Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Preservation of Assets, Why We Need Gold
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
What You Need to Know About Gold
By JEFF D. OPDYKE
Bullion
Pooled Accounts
Exchange-Traded Funds
Mining Stocks
Amazing facts about gold
Gold has had such a long and fascinating history, and has so many unique properties, that it’s hardly surprising there are quite a few startling facts about it.
Celebrating with gold
Gold featured in the celebrations when sporting history was made in July 2009 as Roger Federer won a record fifteenth Grand Slam tennis tournament at Wimbledon. A series of outfits, all featuring gold detailing, had been commissioned for the two week tournament with a special jacket standing by in the hope of a landmark win. As Federer raised the trophy to the cheers of the crowd, the golden number 15 was revealed on the side of the jacket.
The most expensive gold coin in the world
One of the world's rarest and most sought after collector coins, the 1933 Double Eagle, was sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York in 2002, for the record sum of $7.59 million. The coin led an eventful life, escaping a big gold meltdown in the US, falling into the hands of an Egyptian King and then being discovered by undercover secret service agents in New York!
Recycling gold
Ever since it was first discovered, gold has always been recycled thanks to its inherent high value. So that means your modern jewellery or dental crown could contain gold that was mined in prehistoric times, and might have even been part of some priceless item belonging to ancient royalty! Today, at least 15% of annual gold consumption is recycled each year.
Spread the wealth
Fine gold is so malleable that it can be beaten down to a thickness of 1112ยต (.0001112 mm) into translucent gold leaf, so that one ounce (31.1 gr.) of it will cover about 16 square metres!
Wood gilding
The slow and careful process of gilding wood requires no less than 22 operations – all manual! The sheets are 1/110,000th of a millimetre-thick, and are laid on a ‘gilding cushion’ (the skin of a stillborn calf) before being cut to the desired size. The gilder, using a silk brush charged with static electricity, plucks up the gold leaf and delicately lays it on the suitably scraped wood.
Carats and carobs
The word ‘carat’ (the measurement for gold purity) comes from ‘carob’; carob seeds were originally used to balance scales in Oriental bazaars. Pure gold is designated 24 carat, which compares with the ‘fineness’ by which bar gold is defined.
Some people go to great lengths to use gold as much as possible. Here are some of the more extreme examples…
Gold leaf cakes
The ‘Palets d'Or de Moulins et des operas’ were made by Lenotre, the famous French pastry cook. Gold leaf is laid on the chocolate while it is still not quite solid.
Elvis’s golden car
The specific model is a Stutz, about 20 of which are made a year, and the King had three! In the cars, everything normally in chrome – such as the steering wheel, pedal surrounds, ashtray and cigarette lighter – is in gold instead.
Gold hand basin
This washbasin and its gold taps are on sale for an undisclosed price in a New York shop specialising in deluxe bathrooms.
Gold coffee pot
The pot has a permanent gold filter that preserves the coffee's flavour. It consists of an extremely slender mesh cover with a fine layer of 23-carat gold.
Gold shower curtain
Dennis Kozlowski, disgraced former CEO of Tyco International, is said to have enjoyed gold-threaded shower curtains costing $6,000!
Source from http://www.goldipedia.gold.org/facts/
GOLD
The one dollar US Sacajawea coin. Although it appears to be made of gold, it is not! It is an alloy of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel. |
Gold is a very soft metal when it is pure (24 Kt. is pure gold). Gold is the most malleable (hammerable) and ductile (able to be made into wire) metal. Gold is usually alloyed (mixed with other metals, often silver and copper) to make it less expensive and harder. The scientific abbreviation of gold is Au.
The purity of gold jewelry is measured in karats. Some countries hallmark gold with a three-digit number that indicates the parts per thousand of gold. In this system, "750" means 750/1000 gold (equal to 18K); "500" means 500/1000 gold (equal to 12K).
Source from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/jewel/pages/gold.shtml
Monday, March 22, 2010
Public Bank Launches Gold Investment Account
Public Bank is pleased to announce the launch of a new investment product effective 21 April 2008 known as the Gold Investment Account that allows individual customers to purchase the purest available gold commodity in 99.99% fineness at daily prices in Ringgit Malaysia per gram. Managing Director Dato' Sri Tay Ah Lek said, "The launching of the Gold Investment Account is in line with the recent rise in gold demand and to provide alternative investment products to the Bank's customers who wish to earn potentially higher returns. Gold investment is always regarded as the best possible hedge against inflation. The world demand for gold as a precious metal is ever growing as evident from the India and China markets which are among the world's largest consumers of gold." The Gold Investment Account provides the Bank's customers with the convenience of investing in gold without the hassle of keeping physical gold as trading is carried out through a passbook. The passbook will record every purchase and sale of gold made through the account. The initial gold purchase quantity to open a Gold Investment Account is affordable at only 20 grams and subsequent minimum trading quantity is 5 grams and in multiples of 1 gram. The difference between the selling and buying prices is relatively small. As a global practice, the Gold Investment Account does not pay interest as this is not a deposit placement and furthermore, the Bank keeps the gold with an authorised custodian bank. The Bank can make available the physical gold in denominations of 100 grams, 500 grams and 1,000 grams should the customer require physical withdrawal of gold. A minimum quantity of 2 grams of gold is to be maintained by the customer to ensure the account remains active. For more information on the Gold Investment Account, customers may visit their nearest Public Bank branch, call free-phone at 1-800-88-3323 during working hours, or log on to Public Bank's website at www.pbebank.com.
* * * * * * * * Gold Investment Account
* * * * * * * * Source from http://ww2.publicbank.com.my/cnt_press257.html |
Public Bank offers gold investment account
Tuesday April 22, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd has launched a new investment product, Gold Investment Account, that allows customers to purchase the purest available gold commodity in 99.99% fineness at daily prices in ringgit per gram.
Managing director Datuk Seri Tay Ah Lek said in a statement the launch of the product was in line with the recent rise in gold demand and to provide an alternative investment product for customers who wished to earn potentially higher returns.
“The account provides customers with the convenience of investing in gold without the hassle of keeping physical gold, as trading is carried out through a passbook,” he said.
Tay said the initial gold purchase quantity to open an account was 20g and subsequent minimum trading would be 5g and in multiples of 1g.
He said the account would not pay interest and the bank would keep the gold with an authorised custodian bank.
Tay said the bank would make available the physical gold in denominations of 100g, 500g and 1,000g should the customer required physical withdrawal of gold.
“A minimum 2g of gold are to be maintained by the customer to ensure the account remains active,” he said. – Bernama
PBBANK : [Stock Watch] [News]
Source from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/22/business/21020597&sec=business
Investment Guide: Gold
An easy guide to investing in gold
Why gold?
Whether as a stepping stone into the physical market, or as a move to diversify your investment portfolio, gold offers strong benefits to an investor.
Gold offers secure value and is easy to invest.
Historically, the value of national currencies may rise and fall but the value of gold remains remarkably stable. Gold fulfils the function of money and is accepted worldwide as a form of payment. You don't need a huge sum of gold to begin investing gold bullion coins, for example, can be purchased from weights as low as a quarter troy ounce.Gold is the most liquid asset.
Gold can be readily bought or sold 24-hours a day in one or more markets around the world. This cannot be said of most investments, including stocks of the world's largest corporations. In addition, the trading spreads on bullion are generally narrower than the spreads on stocks and bonds (which are considered liquid assets).Gold diversifies your portfolio.
Gold's low-to-negative correlation with stocks and bonds makes it an excellent portfolio diversifier. In fact, many financial advisers recommend keeping 5% to 10% of your total assets in gold. With gold, you can help offset market fluctuations and reduce volatility.
60 lose RM25mil in gold investment scam
Wednesday February 10, 2010
By TAN SIN CHOW
GEORGE TOWN: At least 60 people from Penang have lost more than RM25mil in a gold investment scam which is said to be operated by a Kuala Lumpur-based company.
Police believe that the amount of money and the number of victims are just the tip of the iceberg as there could be many cases which have gone unreported.
State Commercial Crime Investi gations Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik said 30 reports involving 60 victims were received this year. All the incidents took place last year.
He said the Bukit Aman police headquarters had since taken over the investigation as the duped investors are from all over the country, including Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
He added that the victims only realised that they were taken for a ride in the fourth month of investment.
“This is when the syndicate would give them two options – either to renew the contract or to pull out from the scheme.
“It would be the end of the road for investors then. For either options, syndicate members would tell you they need to re-weigh and re-assess the genuineness of the gold bars which was given to the investors.
“The syndicate will claim they need seven days to check the gold bars. But during the period, they will abscond with the gold,” ACP Roslee said at a press conference at the state police contingent headquarters yesterday.
Source from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/10/nation/5644965&sec=nation
Friday, February 19, 2010
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Source from http://www.clickbankguide.com/searchfeast.htm
Friday, February 12, 2010
Renungan bersama Kisah Sepohon Epal
Kisah pohon epal..
“Suatu masa dahulu, terdapat sebatang pohon epal yang amat besar. Seorang kanak-kanak lelaki begitu gemar bermain-main di sekitar pohon epal ini setiap hari.Dia memanjat pohon tersebut, memetik serta memakan epal sepuas-puas hatinya, dan adakalanya dia beristirahat lalu terlelap di perdu pohon epal tersebut. Anak lelaki tersebut begitu menyayangi tempat permainannya. Pohon epal itu juga menyukai anak tersebut.
Masa berlalu…
Anak lelaki itu sudah besar dan menjadi seorang remaja. Dia tidak lagi menghabiskan masanya setiap hari bermain di sekitar pohon epal tersebut. Namun begitu, suatu hari dia datang kepada pohon apel tersebut dengan wajah yang sedih. “Marilah bermain-mainlah di sekitarku,” ajak pohon epal itu.” Aku bukan lagi kanak-kanak, aku tidak lagi gemar bermain dengan engkau,” jawab remaja itu.” Aku mahukan permainan. Aku perlukan wang untuk membelinya,” tambah remaja itu dengan nada yang sedih.Lalu pohon apel itu berkata, ”
Kalau begitu, petiklah epal-epal yang ada padaku. Juallah untuk mendapatkan wang. Dengan itu, kau dapat membeli permainan yang kauinginkan.”
Remaja itu dengan gembiranya memetik semua epal dipohon itu dan pergi dari situ. Dia tidak kembali lagiselepas itu. Pohon epal itu merasa sedih. Masa berlalu…Suatu hari, remaja itu kembali. Dia semakin dewasa.
Pohon epal itu merasa gembira.”Marilah bermain-mainlah di sekitarku,” ajak pohon epal itu.”Aku tiada waktu untuk bermain. Aku terpaksa bekerja untuk mendapatkan wang. Aku ingin membina rumah sebagai tempat perlindungan untuk keluargaku. Bolehkah kau menolongku?” Tanya anak itu.”
Maafkan aku. Aku tidak mempunyai rumah. Tetapi kau boleh memotong dahan-dahanku yang besar ini dan kau buatlah rumah daripadanya.” Pohon epal itu memberikan cadangan.Lalu, remaja yang semakin dewasa itu memotong kesemua dahan pohon apel itu dan pergi dengan gembiranya. Pohon apel itu pun turut gembira tetapi kemudiannyamerasa sedih karena remaja itu tidak kembali lagiselepas itu.
Suatu hari yang panas, seorang lelaki datang menemui pohon apel itu. Dia sebenarnya adalah anak lelaki yangpernah bermain-main dengan pohon apel itu. Dia telah matang dan dewasa.”Marilah bermain-mainlah di sekitarku,” ajak pohon epal itu.” Maafkan aku, tetapi aku bukan lagi anak lelaki yangsuka bermain-main di sekitarmu. Aku sudah dewasa. Aku mempunyai cita-cita untuk belayar. Malangnya, aku tidak mempunyai boat. Bolehkah kau menolongku?” tanya lelaki itu.”
Aku tidak mempunyai boat untuk diberikan kepada kau. Tetapi kau boleh memotong batang pohon ini untukdijadikan boat. Kau akan dapat belayar dengangembira,” kata pohon apel itu.Lelaki itu merasa amat gembira dan menebang batangpohon apel itu. Dia kemudiannya pergi dari situ dengangembiranya dan tidak kembali lagi selepas itu. Namunbegitu, pada suatu hari, seorang lelaki yang semakindimamah usia, datang menuju pohon apel itu. Dia adalahanak lelaki yang pernah bermain di sekitar pohon apelitu.”
Maafkan aku. Aku tidak ada apa-apa lagi untukdiberikan kepada kau. Aku sudah memberikan buahkuuntuk kau jual, dahanku untuk kau buat rumah, batangkuuntuk kau buat boat. Aku hanya ada tunggul dengan akaryang hampir mati…” kata pohon apel itu dengan nadapilu.”
Aku tidak mahu apelmu kerana aku sudah tiada bergigiuntuk memakannya, aku tidak mahu dahanmu kerana akusudah tua untuk memotongnya, aku tidak mahu batangpohonmu kerana aku berupaya untuk belayar lagi, akumerasa lelah dan ingin istirahat,” jawab lelaki tuaitu.”
Jika begitu, istirahatlah di perduku,” kata pohonapel itu.Lalu lelaki tua itu duduk beristirahat di perdu pohon epal itu dan beristirahat. Mereka berdua menangiskegembiraan.
Tersebut.
Sebenarnya, pohon epal yang dimaksudkan didalam cerita itu adalah kedua-dua ibu bapa kita. Bilakita masih muda, kita suka bermain dengan mereka.Ketika kita meningkat remaja, kita perlukan bantuanmereka untuk meneruskan hidup. Kita tinggalkan mereka,dan hanya kembali meminta pertolongan apabila kita didalam kesusahan. Namun begitu, mereka tetap menolongkita dan melakukan apa saja asalkan kita bahagia dangembira dalam hidup.Anda mungkin terfikir bahwa anak lelaki itu bersikapkejam terhadap pohon apel itu, tetapi fikirkanlah, ituhakikatnya bagaimana kebanyakan anak-anak masa kinimelayan ibu bapa mereka. Hargailah jasa ibu bapakepada kita. Jangan hanya kita menghargai merekasemasa menyambut hari ibu dan hari bapa setiap tahun.”
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Flying Around With Hovercards
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Because many of you use twitter.com to read and write tweets, we've been spending some time focusing on ways to improve your experience on the site. Today, we're introducing a feature called Hovercards that will be a handy way to interact with the folks behind each tweet.
On any timeline, as its namesake suggests, Hovercards are cards which appear when you hover over a username or avatar. The cards display additional information about the person and allow you to interact with them while staying within the context of your page.
One way we've found these cards to be useful is to find out more about retweeted people and follow them right there. You can also see more information with an expanded view of the card.
Sending direct messages to people you follow will also be possible with Hovercards so you can interact with tweeters without having to move off the page.
Hovercards will be rolled out in stages so not all of you will be seeing them right away.
Posted by @jennadawn at 6:00 PM
Source: http://blog.twitter.com/
Tagged wins lawsuit against spammer
January 29th, 2010 By: Louis
Tagged protects its members’ privacy vigorously, allocating significant engineering, product development and legal resources to help safeguard its members’ online accounts. As part of this effort, we have repeatedly, and at substantial monetary expense, filed suit in federal court against persons and businesses that have victimized Tagged members with phishing attacks aimed at identity theft and spam attacks promoting pornographic websites, among other offenses.
Earlier this week, Tagged — and our members — won a small battle against spam and those who create it.
We are pleased to announce that, after filing nine lawsuits against those responsible for millions of unwanted and inappropriate spam messages directed at Tagged users, United States District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California awarded Tagged $201,975 in damages and costs against the California resident behind a bunch of the spam.
This judgment is the direct result of the tireless efforts of our engineering team, security experts and legal personnel and the countless other individuals devoted to finding, exposing and prosecuting the sources of these spam attacks. You can rest assured that your efforts are not in vain.
All Tagged members should know that we are constantly working hard to protect you against spam and maintain your safety and privacy, and your continued efforts to maintain Tagged as a safe and enjoyable site gives us the resolve to keep up the fight.
Source: http://blog.tagged.com/
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Become a Flu Fighter
Become a Flu Fighter
January 14, 2010
National Influenza Vaccination Week continues today with a focus on the importance of young adults getting vaccinated against the H1N1 flu. As part of our outreach efforts, Secretary Sebelius announced a new Facebook application called "I'm a Flu Fighter."
This application allows users to select a Flu Fighting character and tell their friends that they received the flu vaccination and urge others to do the same. Users can also learn more about the flu vaccine and use the vaccine locator to find a clinic nearby where they can get vaccinated.
People often rely on the advice of close friends and family when it comes to personal matters of health. Through emerging social media tools like Facebook, we can share updates with our friends and family and promote positive health behaviors. This application gives people a fun way to encourage friends and family to get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, and as a Flu Fighter, you are also helping to protect the people around you. It’s also particularly important right now, since we’re only at the beginning of the ordinary flu season.
If one person tells 5 friends, and they tell 5 friends each, and each of those friends tells another 5 friends, that is already 156 people. Imagine how many people we could encourage to get vaccinated if we each told just 5 friends -- or, even better, all of our Facebook friends. Together we can be Flu Fighters, and protect our families, friends, and communities from the flu, one vaccination at a time.
Become a Flu Fighter by trying out the application, and visit our Facebook page to become a fan of fighting the flu.
Source from http://www.flu.gov/news/blogs/flufighter.html