How should investors go about investing in gold and silver? Ankit Gala and Jitendra Gala, who have authored a wide range of books on trading and investing in the stock markets, mutual funds, commodities, IPOs, options and futures and precious metals, offer some valuable insights to help investors while investing in gold and silver.

P recious metals are stable in times of worldwide uncertainty, or when a country’s economy goes through a bad phase. When confidence in other assets causes their values to plummet, precious metals often do well.

In last few months due to global uncertainties like Euro zone debt crisis and US debt crisis, gold and silver prices have sky rocketed. Sometime back, gold was trading at all-time highs around $1,880 per Oz and silver was trading around $45 per Oz.

This has caused a mad investor rush for these precious metals. Hence we felt the need to educate the laypersons and investors about how to invest in these precious metals so as to minimise their risk and maximise their returns by autoring Investing & Trading in Gold & Silver .

Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are generally considered as precious metals. Historically, precious metals were used as currency. These metals have high demand in the market thereby having a high economic value. These are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities.

When it comes to investment, we generally consider gold and silver as investment avenues. While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in jewellery, art and coinage.

Note: We don’t consider gold or silver jewellery as an investment option.

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Ankit Gala and Jitendra Gala have written Guide to Indian Stock Market. Guide to Indian Mutual Funds. Guide to Indian Commodity Market. Guide to Day Trading. Guide to Future & Options. A Simplified Approach to Option Strategies. Everything About IPOs. Foreign Exchange & Forex Trading and Investing and Trading in Gold & Silver .

Published by Buzzingstock Publishing House (www.buzzpublishing.net ), these books are available in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi.

Image: An employee shows a golden panda ingot at a gold store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China.

Photographs: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images