New platform to trade, store precious metals in Singapore

[sgd]

I see whenever they launch such things it is to signal that the party has ended.

At one time computer memory chips were hot and the market played up tech sector stocks like anything charted semicon stock was ridden super high, people started talking about associating computer chips with commodities, the new age is nigh then sgx launch DRAM futures now 10years on hardly anybody talks about DRAM futures.

Gold price is going to be toast !!

source: http://www.todayonline.com/business/new-...-singapore
SINGAPORE — A new physical precious metals exchange has opened its doors in Singapore, offering investors worldwide the ease of buying, selling and storing their bullion through a single online platform.

The launch comes at a time when prices of precious metals have been on a downward trend, giving investors the opportunity to accumulate physical bullion products at a lower rate, thus boosting buying demand.

“In recent years, we have seen players open storage vaults, start delivery services for precious metals from mints and open new trading desks for gold to meet investor demands. What makes us unique is that the exchange brings together all elements under one platform,” said Mr Victor Foo, founder and Chief Executive of Singapore Precious Metals Exchange.

The company, which started out as a retailer of gold and silver in 2009, expanded its services to allow clients to not only make purchases from its online store, but to also trade with fellow customers and store their precious metals.

All precious metals purchased and traded through the platform are stored with Certis CISCO. The partnership with the security firm means that investors can save on additional costs such as logistics, insurance and authenticating their precious metals when they want to liquidate the products, said Mr Foo.

“Once a transaction is passed from customer A to customer B, the physical bullion remains in Certis CISCO’s store, but then the ownership changes,” he explained.

For customers who wish to take their bullion home, the exchange can arrange to ship the products to their home countries, while customers residing in Singapore can check out their precious metals at Certis CISCO’s facility in person.

Investors trade gold and silver on the exchange for as little as US$1,000 (S$1,270). The exchange has 11,000 customers around the world and has formed partnerships with established precious metals mints in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. LEE YEN NEE

[pianist]

This one of the most wasteful plan on our limited land, only serves the rich and well heeled in the region. Just when old folks here were forced to retire or move to johor old folk home, we have a self serving rich enriching themselves with their unproductive gold bar. Can't imagine the gov't actually approve this initiative. Could used the space to build flat hospital or school but wasted in this

[Trader88]

THE BUSINESS TIMES
Published July 05, 2013

Gold as insurance should be questioned

THIS week, Swiss bank UBS AG announced the opening of a gold vault in this city state. It followed the footsteps of Deutsche Bank, which announced its 200-tonne facility in the FreePort just a few weeks back, and JPMorgan, which launched its gold vault here in 2010. UBS is not going to be the last. ANZ confirmed to The Business Times that it is in talks to set up a similar facility.



The conventional wisdom has always been that when investors rush into something, be it a business or an asset class, the play is usually at its tail end - at least for the short to medium term. Indeed, since hitting a peak of US$1,888 per troy ounce in Sept 6, 2011, the gold price has slumped by 34 per cent to about US$1,245.



Investors who are buying the yellow metal as a hedge against systemic risks or as an insurance policy against bungling by central banks may be acting on a flawed assumption. A closer look at the numbers indicates that gold price is pro-cyclical: it closely tracks economic growth in two of the world's largest emerging economies, China and India. According to a recent paper by US money manager GMO, between 2000 and 2010, consumers in emerging markets accounted for 79 per cent of total demand. Conversely, purchases by gold exchange-traded funds accounted for only 7.5 per cent of demand. Central banks in aggregate were net sellers.



"Emerging markets have been a significant positive force on gold prices for such a long time that it's easy to forget that their impact on gold can very well go in both directions," GMO noted. "Gold prices not only have extensive exposure to China and India, but their exposure to these countries is pro-cyclical by nature. Given both the cyclical and structural challenges the Chinese and Indian economies are facing, we believe the risks to gold prices today are particularly high," it concluded in a report in April when the gold price was about US$1,600/oz. As such, the value of gold as insurance should be questioned, it stressed.



We can always trust the astute investor Warren Buffett to provide some perspective. In early 2012, he noted that the world's gold stock of about 170,000 tonnes at US$1,750/oz was worth US$9.6 trillion. With that money, one could buy all US crop land (162 million hectares with output of about US$200 billion annually), plus 16 Exxon Mobils (the world's most profitable company, with annual earnings exceeding US$40 billion). After these purchases, one would still have about US$1 trillion left over for walking-around money. A century from now, the 162 million hectares of farmland will have produced staggering amounts of corn, wheat, cotton and other crops - and will continue to produce that valuable bounty, whatever the currency may be. Exxon Mobil will probably have delivered trillions of dollars in dividends to its owners and will also hold assets worth many more trillions.



Meanwhile, the 170,000 tonnes of gold will be unchanged in size and still incapable of producing anything. "You can fondle the cube, but it will not respond," quipped Mr Buffett. Investors, be warned.