Precious Metals

Charles Schwab, PIMCO, and ETFSecurities may be late entries to the ETF business, but their success has been obvious. While other giants fail to grab a foothold, what keeps these sponsors profitable? Whereas Fidelity and Northern Trust, both large asset managers in their own right, failed to grow their ETF products, smaller and less connected [...]

A looming debt crisis in Europe has put a damper in palladium’s success. The metal, which linked together more than a year of back-to-back monthly climbs, has dropped 16% in May alone. The May 2010 slump, which follows a rally from January 2009 to April 2010, is the biggest drop since the collapse of Lehman [...]

The World Cup trophy isn’t made of platinum, but gold. However, the World Cup games are still expected to crimp the flowing supply of platinum. The World Cup, which will be held in South Africa, is expected to drain the country of much of its electrical power supply. South African mining operations, which produce much [...]

With gold soaring due to fears about the economy, many investors are beginning to ask where exactly their gold is stored. Where is it? London. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) quickly became one of the top holders of physical gold in the world. Now with over $48 billion in assets, the [...]

Building on a bull run that has now covered a full decade, gold prices have reached another record high. As investors’ concerns over government debt grow stronger, gold emerges as the safe haven investment. The bull run in gold appears far from over, with the yellow metal gaining ground even as stocks weaken. In the [...]

The value of palladium as a hedge against inflation and economic calamity was put to the test amidst worries over European solvency. Investors swapped palladium positions for gold, seeking the ultimate protection against another financial crisis. Both palladium and platinum fell to a multi-week low as investors reorganized their metals positions. Most notably, palladium investment [...]

ETFSecurities’ trip across the Atlantic and into American markets has proven to be a great success. The company has filed to grow its platinum and palladium ETFs with the issuance of new shares ahead of increasing investment demand. ETFSecurities will issue 6,440,000 new shares for the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, [...]

Having been a leader in international funds, Global X is extending its portfolio to commodity funds. On Wednesday, the firm launched two funds: the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) and Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News). The silver ETF from Global X is the [...]

Despite being relatively uncomplicated when left as mere index funds, IRS rules for other exchange-traded funds have become taxing to self-filers. Much of the trouble extends from just two types of ETFs: commodity and futures-based funds. An analyst from Wells Fargo told the Wall Street Journal that commodity ETFs can be taxed in six different [...]

It is no secret on Wall Street that leveraged and short funds eventually go to $0, but ProShares hopes a reverse split can bring nine of its funds back from the dead. ProShares will enact a reverse split after the closing bell on April 14, hoping to breathe some life into nine plummeting funds. The [...]