O ver the past 5,000 years, from the Egyptian pharaohs and the merchants of 14th century Venice to world governments in the space age, man has treasured gold for its utility and value during times of both prosperity and crisis. Today, the demand for gold continues to flourish among world governments, industry and individual and institutional investors. I nvestment advisers and financial professionals commonly include gold as part of their own well-balanced investment portfolios. Gold is an ideal foundation for a diversified financial plan because the price of gold often increases in response to events that erode the value of traditional paper investments like stocks, bonds, and cash. And, periodically, there have been times when gold has outperformed all other investment sectors.
Platinum is much more than a precious metal.
It is also one of the most essential industrial commodities in the world. In fact, platinum is stockpiled by the U.S. Department of Defense. Other sources of platinum demand include the telecommunications, petroleum, medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, and jewelry industries. M an's fascination with silver dates back over 5,000 years to ancient Egypt. Silver has been used as money for over 2,000 years and has endured centuries of economic and political crisis, always emerging as a universally accepted currency and store of value.