At present, there are several main ways to invest in gold internationally: investment in gold bars, investment in gold coins, gold management accounts, gold certificates, gold futures, and gold options.
1. Invest in gold bullion. At present, the main way for individuals to invest in gold in my country is to invest in gold bars. Gold bars are divided into two types: ordinary gold bars and commemorative gold bars.
(1) Specifications of gold bars: The specifications of gold bars vary from country to country, but according to international practice, gold bars entering the market must be marked with their fineness and weight, as well as the name and number of the refinery when they are cast in the refinery.
(2) Casting and packaging of gold bars: Under normal circumstances, investors tend to buy gold bars made by well-known refining companies, which will save a lot of costs and procedures when selling them in the future. If it is produced by an unknown company, the gold buyer will charge an analysis fee. Gold bars sold by internationally renowned gold dealers, packaged in airtight pouches. In addition to the gold inside, there is also a reliable seal proof. It is much more convenient to resell the gold bars without opening them.
(3) Measurement unit of gold bar transaction: Due to the different trading habits and trading rules in the gold market of various countries, the gold measurement unit is also different. The most commonly used unit of measurement in the international gold market is the troy ounce. The troy ounce is a unit of measurement used exclusively for precious metal commodity trading, and is different from the regular ounce, which is equal to 28.3495 grams, while 1 troy ounce is equal to 31.1035 grams. In the past, the unit of measurement of gold in my country was mainly two, but now it is mainly in grams. With the integration of the economy and international standards, many gold brands in my country are measured in troy ounces, and Gosell gold bars are one of them.
(4) The price of gold bars: The price of ordinary gold bars is different from that of commemorative gold bars. The issue price of commemorative gold bars is priced according to the pricing method of gold jewelry. Generally, its issue price = cost + 10% value-added tax + 5% consumption tax + profit. The price of ordinary investment gold bars is based on the spot price of gold plus a certain processing and circulation fee. Therefore, commemorative bullion bars are more expensive than regular investment bullion bars.
(5) Investment channels for gold bars: first, on-site transactions, such as member transactions of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, namely gold production companies, gold jewelry companies, gold brokers, gold agents, commercial banks and institutional investors; second, on-market transactions Foreign transactions are mainly gold bar transactions conducted by some small and medium-sized enterprises and individual investors in commercial banks, gold banks, jewelry stores, and gold and silver jewelry stores. At present, individual gold investors in my country mainly conduct transactions over the counter. When buying gold bars, it is best to choose gold bars with guaranteed repurchase and a small price difference.
2. Invest in gold coins. There are two types of gold coins, pure gold coins and commemorative gold coins. The value of pure gold coins is basically the same as the gold content, and the price basically fluctuates with the international gold price. Pure gold coins are mainly collected by coin collectors, and have little value-added investment function, but they are still attractive to some collectors because of their beauty, appreciation, strong liquidity and value preservation functions.
3. Gold management account. Gold management account refers to the gold account in which the broker handles the investor’s full control. It is a risky investment method. The key lies in the broker’s professional knowledge, operational level and reputation. Generally speaking, the companies that offer this type of investment have relatively rich expertise and do not charge a high fee. At the same time, enterprises have higher requirements for customers, and the required investment is relatively large.
4. The golden certificate. This is a relatively popular investment method in the world. The gold certificates provided by banks and gold sellers avoid the risk of storing gold for investors. On the gold certificate of the issuer, it is stated that the investor has the right to withdraw the purchased gold at any time. Investors can convert the certificate into cash at the current gold price to recover the investment, and can also circulate in the market through endorsement. Investing in gold certificates requires paying a certain commission to the issuer, which is roughly the same as the storage fee for real gold. Domestic Chinese paper gold, etc. are all gold certificates.
5. Gold futures. Generally speaking, buyers and sellers of gold futures sell and repurchase the same number of contracts as the previous contract before the contract expires, that is, to close the position without actually delivering real gold. The profit or loss earned on each transaction is equal to the difference between the purchase and sale of two contracts in opposite directions. This way of buying and selling is what people usually call speculation. Gold futures contract transactions only require a deposit of about 10% of the transaction value as the investment cost, which has a large leverage, and a small amount of funds promotes large-value transactions. Therefore, gold futures trading is also called deposit trading.
6. Gold options. Option is a price agreed by buyers and sellers in the future, with the right but not the obligation to buy a certain amount of the underlying. If the price moves in the option buyer’s favor, they will exercise their rights and make a profit. If the price moves against it, the right to buy is waived and the loss is only the cost of buying the option at that time. Due to the many and complex investment tactics of gold options trading, it is not easy to master, there are not many gold options markets in the world at present.
