Current Gold Prices

The current Spot Gold Price at the close in NY on January 26, 2010 was $1096.00. This price has been maintained for a week now with great anticipation on whether the US congress will give the current Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke a second term or not.

This man was appointed by then President Bush and has the backing of the current President Obama, but that may not be enough. Many rightfully blame this man in part for the financial recession the world is in and for so easily bailing out all of the mega financial institutions that caused the disaster. His monetary policy of ultra low interest rates even though the banks have refused to loosen up lending have only hurt the consumers in America.

The low interest rates are not only on loans, but also on savings accounts. What has hurt the elderly the most is the below interest rates on the only low risk investment the elderly can count on, certificates of deposit.

The current gold prices are not the only market that is waiting to see what happens. The Dow last 217 points on Friday the 22, when a number of democrats in congress voiced their opposition to his reconfirmation. Senator Barbara Boxer, a democrat from California, was quoted saying, “It’s time for a change”.

With Mr. Bernanke’s current term ending on Sunday January 31, 2010, the world will be holding its breath to see what the fall out will bring on this crucial decision. The spot price of gold will surely change, but which way it will go is up to what the US congress decides. Either continue to follow a failed policy or go a different path to recover.

The current price of gold today on the spot market is dipping lower at the close in NY on January 20 at $1111.30. This is a $26.30 fall from the previous day’s closing. This should be seen as a normal fluctuation that is always present in this volatile market.

It is true that China’s and India’s economies are recovering from the global recession nicely but the US and European markets are still wavering and could fall back into recession as warned by a World Bank official on January 21.

With energy stocks falling due to a decrease in demand because of the current economic recession, gold is still holding strong. Many investors are still holding their bullions close by, to weather this economic storm that the financial sector sent the world in.

It is true that gold futures have fallen for three straight weeks on fears that the US dollar will gain in strength, which it has against the Euro. This does make gold less attractive to investors as they are slowly switching to dollars as a safe haven.

Another worry is the limitations China has put on its lending institutions. There is some fear that this will cool off their economy and affect the rest of the world’s economies as well. Inflation will continue to be feared as well as the stalling of the world’s leading economies, but gold has not seen the end of its rise just yet.

The current gold prices will continue to be volatile but the rise is not over. This is just another pause like before and the current price of gold today will again climb.

The current gold prices January 2010 are still rising. The weakening of the US dollar has helped this, but that is not the only factor. The economic factors that were released by the American government are in part the reason that gold has continued to increase in value.

The gold market is the safe haven investors have always turned to when economic problems has been encountered. The dollar has lost 9.1% of its value over the past year while the value of gold has risen 41%. With lending rates in the US still low and retail sales taking another dive, gold is the safe investment.

Right before the holiday season of 2009, gold started to dip. Many analysts were calling an end to the gold bull market and were warning that the bear was approaching. Since the low on December 22, 2009, gold has rebounded back from below $1090 to over $1150. Today, the last bid on the New York spot gold market was at $1141.50 on January 14, 2010.

With this fresh buying frenzy of gold, the analysts have retracted their previous statements of a bear market. Some are even predicting current gold prices to rise above $1500 by May or June of 2010. When the experts see-saw like this, it reminds me that analysts are in the guessing profession and anything they say should be taken with a grain of salt.

Gold prices will continue to rise until the American economy is back on track and the dollar gains strength. Until then, the current gold prices January 2010 will continue its upward movment.

This is how to sell husband’s gold coin collection when a widow has come into a financial situation that she must part with her loved one’s belongings. If you must sell these precious heirlooms, then you might as well get the maximum of what they are worth.

While it is true that the current gold prices are over $1,100 per ounce, most gold coins are worth more than the gold they contain. The American Buffalo and the Chinese Panda gold coins are both made of 24k pure gold bullion while most of the rest are 22k gold. These have a small percentage of silver and copper to make the coins more durable.

There are many books and web sites where a person can find the true value of the gold coins in your possession. This is highly recommended since their value is unknown. Things that need to be determined are their rarity and condition. Both of these have a significant impact on their worth. Usually the older the gold coin is, the rarer and more valuable it is.

These two things should be investigated by you or someone you trust. Gold coins dealers and gold scrap dealers are in that business to make money. If you are a novice, they have a tendency to take advantage of your lack of knowledge and not give you a fair price.

Scrap gold dealers usually will only offer you 10% to 30% of the true value of the coins. The usual explanation from a scrap dealer is because the gold will have to be processed and the processing takes money and time. Do not be fooled, they will be making a killing. With gold coins, never take less than the current spot gold price value for your coins.

Gaining knowledge and educating yourself on the subject is the best way to know how to sell husband’s gold coin collection and get the most for it.

Knowing how to sell your gold jewelry the right way will help you receive the most for it. First thing you should know is that most gold in jewelry is not pure. Because of this, every scrap gold deal will offer considerably less than what the price of gold is currently at. They will claim that the gold jewelry has to be melted down and that cost money.

While this is true, it rarely happens to jewelry in good condition. Most scrap jewelry dealers resell the gold jewelry they purchase for resale as jewelry. They buy it from unsuspecting people for about 75% of what it is worth as gold and resell it for up to 100% of the value of the gold.

Most gold jewelry has value other than the gold it possesses. There is value in the craftsmanship that created it. It will take longer but selling that unwanted gold pieces online or at an antique shop will bring a better price.

If you are determined to sell your gold pieces to a scrap dealer, find out what their price per pennyweight or per gram is. This is a set number that has a direct link to the current gold prices on the open market. The value of your piece will be determined by its weight and percent of gold it has. 12k is ½ gold with the remainder being other metals, so only ½ of it is being priced.  Likewise, with 18karat gold that is ¾ gold will have ¼ of it being other metals. Find out what the daily price is going for. If the dealer will not give you a straight answer or firm number, go elsewhere.

While it is true that the current spot price of gold is over $1000 an ounce, your jewelry will only fetch you a fraction of the gold value it possesses. Know how to sell your gold jewelry so you will not be taken advantage of.

To compile a Top 10 Gold Mutual Funds list is determined by what is most valued by the investor. This one is YTD (year to date) return percentage.

One of the best funds for total YTD is the Tocqueville Gold Fund. The stock symbol is TGLDX and has had a YTD return of 91.29% as of 11/30/09. The current stock price of this fund is at $55.35. The top 3 stock holdings of this fund are Gold Coin at 10.29% of the fund, IAMGOLD Corp at 6.39%, Randgold Resources Limited at 6.24%. This fund has total net assets of $1.15 billion.

The US Global Investors World Precious Minerals Fund has a stock symbol of UNWPX. The current fund price is $16.47 with total net assets at $659.07 million and a YTD return of 90.79%.

Midas Fund has a stock symbol of MIDSX. Their YTD return is 89.66% with a current stock price of $3.66. The total net assets are $122.28 million.

The Oppenheimer Gold and Special Mineral A has a stock symbol of OPGSX. The current price of this fund is at $34.34. The YTD return is 83.83% with total net assets of $2.05 billion.

The Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining has a stock symbol of VGPMX. The YTD return is 77.71% with a stock price of $19.76. The total net assets are $3.97 billion.

Franklin Gold and Precious Metals A has a stock price of FKRCX. The current stock price is $38.73 with an YTD return of 76.85%. The total net assets are $1.79 billion.

The Van Eck International Gold A has a stock symbol of INIVX and a current stock price of $18.97. The YTD return is 74.29% with total net assets at $846.42 million.

USAA Precious Metals and Mineral has a stock symbol of UASGX and a current stock price of $33.23. The YTD return is at 69.21% and total net assets of $1.60 billion.

Rydex Precious Metals Inv has a stock symbol of RYPMX. The current stock price is $62.32 with a YTD return of 64.59%. The total net assets of this fund are $280 million.

The AIM gold and Precious Metals Inv has a stock symbol of FGLDX. The current stock price is $7.82. The YTD return is 63.88% and total net assets is $205.35 million.

With the current gold prices today at over $1100 an ounce, this list of Top 10 Gold Mutual Funds could come in handy.

The current precious metals prices as of 12/15/09 follow the New York spot price. Gold closed at $1123 on the bid, with a low of $1110.40 and a high of $1128.40. Silver closed at $17.39, with a low of $17.11 and a high of $17.50. Platinum closed at $1447.00, with a low of $1425.00 and a high of $1457.00. Palladium closed at $363.00, with a low of $355.00 and a high of $370.00.

The current gold prices today remaining over a thousand dollars an ounce is still showing that investors lack trust in the people on Wall Street. Gold always has and always will be the safe haven during a recession. This trend is continuing with the world spot prices of precious metals all at an increase since the close in New York yesterday. The gold bid on the world market is up to $1133.50 while platinum is up to $1449.00 on the bid price. Both Silver and palladium are also up at $17.51 and $366.00, respectively.

No one is quite sure when this precious metal rise will stop. The loan from Abu Dhabi to Dubai was to quell concerns about instability in the Middle East that was shown by a 10% rise of their stock exchange yesterday, but has had little effect on the world markets. The major concern in America is the way the banks are refusing to give out loans to those that need it. With executives still receiving multimillion dollar bonuses for causing the latest recession because of their bad lending practices, reforming of the bank system is needed. When the banking system finally stabilizes, the precious metals prices will finally stabilize also.

With $1227 being the new record high for gold price, India is joining in on the profit potential of this bull market. While all the other markets in the world keep fluctuating, the only market that has continued to rise is the gold market.

For an American, the price of gold in dollars is the usually way of judging the market. When looking at the market in Rupee of India at 56117.66, it is astounding until I remembered the currency. But it makes an investor remember that with the current economic recession being global, nothing is restricted to just one country anymore. The interconnection of the different world economies is here to stay.

The news interviews with the leader of Dubai tried to distance themselves from the problems of their own financial misjudgments by claiming it is not their government but private companies asking for restructuring. It is true that companies around the world restructure their debt, but those companies are not in part owned by a royal family that has splurged for decades.

By Dubai not backing the debts of the companies their officials own, shows only their further lack of respect and honor. They enticed investors from around the world to invest in their nation with the promise of not only profits but the backing of a government and its resources in oil to bail it out if any problems arose. Now, the country that built a snow ski resort in the desert and made an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree that is overlooked by a series of empty skyscrapers, is saying “it’s not our problem and this is a normal business practice.”

I guess it’s just a coincidence that a few days after companies that the officials of Dubai own made public that they need to restructure their debt because they cannot pay back their loans to foreign banks, that the current gold prices hit an all time high from investors looking for a safe haven for their money.

This is what happens to the gold price. India, America, and around the world investors know when greedy individuals decide to manipulate the markets for a profit, gold is the only safe haven for investment.

The Scrap Gold Prices are associated with the current gold bullion prices but not necessarily the same. With the current gold prices today at $1168.71 on November 24, 2009, some people think they can make a fortune off of what they have lying in their jewelry box but this is not necessarily true.

Scrap gold is different than gold bullion in several ways. Gold bullion is pure 24 k gold, while most scarp gold is not. Jewelry from the middle east is generally 18 k gold while in Europe and America it can be found as 10K, 12K and 14K in most cases. These numbers represent the percentage of gold in the jewelry. 12 k gold is only half gold and half alloy. 18k is ¾ th gold and ¼th alloy. This is why the price for scarp gold is lower. Not only is there an alloy present but the scrap has to be processed and this cost money and reduces the price.

The amount a scrap gold dealer charges is usually between 10 and 20% of the overall value of the gold if you bargain. The opening bid from the average scrap gold buyer is only around 50% to 60% of the actual value. They will site refining cost and handling fees, but in most cases none of that is done. Most scarp gold that is in the form of jewelry that is not damaged is resold as jewelry at the retail price.

By knowing what the true value of your scrap gold, prices that are offered to you may not be what you want to settle on. Know the true value and be ready to bargain to receive the best price.

As the value of the U.S. Dollar continues to weaken, the current gold prices continue to rise.  Many gold analysts think that $1050 gold prices will not be the top of the market.

In fact in the video below from Marketwatch.com, this analyst predicts that by the end of the year the price of gold will reach $1100.   As the price of the dollar goes down, investors are seeking refuge in gold.  Buying gold is a natural hedge to currency exchange risk and this market evidences that trend.