Stock Investing Guide

Many people are still hurting from the poor show of the economy in the last few years. Those looking for new ways to bring in funds have the opportunity to sell gold they don’t use- as the price of gold is at its highest in history.

As gold continues to increase, this will be a reliable recourse at any point in the foreseeable future. If you’ve never sold gold before, this article is meant to prime you on the basics of the trade.

How Gold is Sold

Gold items can be sold either for their worth as a retail item or for their raw materials. It almost always makes more sense to sell a gold item for its retail price, though, since there is additional value in a piece that represents some sort of skilled labor or historical significance.

When you sell gold for its scrap value, nothing is taken into consideration but the gold’s purity. Pieces that are produced by a prestigious jeweler, are antiques, or are handmade or unique can all fetch the same price as a similarly sized gold lump, as long as they share the lump’s purity.

Appraising Gold

Although the value of an item’s craftsmanship or antique value is the trickiest part to appraise, the purity of the gold is an important factor in the final price of any item as well. Gold that

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These are the best of times for the world’s gold miners as gold continues to hit record highs. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX – Analyst Report) is expected to see 33% earnings growth in 2011. This Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) is also cheap. It trades at just 10.8x forward estimates.

Barrick is one of the largest gold mining companies in the world. The Toronto-based company has 25 operations on 5 continents mining gold, silver and copper. Gold, however, is its main business.

On Apr 26, the company announced it would expand its copper capability by acquiring Equinox Minerals for $7.7 billion in cash.

Gold Cash Margins Jumped in Q1

On Apr 26, Barrick reported its first quarter results which was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company made $1.01 per share up from 78 cents per share in the first quarter of 2010.

Revenue rose 18.8% to $3.1 billion from $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

Higher gold and copper prices boosted the quarter’s results.

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First the University of Texas takes delivery of $1 billion worth of gold. Now the Bank of Mexico, the country’s central bank, has purchased 100 tons of gold. The acquisition was reported by the International Monetary Fund.

Maybe this is why Weiss Ratings gave Mexico a higher bond rating than the United States.

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The Mexican Central Bank reported buying 93.3 tons of gold bullion in February and March, extending a trend among major and emerging economy central banks as gold accumulation gains momentum.

U.S. dollar reserves as a percentage of total central bank assets has declined over the past decade as more countries reduce their dollar-based holdings and swap those assets for gold, EUR and other currencies.

Mexico joins other central banks like Argentina, Brazil, Russia, China and India as net buyers of gold bullion over the last five years. Some central banks, including Russia, have been staunch supporters of the anti-dollar trade, encouraging a new world currency unit and less reliance on the dollar as a unit measure of trade.

In the 1990s, many advanced economy central banks, including producers like Canada and Australia, were net sellers.

But the booby-prize for dumping gold at the absolute bottom goes to The Bank of England.

The United Kingdom sold a big stash of gold at around $250 an ounce – just ahead of gold’s secular low.

For the record, central banks don’t have a great track record making trades. In th

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About four weeks ago I commented on the seasonal strength that usually comes into play for gold around this time of year. Well since then the gold market has rallied substantially higher. As you can see in the above daily chart of gold, the shiny metal broke out to a new high today. Silver is also moving higher and has broken out to a new high for the year.  I think a great place for a trailing stop (if you are already long) would be right below last week’s low.

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