we are venturing into a new 7 part series on all facets of Investing In Gold, so let’s get on with it…

Investing In Gold - A Brief History

Investing In Gold has always been a reasonably popular option when it comes to the global stock market. A precious metal, it has been seen as a rock-solid bastion of investment potential since the beginning days of stock trading.

However, these days the value of gold has been brought to question, and some are wondering if it is just a meaningless relic of the past, a treasure of barbarians no longer valuable in the context of modern civilization. Where paper money and credit rules, these people believe that a material like gold has limited application in the economy of today’s brave new world.

There are those who are staunch opposites to this school of thought. They believe that gold is a material with intrinsic value due to the properties it maintains as a resource. This population of conservative thinkers believe that gold is a highly unique and very necessary element regardless of the changes that the global market deals with on a day-to-day basis.

Whatever the case may be, gold has maintained a strong presence throughout the history of civilization and can be traced back to the roots of the earliest economies. As a material that has long since existed prior to modern currencies, it helped to establish the first forms of a standardised basis for transaction representing goods and services. The prices of goods and economic systems have radically changed throughout recorded history, but gold has been at the center of almost every civilization for the past two millenniums.

Having said this, why aren’t all investors convinced of gold’s value? Why do some flock to it, while others totally avoid it at all costs? Some love it, others refuse to deal with it. What does gold mean to you and your hard-earned money, and what happens when a country decides to abandon gold as a standard backing monetary value?

Well, that’s pretty much it for now. Stay tuned for more information as we discuss the history of gold, how it has defined the principle of exchange, and what you can do about this incredibly historic and famous asset!

See you next week for part 2 of Investing In Gold.

Sean Rasmussen
The Bullhunters Guide
Universal Wealth Creation © 2004 - 2009

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Hoping you enjoyed last weeks post in the investing series, where we looked into investing in stock options. We are nearing the end of our segment on alternative methods of investment. After just a few more segments, you should have an intimate and thorough knowledge of all kinds of investment opportunities that simply elude most casual investors. And why?

It’s all because they think this kind of thing is too advanced for them, and so they never bother to learn how easy it really is. They keep doing the same old thing with their money, time after time. That might work some of the time, but you’ll never that you’re doing the absolute best thing at any given moment. That’s why it pays to be educated.

Investing In Preferred Stock

This time, we’re going to talk about preferred stock. Preferred Stock is very much like typical stock investments in that you’re buying a “share” (or multiple shares) in a publicly traded company. The real difference is that with a preferred stock, you’re given a fixed dividend that will be paid out at specific times, rather than the performance dependent variable dividend that is given to holders of common stock.

In addition to making this a more stable form of investment, it’s also the case that if a company does have to liquidate, then you’ll be paid off before common stock holders. Debt holders, however, still come first.

The Benefits

Another thing to note about Preferred Stock is that it’s callable. This means that at any given time, the company can choose to buy it back from you. However, this can be seen as a benefit, because to do so, they usually have to pay you a premium.

For those looking for a less volatile investment than common stock, but one that works roughly the same way, preferred stock trading is an excellent avenue to look down.

You can buy and sell Preferred Stock the same way you would your common stock investments – just ask your broker. Be warned, however, that depending on which broker you use, you might need to maintain a minimum balance in stock in order to hold a preferred account.

See you next week for part 14 of Investments.

Sean Rasmussen
The Bullhunters Guide
Universal Wealth Creation © 2004 - 2009

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