Gold's popularity skyrockets

Gold prices continue moving up and up with no end in sight due to continuing problems in US and European economies.

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Gold poised to break US$2,000 barrier, YLG to open first Laos office this year by Nuntawun Polkuamdee

YLG Bullion International, Thailand's largest wholesale gold trader, has revised up its gold price projection to between US$2,000 and $2,200 an ounce this year due to the slower-than-expected global economic recovery, especially with EU economies looking set to take another two years.

YLG Bullion International expects gold prices to skyrocket to US$2,000 to $2,200 an ounce later this year as the US and European economies appear stuck in a quagmire.

The price will also show a significant increase at the end of each quarter from central bank management of its reserves.

Vice-president Pawan Nawawattanasub said investment demand for gold has increased dramatically, resulting in a 27% boost in the price year-to-date, making it the highest-paying commodity. 

The price has jumped six times this year, each time by between $100 and $200, on Middle East violence and US and EU economic problems.

Mrs Pawan said the precious metal is now in a correction period, with the appropriate level ranging from US$1,700 to $1,950 an ounce.

"Gold will remain very volatile for the rest of this year," she said.

Factors supporting the gold price in the medium- to long-term include the weak US economy causing depreciation of the dollar, resulting in other countries shifting their reserves to gold.

The EU debt crisis spreading from the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greek, and Spain) countries is another one.

"We expect gold will rise further and reach $2,000 to $2,200 an ounce or 28,000 to 30,000 baht per baht-weight [at 96.5% purity]. However, investors should monitor the situation closely, as the price will react in line with economic data soon to be released by the US Federal Reserve. The Fed will also likely announce a stimulus package soon," said Mrs Pawan.

She said the amount of gold traded through YLG in the first eight months had doubled year-on-year to 250 billion baht.

The company's trade represents about half the overall market.

Hedge funds are also paying much more attention to gold as well as central banks and other investors worldwide.

YLG's client accounts have also increased to more than 1,000 from 250 early this year.

YLG has revised up its full-year trading target to 400 billion from 300 billion baht in line with increases in the gold price

"Gold has gained very much in popularity and not only among Thai investors. We're seeing customers from Laos, Cambodia and Burma," said Mrs Pawan.

YLG will open it first branch in Vientiane this year as a step to the company becoming the centre of the Southeast Asian gold trade.

"The cost to gold miners has also jumped to $780 an ounce. That also supports the gold price, so it is an easy correction. Investors should exercise discipline in their investments, setting a level at which they can cut their losses if need be," said Mrs Pawan

Tipa Nawawattanasub, the chief executive of YLG Bullion & Futures, said night trading sessions (7.30-10.30pm) in gold futures have become very active, more so than daily trading.

Gold futures trading by Ms Tipa's company in the first eight months grew in line with the target at 393,450 contracts, up by 15% year-on-year.

The company has revised up its full-year trading growth target to 20% from 15% due to the increase in the customer base to 2,000 accounts from 1,100 early this year.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Gold poised to break US$2,000 barrier, YLG to open first Laos office this year, 20/09/2011, Nuntawun Polkuamdee, link) 

Gold Vocabulary

gold - the world's most famous precious metal, used for money and a store of value for thousands of years (See Wikipedia; see also gold as an investment)

bullion - silver or gold usually in bars sold by weight, "Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion, and are traded on commodity markets. Bullion metals may be cast into ingots, or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass and purity rather than by a face value as money" (See Wikipedia)

baht-weight - "the baht (or tical) is ... a unit of weight for precious metals and gemstones. One baht = 15.244 grams. Since the standard purity of Thai gold is 96.5%, the actual gold content of one baht by weight is 15.244 × 0.965 = 14.71046 grams, or about 0.473 troy ounce. 15.244 grams is used for bullion; in the case of jewellery, 1 baht should be more than 15.16 grams" (See Wikipedia)
30,000 baht per baht-weight

pure (adjective) - a substance not mixed with other things (example: "pure gold" is not mixed with anything else) 
purity (noun) - the condition of not being mixed with other things
96.5% purity of gold - gold that is almost completely pure (100% purity)

skyrocket - to increase very quickly ลอยขึ้นสูงอย่างฉับพลัน
gold popularity skyrockets - more and more people and governments are choosing gold as a store of wealth and value (due to continued economic problems around the world)

poised - about to do or achieve something ได้มาซึ่ง
barrier - anything that prevents something from passing through or by a place อุปสรรค
gold poised to break US$2,000 barrier - the price of gold has almost reached $2,000 per ounce (and will likely reach this level shortly) 

wholesale - buying and selling goods in large quantities (usually during distribution before the goods reach the store)  ขายส่ง การขายส่ง
wholesale gold trader - a company that buys and sells in large amounts as a business for profit

revised -changed เปลี่ยนแปลง
projection - guessing a future amount; a calculation or guess about the future based on information that you have การคาดคะเน
revised up its gold price projection - said it believed that the price of gold would be higher in the future

precious - worth a lot of money, expensive; rare or very necessary; loved or valued ที่มีค่าสูงส่ง ล้ำค่า
metal - a hard substance such as iron, gold, steel, silver, or lead โลหะ , ธาตุโลห
precious metal -  the rare, valuable and non-radioactive metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium (See Wikipedia)

commodity - a good with every unit the same (every kilo of rice is the same, for example), usually bought in large quantities สินค้าที่ซื้อเป็นจำนวนมากๆ

volatile - changing quickly, suddently, unpredictably, unexpectedly, by large amounts, the public does not know how to react and plan for the future เปลี่ยนแปลงอย่างทันทีทันใดและโดยคาดการณ์ไม่ได้
volatile gold prices - when the price of gold is moving suddenly by large amounts (difficult to make investment plans; lots of risk)

factor - one of the things that has an effect on a situation, event or decision
factors supporting the gold price - factors that are keeping the price of gold high (such as uncertainty about what will happen next in the world economy)

countries shifting their reserves to gold - central banks are changing their US dollars into gold (because they are afraid of losing money because the US dollar is losing value, currency depreciation)

in line with - following, agreeing with
react in line with - change in a way that agrees with  
the gold price will react in line with economic data - the price will change in a way that depends on what the data mean (for example, if inflation is increasing, the price of gold might go up, because people use gold as protection against inflation, as ordinary money loses value)

data - facts or information used for making calculations or decisions ข้อมูล
released - made available to the public
release data - make data available to the public
economic data soon to be released by the US Federal Reserve - the US central bank will make information about the economy that it has collected avaiable to the public (so they know what is happening and can make decisions based on this)

the gold price will react in line with economic data soon to be released by the US Federal Reserve

traded - bought and sold ค้าขาย
trade - the buying and selling of goods การค้าขาย
gold traded doubled year-on-year - the amount of gold being bought and sold is twice as much (2X) as it was last year

gold miner - the people who search for gold and remove it from the earth when they find it (extract ) (See Wikipedia)

supports the gold price - keeps the gold price at a high level 

futures contract - a contract to buy something in the future, a contract that is traded on a public exchange, so the price reflects current expectations about the value of the underlying asset (See Economist Glossary on derivatives) การซื้อขายล่วงหน้า
futures -  same as "futures contract"
contracts - same as "futures contracts"
futures exchange - a central place where futures contracts are bought and sold in large amounts (See Wikipedia)
gold futures - a contract to buy gold in the future (traded on a futures exchange) (See Wikipedia)

General Vocabulary

expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
global - ทั้งโลก all over the world, including the whole world
recovery - when the economy starts to get better after an economic downturn or recession (more jobs, higher incomes) การฟื้นฟูสภาพ
slower-than-expected global economic recovery

stuck in a quagmire - in a position that is difficult to leave (like the wheel of a car stuck in the mud that it can't get out of)

significant - large enough to be important or have an effect ที่สำคัญยิ่ง
significant increase - a large and important increase

quarter - three months or one "quarter" of the year (a time period on the business calendar used for budgeting and reporting)
end of each quarter - the last month of each quarter of the year

central bank - the most central and important bank in a country that controls the supply of money in the country and provides financial services to the government and other banks (See Wikipedia)
reserves - the amount of foreign currency or gold held by a national bank, which is used for dealing with the national banks of other countries เงินสำรอง
central bank management of its reserves - when the central bank buys and sells baht and other currencies to smooth out movements in the Thai baht (which makes lives easier for Thai exporters and importers)

investment - taking your money and putting it into projects to make a profit or earn interest (buying stock shares, bonds, real estate)
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses
investment demand - people who want to make an investment (in gold, for example)

dramatically - in a big way อย่างใหญ่หลวง
increased dramatically - a big increase

boost - to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น
year to date - from the beginning of the year until now, since the beginning of the year 
boost in the price year-to-date - the increase in price since the beginning of the year

violence - physical force with the deliberate intention of causing damage to property or injury or death to people ความรุนแรง
Middle East violence - the protests and overthrow of governments that took place all over the Arab world easlier this year, also called the "The Arab Spring" (See Wikipedia)

depreciation of the dollar - when the value is worth less (lower value) than the money of other countries (currencies)

debt - an amount of money that you owe หนี้
crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤต วิกฤตการณ์ ช่วงวิกฤต
PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greek, and Spain) - the countries having the biggest economics problems in the European debt crisis (See Wikipedia)

US Federal Reserve - the US central bank (See Wikipedia)
The Fed - same as the "US Federal Reserve"

monitor - to regularly check something or watch someone in order to find out what is happening ตรวจสอบ ตรวจตรา
monitor the situation closely - checking often for problems, watching carefully for problems

fiscal stimulus - a temporary increase in government spending to get the economy moving again after an economic downturn or recession
stimulus package - a set of government programmes that will increase government spending for a period of time

funds - money collected for a special purpose (for investment in companies or projects) เงินทุน
hedge fund - a private managed investment fund that invests the money of very wealthy people, "in modern times many hedge funds have become aggressively managed and may speculate in volatile assets such as foreign currencies and commodities...Hedge funds are generally unsupervised by national regulatory agencies and, on occasion, have been accused of destabilizing various financial markets" (See Wikipedia)

client - a customer or someone who receives services ลูกค้า
client account - a customer account for buying and selling gold, also called a "trading account" 

target - a goal; the amount you are planning to achieve เป้าหมาย
revised up its full-year trading target - changed the amount of gold that it believes the company will buy and sell during the whole year

gained in popularity - more people liked it
branch - an office or shop representing a large company or organisation in a particular area สาขา
open a branch in Vientiane - open a new office for the company in the capital of Laos Vientienne

discipline - control for one person or a grouo in their actions; following rules and standards of behaviour,  forcing others to follow these rules ปฏิบัติตามระเบียบข้อบังคับ (See glossary)
exercise discipline - control your actions
exercise discipline in investment - control the investments you make

cut losses - take action to stop losing money (at the time you are losing more and more money as time passes)

night trading sessions - traders buying and selling large quantities at night (which is daytime in other time zones around the world such as Europe and the US)

very active - lots of activity happening (here: buying and selling of gold and gold futures contracts)
revised up its full-year trading growth target -
base - a group of people on which someone's power depends
customer base - the number of customers that the company has (repeat customers, not one time customers)