For a variety of reasons I am almost certain our on-going gold bull is nowhere close to Stage Three yet. Gold isn’t going parabolic anytime soon, so if you are planning on retiring in 2010 from this years’ gold gains I suspect you’ll be sorely disappointed. www.zealllc.com; By: Adam Hamilton; Words: 1616

In further edited excerpts from the original article* Hamilton goes on to say:

[Let's review the 3 stages in the price escalation of gold and see where we are at and why.]

Stage One Stage One stealthily emerges out of a secular-bear low when everyone loathes gold. In response to a devaluation in the dominant currency it quietly begins to creep higher. Stage One in today’s bull began in April 2001 and ran for over 4 years. It was marked by modest yet consistent gains in gold.

Stage Two Once global investors figure out that gold is moving up on its own

The 200-day moving average is the ultimate measurable, objective, undistorted standard from which to determine whether prices were low or high and to indicate the way prices are heading. In most secular bulls like this gold one, the 200dma forms the most important foundational support line while, in most secular bears, the 200dma is the most important overhead resistance line. If you buy near a 200dma in a bull, and sell near a 200dma in a bear, your trades have high odds of proving successful. www.zealllc.com; By: Adam Hamilton; Words: 1797

The ultimate key to success in all trading, both long-term investment and short-term speculation, is simple. Buy low, sell high. Excel in this and trading the financial markets will eventually make you wealthy but implementing this well-known proverb into your own trading certainly isn’t easy. As always, the devil is in the details.

In order to buy low and sell high,

Trading without indicators is like running blind and it encourages emotional trading that is the bane of successful investors. Below are brief descriptions of 5 of the most popular gold mining company indices and how they should be used in conjunction with the price of gold to determine the future movement of gold bullion and gold mining stocks. (For a much more indepth understanding and analysis of these indices please refer to my recent article entitled “Gold Indexes: Comparing and Evaluating the HUI, XAU, GDX, XGD and CDNX”.)
The HUI Index
The AMEX Gold BUGS (Basket of Unhedged Gold Stocks) Index (HUI) is a modified equal dollar weighted index of 15 large cap (80%) and medium cap (19.5%) gold mining companies that do not hedge their gold beyond 1.5 years. The 3 largest companies make up approx. 37%* of the index by weight with the remaining 12 companies, at 4-6% each, making …

Market analysts, investment newsletter writers and financial planners are always commenting on how well, or poorly, the precious metals (read gold) mining sector is doing based on how a particular gold/silver mining index is trending but they are not telling you the whole story.

Why not? Because there are more than 40 precious metals mining indexes (indices) that dice and slice the components of the precious metals mining sector to arrive at a wide variety of insights and using any one of them as a basis on which to comment on the performance of the precious metals mining sector does not accurately reflect the true picture of the sector. Making investment decisions without first knowing how each index is structured; the eligibility criteria; the number of companies included; the specific market capitalization of the components; and the degree of concentration and average market capitalization of each index may lead to imprudent …

Gold Stock Surge

Adam Hamilton     February 20, 2009     2905 Words

Earlier this week, the US stock markets (S&P 500) fell 4.6% to their lowest close since November 20th’s panic low.  It was a very unpleasant day as latent fears of bungled government meddling flared up again.  But one sector, the gold stocks, was able to buck this very weak tape.  That very day the HUI gold-stock index rallied 2.6%.

This action was actually a microcosm of what we’ve seen since the stock panic’s lows.  At its very best in early January, the S&P 500 (SPX) was up 24.2% from its panic lows.  That certainly wasn’t bad, but since then those gains have been pared to 4.8%.  The stock markets aren’t

US Mint Bullion Coin Sales

Adam Hamilton     February 13, 2009     3342 Words

Back in late 1985, the US Congress authorized the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985 which President Ronald Reagan promptly signed into law.  It ordered the US Treasury, through its US Mint branch, to start producing gold bullion coins.  This law outlined very specific requirements for these new coins, including that they be produced from gold mined in the United States.

This legislation, partially in response to the soaring popularity of foreign national coins like the famous South African Krugerrand in the early 1980s, ushered in the modern era of American bullion coins.  The American Gold Eagles and American Silver Eagles that emerged out of this program

Silver/Gold Ratio Reversion Adam Hamilton

While wreaking its unbelievable destruction, last quarter’s financial-market panic certainly showed no favoritism.  Launching from ground zero in the financial stocks, shockwaves of selling blasted out through the entire market landscape.  Everything speculators once loved was left in ruins, including silver.

Back in July 2008 when the financial markets remained oblivious to the tsunami of fear approaching, silver averaged $18.07 on close.  But by November when popular stock-market fear reached a fever pitch, silver only averaged $9.81.  A 45.7% loss on the monthly averages, not merely the extremes, in just 4 months was enough to test the faith of even the most dedicated long-term silver bull.

But even at the very bottom when things looked the bleakest,

Here is what others outside of IU.com are writing about ETFs, index funds and indexes on Monday. 

Editor's Note: The following is a roundup of outside articles that might be of interest to IndexUniverse readers. It will be updated throughout the day. If you find a story relating to ETFs, index funds or indexes, please feel free to share by emailing a link and/or your comments to: mcoleman@indexuniverse.com or mhougan@indexuniverse.com. 

Selling At The Bottom

Los Angeles Times personal finance columnist Kathy Kristof explains in her latest column, now available free online, how she's not crazy for selling her index mutual funds when prices are low, low, low.

Actually, Kristof is simply tax-loss harvesting. She's booking losses in her funds for year-end tax purposes with plans to climb back aboard once the 30-day wash rule is met. A prime example she gives is selling the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) for

Here is what others outside of IU.com are writing about ETFs, index funds and indexes on Monday. 

Editor's Note: The following is a roundup of outside articles that might be of interest to IndexUniverse readers. It will be updated throughout the day. If you find a story relating to ETFs, index funds or indexes, please feel free to share by emailing a link and/or your comments to: mcoleman@indexuniverse.com or mhougan@indexuniverse.com. 

WSJ Reduces ETF Listings

The grande dame of business newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, has cut the number of exchange-traded funds listed in the paper. Starting on Monday, only the biggest 100 ETFs appear, which might not please a lot of investors but should save some additional trees.

In a small article, the paper pointed out that a fuller list of ETFs will be carried at WSJ.com. Even with the reduction, the WSJ notes that besides more listings online, the