Investment and fluctuation in the gold market - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5408 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Someone rightly said that practical training is far better than the classroom training. During practical training, person comes to know about the actual difficulties faced during the work. Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) {BBA(H)} imparts the student with such virtues and prepares to take the business world in their stride. The project gives a considerable exposure to students and provides them with an opportunity to see the practical aspects of working of the corporate world. This project is yet another opportunity to see the application part of what we study or learn. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Our sincere thanks to Ms. Garima Baluja (Project guide) for having the conviction to believe that the project we had undertaken might be useful to others. We wish to thank them for having taken the trouble to read the contents again and again so the project is perfect in all respects. Without her advice, support and guidance the project would never have been complete. All cannot be mentioned but none has been forgotten. Biswajit Singh Prashant vohra Ramandeep singh Gurpreet singh Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Investment and fluctuation in the gold market" essay for you Create order CONTENT Chapter no. Title Page no CERTIFICATE I PREFACE Ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Iii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Meaning Gold as investment Types of gold investment Factors affecting gold price and investment Importance of gold in market Gold investment vecihle Gold investment strategies Gold versus stock The performance of gold and the US Stock Market 1-17 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 18-22 3 OBJECTIVES NEED OF THE STUDY 23-24 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25-27 5 ANALYSIS OF DATA 6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, LIMITATION RECOMMENDATION 7 REFERENCES 8 QUESTIONNAIRE INTRODUCTION 1.1 MEANING:- A metallic element, constituting the most precious metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. It has a characteristic yellow color, is one of the heaviest substances, is soft, and very malleable and ductile. It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in coin, jewelry and for other monetary uses. Gold has to compete with the stock market, investment in internet industries, and a wide range of consumer goods. In the rural areas 22 carat jewellery remains the basic investment. The government announced a new initiative in its budget to tap the hoard of private gold in India by permitting commercial banks to take gold deposits of bars, coins or jewellery against payment of interest. Interest levels can be set by each bank, and deposits must be for three to seven years. Interest and any capital gains on the gold will be exempt from tax. The banks can lend the gold to local fabricators or sell it in the Indian market or to local banks. The depositor has to declare the origin of the gold, so that metal bought illegally to hide wealth cannot be deposited. The State Bank of India was the first to accept deposits. Figure 1.1.1 1.2 Gold as investment Indians purchased 94.0 tons of gold for investment from January to September 2004, while it was 67.8 tons during the same period in 2003. Investment in physical gold must always be in the form of coins/bars and should be in addition to the jewellery held by the household. Advantages of gold in a portfolio can be explained through the following points: Gold has a low to negative correlation with most other asset classes. An investment portfolio with an allocation to gold improves the consistency of portfolio performance during both stable and unstable periods. The price of gold is not linked to the performance of economy, industry or companies. Gold offers the benefit of diversifying portfolio risks. Cost efficient ways of investment in gold internationally Gold has been possible over the years in the form of mutual funds or stocks of gold mining companies. However, investors have been awaiting a more cost effective platform for owning gold. The World Gold council recognized this fact and launched the following ETF gold products across the world. Figure1.2.1 Cost efficient ways of investment in gold internationally Gold has been possible over the years in the form of mutual funds or stocks of gold mining companies. However, investors have been awaiting a more cost effective platform for owning gold. The World Gold council recognized this fact and launched the following ETF gold products across the world. Gold Bullion Securities Gold was made available at the stock exchange just like an equity share to the investors through a World Gold Council initiated ETF product called Gold Bullion Securities. Each share of Gold Bullion Securities (GBS) is equal to 1/10th of an ounce of gold and is supported by physical holding of gold in the custody of HSBC. This is the first time ever that a metal has been listed on an international Stock Exchange and can be conveniently traded or invested by institutional investors as well as individuals. GBS is listed on the London Stock Exchange and also the Australian Stock Exchange. At present GBS is the most cost efficient way of investing in gold, as a potential investor has to only pay 0.3% p.a. as management fees, which includes the cost of storage and insurance apart from the brokerage that they have to pay to the brokers. 1.3 TYPES OF GOLD INVESTMENT:- 1. Gold exchange-traded funds: The recent explosion in exchange traded funds (ETFs) presents an even more interesting way to invest in gold. An ETF is a type of mutual fund that trades on a stock exchange like an ordinary stock. The ETFs exact portfolio is fixed in advance and does not change. Thus, the two gold ETFs that trade in the United States both hold gold bullion as their one and only asset. You can locate these two ETFs under the symbol GLD (for the streetTRACKS Gold Trust) and IAU (for the iShares COMEX Gold Trust). Either ETF offers a practical way to hold gold in an investment portfolio. 2. Direct ownership: There is nothing like gold bullion, the ultimate expression of pure value. Gold is the only real money, and its value cannot be changed or controlled by government fiat-the underlying reason for governments to go off the gold standard, unfortunately. Golds value will rise based on the pure forces of supply and demand, no matter what Mr. Greenspan decrees regard ing interest rates or greenbacks in circulation. The big disadvantage to owning gold is that it tends to trade with a wide spread between bid and ask prices.. 3. Gold mutual funds: For people who are hesitant to invest in physical gold, but still desire some exposure to the precious metal, gold mutual funds provide a helpful alternative. These funds hold portfolios of gold stocks-that is, the stocks of companies like Newmont Mining that mine for gold. Newmont is an example of a senior gold stock. A senior is a large, well-capitalized company that has been around several years and has a profitable track record 4.   Junior gold stocks: This level of stock is more speculative. Junior stocks are less likely to own productive mines, and may be exploration plays-with higher potential profits but also with greater risk of loss. Capitalization is likely to be smaller than capitalization of the senior gold stocks. This range of investments is for investors whose risk tolerance is broader, and who accept the possibility of gold-based losses in exchange for the potential for triple-digit gains. 5.   Gold options and futures: For the more sophisticated and experienced investor, options allow you to speculate in gold prices. But in the options market, you can speculate on price movements in either direction. If you buy a call, you are hoping prices will rise. A call fixes the purchase price so the higher that price goes, the greater the margin between your fixed option price and current market price. When you buy a put, you expect the price to fall. Buying options is risky, and more people lose than win. In fact, about three-fourths of all options bought expire worthless. The options market is complex and requires experience and understanding 1.4 FACTORS AFFECTING GOLD PRICE AND INVESTMENT:- Weak US Dollar: Projections about a declining dollar due to an ever-increasing twin deficit supported by many investment veterans are met by much denial from politicians as well as from investors. As long as foreigners are willing to pour in the amount of $2 billion dollars every working day, the dollar wont crash. But if foreign confidence were to wane, the US dollar will be heading south. No matter how you look at the US twin deficits and Americas future fiscal liabilities, this problem is huge and some painful adjustments not only seem to be necessary but unavoidable as well. Growth in Demand for Jewelry: The demand for gold jewelry has seen a regular growth year on year. Countries which are primarily responsible for this growth are India, China, Italy, Turkey and the USA. The demand for consumption of gold in jewelry was 6% higher at 735 tonnes and also comprised a new first-quarter record. The US, which accounts for 10 % of world gold demand, is also one of the markets wh ere public taste in gold jewelry is enjoying a renaissance. The renewed interest in gold also extends to Japan, a market which showed a 19% increase in demand. Increase in demand for exchange traded paper backed products: -For the first time in history, gold can be purchased like any listed stock at select stock exchanges of the world like London Stock Exchange, Australian Stock Exchange (Gold Bullion Securities) and New York Stock Exchange. The World Gold Council initiated Electronic Traded Funds have displayed very good performance and growth in volumes since launch. Central banks reserves: Central banks keep ignot reserves as a hedge against inflation. Other monetary policies of the central banks also affect the price of gold. Low interest rates discourage people to invest in paper money; they turn towards the golden metal in the hope of better returns. If the central banks give high interest rates, the chances are that the ignot price will fall. Gold during times of fl uctuation: Gold is purchased more during a downturn in economy. This is because; the companies might start reducing production due to declining sales. Due to this, the stock prices will start going down. In this scenario, Gold is the safest option to invest in. Thought the return on investment may not be as high as other investment options, safety and good value for money are very important in times of fluctuation 1.5 IMPORTANCE OF GOLD IN MARKET Electronics: Gold is highly conductive to electricity, and has been used for electrical wiring in some high-energy applications. For example, gold electrical wires were used during some of the Manhattan Projects atomic experiments. Gold is used in the connectors of the more expensive electronics cables, such as audio, video and USB cables. The benefit of using gold over other connector metals such as tin in these applications is highly debated Fine gold wires are used to connect semiconductor devices to their packages through a process known as wire bonding Aerospace: Gold is used in hundreds of ways in every space vehicle that NASA launches. Gold is used in circuitry because it is a dependable conductor and connector. Many parts of every space vehicle are fitted with gold-coated polyester film. Gold is also used as a lubricant between mechanical parts. Gold has very low shear strength and thin films of gold between critical moving parts serves as a lubricant the gold mole cules slip past one another under the forces of friction and that provides a lubricant action. Jewelry: Gold is found in the pure state, is very easy to work and was probably the first metal used by humans. Today, most of the gold that is newly mined or recycled is used in the manufacture of jewelry About 78% of the gold consumed each year is used in the manufacture of jewelry. Special properties of gold make it perfect for manufacturing jewelry. These include: very high luster; desirable yellow color; tarnish resistance; ability to be drawn into wires, hammered into sheets or cast into shapes. Medicine:- Gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something that rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern esotericisms and forms of alternative medicine assign metallic gold a healing power. Inject able gold has been proven to help to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis. Gold alloys are used i n restorative dentistry, especially in tooth restorations, such as crowns and permanent bridges. The isotope gold-198, is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases. Decoration: Gold has the highest malleability of any metal. This enables gold to be beaten into sheets that are only a few millionths of an inch thick. These thin sheets, known as gold leaf can be applied over the irregular surfaces of picture frames, molding or furniture Public investment: Gold is also considered as a public investment. Many countries have huge Gold reserves. Countries like India, United States are supposed to have huge Gold reserves that can be sold in times of need. It also gives these countries an edge in various financial deals. Various banks also have huge reserves of Gold that are used at times of crisis in the economy. This Gold is sold at times of economic crisis to stabilize the economy. 1.6 GOLD INVESTMENT VECIHLE:- Bars Gold bars can be held either directly (i.e. held directly by you or in your own safe) or indirectly (held in a safe deposit box or bank vault on your behalf). Because of the many difficulties of transporting, storing and verifying pure gold bars, an increasingly popular method of investing in gold bars for the small investor is via allocated holdings using a gold account. Coins Buying gold coins is a popular way of holding gold. Typically bullion coins are priced according to their weight, plus a premium above the gold spot price. Again, the large Swiss and Liechtenstein banks buy and sell these coins over the counter. Exchange-traded funds Gold ETFs represent an easy way to gain exposure to the gold price, without the inconvenience of storing physical bars. Typically a small commission is charged for trading in gold ETFs and a small annual storage fee is charged. The annual expenses of the fund such as storage, insurance, and management fees are charged by selling a small amount of gold represented by each certificate, so the amount of gold in each certificate will gradually decline over time. Certificates A certificate of ownership can be held by gold investors, instead of storing the actual gold bullion. Gold certificates allow investors to buy and sell the security without the inconvenience associated with the transfer of actual physical gold. Accounts Most Swiss banks offer gold accounts where gold can be instantly bought or sold just like any foreign currency. Digital gold currency accounts and the Bullion Vault gold exchange work on a similar principle. Gold accounts are typically backed through unallocated (fungible or pooled) or allocated (also known as non-fungible) gold storage. Different accounts impose varying levels of intermediation between the client and their gold, for example through bailment or within a trust Derivatives, CFDs and spread betting Derivatives, such as gold forwards, futures and options, currently trade on various exchanges around the world and over-the-counter (OTC) directly in the private market. In the U.S., gold futures are primarily traded on the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX), a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), and NYSE Life US. In India, gold futures are traded on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).] 1.7 GOLD INVESTMENT STRATEGIES:- Fundamental analysis Investors using fundamental analysis analyze the macroeconomic situation, which includes international economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, productivity and energy prices. They would also analyze the yearly global gold supply versus demand. Over 2005 the World Gold Council estimated yearly global gold supply to be 3,859 tonnes and demand to be 3,754 tonnes, giving a surplus of 105 tonnes. While gold production is unlikely to change in the near future, supply and demand due to private ownership is highly liquid and subject to rapid changes. This makes gold very different from almost every other commodity.Identifiable investment demand for gold, which includes gold exchange-traded funds, bars and coins, was up 64 percent in 2008 over the year before. Technical analysis As with stocks, gold investors may base their investment decision partly on, or solely on, technical analysis. Typically, this involves analyzing chart patterns, moving averages, market trends and/or the economic cycle in order to speculate on the future price Using leverage Bullish investors may choose to leverage their position by borrowing money against their existing assets and then purchasing gold on account with the loaned funds. Leverage is also an integral part of buying gold derivatives and unhedged gold mining company shares (see gold mining companies). Leverage or derivatives may increase investment gains but also increases the corresponding risk of capital loss if/when the trend reverses. 1.8 GOLD VERSUS STOCK:- The performance of gold bullion is often compared to stocks due to their fundamental differences. Gold is regarded by some as a store of value (without growth) whereas stocks are regarded as a return on value (i.e., growth from anticipated real price increase plus dividends). Stocks and bonds perform best in a stable political climate with strong property rights and little turmoil. The attached graph shows the value of Dow Jones Industrial Average divided by the price of an ounce of gold. Since 1800, stocks have consistently gained value in comparison to gold in part because of the stability of the American political system. This appreciation has been cyclical with long periods of stock outperformance followed by long periods of gold outperformance. The Dow Industrials bottomed out a ratio of 1:1 with gold during 1980 (the end of the 1970s bear market) and proceeded to post gains throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The gold price peak of 1980 also coincided with the Soviet Unions invas ion of Afghanistan and the threat of the global expansion of communism. The ratio peaked on January 14, 2000 a value of 41.3 and has fallen sharply since. On November 30, 2005, Rick Munarriz of The Motley Fool posed the question of which represented a better investment: a share of Google or an ounce of gold. The specific comparison between these two very different investments seems to have captured the imagination of many in the investment community and is serving to crystallize the broader debate. At the time of writing, a share of Googles stock was $405 and an ounce of gold was one day from breaking the $500 barrier, which it did December 1. On January 4, 2008 23:58 New York Time, it was reported that an ounce of gold outpaced the share price of Google by 30.77%, with gold closing at $859.19 per ounce and a share of Google closing at $657 on U.S. market exchanges. On January 24, 2008, the gold price broke the $900 mark per ounce for the first time. The price of gold topped $1,0 00 an ounce for the first time ever on March 13, 2008 amid recession fears in the United States. Google closed 2008 at $307.65 while gold closed the year at $866. 1.9 The performance of gold and the US Stock Market:- Theres been an inverse relationship, such that when gold rises, the market is generally falling and vice versa. Gold is traditionally seen as a hedge against inflation, and inflation typically is seen as being negative for the stock market. Also, in uncertain economic times (especially with a falling US Dollar), gold is a more attractive investment than Stocks and so the two asset classes, much like stocks and bonds, compete for your investment capital. Gold prices in 2008 around $600 were not a problem for the stock market. As signs of recession began to emerge, and investors began to be spooked by deteriorating financial conditions, larger investors likely began rotating out of the US Stock Market and into other markets such as gold, bonds, etc. The rotation accelerate as the stock market began to fall going into 2009, when the price of gold skyrocketed from just under $700 per ounce to over $1,000 per ounce in March 2009. The SP fell from a peak of 1,575 to just above 1 ,250 during the same period. The recent fall of gold prices has contributed with other factors to a rise in the current stock market since March. While there may be some correlation between gold prices and the US Stock Market, gold prices are much more inversely correlated with the US Dollar Index. 1.10 GOLD CHART OF LAST 35 YEAR:- TABLE1.10.1 YEAR US DOLLER ( Cumulative Avg) 1982 $375.81 1983 $424.18 1984 $360.42 1985 $317.22 1986 $367.53 1987 $446.48 1988 $436.98 1989 $381.44 1990 $383.51 1991 $362.11 1992 $343.82 1993 $359.77 1994 $384.00 1995 $383.7916392 1996 $387.81 1997 $331.02 1998 $294.24 1999 $278.98 2000 $279.11 2001 $271.04 2002 $309.63 2003 $363.38 2004 $409.72 2005 $444.74 2006 $603.46 2007 $696.39 2008 $871.96 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Obstfeld (1997) has conducted a research on saving, investment and gold as a reassessment of historical account data and found that. The standard historical data sources often fail to distinguish between monetary gold exports, which are capital-account credits, and nonmonetary gold exports, which are current-account credits. The paper also adjusts historical investment data to account for changes in inventories. The revised data are used to construct estimates of saving and investment over the period from 1850 to 1945. The regression results are in broad agreement with those of Eichengreen, who found a significantly positive cross-sectional correlation between saving and investment even during some periods when the gold standard prevailed. Despite reaching broadly similar conclusions, we estimate correlations between saving and investment that are somewhat lower and less significant than those Eichengreen found. Soenem (1997) made a research on gold as an investment assets: pers pective from different countries to know that the efficiency of gold as a portfolio component over 1978 1995 is examined here from the perspective of seven major industrialized countries. Gold offers diversification benefits but dismal performance in terms of a risk-return trade-off. As a result, the inclusion of gold in test portfolios did not provide any increase in risk-adjusted return over the period as a whole. Zimmerman (2006) reveled a research on gold as a zero-beta asset? Analysis of the investment potential of precious metal in which Gold shows the characteristics of a zero-beta asset. It has approximately the same mean return as a Treasury Bill and bears no market risk. Silver also bears no market risk but has returns inferior to Treasury Bills. Both gold and silver show evidence of inflation-hedging ability, with the case being much stronger for gold. The prices of both metals are cointegrated with consumer prices, showing additional evidence of hedging ability. B anz (2002) had research on the concept of Hedge fund as all that glitter is not gold as they provided those interested in hedge funds with a series of insights into the specific risks that such investments pose. The aim of the paper is not to discourage investors but rather to assist them with a list of seven questions that need to be addressed in order to invest wisely. They examine the characteristics of hedge funds from different angles. They progress from basic issues concerning performance records to risk considerations and then to the role of hedge funds in overall asset allocation. Feldstein (1981) made a survey on topic The Effect of Inflation on the Prices of Land and Gold and concluded that Traditional theory implies that the relative price of consumer goods and of such real assets as land and gold should not be permanently affected by the rate of inflation. A change in the general rate of inflation should, in equilibrium, cause an equal change in the rate of inflation for each asset price The experience of the past decade has been very different from the predictions of this theory: the prices of land, gold, and other such stores of value have increased by substantially more than the general price level. The present paper presents a simple theoretical model that explains the positive relation between the rate of inflation and the relative price of such real assets. More specifically, in an economy with an income tax, an increase in the expected rate of inflation Faugà ¨re Erlach (2006) researched on topic The Price of Gold: A Global Required Yield Theory that We construct a gold valuation theory based on viewing gold as a global real store of wealth. We show that the real price of gold varies inversely to the stock market P/E and thus is a direct function of a global yield required to achieve a constant real after-tax return equal to long-term global real GDP per-capita growth. We introduce a new exchange rate parity rule based on the equaliz ation of inverse stock market P/Es (required yields) across nations. A quarterly valuation model is constructed using concurrent economic data that is within 12% mean percentage tracking error from real U.S. gold prices from 1979- 2002. Several major world events have had a large but fleeting impact on gold prices. Riley (2009) made a research on A New Gold Rush as Investing in Precious Metals as Following a huge run-up in the 1970s, precious metal prices have, until recent years, been very subdued. Investors tend to overlook precious metals, except to take note of the strong correlation properties with other asset classes, which justifies only a small allocation. However, given current macroeconomic conditions and the extreme policy response that has been initiated due to these conditions, investors should not only be looking at the correlation properties, but also the exceptional returns that precious metals will provide in the coming years Martins (1994) reveled a research on Interests, Prices and the Barsky and Summers Resolution of the Gibson Paradox under the Gold Standard System and analyzed that structural monetary framework featuring a demand function for non-monetary uses of gold, such as the one drawn by Barsky and Summers in their 1988 analysis of the Gibson paradox as a natural concomitant of the gold standard period. That structural model is subject to government rules to command the money supply. Its fiduciary version obtains Fisherian relationships as particular cases. Its gold standard solution yields a model similar to the Barsky and Summers model, in which interest rates are exogenous and subject to productivity or thrift external shocks. This paper integrates government bonds in the analysis, treats interest rates endogenously, and shifts the responsibility for the shocks to the government budgetary financing policies. Gillman Nakov (2000) researched on the topic A Monetary Explanation of Oil and Gold Prices During Postwar Stagfla tion and Recovery: 1957-1999 that the effect of the inflation on oil and gold prices in the post-war period. It presents a monetary explanation of oil and gold pricing through a cash-in-advance economy. It tests the hypothesis that the oil and gold price rises, including those during the oil shocks in 1974 and 1979, were a consequence rather than a cause of accelerating inflation in the developed industrial world. Granger casuality and cointegration evidence support the models prediction that the oil and gold price behavior can be explained by money supply changes. The evidence includes support for an asset price relation derived from the model that formalizes the monetary explanation. Amir Leyla (2005) made a research on the factors affecting gold price and a neuro-fuzzy model of forcast that the Traditional methods of forcast, e.g.Regresion, ARIMA, Exponential Smoothing, Moving Average, and methods of this kind have been applied. Only recently Artificial Intelligence, Neural N etworks and Fuzzy Logic have been proposed as forcast models. In this paper after considering gold role in the international finance, its Demand and supply, and the relationship between gold and Dollar, factors affecting the gold price fluctuations are considered; then a Neuro-Fuzzy approach based on the Takagy-Sogno Moel is employed to forcast gold price. The results obtained by this method are compared with Regression Analysis, which show that a Neuro-Fuzzy yields a better and more promissing forcast. McCown (July 24, 2006) Gold shows the characteristics of a zero-beta asset. It has approximately the same mean return as a Treasury Bill and bears no market risk. Silver also bears no market risk but has returns inferior to Treasury Bills. Both gold and silver show evidence of inflation-hedging ability, with the case being much stronger for gold. The prices of both metals are co integrated with consumer prices, showing additional evidence of hedging ability. Daly (May 2005) Thi s paper finds a strong correlation between deviations in the once widely popular Fed model to the price of gold. A simple tactical asset allocation strategy can be implemented. Empirical test of the model show the implicit timing signals to be statistically significant. The degree of accuracy, including the month gold peaked in 1980, can be an extremely valuable asset for portfolio managers looking for positive alphas. Of course, building an investment theory based on one component (Fed model) can be perilous; this paper will also look at the DJIA to gold ratio as a relative value assessment. Johnson (1997) The efficiency of gold as a portfolio component over 1978 1995 is examined here from the perspective of seven major industrialized countries. Gold offers diversification benefits but dismal performance in terms of a risk-return trade-off. As a result, the inclusion of gold in test portfolios did not provide any increase in risk-adjusted return over the period as a whole. It w as an attractive component of a diversified portfolio only for the subperiod 1978 1983 and never thereafter. Jun (May 2, 2009) While most researches on the gold market are focusing on empirical studies, few researches existed about how each macroeconomic phenomenon can affect gold market. gold is rarely dealt with macroeconomic perspective, because of lack of analyzing tools. By including gold in a portfolio of risky assets and analyzing the portfolio indirectly, we can perform macroeconomic research on gold market. Specifically in this report, I focused on macroeconomic phenomena related to the global financial crisis. Callaghan (December 1991) This paper describes the structure of the world gold market, its sources of supply and demand, and how it functions. The market has three principal functions in three major locations: the New York futures market speculates on spot prices, which are largely determined in London, whereas physical gold is in large part shipped through Zu rich. The market is dominated by large suppliers and gold holders, including monetary authorities. Some unique characteristics of the gold market ensure confidentiality, and as a result, there are gaps in existing knowledge and data. The paper identifies and attempts to fill these gaps. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY To study how investment done in gold market in present scenario. To study the reasons of investment in the gold market. To find out the performance and fluctuation in gold market. Investment in fluctuation period in market SCOPE OF STUDY Scope of our study is quite generalized and limited to gold market. As we are referring to the gold market of jalandhar as a scope of our study NEED OF STUDY To fill the gap in the existing researches done on gold investment. As we referred some of the existing researches done on investment in gold but we are trying to do the study at the time of fluctuation RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on specific topic. RESEARCH DESIGN As an descriptive and analytical study is conducted with an objective to gain familiarity with the phenomenon or to achieve new insight into it, we study with an aim to find or achieve the new insight in terms of finding the relationship between the various parameters or variety which impact on gold market SOURCES FOR DATA COLLECTION Data Source: This refers to the sources that are used for collecting the data. Mainly it consists of two sources. Secondary Sources: Out of the various secondary sources mainly newspapers, internet and Journals have been used for the study. Primary Sources: The survey was conducted through an unstructured questionnaire consisting of closed ended as well as open ended questions. SAMPLING PLAN A sample design is a defined plan for obtaining a sample from a given population . While developing the sampling design following aspects are covered Sample Size : In current research , 50 respondents are covered . Sample Unit: In current research, the sample unit consists of the following individuals having the knowledge about investment and fluctuation of gold and the individuals who invest in gold Market Universe of the study: Theoretical population: In the current research , the universe consist of all the respondents that are aware about the investment and fluctuation of gold. Accessible population: The respondents within Punjab i.e Jallandhar have been covered under the study. Sampling Technique Convenient sampling: study conducted on the basis of availability of the data requirement of the project. Study requires the events that have impact on the market.

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In case you forget Free Essays

string(63) " out all the pain, that as a soldier he was trained to ignore\." There was death at the start, just as there was death at the end. Though whether a fleeting wisp of this crossed the Irishman’s dreams and shook him awake on this least likely of mornings, he would never know. All he knew that when he opened his eyes that the world was somehow changed. We will write a custom essay sample on In case you forget or any similar topic only for you Order Now As always the first thought that come to his head was the quick, searing hope that the last eight weeks had never happened. But as he saw the pale morning light filtering through her curtains, reality hit him with an icy certainty-Aileen was dead, and it was his entire fault. He looked at his alarm clock; 7:00 shone angrily at him in red, making him turn back to the wall. It beeped impatiently at him, and it was that, not the cold, which finally gave him the thought to give up his worthy fight and struggle out of bed. He breathed in the faint lingering smell of musty perfume. Photos of horses stared down at him from the walls. He was in his wife’s room. A coat was slung over the chair where Aileen had left that morning of the accident. The hairbrush of the table was coated in a fine layer of dust, a few blonde hairs clinging to the bristles. Nothing in the room had changed for four weeks, not since the day Aileen Flaherty died. At the sight of the familiar things, his stomach twisted. He glanced at the photo of him and her. Pat and Allie. Patrick Harper and Aileen Flaherty. Sergeant Major and Horse whisperer. Mr and Mrs Patrick Harper. Husband and wife. There were tears in his eyes, which he reckoned was from the dust in the room. He got dressed. His kharki and olive uniform was oddly loose after the tight dress uniform of the funeral. Harper gazed in the mirror. Everything was to military precision. His blue eyes had not lost the desperation and soulessness that the dark alleyways of Dublin required. He picked up his rifle and placed a finger in a notch of unpolished metal. It was this small dip, in the butt of the gun, which gave Patrick Harper the small amount of Gaelic luck, which soldiers said was invincible. He just wanted to get out of this room. It was too much to bear; knowing that Allie was never coming back. A small silver locket was worn around his throat. It had saved the sergeant-major’s life once, a stranger had fired across the street and the tall Irishman shivered at the thought of what would have happened if the precious metal heart had not been attached around his neck. A small photo of his soul mate was in it, and he was suddenly angry that he had it. He made a mental note to take it off later. The week that had followed Aillie’s death had been a blur, and for him it was probably best that it had remained like that. For days he had been almost catatonic. The Latin words had washed meaninglessly over him and he read, dry-eyed, over and over her name and date of birth and death. And still tears would not come. He wanted to cry, he really did, but something was stopping him. He could only think of the blood on her neck which looked like a necklace of broken rubies and that he had noticed irrelevantly that red didn’t not suit her and he made a note not to buy her a ruby necklace for her birthday. He had felt the sting of tears as he knelt beside her and held the silent, still warm body that he most loved in the world and had cried out inside at his own brutality. Her warmth would fade just as the memory of her would fade and he would forget the character that gave this exquisite creature life and love. She would exist now only in his memory and of those of who had known her best. She had given herself to him and never doubted the decision, unlike him. And now he had killed her. It should have been himself who had been caught in the blast, he who died, not this and his grief was formless, incoherent, a pain of betrayed love. The war-lord had not even noticed the girl in Harper’s arms. ‘Congratulations. You did it.’ He had done it so that he could free Ireland and St Patrick. He had done it so that innocent blood had been spilt on the pavement. He had done it so that he could feel a pain, so great, that he would never feel it again. They had then given him thirty silver coins, for his service to Ireland. Five pounds fifty in change, exactly. Every one of those thirty pieces of silver to him was blood money. Blood that was still fresh on his hands and would remain so for evermore. Sometimes he would wake up and feel happy and then he would see the blank postcard on the desk, still franked, but it meant that someone close had died for his or her country. Then the happiness went. Sometimes he would see her in the street and his heart leaped. Then the knowledge that she no longer existed would sink in. It was the training day of the recruits that had brought about the change. The sergeant- major had stabbed his bayonet repeatedly into the belly of the straw bales dressed in the uniform of English paratroopers. He had lost his humanity then, humanity that Allie had unearthed during their married years. He had felt the tears coming to his eyes. Tears of guilt and anger, no longer held back by the crushing weight of guilt, flooded over his cheeks. It unlocked a sluice gate inside of him and for two weeks he wept and let out all the pain, that as a soldier he was trained to ignore. You read "In case you forget" in category "Papers" He could have drowned himself in the salty water that was not rain. But in the calm aftermath, Harper took stock and decided to survive. In that moment he had became an adult. You could see it when he didn’t know he was being watched, and from his eyes glittered a sad and old Gaelic magic, as old as time itself. Patrick Harper opened his diary. It was April the 12th, six weeks since the bomb had been secretly planted and with it buried the bloodied remains of his spouse’s body. That was strange. April was already a dozen days old, Allie’s death already eight weeks in the past. He had marked with a pencil March the twenty-fourth to the first of April because that was when he had expected his first child. He remembered how the bloom of pregnancy was in her and how beautiful she had looked in those heavy months. He looked at the chair, in which she had sat and told him about his child and he had held her, speechless. His child. He had been so happy then. There was no joy now. The rifle was thrown down because he did not want to hold a killing machine any longer. As a top marksman he had spilt enough innocent blood. Much more than he could count. He checked his wallet. A library card that expired today, but he had not the heart or the energy to renew it. Aillie had encouraged him to read, to take his mind off what he knew she knew that he had done the whole day. She had kept silent on the whole issue, but he knew that she didn’t approve. He had read just to keep her happy, but in the week before the accident he had taken to reading her the story of Macbeth. The man who had killed to get what he had wanted, lost his humanity, and could not back out. In the end it had destroyed him. He remembered that Lady Macbeth went mad from the blood on her hands. That there was a darkness in her that she could not escape. Perhaps there was a darkness in him too. There was a shopping list in there too, which she had typed up so that he could go and get something to eat. She had said that she was coming in a bit later as she had to check up on the horses at the stables. She had never come home. He had ripped it into three pieces, because he thought it not worthy of her. He had saved a piece, the only bit where her actual handwriting was shown and he pulled it out now and marvelled that he had never actually seen her own scruffy hand until after her death. His hand carefully placed the relic back into his wallet along with the library card, the pocket diary and the thirty silver coins that he had yet to summon the courage to either ignore or destroy them. The cuckoo clock on the wall opened its tiny wooden doors and the cheerful little bird popped out announcing that it was half past seven. It was always late and Harper automatically checked the time on his own analogue watch, without realising that it had already stopped working on the twenty-second of March. The day his world stood still. Harper reckoned it was the blast that had destroyed the mainspring. But he had taken it along to the fixing shop anyway and had said that it had fallen off the table onto the floor. No one noticed the lie, nor the pricking of tears that covered up the real truth. He had wanted to tell them the truth, to shrug off the awful weight of his conscience, but there was a lady behind him. They could not fix it and told him that it was a lost cause and also asked him if he was sure if it had fallen onto the table as surely a greater force had broken it. He answered curtly that he had an extremely hard floor and the case was left as that, as no one dared cross the tall man with dried blood on his shirt. It was getting light and he knew that he should have left the house by this time. It was a dangerous time to be out on the streets and alleyways at dawn. The bright light, fierce and orange, made it hard to see the camouflaged barrels of guns and the dark green uniforms of British riflemen. He checked his pockets for any spare ammunition, bandages and anything else that might come in useful if a vengeful enemy was on the prowl. Emptied out onto the table, the pockets produced a piece of string, a couple of Irish punts, a small shiny paperclip, a chewed pencil and a piece of paper which a sketchy map had been scrawled on. He screwed the map up and threw it away. The other objects, he decided, were not of any use so he left them on the dresser next to the blank postcard. Harper took the thin rectangular card in his hand. The Irishman took one look at it and stashed it irritably into his pocket, so that he would not have to go through the torture of seeing it every morning. He would burn it later. A bunch of keys, all shapes and sizes, hung by the bedroom door. He plucked them from their resting-place, wanting to keep his hands and mind busy so as not to dwell on the bitterness inside of him. There was the front door key, the back door key, and the key to the small battered car of his that was collecting dust in the garage. There was also a group of strange shaped keys, their handle diamond shaped instead of the regular circular ones. They called up a distant memory in him, the faded pictures in his mind kept in rhythm with the metallic jangle of their knocking together. He still could not think what they were for, and so not wanting to annoy himself any longer he freed them from the main group and put those in his pocket too. Subconsciously he knew that he was taking them with him because they were connected with Allie’s mortise lock, which she had put absolute faith in. It did not matter that their house had been burgled three times in a row, she still insisted that the rusty metal clump remain on the door. They had had their first argument over that lock and Allie had thrown a book at him, cutting his cheek and leaving a small scar. Harper had been the stock of jokes from the soldiers for a few weeks after that. He did not care. He was lucky. He had Allie. They were in it together. The mirror, from which he still had not moved, glittered in the light. It made his uniform look grey. His eyes were grey. His heart was grey. A shadow of his former personality. He was glad Aileen could not of seen him now. She wouldn’t have even recognised him. ****** Blood pounded in his head, his breath rasped in his chest. The rifle on his back thumped on his spine, the metal foresight dug into his skin. It slipped into the hinge of his elbow with the rhythm of his feet, which slipped on the slushy cat-ice. Harper and Liam Kelly dived into the relative shelter of a brick corner. Bullets ricocheted, taking pieces of brick and dust off the wall. Hot air seared past their pulsing cheeks, tiny metal balls, so destructive, slapped into the pavement, inches away from their feet. The sergeant and the private loaded quickly, knowing every second the procedure took, minutes were stole from their lives. Instinct took over, the movements refined by practice and desperation. There was no time to think about what happened next; to the best fighters, it came as a second nature. Harper touched the familiar small island of unpolished metal, something to fight against the curse of bad luck. Kelly saw his friend feel the small dip in the rifle’s butt, and he knew that the sergeant’s keen mind was already at work. He had bruised his shoulder and had twisted his ankle on the sloppy slush, but that was all. He could see the pink in the snow, the pigment caused by the fresh blood of his comrade’s. Worst of all was the sound of their screams, a sound that he had heard many times before, but now it seemed to have been magnified a hundredfold. Now Harper turned and worked his way around the wall again, giving space to the flickering bullets, Kelly supposed so as not to drive them nearer to the young fresh teenagers, who hid round the opposite corner. He stopped and looked at Kelly and then called out to him. ‘Stay there Liam. Don’t move.’ Then without any sign of fear, he walked towards the men in the green uniforms of British Riflemen. Kelly could see his lips moving, but he could not hear the words over the sharp, snapping retort of the rifles. Perhaps he was praying, or maybe not at all. He did not stop until he was right up to them and only then did they seem to register his tall looming presence. Liam saw him reach for a screaming horse’s bridle and grip them hard. With a firm hand, ignoring the slapping bullets by his face, he pulled the bay mare off her hind legs. Then he slapped her hard on the rump and sent her away. Thus cheated of their game, the Rifleman turned their attention to the tall Irishman. The picture of what followed stayed with every man and women on the street till the day they died. And never would they know for sure what had happened. The platoon of green-jackets wheeled to their left, sending beautiful, crystal shards of snow and slush up into the air. For a moment they appeared not to know what to make of the man who stood undaunted before them. What was certain was that Harper could have walked away. Two or three steps to the side could have denied the British the glory of another Irish death. The Riflemen, so Kelly believed, would simply have let him be gone, where others had led. Instead, Harper stepped towards them. The moment he moved, as he must have foreseen, the Rifles snapped into action. And even now, Harper could have stepped away. He knew where the guns would fire, what was happening inside the mechanics of them and why, before it even knew itself. Yet on this day, he neither dodged nor ducked nor even flinched, and, once more, walked forward. Harper could hear Aileens voice calling out his name. ‘I’m here.’ He whispered ‘What is it?’ The group of green jackets raised the barrels, the light reflecting off the metal onto the snow. They licked their lips and they lined up the foresight onto the lone solitary target. At this distance they could not miss. The settling snow was still too thick for Kelly to be sure, but he thought he saw Harper open his hands a touch and, in a movement so flowing that he may of imagined it, showed the British his open palms. It was as though the Irishman was offering something and perhaps it was what he had always wanted to offer the gift of friendship and peace. But although he would never from this day forth mention the thought to anyone, Kelly had a vivid impression that it was otherwise and that Harper, without fear or despair, was somehow offering himself. ‘I’m here. What is it?’ And then he knew. ******* They buried Patrick Harper by Aileen. The intention was to keep the funeral small and for family only, but on the day about one hundred people came, touched by the actions of the tall, handsome soldier in the white-sugared street. There was room for only a few in the small but ornate Catholic Church, so they threw open the doors and people watched from outside where cherry blossom danced and cartwheeled in the small breeze. He was found, lying there, a tiny smile on his face, motionless on the snowy carpet. It eyes were loosely shut as if he were sleeping peacefully. They typed this up on the army records of births and deaths. But there was one thing which they had not mentioned. Tucked away, from all sight were two claddagh rings. One gold and one silver. The Irish icon of friendship, love and loyalty. They were wrapped in a torn piece of paper, one side a list of food items and on the other side, scrawled blue ink pen which was in the handwriting of Aileen Harper. On the paper, all she’d written, inscribed in the ancient language of the Irish Celts were the small italic letters which made up four short words. In case you forget. How to cite In case you forget, Papers