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The Long Wait at the SEC While the gold ETFs were not actually formally filed at the SEC until late 2003 and early 2004, there had been intensive discussions at the SEC about these products for literally years before that. In all, I estimate that the process took about 3 years…not much different than the lead-time for the very first ETF, the SPDRs Trust (SPY). The long review may have been caused by a number of factors. For one, never before had the SEC found commodity trading falling its jurisdiction, and the issues around storing and insuring a physical commodity are much different than those surrounding equities, the SEC's traditional purview. Moreover, the issues that the SEC was looking at were not only the logistics of managing the trust, but also macro issues such as the liquidity and stability of the gold market, the impact that the additional demand stemming from these ETFs could have on the gold market and, indeed, the macroeconomic implications of the associated price movement. In addition, we understand that there were voices at the SEC who vehemently opposed the idea of gold as a legitimate investment. A lot of work went into discussing the gold market, correlation benefits, etc., which was a big part of the application process. Taken together, these features ensured that the process would be long and arduous for the World Gold Council and later Barclays Global Investors. It is easy to criticize an SEC that has an overwhelming workload (even more so in recent years). But the bottom line is that their job is to protect investors. And so before any new product is going to come to market, they are going to be absolutely certain that investors will benefit. Just Say No To Promo One rather bizarre side effect of the trust structure that GLD uses is that the fund is essentially in a never-ending "quiet period." Creations of gold shares are essentially treated as IPOs. So in terms of advertising to the wider public, SSgA and the World Gold Council subsidiary are really handcuffed in terms of what they can do. If you are an investor, or a prospective investor, they are able to educate and inform you about the product. But they are not able to advertise and promote to the wider world, through the media or otherwise. The irony is that they really depend on media people (such as myself) to get the word out to the potential investing public. Much of the information I've garnered, I've gotten either as a prospective investor (on the www.streettracksgoldshares.com or www.goldbullion.com Web sites, for example) or internationally. The situation is very strange and does seem unfair to the product, since it essentially functions the same way as any other ETF. The people working with the product were so happy to finally bring it to market, however, that they've found the restrictions easier to tolerate. The fact that about $1.4 billion came into the fund in Week 1 also helped to ease the pain a bit. Of course, the lack of promotion makes the record launch all the more remarkable.  iShares IAU and the Runup to the GLD launch The truth of the matter is that the World Gold Council had been working on GLD long before SSgA became involved. In fact, they had approached BGI about working with them to launch the prospective ETF as an iShare. Ultimately, however, BGI decided to go it alone, and the Gold Council decided to go with SSgA. Time will tell how this one plays out, but ETF history has not been kind to those who are second to market. See: 1) iShares fixed-income products and the now defunct FITRs; 2) SPY and IVV - though IVV has made headway, SPY is still the big cat, despite lower IVV fees, and; 3) the Vanguard VIPERS and iShares sector funds and the longer established Select Sector SPDRs. While some headway has been made, it's a battle to pass that first-to-market share of assets. It will be interesting to watch this dynamic once IAU comes out. If it comes out. While conventional wisdom held that since GLD was in registration first, it would be launched first, it was also believed that IAU's launch would follow soon after GLD's debut, since IAU wasn't far behind in the registration process. That, more or less, is how things worked out for the fixed-income iShares and the FITRs, for example (though FITRs were beaten, barely, to market by iShares after missing a filing deadline). However , the news we've heard from around the product has indicated that IAU will not be launched in the near future. (Although, of course, having put that in print greatly raises the odds that it will come out by the time you receive this magazine. Punch in IAU on your CBSMarketwatch.com ticker search to see.) Apparently there are some additional logistical hurdles for IAU to overcome prior to launch. Unfortunately, no one at the SEC or at BGI is telling me what they are. At first glance, you might think that because Comex has its name on the product, and as Comex trades gold futures, derivatives might be involved. However, similar to GLD, the iShare deals in underlying bars of gold, and a careful read of the two prospectuses indicates that while there are some differences, by and large, the structures are very similar. One issue I've heard is that the iShares accepts different types of gold bars, which can trade at slightly different prices - and that this could be an operational hurdle. The key phrase from IAU's prospectus is that gold bars delivered to the trust must:
Are Oil and Other Commodities a Possibility? With the advent of the gold ETFs, the question that immediately arises is "what next?" The most obvious answer would seem to be Texas tea. With the soaring price of petroleum and the direct negative effect this rise tends to have on oil-dependent economies and stock markets, it would seem to make a great ETF. And it has been looked at. Don't expect an oil ETF to be available anytime soon, though. Though the gold funds open up the possibility in terms of fund structure, storing oil for the trust would be no easy task. Unlike gold, oil is a rather messy commodity that has a tendency to leak. Much more likely might be a commodities basket ETF, perhaps based around one of the new commodities indexes. These baskets make great portfolio hedges. A durables or softs basket might also be a possibility. Again, operationally, there could be some challenges. Pork bellies ETF anyone? Is Gold an Asset Class? Is gold or are commodities a legitimate asset class that warrant attention from investors? It depends on who you talk to. On the one hand, gold and commodities have historically had some very interesting performance characteristics in how they tend to correlate inversely with market performance (more on this in the background section that follows). On the other hand, commodities, unlike equities and fixed-income securities, are known quantities with no potential for growth. The bottom line, however, is that many sophisticated investors have long used either gold or commodities in a corner of their portfolios to hedge against falling markets, or used them to profit from otherwise poor investing conditions. Historically, the only way to do that has been to head off to Kookland , Montana , and pile up expensive gold coins and jewelry with your canned goods and arms, or, to invest in futures or in imperfectly correlating mining companies, which sometimes hedge off fluctuations in the gold price to stabilize their cash flow. Of course, all of that has changed now, with real gold available at the click of a mouse. Now, investors will be able to decide for themselves if gold truly is a legitimate asset class. The Tax Quirk The one problem that the gold ETFs do not solve is the peculiar tax treatment of gold investing under U.S. tax code. Uncle Sam most definitely does not take the view that gold is an asset class. Indeed, the view of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is that gold is a "collectible" like art, gems or wine collections. And collectibles have not reaped the rewards of the tax cuts of the current administration. Therefore, unlike equity investments, on which most of us will pay the 15% long-term capital gains tax if we wait more than a year to sell, capital gains on collectibles (and on GLD) are 28%. And if you sell within a year, it is treated as ordinary income. This is obviously no small issue, and one that should factor into your decision if you are planning to hold the gold shares over a long period of time. Security of Instrument Around launch time, an article began making the rounds that criticized the structure of GLD and alleged that there was no guarantee that the fund would hold the underlying gold it claimed was the basis for the fund. It was published by a James Turk on November 23 on the Web site www.safehaven.com . And I quote: People who might have otherwise bought physical gold coins or bars, but wanted the same thing with more convenience, could be misled into thinking that they are buying physical gold by investing in the shares of GLD. But given GLD's loose custodial controls, there is no certainty that the investor is actually buying gold bullion in the form of an exchange-traded security. They may instead only be buying paper (i.e., a promise to deliver physical metal, rather than the metal itself) because there is no possibility by independent auditing or other means to substantiate that the gold supposedly owned by GLD and stored in the BoE and other vaults (other than HSBC's vault) really exists. This mechanism thus provides the central banks managing gold's price with a tool to divert into paper promises the money coming from investors who otherwise think they are buying physical metal, thereby enabling these central banks to relieve the upward pressure we have been seeing on the gold price. Therefore, if you are intending to buy physical gold bullion, do not buy GLD. My first reaction was that this James Turk is the aforementioned kind of guy who has a store of canned food and guns somewhere in Montana . In fact, after some research, I discovered that Mr. Turk is the owner of a directly competing product (see www.goldmoney.com ). Interesting. We hear he's looking to sell. As far as I can tell, there is no substance even to the possibility of what he charges, and I am certain that there is no substance to the charges themselves. I know the guys who are running this fund, and the similar funds in the U.K, Australia and South Africa . There are numbered gold bars corresponding to each creation, and they can go into the vault and see the physical gold. Large investors, should they so please, can always take delivery of the underlying portfolio in physical gold. So the short story is, don't worry - an interest in real bars of gold that the trust is holding is what you are buying when you buy a gold (GLD) share. Some Background on the Players Involved An assortment of leading players in both the gold and ETF industries have teamed up to bring these important new products to market. For GLD, the cast includes State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), who also manage the world's first and largest ETF, the SPDRs Trust (SPY). GLD is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which has suddenly become a dominant player in attracting ETF listings, having recently won the listings for the FTSE Xinhua China ETF (FXI) and the iShares Morningstar ETFs. Longtime ETF powerhouse Bank of New York, which manages the world's second largest ETF, the Nasdaq 100 Trust (QQQQ), is the trustee, with HSBC Bank acting as custodian and Bear Wagner Specialists overseeing trading on the NYSE. As mentioned previously, the sponsor for GLD is the World Gold Council, which is the organization founded by major gold mining companies around the world to promote gold. GLD marks the fourth gold ETF launched in cooperation with the World Gold Council in the past two years. In 2003, the first gold ETF, Gold Bullion Securities, began trading on the Australian Stock Exchange. A separate Gold Bullion Securities ETF also now trades on the London Stock Exchange. And just before GLD's splashy entrance, another Gold Council sponsored ETF launched on the Johannesburg Exchange. For the IAU, the team is led by the fastest growing and now the largest ETF manager, Barclays Global Investors (BGI). The fund will be listed on the American Stock Exchange, the birthplace of the first ETF, and the sponsor, COMEX, is the exchange market on gold futures contracts operated by Commodity Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. The trustee is The Bank of New York and the custodian is The Bank of Nova Scotia. For both funds, the trustee is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the trust, and the custodian holds the gold. Although the Gold Council is not involved in IAU, it would be happy to see the fund succeed, as the Council's goal is all about fueling the demand (or better, meeting the demand) for gold.  The Current State of Gold Investing Investors have long turned to gold in times of market uncertainty, and many conservative investors have always held a part of their portfolios in bullion and/or gold mining stocks. Furthermore, gold is considered the ultimate inflation hedge, and with economic growth surging in much of the world, gold bugs see a fundamental reason for the metal's rise as well. Like the fixed-income and value equity investors of the late 1990s, the precious metals crowd took a beating through the last bull market. Now they're back with a vengeance. After a spectacular 2003, the big three gold indexes had, until the new recent highs, taken a bit of a pause in 2004, enabling interested investors to enter the market as bullion prices occasionally dipped even below $400 an ounce. Depending on what investors' views are as to the certainty and stability of the current equity market environment, gold bullion may not be a bad place to maintain a market hedge. Here is how the three main gold indexes did in the runup year of 2003:
Back to Basics The ETF structure has come full circle with the launch of the gold ETF, as the ETF had its origin in the mind of a resourceful commodities trader, Nate Most. While working at the Amex, Most had the idea of packaging a mutual fund into a single certificate (like the pieces of paper that represent underlying commodities and trade on commodities markets) that could then be traded in smaller pieces as individual stocks representing a small portion of the larger portfolio. (See Most's article in the Q1, 2004 issue of the Journal of Indexes , which can be viewed on http://www.indexuniverse.com/JOI/index.php?year=2004&quarter=1.) Now, a previously index-only tool - the ETF - allows investors to trade an underlying portfolio of gold bullion on the stock market like any ordinary equity. Another Option: CME Launches Gold TRAKRS Futures GLD isn't the only way to efficiently gain exposure to the gold bullion market. There are other ways to access bullion besides the ETF, overpriced gold coins, gold mining company stocks or large futures contracts… In early December of 2003, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched an innovative new future, the Gold TRAKRS (Total Return Asset Contracts) futures, which is the sixth in a series of non-traditional futures products developed jointly by CME and Merrill Lynch. It immediately became the most successful of these launches, trading 5,759,346 contracts representing approximately $144 million on its first day. Futures on gold have long been available from the major commodities markets. Trading is brisk on gold futures that trade on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and in the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The new offering by the CME adds another twist, though. The Gold TRAKRS Index is designed to track the spot price of gold plus an additional total return component that will reflect an accrual at a rate equal to the one-month lease rate for gold. Therefore, these futures are set up to not only track price movement, but also to provide you with the income that comes from lending gold, as if you were holding the bullion and had the market power of Central Banks or major bullion dealers. The lease rate is intended to represent the compensation an owner of gold would receive in return for lending gold for a period of one month.  A Change Is In The Air The world of gold is clearly changing. New trading instruments will make gold more accessible to both retail and institutional investors than it has ever been before. A combination of factors - what happens in the equity markets and with gold prices, how aggressively the funds are marketed and to what extent investors harbor a deep-seated desire to own gold - will all be keys to the level of success these products will achieve. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it is quite significant. Background on the History of ETFs and Gold Investing A Brief History of ETFs ETFs are index tracking funds. The concept of indexing evolved in the 1950s and 1960s based on the theories of Harry Markowitz and William Sharpe. This body of work was seen as the catalyst that led to a focus on portfolio diversification and the concept of an efficient portfolio. It was primarily these ideas, along with the advantages and efficiencies of indexing, which provided a solid foundation for future growth of the indexing industry. Since the introduction of the first index fund in 1973, indexing has grown to become a US $2 trillion business worldwide. ETFs were established to provide investors with the benefits of indexing while offering increased flexibility and potentially lower costs as compared to traditional mutual funds. Assets in ETF products have almost trebled in the last three and a half years and, as a result, have garnered a tremendous amount of attention. The American Stock Exchange, together with SSgA, developed and launched the U.S. market for ETFs in 1993 with the creation of the SPDR ("spider"), an ETF tracking the S&P 500. Today, these hybrid products, structured like mutual funds but traded like equities, have become important trading, risk management and investment instruments. ETFs are widely used by investment professionals, pension funds, hedge fund managers, arbitrageurs, traders, market makers, financial planners and individual investors alike. ETFs are commingled investments that can be structured as unit investment trusts, mutual funds, structured notes, grantor trusts or depositary receipts. Their major common features include: an exchange listing and ability to trade continually; passive index-linked structure and performance, and; the ability to handle contribution and redemptions on an "in-kind" basis. As a result of their passive and simple structure, ETFs typically have annualized holding costs of under 100bps, and costs can be as low as 9bps. This represents a huge cost savings relative to many mutual funds and pooled products, which can charge retail investors over 2% plus per annum with 5% up-front fees (although many index funds now have fee that are comparable to ETFs). In addition, the tracking error of an ETF is minimized due to low holding costs and its open-ended structure. Benefits of Exchange Traded Funds ETFs provide immediate and efficient diversification, low turnover and the cost advantages inherent in index-linked funds. In addition, ETFs can offer: continuous trading on an exchange; the ability to short the instruments, thus providing hedging tools to investors without easy access to traditional derivative instruments, and; in the U.S. , ETFs can provide tax advantages over mutual funds. The many benefits of ETFs continue to make them attractive to an ever-widening range of retail and institutional investors. As a result, several ETFs now rank among the most actively traded stocks in the U.S. It is also important to note that volumes in ETFs are reflective of the broad and deep liquidity of the underlying index constituents. Furthermore, some of the common applications of ETFs now include: asset allocation, core/satellite approach, portfolio tax strategy, cash equitisation, sector and style allocation/rotation, and risk management. Development of ETFs At the time of writing, there were 326 ETFs, listed on 28 stock exchanges around the world, containing over US $260 billion in assets and trading approximately US $12 billion per day (Source: Morgan Stanley). The U.S. market is the largest ETF market with 70% of global assets and almost 95% of trading volume (by value). The equally second largest markets are Japan and the Pan-European market. European brokers continue to operate primarily within a transaction-based or commissions-based framework, which provides less incentive to invest in ETFs as compared with their U.S. counterparts, who have moved to fee-based service models. That, along with the jurisdictional differences between the various exchanges and countries in Europe , has resulted in slower growth of the European ETF market. However, despite these challenges, assets under management in Europe have increased by 400% since December 2001. The increase in number and assets of ETFs over the last four years around the world is testimony to the fact that institutional and individual investors feel increasingly more comfortable using these popular vehicles, recognizing them as a valuable addition to securities markets. While the first ETFs entering the market were broad-based equity ETFs, the demand for specialized products-such as those tracking specific sectors, style groups, fixed income and alternative asset classes-are driving new ETF launches today. The first sector specific ETFs, known as the Select Sector SPDRs, entered the market in December 1998. These sector ETFs were designed to track the sectors of the S&P 500 Index and, among their many applications, have been used in sector allocation/rotation strategies and as portfolio hedging tools. As different sectors fall in an out of favour, investors seeking to benefit from these rotations have a simple and cost-effective means to implement these strategies through ETFs. ETFs are also excellent hedging vehicles, because they can generally be easily borrowed and sold short, allowing instant exposure to under-represented sectors or a hedge for a concentrated stock position. The introduction of the first real estate ETF in June 2000 offered ETF investors a new dimension - access to an alternative asset class. While the number of real estate ETFs does not and will likely never rival that of equity or sector ETFs, the increased demand in listed property trusts and the need for alternative and real assets cannot be ignored. Today, there are 5 ETFs tracking real estate or REIT indexes: three in the United States , one in Canada and one in Australia . Fixed-income ETFs were first listed in Canada in 2000 and were not introduced into the U.S. market until 2002. Compared to their equity counterparts, fixed-income ETFs are relatively new products. Their introduction to the market, however, has given investors cost-effective access to fixed-income investment and further flexibility in implementing their asset allocation strategies. Prior to the introduction of fixed-income ETFs, investors often faced large minimum account sizes and steep costs, which often proved to be barriers to entry. The market is likely to see new fixed-income ETF launches in the near future, as investor demand for this class of ETFs has increased. Three fixed-income ETFs were launched just this year in the UK alone, with more listings planned across Europe and in the United States .     Benefits of Diversifying with Gold Gold has Low-to-Negative Correlation Gold is a global, unique asset class and possibly the first asset class to have ever existed. Gold has been a store of wealth, a currency and a commodity for thousands of years. Furthermore, there is a growing body of research supporting the contention that gold is a distinctive asset class-one that is independent both of other asset classes and of macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product. Research by the World Gold Council, as well as a number of other independent studies based on data in Europe, Japan, the United States and Australia (many of which can be found at http://www.goldbullion.com/), has found that gold is insignificantly or negatively correlated with the major portfolio asset classes (See Figure 6). One of the reasons for these consistent observations may be that gold is impacted by supply and demand dynamics that are often independent from other asset classes. The implication of these research findings suggests that an allocation to gold bullion may increase the efficient frontier, potentially resulting in higher returns for a given level of portfolio risk (see Figure 5). Gold Outperforms in "Stress" Periods The research discussed above also analysed the behaviour of gold over long and random periods and supports the argument that an allocation to gold could have a positive effect on a portfolio's risk-return outcomes. The research also showed that for a "typical" portfolio, an allocation to gold could reduce the probability of an extreme outcome (See Figure 4). It is this "insurance" against extreme movements in traditional asset values which makes gold useful to have in a portfolio during periods of market turbulence. Chow, Jacquier, Kritzman and Lowry ( Financial Analyst's Journal , 1999) investigated the relationship between movements in the major asset classes and commodities during "stressful" and "non-stressful" periods. They showed that the correlation between the major asset classes becomes more positive during "stressful" periods, while the correlation between commodities and the major asset classes becomes more negative. This means that a portfolio constructed with a "plain-vanilla" approach to diversification may in fact not perform as expected during stressed times. It is in such periods that assets like gold, which tend not to have significant links to the major economic variables and asset classes, often help to minimize portfolio losses. Since we are often unable to predict when these stressed periods will occur, it may make sense to have a small strategic allocation to gold, and other commodities, at all times. Gold is a Favourable Alternative Asset For those seeking to invest in new and alternate asset classes, gold may be a favourable asset (see Figure 8): it doesn't require vast resources or capital to manage; it is highly liquid; it is considered low risk; it is a real asset, which is not someone else's liability and; gold has a 24-hour, standardized, global and reliable market. The Development of the Gold ETF ETFs and Commodities Investors have been demanding access to commodities for a long time. As a result, professional investors, with access to the futures market and to commodity trading accounts (CTAs), have been able to access commodities prices for many years. Demand for such products has increased and has resulted in new products such as the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) MINIs, which are smaller sized futures contracts aimed more at the retail space. Those without the stomach for futures or without access to futures markets can invest in listed resource/mining companies. However, investing in resource companies introduces other issues, such as liquidity, market capitalization, low correlation to a particular metal and positive correlation to the domestic stock index. The structure of ETFs is ideal for a pure play on a particular commodity: relatively low cost, near-perfect correlation with the commodity, low-to-negative correlation with the domestic stock index and higher liquidity relative to most resource equity investments. Further benefits of a commodity ETF would be the lower cost relative to natural resource mutual funds and ease of access relative to the physical commodity. Difficulties in Accessing Physical Commodities Unlike equity markets, where investors today have access to personal brokerage accounts and online trading, the purchase of commodities and precious metals does not afford such easy and relatively inexpensive access. For example, if an institution wants to purchase physical precious metals for the first time, to enable the purchase they will need to go through a rigorous process which involves: additional fraud and identity checks; changes to mandates, which add time and legal costs and; new credit approvals with brokers (credit with the equity desk does not mean automatic approval and credit with the metals trading desk). A retail investor can face premiums of up to 7% on the initial purchase of small gold bars, as well as additional storage, insurance and transportation charges depending on the type of account and security demanded. An ETF solves all these problems, as it is purchased and sold like any other listed security while avoiding physical storage for the investor. Gold Bullion Securities - A World First Gold Bullion Securities ("GBS") was first launched on the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2003 and was the first commodity ETF in the world (see "GOLD" listed on the ASX). The launch was a result of the work between Investor Resources Limited in Australia and the World Gold Council starting in 2002. Subsequent funds were launched in London , Johannesburg and, of course, the U.S. GBS is an ETF or "ETF-type" investment. However, to date, the structure has simply been changed to accommodate the specific regulatory framework of the equities markets to list a commodity. GBS have the most important attributes of an ETF: (i) they are homogenous investments priced from a global and liquid price index; (ii) they are open-ended, where Approved Purchasers are able to deposit the underlying asset in return for additional securities; (iii) they track the underlying asset (index) with near perfect correlation and; (iv) they carry low management/holding costs. Being a commodity, GBS is a unique ETF. GBS is backed by a single asset, namely gold bullion (London Good Delivery gold bars). Due to jurisdictional differences in investment, legal and tax regulations, each GBS had to be structured to optimize these issues. For example, the structure for GBS in Australia was to list GOLD as a trust attached to a redeemable preference share. The optimal structure for GBS listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE code "GBS) was as an undated, secured, zero-coupon bond where physical gold bullion is held as security against the bond, with independent trustee oversight. Perhaps, the current range of bond and equity ETFs should fall under a broader group called "ETF Securities" if they possess the aforementioned common attributes. The Future of Exchange Traded Securities and Commodities GBS, a world first for a stock exchange-listed commodity, overcame significant obstacles and marks a important milestone in the evolution of the ETF sector. However, gold bullion offers a number of attributes that made it a practical candidate for listing. These attributes include: a relatively liquid market; homogeneity-the London Good Delivery bar is an internationally accepted pricing mechanism, the value of which is only determined by its weight and purity and; the high value-to-weight and indestructibility of gold itself, which makes storage of the physical metal easy. GBS is already a top ranked ETF in Europe by assets under management, with well over US $600 million under administration (See Figures 9 and 10). The listing of gold may well prove to be the catalyst for the unfolding of the next family of exchange traded products. Investors are becoming more aware of commodities of late, as they have performed well and suffered less volatility than equity markets in recent years. Clearly there is investor interest in other commodity products, but the question remains - which commodities and what structures are required? Conclusion The ETF market has come a long way in the past eleven years-from the launch of the world's first ETF in 1993 to the world's first stock exchange-listed commodity in 2003. One can conclude that the extraordinary success of ETFs is largely due to the benefits offered by these products over many mutual funds and unit trusts. ETFs have proven themselves to be reliable, well-designed tools that can play a positive role in almost any investment strategy, and which have overcome many of the barriers to investing in mutual funds and/or other asset classes. The flexibility and accessibility of these products makes them useful for many applications. The growth and acceptance of the gold ETF should also increase as the structures used to accommodate the listing of commodities on an equities platform become widely accepted. The launch of gold ETFs is a landmark both for investors and in the development of ETFs. They likely point to more products to come, which will bring greater accessibility and flexibility to more of the investable universe. For much more information regarding gold, including links to some of the sources that provided the basis for much of this article, please visit the Gold/Commodities microsite of http://www.indexuniverse.com/. |
South African teacake. Canadian cornbread. Gold has arrived on the Big Board. 
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