At current market price (USD$1669/ozt), be prepared to fork out at least USD$536,880 for a piece of the art. That’s approximately RM1.665 million.
Warren Buffet has recently published his annual letter to his Berkshire Hathaway‘s shareholders.
^ Buffer thinks Gold is for the fearful; Maloney says otherwise.
In his letter, he wrote his comment about Gold, which he refers as a short term “bandwagon” for fearful investors. Maloney however, on the other hand critised Buffet’s ways of comparing gold as an investment.
If you are buying gold for investment, gold shop is among the places you may go to purchase your investment. In Malaysia, our gold prices are standardized nationwide as most of our gold shop retailers are member of Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers Association of Malaysia.
^ FGJAM website at http://www.fgjam.org.my
FGJAM in short, set and publish standardized price for gold on a weekly basis. This creates a uniform gold price and healthy competition among gold retailers.
Price tag for a piece of gold in retail store is calculated by adding “Retail Gold Price” and “Workmanship”. Gold shop profits from margin over gold price as well as workmanship. Thus, for every gold ring, necklace or bracelet you buy from them, they will quote you two prices, the retail price of gold and workmanship.
Retail Gold Price
“Retail Gold Price” in summary is market price of gold – a price which includes overheads.
Salesmen need commissions, landlords want rents, security guards require bullets, lights run on electricity and a long list of other expenses. All these are compiled by FGJAM, which then published as “Retail Gold Price” on a weekly basis.
Workmanship
It is the price you pay for the time, effort and skill spent on creating a piece of jewelry. It varies from one jewelry to another jewelry. The more complex a jewelry is, the more expensive the “Workmanship” is.
In general, you can bargain on the “Workmanship” price but not the “Retail Gold Price”. FGJAM prohibits discounting on “Retail Gold Price” – a rule which is agreed by all its members.
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If you are an Astro subcriber with History Channel (Channel 555), tonight you may want to spare an hour to watch the documentary on the world’s safest safe. Astro is bringing Fort Knox: Secrets Revealed at 8pm tonight via History Channel.
For those who have no clues on Fort Knox, think of it as the world’s safe deposit box, with 147.3 million ounces of gold in it [1].
^ Snippets from History Channel’s Fort Knox: Secrets Revealed
It holds a lot of consipiracy when it comes to the real amount of gold residing in it. Fort Knox has never been auditted and Ron Paul has been pressing the authority over and over again to open up it’s vault for stock checking. He worried that the government has secretly sold off part of the stockpile and replaced it with tungsten bars that are painted gold [2].
^ Radio talk on how gold bars from Fort Knox were actually tungsten bars dipped in a thin layer of gold!
While I myself have yet to watch the documentary, it would be interesting to know the history behind the world’s most secured fort. It may or may not touch on the topic of gold.
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February 19, 2012, johnni@thestar.com.my | A precious metals exchange has just been set up in Singapore by a Malaysian to help gold, silver and platinum bullion collectors not only to store their hoard but also to buy and sell such physical assets quickly and discreetly.
KEEPING gold bars and other precious items has reached a new level of sophistication in this region, with the launch of a storage facility in Singapore that offers clients anonymity as well as speedy transactions.
“The minimum deposit value in this bonded warehouse set-up is only US$1mil,” said Singapore Precious Metals Exchange Pte Ltd (SGPMX) founder and chief executive officer Victor Foo, 42.
“Of course, our clientele has much more than that to deposit,” added the Malaysian entrepreneur in an exclusive interview with The Star.
“SGPMX is located in The Singapore FreePort a super-secure facility and next to Changi International Airport. Within a free trade zone, the facility is dedicated to the storage and trade of precious metals, gems, artwork and other valuables.”
Safe location: SGPMX offers clients in Asia a bullion vault at an ‘offshore’ facility at a ‘much closer’ location than Switzerland.
Moving 100kg of gold from your house to KLIA is no laughing matter, said Foo.
“To clear a consignment at KLIA takes at least 45 minutes. But at Changi Airport, it takes only three minutes,” explained Foo, who has been involved in the insurance industry since 1991.
His financial planning services include gold bullion investments.
“If you are a high nett worth individual, you wouldn’t want to expose yourself and you don’t want your name to appear in the export papers.”
But the facility is a not a free-wheeling set-up as Foo is fully aware of the stringent regulations imposed by government authorities.
“We are not going to be laundering any blood money. Otherwise, the Singapore authorities will close us down,” he assured.
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Please make your own assessment of the relevance, accuracy and adequacy of the information contained in this Blog. You are advised to make your independent investigations as may be necessary or appropriate for the purpose of such assessment including the investment risks involved.