All You Need to Know About Gold

Many have asked about buying gold, so this special report comes in three parts:

1. Why gold?

2. A short Savage history of gold and the U.S.

3. How to buy gold.

Part 1. Why gold?

The allure of gold is nothing new. Throughout the centuries, gold has held a fascination that comes not only from its beauty (hold a gold coin in your hand, and you'll see what I mean), but also from its truly limited supply. That quality has always made gold a "safe haven" in troubled times. And the price of gold has been a barometer of faith in governments and the currencies they issue.

At this writing, the price of gold is around $940 per ounce. But that could change quickly -- either upward or downward -- since gold is traded around the world on a 24-hour basis. On Sept. 10, 2001, gold was trading at $271 an ounce. In March, 2008, and again last month, gold traded at more than $1,000 an ounce, just to give you some perspective. As a commodity, the price of gold is easily as volatile as stocks. But over the longer run, gold has been a reliable store of wealth.

In all of history, only 161,000 tons of gold have been mined, barely enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools. More than half of that was extracted in the past 50 years, and there have been few recent discoveries.

Gold can be found, but gold cannot be "created." Over the centuries, alchemists tried to create gold out of base metals, but none succeeded. Thus, the scarcity value of gold -- especially in an era where politicians create "money" out of thin air.