What is the safest way to buy gold?

[fxpro2]

I am interested in buying gold and wanted to know what you guys think is the safest way to invest in the gold market?

Thanks!

[Brendan Egan]

I am interested in buying gold and wanted to know what you guys think is the safest way to invest in the gold market?

Thanks!

Hey FxPro2,
I think one of the safer ways to buy gold is by utilizing an ETF such as GLD. These ETF's track the price of gold very closely and are cheap to trade (all you pay for basically is the cost of a trade as normal). You can buy them in just about any trading account. There are a few different gold ETF's, but the most popular is GLD.

[Airelon]

I am interested in buying gold and wanted to know what you guys think is the safest way to invest in the gold market?

Thanks!

Well, as Brendan mentions ... there are a few ways to go about it if you want to hold some Gold for a period of time, or add it to a portfolio as a hedging position that can be skewed / weighted in various directions

As far as what we 'think' is safe? Well, that's going to be a matter of opinion. I personally believe for my own personal risk tolerance, that it's safe to hold an ETF like GLD in an account. If you have the cash for it, the mini-gold futures contract is an option as well. The Gold options markets require a fine degree of timing finesse, and understanding of the option formulas to work profitably.

And though I rail on and on and on against "gold bug doom and gloom" scenarios - I also do hold physical bullion that I have bought through Northwest Territorial Mint.

[Tekmnd]

Hi
I buy physical silver, but they same applies to gold as well.

When buying gold or silver, the path to take would seem to depend on your goals. If you are doing a trade, then an ETF should be fine. Both GLD (gold etf) and SLV (silver ETF) track the underlying pretty well (they follow and go up or down the same amount as gold and silver do).

If you are buying as a security in case of a major crash or a doom and gloom type of scenario (which is why I buy silver), then I feel your only choice is physical metals (buying the real thing). The downside is that you pay a premium over spot for physical metals.

You can buy online, but I found the local coin store is a better deal because you don't pay shipping. I pay $1.25 over spot for silver (gold is $65 over spot) which beats any price I have found online and I don't pay shipping.

One more thing to consider is that the tax laws changed from the Frank/Dodd bill, and starting in 2012, selling more than $600 worth of metals will get you a 1099.

Cheers
Tek