Investing in Gold
Why invest in gold? Invest in gold to make money or preserve capital. In fact, preserving capital is just another way of making money. If you have more buying power after a decline than you would have had, then you made money.
There are basically two camps of gold investors. Those that see gold as simply another investment vehicle and those that see gold as real money. In fact, gold is both those things. However, someone who invests in gold because of its intrinsic value as currency will primarily look for buying opportunities and will be reluctant to sell at any time. The investor on the other hand will sell gold whenever they feel they can make more money investing in something else.
For the investor or speculator, the main questions are when to buy and when to sell. And which type of gold investment (stocks, ETFs' bullion, etc.) is likely to be the most profitable given the current conditions.
For the 'gold is money' crowd, on the other hand, they will look for buying opportunities but may hold off on doing any actual buying of gold until they perceive a real threat to the fiat currency. In other words, they may not see gold as a means of producing great returns in the short term but see gold as the only real insurance in the face of what they see as an inevitable decline in the value of the dollar.
Similarly, investors will look to invest in ways that they can get in and out of easily. They are more likely to invest in futures and exchange traded funds than gold coins. Those that are looking to invest in gold as a means of security, on the other hand, will accept nothing less than coins or bullion in their personal possession. The majority of investors, however, will fall somewhere in between the extremes. Perhaps, they'll want some gold coins on hand in the unlikely event of en economic disaster but would be willing to hold gold certificates or invest in the stock of gold mining companies.
So to reiterate, gold is both an investment vehicle and a safe haven. It is available in forms that range from the intangible (futures, stocks, certificates) to the tangible (coins, bullion, jewelry) with varying degrees of liquidity. This site explores the factors influencing the gold price, ways of investing in gold and how to make a profit.