The buying and selling of gold is generally seen as a longer-term investment. Gold has risen steadily over the years and shows absolutely no sign of reverting to the prices it was at a century ago. But this does not mean that gold must be purchased and locked up in your home for years before it is of any use to you. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that specialize in gold and gold prices can be an excellent way for you to invest in gold for the short term. Additionally, you never need to worry about storing your gold when you purchase or sell through an ETF.
Over the short term, gold can be a valuable investment when you invest in an ETF. ETFs are traded just like stocks are, except they are usually basket funds that include more than one item. One popular gold ETF is the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). Over the last year, this ETF has ranged from about $110 per share up to its current value of $145 per share.
ETFs make for great shorter term investments because they see such a large amount of traffic. About 500,000 shares of GLD are traded on a daily basis. In fact, this ETF has fluctuated between $153 and $142 over the last month. If you were astute enough to jump on this trend, this ETF could have been a big short term moneymaker for you. While you could buy gold bullion some people may find it easier to buy the stock equivalent.
A gold ETF can also act as a type of hedge for your portfolio. Because this ETF is tied to the price of gold, you can get both the benefits of owning the commodity with the benefits of a short term profit.