Harga emas terus naik atau terus stabil?

Sudah agak lama tidak meng'update' entri baru berkaitan emas dek kesibukan menyiapkan tugasan-tugasan pembelajaran yang tidak putus-putus. Apapun, kali ini saya ingin memperbetulkan serba sedikit salah faham berkaitan harga emas yang melanda penggemar-penggemar emas sama ada ejen, penjual, pembeli mahupun golongan pemerhati yang kadangkala tanpa disedari mengiyakan sesuatu perkara yang pada pandangan saya kurang tepat . Di sini saya ingin menimbulkan persoalan seperti yang tertera pada tajuk entri kali ini iaitu: Adakah harga emas terus meningkat atau terus stabil? Sekali imbas, kedua-dua istilah (nai dan stabil) nampak sama kerana kedua-duanya seakan-akan sama menuju ke ara perkara yang positif tapi sebenarnya tidak serupa. Ia umpama bentuk sfera dan bentuk bulat mahupun bentuk segi empat dan bentuk kotak. Nampak dari sisi sangat sama tetapi apabila melihat pandangan 3D maka jelas sekali ianya tidak serupa. Begitulah juga yagng terjadi kepada kedua-dua istilah tersebut iaitu 'harga naik' dan 'harga stabil'. Jangan kita pukul rata menyatakan ianya adalah sama. Bila harga naik maknanya harga emas itu stabil. Ini sama sekali kurang tepat. Ada pula yang mengatakan bila harga naik bermaksud stabil lah tu, kalau harga rendah baru tidak stabil. Sebenarnya pandangan ini kurang tepat. Apabila diamati secara empirikal, kita dapati perbezaan antara keduanya jelas ketara. Antara emas mengalami kenaikan dan emas mengalami kestabilan merupakan dua situasi yang berbeza. Justeru apakah yang sebenarnya membuatkan kedua-dua keadaan itu berbeza? Cuba lihat contoh mudah ini:

Apabila anak saya mendapat tempat ketiga di dalam kelasnya pada tahun lepas dan kemudiannya mendapat tempat pertama dalam kelasnya pada tahun ini, adakah anak saya mengalami kenaikan dari segi prestasinya?. Cakap-cakap kedai kopi tentu sekali orang kampoug akan mengatakan anak saya lebih pandai sebab kedudukan nombor dalam prestasi akademiknya meningkat. Jika anak saya mendapat nombor satu tetapi dari segi peratusan markah keseluruhan subjeknya menurun dari 95% pada tahun lepas kepada 90% pada tahun ini, bolehkah kenaikan kedudukan nombor di dalam kelasnya dijadikan indicator untuk menyatakan anak saya semakin pandai? Tentu sekali tidak malah semakin merosot walaupun menjuarai kedudukan akademik di dalam kelasnya. Ini menunjukkan kenaikan dari nombor 3 kepada nombor 1 di dalam kedudukan kelasnya bukanlah menunjukkan anak saya semakin pandai tetapi menunjukkan kawan-kawannya yang lain semakin tidak pandai. Ini kerana penurunan peratusan markah keseluruhan subjek anak saya tidak menjejaskan kedudukannya di dalam kelas malah semakin meningkat. Begitu juga halnya dengan kenaikan harga emas bukanlah mencerminkan emas itu semakin bernilai dari yang sebelumnya tetapi sebaliknya lebih kepada faktor yang lain seperti nilai US dolar itu yang merudum menyebabkan emas dilihat semakin naik harganya.

Harga emas naik menunjukkan ketidakstabilan ekonomi

Jadi jelas melalui contoh di atas, walaupun harga naik tetapi ianya tidak mencerminkan permintaan sebenar pasaran emas. Mungkin permintaan emas semakin meningkat tetapi ia tidaklah mencerminkan prestasi sebenar harga emas kerana faktor-faktor lain seperti kelemahan dolar menguasai pengaruh ke atas kenaikan harga emas selama ini. Adakah kenaikan harga emas akan terus meningkat? Ini satu persoalan menarik juga. Ramai peramal ekonomi menyatakan emas akan terus meningkat sehingga satu tahap yang tidak mampu kita beli. Ini ada kebenarannya kerana kenaikan emas yang tidak setimpal dengan kenaikan harga barang yang lain ataupun kenaikan pendapatan boleh guna individu akan menyebabkan emas menjadi barang yang ekslusif dan apabila ianya eksklusif maka ianya hanya dimiliki oleh orang-orang tertentu sahaja. Dan apabila situasi ini berlaku, pasaran emas semakin mengecil dan akibatnya harga emas akan kembali turun. Saya juga pernah dengar harga emas akan melonjak sehingga USD2,500 per ounce dan ini sudah tentu tidak mampu lagi dibeli oleh orang ramai dan boleh menggugat industry emas. Jelasnya di sini kenaikan harga emas secara berterusan adalah salah satu tanda ketidakstabilan ekonomi dunia bukannya membawa kebaikan kepada ekonomi dunia. Ini kerana emas yang naik adalah disebabkan dolar dan matawang yang semakin merosot nilainya dan disebabkan ekonomi dunia berpaksikan kepada matawang-matawang ini maka putaran ganas ekonomi akan sentiasa berlaku. Hanya masa yang bakal menentukannya.

Emas harus kekal stabil

Dalam menilai harga emas, adalah penting untuk kita mengetahui turun naik emas adalah perkara biasa kerana ianya melalui (sekira operasi jualbeli emas dengan cara yang benar) proses minta dan tawar. Namun, emas yang sentiasa naik harganya adalah satu suasana yang tidak sihat. Memang ramai akan suka bila harga emas naik tetapi sebenarnya ia bakal meruntuhkan system ekonomi yang ada sekarang. Inflasi akan berlaku, orang ramai semakin miskin dek ketidakmampuan menampung beban ekonomi dan seterusnya semakin ramai orang yang kebuluran dan sebagainya. Malah beberapa buah Negara di Eropah menjadi muflis kerana system ekonomi sekarang yang membenarkan sifat tamak manusia untuk menguasai dunia dan kita hanya mampu melihatnya sambil meneruskan usaha-usaha Islamisasi kewangan yang sebenarnya masih bergerak di dalam putaran ganas kerangka ekonomi tersebut. Dengan emas adalah satu-satunya mekanisme terbaik mengawal nafsu serakah manusia di dalam mengaut keuntungan duit atas duit (kerana emas tidak boleh sewenang-wenangnya dicetak), orang yang berada di dalam industry tersebut haruslah sama-sama membetulkan niat dan menambah ilmu ekonomi agar reality sebenar dapat difahami. Jelas di sini, operasi jualbeli emas harus kekal bebas dari sebarang bentuk manipulasi dan eksploitasi jika kita benar-benar mengkehendaki emas sebagai penyelamat ekonomi ummah.

"Jual emas bila harga mahal?"

Gambar ihsan dari http://atjehgeutanyoe.blogspot.com

Seringkali kita dengar orang kata "beli emas bila harga murah dan jual emas bila harga mahal". Kata-kata ini tidak munasabah dalam apa jua perspektif. Kenapa?
Yang pertama, tiada istilah harga murah bagi emas, justeru orang ramai sepatutnya membeli bila mereka berduit. Tidak kiralah harga mahal ataupun murah. Tidak mungkin harga emas RM170/gram sekarang akan kembali kepada RM35 atau RM70 segram semasa zaman perkahwinan saya atau zaman emak dan ayah saya dulu-dulu. Kalau murah hanya 4,5 ringgit berbanding semalam tiadalah apa-apa ertinya jika kenaikan keesokannya atau pun sesudah setahun terus mencanak naik menggila. Jadi isitilah harga emas kembali murah hendaklah dibuang jauh-jauh dari kota pemikiran jika kita benar-benar ingin memiliki emas. Persoalan yang hanya perlu kita pertimbangkan untuk beli emas adalah adakah cukup duit kita untuk membeli belanja harian dan membayar hutang jika emas hendak dibeli.

Namun lebih ramai lagi telah berkata "juallah emas bila harga tinggi". Kata-kata ini adalah dua kali tidak munasabah berbanding dengan persoalan yang pertama tadi. Persoalan yang maha penting adalah, kenapa hendak jual emas pada harga tinggi? Mungkin ada yang berkata: "time ni lah kita menuai hasil bila harga emas tinggi, kita jual, kita boleh dapat untung besar. Tengok aku dulu, beli emas time tu baru harga bla bla bla.., sekarang kau tengok harga emas dia bla bla bla.." Ini dialog yang sering meniti-niti di bibir 'pelabur-pelabur' emas namun yang pasti pejuang dinar emas yang sejati tidak akan menghambur sama sekali ayat-ayat sebegini. Kenapa? jawapannya mudah. Kenapa kita bersusah payah hendak beli emas pada awalnya sedangkan emas yang dimiliki akan awal-awal lagi bakal hilang dalam pemilikan kita tatkala ia harganya mahal? Sepatutnya bila harga mahal, lagi kita hendak simpan emas itu seerat-eratnya di dalam pemilikan kita, kecuali hal-hal kecemasan yang tidak boleh dielakkan. Jika kita menjual emas pada harga tinggi iaitu dengan menukarkannya dengan ringgit, sudah tentu kita akan rugi kerana ringgit akan merosot nilainya dan tidak mungkin kita akan dapat harga dan berat yang sama dengan nilai emas yang kita jualnya itu kerana umumnya mengetahui harga emas tidak aakn turun secara berterusan apatah lagi dalam keadaan mendadak. Jadi simpanlah bila harga emas tinggi dan kaalu ada duit lebih beli emas lagi.

Justeru bila masa kita hendak guna emas?

Bila:

1.Kecemasan seperti anak-anak sekolah ataupun masuk universiti yang mana memerlukan perbelanjaan yang mahal
2. Kelahiran anak yang baru yang juga memerlukan perbelanjaan yang banyak apatah lagi anak kembar 2,3,4..
3. Nak pegi haji/umrah
4. Bila hendak beli tanah atau buat rumah
5. dan juga apa saja kegiatan infaq yang terfikir oleh kita semua.
6. Menyelesaikan hutang-hutang tertunggak.
7. Hendak melangsungkan perkahwinan justeru emas dijadikan hantaran atau maskahwin.

Jadi marilah kita melayani emas-emas yang kita miliki sekarang seperti mana wanita melayani barang-barang kemas mereka. Wanita tidak sekali-kali menjual barang kemas mereka kecuali untuk menggadai bila terdesak atau pun 'trade in' untuk mendapatkan emas yang lain. Menjual emas pada harga yang tinggi tidak lebih kepada memanipulasi harga dan bersifat ihtikar. Malah apabila bayaran dibuat secara tertangguh, riba yang banyak dosanya itu pula akan menjengah kita/mereka.

Wallahua'lam

Adakah sama menyimpan emas dengan melabur emas?

Ada yang bertanya saya tentang pelaburan emas. Seorang pensyarah UiTM Johor bertanyakan tentang pelaburan dinar Iraq. Dia menyatakan ada seseorang ‘approach’nya lalu mendakwa kononnya dinar Iraq sekarang ‘undervalue’ sebab berlaku peperangan. Apabila keadaan kembali reda dan tenang di Iraq, ‘value’nya nanti akan naik mendadak dan tatkala itu pembeli (pelabur) dinar Iraq akan bersorak kegirangan menuai hasil lumayan dengan untung berlipat kali ganda. Begitulah hujah lazim yang seringkali merobek kebanyakan hati-hati kita yang sering mendambakan keuntungan atas angin. Namun, hakikatnya itu semua tidak akan berlaku. Untuk melayani karenah skim pelaburan sebegini, seseorang perlulah kembali kepada fundamental ilmu dengan kembali membuat rujukan tentang ilmu pelaburan terutamanya yang berkaitan dengan hukum agama. Saya tidaklah berniat untuk mengulas panjang tentang isu dinar Iraq ini kerana jelas dinar Iraq adalah bukan komoditi atau barangan yang boleh dijualbeli tetapi hanyalah wang kertas semata-mata. Justeru, pelaburan dinar Iraq telah tidak “shariah compliance” atau tidak patuh shariah pada peringkat pertama lagi. Jadi tak usahlah kita nak bersusah-susah untuk mem’predict’ dari sudut ekonomi pula. Apa yang pasti, Iraq masih lagi tidak reda walaupun kerajaan baru bersilih ganti.

Apa yang saya nak kongsikan di sini adalah proses memuhasabah semula segala tindakan kita yang mungkin tidak selari dengan hukum-hukum shariah yang berkaitan dengan pelaburan emas. Saya nak kemukakan persoalan ini untuk sama-sama kita renungi:
Adakah kita menyimpan emas atau melabur emas?

Ini adalah persoalan yang penting kerana kebanyakkan kita membeli emas dengan tujuan yang berbeza. Persoalannya ialah mana satukah yang betul? Simpan emas atau labur emas? Menyimpan emas tiada masalah, yang menjadi masalah apabila tak bayar zakat sedangkan cukup nisabnya. Sedangkan melabur emas harus mempunyai pendetilannya seperti untuk apa melabur emas? Adakah untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dalam bentuk duit semula hasil dari kenaikan harga emas?

Apabila ditanya kenapa beli jongkong emas? Mereka kata ‘value’ emas stabil dan semakin naik harganya. Ini memang jawapan lazim. Terus terang saya katakan bahawa saya bukanlah anti terhadap aktiviti pembelian emas dan tidak salah membeli jongkong emas atau dinar emas malah saya menggalakkan mereka untuk menyimpan emas, tetapi apabila membeli dengan tujuan untuk menjual semula (justeru dapat keuntungan dalam bentuk duit), maka di situ ada terdapat elemen ‘ihtikar’ atau sorok kerana si pembeli jongkong bukan tujuan menyimpan untuk kegunaan sendiri atau kecemasan di masa mendatang (dan memang pun jongkong/coin bukan tujuan penggunaan, melainkan ianya diubah bentuk kepada barang kemas), tetapi lebih kepada menyimpan jongkong dengan tujuan menjualnya semula pada harga yang tinggi. Ini tidak ubah seperti membeli beras dengan banyak lalu menyimpannya dengan bertujuan untuk menjualnya semula pada harga yang tinggi. Mereka bukan membeli beras dengan tujuan untuk penggunaan tetapi untuk menjual semual beras tersebut pada harga yang tinggi lalu mendapat keuntungan daripadanya. Fenomena seperti ini adakah layak dipanggil aktiviti pelaburan? Sudah tentu janggal rasanya apabila dipanggil pelaburan beras tetapi yang layak adalah aktiviti MENYOROK BERAS!. Namun itulah yang sering berlaku di dalam , masyarakat kita berkaitan transaksi emas yang mereka panggil sebagai pelaburan emas.

Semestinya terdapat ‘arguement’ terhadap pandangan saya ini kerana mereka merasakan jika tidak buat sebegitu sampai bila orang Melayu tidak boleh berniaga emas yang sekarang dimonopoli oleh kaum cina dan sampai bila-bila juga orang Melayu tidak termotivasi untuk memiliki emas. Justeru apa jalan penyelesaiannya?

Mari kita lihat daripada perspektif Islam. Dalam Islam, pelaburan adalah berdasarkan prinsip mudharabah dan musyarakah. Ini kerana, Islam menekankan konsep kerjasama dan sama-sama menanggung risiko dan sama-sama berjaya bila perniagaan mendapat keuntungan. Pelaburan pula bukanlah satu aktiviti mendapatan keuntungan atas angin sebagaimana yang berleluasa sekarang, tetapi ialah adalah satu bentuk aktiviti kerjasama antara pemodal, pemilik modal, rakan kongsi, usahawan dan lain-lai yang terlibat di dalam menggemblengkan asset-aset modal. Aset-aset modal inilah yang perlu dipikul bersama oleh pihak-pihak yang terlibat di dalam kontrak mudharabah mahupun musyarakah itu tadi supaya beroleh keuntungan. Ia bukannya semudah A, B, C atau semudah atas angin. Memang benar Islam membenarkan komisyen di atas setiap transaksi tetapi Islam tidak membenarkan ihtikar iaitu menyimpan sesuatu untuk menjualnya semula pada harga yang mahal.

Kenapa tidak boleh? Jawapannya mudah kerana ia akan menyebabkan sesuatu perniagaan itu akan runtuh kerana harga tidak selamanya akan terus naik apatah lagi kenaikan itu berlaku dalam masa yang singkat. Apabila kenaikan harga ini berterusan, dalam masa yang sama nilai wang pula akan jatuh mendadak dan ini mendekatkan ekonomi kepada fasa keruntuhan atau dalam istilah ekonomi dipanggil ‘boom period’. Sewajibnya harga terus stabil untuk melayakkan system ekonomi itu kekal mapan.

Jadi untuk melayakkan pelaburan emas itu menjadi “syariah compliance” terlebih dahulu emas itu ditukar menjadi barangan kemas kerana hanya dengan barangan kemas, barulah pembeli akan membeli dengan tujuan penggunaan bukan untuk jual balik. Tetapi memang ada orang yang beli barang kemas dengan niat untuk jual balik namun harus diingat mereka menjual apabila keadaan mendesak sahaja seperti tidak cukup wang untuk membeli makanan dan pakaian sebagai contoh. Maka dari situ barulah timbul konsep ar-Rahn seperti mana Rasulullah menggadaikan baju besi kepada orang yahudi ketika itu untuk membeli makanan.

Bolehkah dinar dijualbeli?

Jawapannya sudah tentu tidak. Walaupun ianya emas 999 atau emas 916 ianya masih tidak boleh kerana dinar adalah matawang. Matawang tidak boleh dijualbeli. Ia hanya bertindak sebagai ‘medium of exchange’. Namun, ada yang berhujah, dinar sekarang bukannya matawang justeru ia kekal sebagai komoditi. Memang betul, tapi jika seseorang datang kepada saya hendak membeli kambing dengan dinar yang dia ada, adakah saya akan menolak? Sudah tentu tidak dan tanpa ragu saya akan terima dinar tersebut kerana saya tahu dinar lebih bernilai daripada ringgit. Nah, adakah ianya bukan matawang laggi dalamkeadaan itu? Ianya memang boleh dijadikan matawang dan seharusnya yag lain menyokong penggunaan dinar atau setidak-tidaknya meminimakan penggunaan wang kertas yang semakin hilang fungsi wangnya itu. Malah jika kita lihat di jakarta, ramai peniaga di sana misalnya telah bertransaksi dengan dirham dan dinar malah di sana terdapat pasar dan kedai yang boleh menerima dinar dan dirham.

So, adakah wujud pelaburan emas?

Tidak salah membuat pelaburan dalam emas. Caranya ialah kita mesti perlu memahami konsep pelaburan itu sendiri iaitu menjana modal terhadap kos-kos modal dengan tujuan untuk memperolehi keuntungan. Sebagai contoh, menjual barangan kemas kepada pengguna atau membuka kedai emas sendiri atau membantu rakan-rakan membuka perniagaan barangan-barangan emas. Sukar? Sudah tentu tetapi itulah yang telah dibuat oleh peniaga-peniaga emas sekarang. Tiada jalan singkat untuk berjaya.



Orang bermatian untuk mendapatkan emas namun manpulasi emas bakal memusnahkan industri ini.

Gold shines as secure commodity investment

Gold's standing as the perpetually valuable element has been repeatedly underscored this year when striking record high prices.

And the precious metal served as security during the deep recession caused by the financial crisis that began in 2008. Yet as government officials devote energies and effort into rejuvenating the moribund economy, questions remain as to gold's value as an investment tool.

Reuters reports gold is considered a stalwart through rough economic times as it has "regained its shine at the worst of times over the past decade" while also noting its advances when the value of the U.S. dollar descends. Such has been the case during the recent past as fiscal crises appear more prominent.

"The reasons for buying gold haven't diminished," senior analyst Jeff Clark of Casey Research in Sacramento told the news service. "Unless we change course of how we handle the debt and deficits, there is a good reason to buy gold."

Another good reason to buy gold is the precious metal never will sink to having no value. To the contrary, since the middle of 2001, gold futures have skyrocketed 500 percent, which is equal to an annualized return of 17.5 percent.

Interest in pursuing gold in Nevada, from where 80 percent of the U.S.' supply of the precious metal comes, also has soared, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports, citing data from the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior. The state's offerings are a significant factor as to why the U.S. is the globe's fourth-biggest producer of gold, trailing China, then Australia and top entry South Africa.

An outfit that enables members' pursuit of gold has seen significant boosts in involvement. The Nye Gold Seekers club brags as many as eight new members per month and stands at about 500 - after having started three years ago with 10 members.

"The price of gold has a lot to do with it," club leader Janisse Ager told the Review-Journal, also noting the group's membership drive was prompted by the rough economic waters and high jobless levels in the southern region of the state.

Members of the group literally sift through the dirt with hopes of finding the precious metal and often those dreams are far-fetched.

"Basically, they're thinking they're going to pick up gold off the hills," Ager said.

The record price of gold futures is $1,575.79 per troy ounce, a value set in early May. That followed an April that saw the precious metal devote the majority of its trading sessions to rising in value, breaking all-time record-high prices, and setting new top values. Gold set record highs more than once per trading session several times in April.

The various drivers of gold futures include when the value of the dollar decreases, concerns about turmoil with nations' financial systems and institutions like the euro zone, and geopolitical events that shake confidence in stability.

Though gold's performance in May was nowhere near its prowess during the month prior, many still believe in the precious metal's intention to continue rising in value.

"Gold will eventually go up to $2,000 an ounce," Mike Frawley, global head of metals at the Newedge Group in New York, told Reuters. But he said that is unlikely to occur "much before early next year."

Another outfit agreed with gold striking that $2,000 benchmark and also predicted a surge in value will occur sooner than later.

CItiFX Technicals of Citigroup predicted gold futures will press all-time record high prices within weeks and exceed $1,700 per troy ounce by the end of the year.

Source: Daniel Trading

Gold fever rages on

THERE'S a lot of talk about gold these days. More Malaysians are investing in the precious metal and even criminals seem to have caught on to the gold bug.

Last month, police nabbed five kidnappers in Klang who demanded 10 one-kilogram gold bars (worth RM1.44mil at that time) from the victim's family. It is believed to be the country's first-ever kidnapping case involving the use of gold bars as ransom.

More recently, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reportedly discovered gold bars in the homes of several Customs officers during raids.

There is good reason why gold is sought after it recorded an all-time price hike this week, reaching US$1,500 (RM4,500) an ounce for the first time in history.

Over the last year, the price of gold has risen approximately 23%; and in the last three years it has risen 98%. While unrest in the Middle East and the situation in Japan are cited for record gold prices in recent months, shaky financial systems are the main reasons why the price of gold has been shooting up over the years.

Companies are now aggressively marketing gold in the form of bars and coins while banks are offering gold-related savings accounts.

In cyberworld, there are countless numbers of websites offering gold products and online forums are hotting up with discussions on investment in the glittering metal.

According to RH Investment Services Labuan director Richard Hull, the rise in the gold price is predominately linked to the amount of US currency in circulation.

He explains that it took 200 years for the US to print US$825bil (RM2.5 tril). But in Sept 2008, the US government printed US$900bil (RM2.7tril) and in March 2009, another US$1.2tril (RM3.6tril). This means that in less than a year, they added over US$2tril (RM6tril) to the money supply or a 370% increase in currency.

“People are investing in precious metals because of distrust in the financial system. They want to put money into something that is real,” says Hull, adding that all the currencies in the world are backed against the US dollar.

He believes there is sound economic reason to estimate that the gold price may reach US$15,000 (RM45,000) an ounce, a rise of 1,000% from its present level.

Ng Yih Pyng, the president of the Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Associations Of Malaysia says jewellery shops in the country started to stock on gold wafer and bars a few years ago when there was demand for it.

“Before, people bought gold in the form of jewellery. Now investors buy gold bars and wafers. Most, if not all jewellery shops, now sell gold bars from 1g to 100g. The trend is becoming stronger every day,” he shares.

People buy based on what they can afford as gold bars are very expensive.

To put it into perspective a 100g gold bar (999.9 purity) that barely sits on the palm can fetch anything between RM15,000 and RM17,000 (depending on the brand) these days. Prices are based on daily updates.

“People are not so confident with currency and other investments, so they diversify a bit,” says Ng, adding that white gold and diamonds have also become popular in the last year.

Acupuncturist Oran Kavity, 52, purchased gold through an online website a few years ago. Kavity had then purchased some property in London, and was unsure of what to do with his remaining funds.

Wanting to diversify his assets, the Londoner put the rest of his money into buying gold. And his gold investments have tripled in value over the last three years.

He sold some of his gold and managed to raise almost RM250,000 for his business venture in Malaysia.

Marcus Chong of mysmartgold.com has observed an increasing interest in gold investment as people are becoming more knowledgeable about gold and are making enquiries.

He says people know they can make profit out of gold and are aware of the different brand names available.

He has also noticed a stark difference in the way people pose questions now compared to just a year ago.

“They used to ask questions like where to place the gold bars and what gold investment is about. Now they are asking direct questions like what's the rate,” he says.

Businesswoman Aldila Tahziz, 35, invested about RM50,000 in gold last September when she wanted to start up her bakery supplies business.

Whenever she needs to raise money for her business, she pawns her gold and gets 70% of the current gold price. She only has to pay the pawnshop RM0.75 per day for storing her gold. When her business is profitable, she reclaims the gold from the pawnshop.

“I keep on rolling the money in my business until I can get back the gold,” says Aldila who also invests in property and shares.

Aldila constantly checks on the price of gold three times a day at least.

She keeps the gold in a safe deposit box and has also purchased some gold coins (dinars), which she keeps at home for emergencies.

Aldila has started investing in silver as well, which has gone up 124% in the last year and 188% in the last three years.

In Malaysia, silver is not as popular as gold, although some gold-traders stock up on it.

Chan Sew Mei (not her real name), 35, has started investing in gold for her five-year-old daughter, purchasing 100g every year for the purpose. In addition, she invests in a gold savings account which will go towards her daughter's education fund.

“I think gold has a certain sentimental meaning and value,” says Chan who also invests in stocks and property.

“When inflation occurs, gold prevails,” quips Chan who was introduced to gold investment by a friend in 2007. She has also diversified to investing in silver.

Jamaluddin Khalid, managing director of Saudagar Emas says many are turning to gold because of the higher returns.

The former bank officer of 20 years got into gold trading in 2009 after some research on the Internet. He recalls his friend making fun of him for selling “one-cent” coins (one dinar) for RM440 back then. But last year, his friend bought a dinar from him for RM580. Today, that one dinar is worth RM690.

“During the time of the prophets, one dinar could buy you a goat. Now, it can still buy one goat. After 1,500 years, it has still retained its value. Even gold dust is sought after these days,” he quips.

Jamaluddin got into the business after researching articles on the Internet. He borrowed money from close friends to start the business and has no regrets.

As a gold trader who doesn't have his own shop, Jamaluddin is wary of meeting anyone and only does it at places with CCTV cameras such as banks. He recalls an occasion when someone wanted to buy 1kg gold bars.

Jamaluddin suggested conducting business at a police station, but the person declined.

Rajen Devadason, a Securities Commission-licensed financial planner with MAAKL Mutual Bhd , notes that the practice of investing in gold is slowly gathering momentum.

Not long ago, he points out, it was theoretically appropriate to have precious metals comprise 5% of a diversified portfolio. Today, he feels 10% is more appropriate because of the “irresponsible action of developed nations, most notably the US, in circulating more currency around”.

He suggests that individuals gradually build up their gold position in stages over the next few years, with the aim of having gold by itself or with the other three precious metals, silver, platinum and palladium, reach between 8% and 10% of their total investment portfolio.

Devadason adds that it makes sense to have between one-tenth and one-fifth of investment in gold coins, wafers or bars. This relatively small portion of the total gold should be kept somewhere safe yet accessible in the event of a financial system meltdown.

“The likelihood of that happening is small, which is why the amount of physical gold that should be kept handy need not be very large,” he rationalises.

He points out that while gold is a safe investment during times of turmoil, human society doesn't just rely on gold for existence.

“Our economic health depends even more on the health of our businesses, on our supply of food and fuel, and in the real estate that houses us and our companies from which our crops spring forth,” he elaborates.

He adds that a well-diversified portfolio should include significant equity exposure in key geographic regions, including the economic powerhouse United States and well-run emerging economies such as China, India and Indonesia.

He also suggests investing in equities that are tied with food production, hard commodity exposure such as oil, equities that are tied to mineral mining and exploration, and either direct real estate or indirect property exposure via real estate investment trusts.

“It is unwise to just invest in gold and any investment should be done as part of a concerted plan to construct a sensibly diversified portfolio,” he advises.

Devadason believes those who are savvy investors will gradually increase their personal purchases of gold over the next one or two years before everyone else wakes up to the fact that gold prices are rising.

He urges caution, though.

“It's likely a bubble will then form. When it bursts, unsophisticated speculators will lose a great deal of money,” he warns.

Source: The Star (Sunday- 24/004/2011)

Gold Real Money in a World of Fiat Currency

Since the Masters of the System have decided to arbitrarily "move the goalposts" to suit themselves by printing money in unlimited quantities, fixing interest rates at artificially low levels, and backstopping the bond market etc, it is incumbent on us as investors to find a fixed point of reference and safe anchorage, the better to weather the financial storms that their crassly irresponsible policies are bringing upon us. That fixed point of reference is gold. As gold is real money it is aloof from the mess and mayhem that now exists in the world of fiat and which is rapidly getting worse - and here it is necessary to make a crucially important point, which is that at this time in world history you have to completely reorder your thinking with respect with gold.

STOP nervously going online or picking up the newspaper to check the price of gold against fiat - it is IRRELEVANT. The question you have to ask yourself is this - do you want to preserve your real wealth or not? - because if you do you are going to have to transfer your assets out of fiat and into tangibles, the King of which is gold. If gold is the King then silver may fairly be called the Queen - these two precious metals are like the sun and the moon, and are rapidly becoming the two leading lights in the investment firmament, which is a fair analogy.

Source: Clive Maund

“Not owning gold is a form of insanity,” says Griffiths

Gold is far from an over-owned trade and will eventually rally exponentially, Robin Griffiths, technical strategist at Cazenove Capital, told CNBC. He said: “I think not owning gold is a form of insanity. It may even show unhealthy masochistic tendencies which might need medical attention.”

http://www.investmentpostcards.com/

Gold imports may jump 64% in 2011: Trade body

Gold imports in India, the world's largest consumer, are likely to jump 64 per cent to 500-550 tonnes in 2011, driven by investment purchases that are likely to affect world prices, the head of a trade body told Reuters yesterday.

"If prices fall further to Rs 18,000-19,000 ($396-$418) per 10 grams, the import figure will be over 600 tonnes," said Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, a 400-member strong trade body.

Auspicious days for gold purchases for 2011

"Much would also depend on how monsoon pans out, inflation behaves and performance of the equity markets," Kothari said.

Monsoon rains play an important role in rural areas, which depend on agriculture and allied activities for sustenance and contributes to over 60 per cent of gold demand.

Demand in 2010 had been stronger after a 19 per cent decline in 2009, when the worst monsoon in nearly four decades dented sales.

Traders said the harvesting festival, which would start with pongal in Tamil Nadu, would set a strong pace for gold sales in 2011, followed by the wedding season next month.

Kothari said volumes on the Exchange Traded Funds are likely to jump 4 times to 50-60 tonnes as investors seek a safe hedge against rising inflation and diversify their portfolio to offset losses in the declining stock market. Prices of the yellow metal, which traded at $1,359 an ounce on Friday, are likely to fall to $1,270-1,300 by March-end weighed by a strong dollar overseas, Kothari said.

"This would be due to strong US dollar supported by strong economic indicators," he said. A rising dollar dims the yellow metal's appeal as an alternative investment.

Images: India again sees gold rush

Kothari said the Reserve Bank of India's decision to grant licenses to seven more banks to import bullion is a good sign for the gold trade. RBI has allowed 7 more banks to import gold and silver, taking the total to 30 banks, a move that will smoothen supply.

Karur Vysya Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, South Indian Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore, are the new banks that have been given permission, data on RBI's website showed.

Afghan gold mine deal brings foreign investment

KABUL, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Afghanistan signed a deal on Monday with a local company backed by foreign investors to develop the country's second gold mine, a project the government hopes will attract more money to the war-torn region.

Afghan Krystal Natural Resources will invest up to $50 million in Qara Zaghan mine in northern Baghlan province and plans to begin production by 2013, said the company's president and prominent Afghan entrepreneur, Sadat Mansoor Naderi.

Investors from the United States, Britain, Turkey and Indonesia are backing the project through a deal facilitated by JPMorgan Chase & Co , Naderi said, adding it was not yet known what the mine's gold reserves were, but the firm intends to spend the next two years exploring the site.

Afghanistan is counting on huge mineral deposits, including some of the biggest unexploited copper and iron reserves in Asia, to wean it off its dependency on foreign aid. Copper production is also due to start in 2013.

"(We hope this will) encourage other investors to realise the opportunities and potential in Afghanistan," Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said. "We hope this initiative will help the government of Afghanistan attract more international investment."

Shahrani said the government would earn 26 percent royalties plus more in taxes from the Qara Zaghan mine. He said Afghanistan has estimated gold reserves worth between $20-25 billion.

Westland General Trading, owned by Haji Abdul Kabir, an ethnic Uzbek, is already developing the Nor Aaba gold mine near the Tajik border in northern Takhar province. [ID:nSGE6AP0C3]

Obstacles to developing Afghanistan's mineral deposits include a raging insurgency that makes transit and security big headaches, weak infrastructure that hinders shipments and massive corruption in both the private sector and government.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Daniel Magnowski)

There’s no asset bubble in gold

BY
George Mathew , MADHUSUDAN SAHOO

Gold has been in the limelight of late with price shooting up to the Rs 20,000 (per 10 grams) level, even stealing the thunder occasionally from other asset classes. “Gold is a safe investment. It will continue to give good returns,” says AJAY MITRA , managing director of World Gold Council (WGC). In a conversation with MADHUSUDAN SAHOO and GEORGE MATHEW , Mitra says, “there’s no asset bubble in the yellow metal as it’s widely spread and beyond the control of speculators.” Excerpts:

Gold prices have been rising sharply in last two years, but still demand is also going up. What are the reasons?

Gold can’t be compared with any other product. In the case of other products, demand drops when prices rise. But not in the case of gold. It always provides safety and security to the investors. As the asset value has gone up by many folds, investors are more attracted to put their money in it. Firstly, if we look at interest rate on the fixed deposits in any bank for 400 days or so, investors get 7-8 per cent whereas investors who bought gold have seen an appreciation of 21 per cent CAGR (compounded annual growth rate). Secondly, investors are not savvy enough in the stock market as it is quite uncertain for them. So where would they go… I think gold is the best option that assures them a good return. The demand for the yellow metal in the country has gone up by 79 per cent to 650.4 tonnes in the period January to September 2010

Asians more likely to buy gold in next 6 months

Asian investors are more likely to buy gold in the next six months than their North American and European counterparts, a global survey found.

Research company Ipsos said a quarter of the 18,594 investors interviewed for its inaugural monthly survey said they were "somewhat or very likely" to invest in gold as a security or physical metal as opposed to jewelry in the next six months.

Gold's price has retreated from the all-time high it hit in late June amid fears that a European debt crisis might spread, but it remains more than 7 per cent higher year to date.

Among investors who said they would buy gold in the next six months, 47 per cent said they would invest gold to protect their wealth, and 53 per cent said they intended to profit from gold investments.

"When you have half of the people deciding to put forward their gold as speculation, and the other half deciding to put it in a defensive position, maybe that is just mirroring what's going on out there," said John Wright, Ipsos' senior vice president who wrote the report.

UTIMCO move into gold a warning

The Chronicle recently reported that The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) invested $500 million in gold. Normally, it's not significant news when UTIMCO allocates 3 percent of its portfolio to a particular investment, but this particular investment decision was widely reported, and rightfully so.

We never know the entire reason that smart money moves into a particular investment. But one possible reason for this investment should worry all of us — a U.S. debt crisis.

From an investment perspective, UTIMCO's move could be taken as a simple reminder that when we put together a portfolio, there is a need to search for securities that not only have attractive risk/return tradeoffs, but also don't move up and down at the same time as the other securities we own.

An investment in gold does well in an inflationary environment. Inflation is the enemy of bond investors and can also hurt stock multiples. UTIMCO's CEO, Bruce Zimmerman, cited the fiscal and monetary stimulus as a potential source of inflation.

Unfortunately, there's another scenario in which gold might help to hedge UTIMCO's portfolio. That scenario is a loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar and our ability to repay our debts. In other words, while unstated by UTIMCO, we should consider the possibility that they are hedging against a U.S. meltdown.

The financial problems we face are immense. In addition to our trillion-dollar deficit, our total debt is approaching 85 percent of gross domestic product. A recent academic study by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff suggested that a debt level above 90 percent of GDP is a tipping point that results in slower growth.

In reality, I would be ecstatic if our debt level was only 90 percent of GDP. The real issue is that we have approximately $50 trillion of unfunded liabilities - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This is a daunting liability. Public investors such as mutual funds, pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, foreign governments and individuals have all combined to loan the United States approximately $8.5 trillion to fund our accumulated deficits. If we wanted to be fully funded in today's dollars, we would need to issue another $50 trillion of debt.

Of course, it would be impossible for us to issue this huge amount of debt. Our biggest creditors (China and Japan) have actually been decreasing their holdings of our debt during the past year. In other words, we need to borrow more and our creditors want to loan us less. This is a dangerous combination.

In the next 25 years, the aging of the baby boomers is going to result in our budget blowing up. The situation was best described by the Congressional Budget Office in their report "The Long-Term Budget Outlook," which was released at the end of June. The CBO report said "the aging of the population and the rising cost of health care will cause spending on the major mandatory health care programs and Social Security to grow from roughly 10 percent of GDP today to about 16 percent of GDP 25 years from now if current laws are not changed." The problem is that our tax revenues have averaged 18 percent of GDP for the past 65 years. In effect, the CBO is telling us that Social Security and health care will use virtually our entire budget within 25 years. There will be nothing left for national defense, responding to disasters or anything else.

This is an upcoming disaster. Republicans and Democrats who study the situation both see it. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said recently, "Unless we start to come to grips with the long-term outlook, we are going to have major problems. I think we misunderstand the momentum of this deficit going forward." Erskine Bowles, the chief of staff under President Clinton and the co-chairman of President Obama's Debt Commission said, "This debt is like a cancer. It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

I will speculate that UTIMCO is hedging against more than just a huge stimulus program. It's hedging against the risk that our politicians will continue to kick the can down the road and not address our structural deficit. They are hedging against the possibility that our leaders will not make the hard decisions and will continue to treat our debt crisis as a partisan issue. We should all hope that UTIMCO's hedge is unnecessary.

Gold Will Hit $5,000 an Ounce, says expert

Commodities expert Peter Krauth - the editor of the Global Resource Alert advisory service and a frequent contributor to Money Morning - has predicted that gold prices are headed $5,000 an ounce over the next several years - but believes even bigger profits can be made right now.

Longtime commodities guru Peter Krauth touched off a real media buzz earlier this year when he publicly predicted that gold would hit $5,000 an ounce in the next few years - a projection he stands behind.

But here's the irony.

While Krauth's prediction would represent a total return of about 320% over that multi-year span, he says the potential returns on some of the near-term profit plays he's looking at are even bigger.

"These near-term opportunities are significant because the companies that explore and/or produce gold are leveraged to the price of gold," Krauth said in an interview with Money Morning. "So a 10% to 20% rise in gold's price could cause the share prices of some of these firms to gain 20% to 60% - or more - in a matter of months."

Gold Investment Will Push Price Above USD1,300

Gold Investment could push prices to higher than $1,300 an ounce in the second half of this year according to the chairman of a major research company.

“Gold Investment will remain the principal driver of prices this year, with a breach of $1,300 in the second half a strong possibility,” said Chairman Philip Klapwijk of GFMS Ltd in slides prepared for delivery at a Beijing conference on Wednesday.

Klapwijk won the 2009 price forecasting competition held by trade-body the London Bullion Market Association, correctly predicting last year's average price for both gold and silver.

The previous peak in Gold Bullion prices came at $1265 an ounce, climbing 10% for this year so far, as investors sought to protect their wealth from prolonged financial turbulence in Europe, as well as concerns that the global recovery may slow.

This same motivation for Gold Investment may push prices higher again. Although, at present, investors are choosing to Buy Gold due to the recent dip in Gold Prices.

Koin emas terbesar di dunia telah terjual pada harga RM 13 juta

Koin emas terbesar telah terjual dengan harga 4.02 juta dollar bersamaan 13.266 juta. Ia terjual hasil lelongan yang dibuat pada hari Jumaat lepas di Vienna, Austria.

Koin seberat 100.2 kg atau 220.5 pounds itu telah berjaya disambar oleh sebuah syarikat pelaburan Sepanyol yang dikenali sebagai ORO.

Penjualnya pula adala juga sebuah syarikat pelaburan yang dikenali sebagai AVW Invest yang telah diarah untuk melelongkannya ekoran pengisyhtiharan bangkrap dan juga beberapa dakwaan salahlaku CEO dan pemiliknya.

AVW telah memiliki koin itu semenjak 2007 lagi yang mana ianya telah dibuat oleh Royal Canadian Mint.
Diameter koin itu adalah 21 inci dan diperbuat daripada emas 999.

Beruntunglah kepada mereka yang berjaya memilikinya dan ternyata orang Sepanyol memiliki kelebihan tersebut. Mana syarikat Arab dan Pertubuhan Dinar ya?..

Harga emas naik, ramaikah pembelinya?

Teori ekonomi mengatakan apabila emas naik harga, bermaksud permintaan tinggi di pasaran. Namun, apabila ia berterusan naiknya makan teori ekonomi juga telah mengatakan permintaan akan balik kepada titik yang asal iaitu permintaan akan menurun dek ketidakmampuan kuasa pembeli akibat harga tinggi yang melampau. Ini hanya berlaku pada barangan yang bukan asasi manusia. Persoalannya adakah emas barangan asasi manusia?

Paper Gold: Prudent Investment or Paper Dream?

Almost all market and bullion analysts in the recent years harped on a new investment option — the Gold Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). Till a decade ago, there were no easy options to invest in gold like the equities market. Realising this, innovative people brought out the gold ETFs to make gold investment easy for investors. The development of the gold ETF market in 2003 changed the way people invested in bullion.

Now, gold ETFs are an efficient way to invest in gold without dealing with the troubles of holding the physical metal.

Gold ETFs are traded just like shares of stock. You can buy and sell a gold ETF just as easily as shares of any company. And they trade on major stock exchanges including New York, London, and Sydney. However, some gold ETFs buy and hold the physical bullion, while others invest in futures contracts.

But when the gold ETFs came into the market, nobody anticipated a fraud will spoil the image of ETFs within 10 years of its existence. So, last week, when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) heard a case regarding manipulations in bullion market by gold cartels, the gold ETF scam hit the investors like a bolt from the blue.

Now, the gold ETFs’ image is at stake. Soon, investors are set to question the credibility of the gold ETFs. The reason is the facts emerged during the CFTC hearing.

The whistle-blower in this biggest gold fraud was Andrew Maguire, an experienced precious metal trader in London. In an riveting interview (which is available on the internet all over the world) with GATA director, Adrian Douglas, Maguire describes a new dynamic impacting gold. The fact is that, there is a huge short position in the market.

The CFTC hearing confirmed what GATA has been saying all along, that the gold market is being manipulated. And, how? The gold cartel has accumulated a huge short position and the huge short positions are ‘naked’, which means these positions are not hedged. There is 100-times more paper-gold outstanding than physical gold.

So, if you are buying ETFs, be sure that there is no gold guarantee for your piece of paper which offers you the ownership of some specific quantity of the yellow metal. In reality, it is just a piece of paper which you bought paying huge sums.

Recently, the World Gold Council reported that the world’s total gold ETF market grew 85% relative to 2008.

During the hearing Adrian Douglas of GATA said: I would just like to make a comment. We are talking about the futures market hedging the physical market. But if we look at the physical market, the LBMA, it trades 20 million ozs of gold per day on a net basis which is 22 billion dollars. That’s 5.4 Trillion dollars per year. That is half the size of the US economy. If you take the gross amount it is about one and a half times the US economy; that is not trading 100% backed metal; it’s trading on a fractional reserve basis. And you can tell that from the LBMA’s website because they trade in “unallocated” accounts. And if you look at their definition of an “unallocated account” they say that you are an “unsecured creditor”. Well, if it’s “unallocated” and you buy one hundred tonnes of gold even if you don’t have the serial numbers you should still have one hundred tonnes of gold, so how can you be an unsecured creditor? Well, that’s because its fractional reserve accounting, and you can’t trade that much gold, it doesn’t exist in the world. So the people who are hedging these positions on the LBMA, it’s essentially paper hedging paper.

Bart Chilton uses the expression “Stop the Ponzimonium” and this is a Ponzi Scheme.

Gold to "Reach $1375 in 2010"

Target bak peluru ini telah dibuat oleh John Licata yang pernah mengendalikan Nymex, Dow Jones, Smith Barney and Brokerage America. Beliau berpengalaman selama 14 tahun di Wall Street.

China's Gold Demand

The HIGHLY RESPECTED World Gold Council has issued a report on the Chinese gold market, notes Julian Phillips at Gold Forecaster.

In it, the mining-backed marketing and research group points out that local Chinese consumers are well aware of gold's benefit as a store of value and that jewelry has always been regarded by Chinese buyers as an investment.

Like Eastern gold demand in general, the Chinese want gold, not diluted gold, so at least 80% of total gold jewelry demand in China is accounted for by 24-carat gold.

Chinese jewelry demand has averaged 250 tonnes of gold per annum over the past ten years. Total jewelry plus bar hoarding demand has averaged 3,355 tonnes over the same period, giving China an average market share of just over 7% of total. Last year, jewelry demand grew, in contrast to the rest of the world, by 6% year-on-year to reach 347 tonnes, which was equivalent to 21% of world jewelry demand.

This works out at 0.26 grams per capita, substantially lower than other areas with a similar affinity to the metal, such as the UAE, Saudi, India, and other parts of the East Asian continent. This is accounted for not only by the still very low level of income earned by the average Chinese citizen, but by the immature nature of the Chinese gold market.

The gold market has to follow wealth development, which starts in the towns and cities. While the economy is growing rapidly it is only at a 'young' stage, with vast increases still to come. Within 10 years we believe two-thirds of the Chinese population will live in towns and cities, leaving one-third still in the countryside feeding the urban population. But of greater importance will be the speed with which disposable income will rise. China's appetite for gold will rise alongside the rise in disposable income, as will the level of gold off-take.

This is augmented by the high savings ratio of the Chinese, together with a lack of alternative investment vehicles. This is an explosive formula for gold demand.

Just think of it, when a company is just below break-even point a rise in profitability through that level, to moderate profits is the most dramatic event a company can experience. Thereafter, similar rises in profitability mean a steadily lowering of percentage increases in profitability. So it is with an individual.

The first thousand Dollars above one's needs is a heady amount, the second not so dramatic. Now apply that principle to China and its 1.4 billion people. The pace of growth in the gold market is set to explode in the years to come and, with all due respect to the WGC's report, should explode far more than a doubling in 10 years. Just look at the growth of its car market. We expect the same in its gold market.

Net retail investment in gold in China in 2009 was 81 tonnes, up 22% year-on-year. China thus accounted for 43% of the world total in that category last year. Coins and bar hoarding have been growing strongly in recent years and we believe will jump almost on an exponential rate in the years to come.

Like Indian gold owners, gold represents financial security, so we agree with the WGC when they say that Chinese investors are much less likely to sell into strength than some of their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

On an institutional level gold is finding favor as well. The China Investment Corporation is moving into commodities and real estate and recent filings with the SEC show that the CIC took a 1.45 million share stake in the SPDR® Gold Shares Fund in New York (equivalent to 4.5 tonnes) in the fourth quarter of last year.

On the immediate front, a trend over the last few weeks has been that the Gold Price rises in Asia time and is pulled down in London and early New York time. We expect remarkable growth in demand from China in the years to come, which by itself, will support present prices and take them far higher in times to come.

60 lose RM25mil in gold investment scam in Penang

TAN SIN CHOW from The Star had reported yesterday.

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 Investi­gations 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.

CM response:
It's much much safer to buy gold straight away rather than investing something unreal that they so called "gold account".