Monday, July 12, 2010

SPDR Gold Shares: World's Second Largest ETF

With economic uncertainty and gradual weakening of the currencies specially the US Dollar, investors have been searching for a safe place for their funds. Uncertainty in the global Oil prices has not helped the investors but gold has continued its long-term advance to record high levels drawing investors to this traditional safe-haven asset.

Owning a gold-focused ETF is a good way to get physical exposure to gold without the hassle of taking physical possession – finding storage, paying for storage and so on.

Experts feel that ongoing economic uncertainty is likely to continue make gold a hot investment, with SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) among the most popular means of participating. GLD opened up history’s first direct conduit between gold and the vast pools of capital in the stock markets. GLD is the second-largest ETF in the world, with $50 billion in assets, and the world’s sixth-largest owner of physical gold. Each share of GLD is backed by physical gold bullion, which makes it an alternative to actually investing in physical bullions. Several factors have contributed to the spike in assets: concerns over the Euro zone sovereign debt crisis, fears of a double-dip recession, possible inflation worries and a need for a general safe haven for assets. GLD now hoards a record total of 1,316.18 metric tons of gold, a level that rivals most of the world’s central banks.

SPDR Gold Shares offer investors an innovative, relatively cost efficient and secure way to access the gold market. Originally listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November of 2004, and traded on NYSE Arca since December 13, 2007, SPDR Gold Shares has been one of the fastest growing ETFs in the US. SPDR Gold Shares now trade on the Singapore Stock Exchange as well as the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Today GLD is the second largest ETF on the planet, behind only SPY which tracks the flagship S&P 500 stock index. With this still-growing ETF already a force to be reckoned with, no investor or speculator in the precious-metals realm can afford to ignore it.

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