Explanations of "Gold" investment-related terms A to Z

Paper gold – an asset that reflects the price of gold while not actually being gold itself; it’s not backed by real metal, so it’s considered to be only on paper.

An asset that reflects the price of silver while not being silver itself; it’s not backed by real metal, so it’s considered to exist only on paper.

A pattern, as the word suggests, is something that repeats in a noticeable way. For example, a patterned carpet consists of repeating images that are similar or the same. But there are more useful patterns in our everyday life and, more to the point, patterns that have implications for precious metals investors. Namely, gold price patterns can help us determine the direction in which gold will head next and the same goes for silver.

Double-digit inflation is a terrible thing - and it got up to 14 or 15 percent on a monthly basis for a while, shortly after I became chairman of the Fed.

Paul Volcker, also known as Tall Paul (for his height above 2 meters actually, as one can see below, there is a curious correlation between the height of the Fed chair and the level of the federal funds rate), was born in 1927 in Cape May, New Jersey. He earned his M.A. in political economy from Harvard University in 1951. One year later, he started his professional career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a full-time economist. He resigned in 1957 to join the Chase Manhattan Bank as a financial economist. He also worked for the Treasury Department for several years during the 1960-1970. In mid-1970s, Volcker served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to head the Federal Reserve System. He took office on August 6th, 1979. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan re-nominated him to a second term. Volcker rejected the reappointment for a third term, so he was replaced by Alan Greenspan in August 1987.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) measures the average change in prices for all domestic personal consumption. There is also core PCE which excludes high volatility items, such as food or energy. It is a part of the Personal Income and Outlays Report issued monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and it is derived from personal consumption expenditures. The index is similar in many respects to the CPI, but there are some important differences. In particular, they are calculated by distinct formulas, they assign different weights to particular goods and services, and they have various scopes.

Imagine the world without the production of gold. The end of the mining of the yellow metal. The termination of all gold mines. No more gold nuggets, no grain, no flakes. Sounds depressing, right? It would not be a world without the chemical element with the symbol Au, as fortunately a lot of bullion is held as investments coins, bars or jewelry. But still, it is hard to imagine the world without gold mining. Such gloomy visions are connected with the idea of peak gold.

Imagine the world without the production of silver. The end of the extraction of the white metal. The termination of all silver mines. Sounds depressing, right? It would not be a world without the chemical element with the symbol Ag, as fortunately a lot of bullion is held as investments coins, bars or jewelry. But still, it is hard to imagine the world without silver mining. Such gloomy visions are connected with the idea of peak silver.

I bet that you are aware of peak oil, peak silver, or peak gold. But have you heard about the – perhaps much more important – peak youth? If not, we came to the rescue!

The People’s Bank of China, based in Beijing, is the central bank of China which conducts the monetary policy in mainland China. The top management of the PBOC is composed of a governor and a certain number of deputy governors. Zhou Xiaochuan has been the governor of the PBOC since December 2002. The objective of the PBOC’s monetary policy is to maintain the stability of the value of the currency and therefore promote economic growth.

The Personal Income and Outlays Report (sometimes called the Personal Consumption Report) is issued monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 4-5 weeks after month's end. It is an important economic indicator to help gauge the strength of the consumer sector in the U.S. The report contains two sections: the first section deals with personal income, while the other deals with personal outlays.

The petro (a.k.a. the petro bitcoin, petrobitcoin, or petro-bitcoin) is a cryptocurrrency backed by the government of Venezuela. The currency was announced in late 2017 as a supposed means to deal with the dire economic situation in the country. Petro is supposedly backed, among other assets, by Venezuela's oil reserves and its purported goal is to help the Venezuelan government regain its monetary standing, tarnished by hyperinflation and economic stagnation.

Phi (Greek letter φ) – also known as the golden number or the golden ratio –  is an irrational number, approximately equal to 1.61803399, that can be used to predict market moves, as it is an indispensable element of such tools as Fibonacci retracement levels or Elliott wave theory. It's useful also for gold and silver investors.