For long time around of the world, of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment. Investors generally buy gold as a hedge or safe haven against any economic, political, social or currency-based crises. These crises include investment market declines, burgeoning national debt, currency failure, inflation, war and social unrest. Investors also buy gold early in a bull market and aim to sell it before a bear market begins, in an attempt to gain financially.
Gold has been used throughout history as a form of payment and has been a relative standard for currency equivalents specific to economic regions or countries. Many European countries implemented gold standards in latter part of the 19th century until these were dismantled in the financial crises involving World War I. After World War II, the Bretton Woods system pegged the United States dollar to gold at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. The system existed until the 1971 Nixon Shock, when the US unilaterally suspended the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold.
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Factors influencing the gold price
Today, like all investments and commodities, the price of gold is ultimately driven by supply and demand. Unlike most other commodities, the hoarding and disposal plays a much bigger role in affecting the price, because most of the gold ever mined still exists and is potentially able to come on to the market for the right price.At the end of 2006, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totaled 158,000 tonnes. This can be represented by a cube with an edge length of just 20.2 meters.
Gold Price is fluctuate but its intrinsic value is stable along decade. So, gold is suitable for long term investments.
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