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

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.

Chemically, platinum is an element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It belongs to noble metals, being one of the rarer elements in Earth's crust. Platinum is also a member of the family of platinum group metals (PGMs) which also includes palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium. It is the least reactive metal and, as other precious metals, it resists corrosion. Due to its malleability and ductility (and resistance to wear and tarnish), platinum is also widely used in the jewelry industry as a substitute for gold. Platinum is silver to dark steel-grey in color, which probably explains why it is often mistaken for silver. Actually, its name derives from the Spanish platina, literally meaning “little silver”.

Platinum has never practically served as money (except for a short period in Russia, where platinum coins were used as a regular national currency), but it is used an investment. Because it is a precious metal, platinum often trades directionally with gold. However, platinum is much more widely used in the industry; therefore, it behaves more like a commodity and it is more business cycle-sensitive than gold or even silver.

How much does platinum cost? Why are you asking about it? Just look at kitco.com and do not bother us! Yeah, sure, we know what the price of platinum per ounce is. But how much does it cost to produce it?

The platinum-to-palladium ratio is the price of platinum divided by the price of palladium. The indicator works just as the gold-to-silver ratio, the gold-to-platinum ratio or the gold-to-palladium ratio, and it shows how many ounces of palladium one ounce of platinum can buy. It measures the relative strength of platinum prices compared to palladium prices. When the ratio is low, it means that platinum is undervalued relative to palladium. When the ratio is high, it means that platinum is overvalued relative to palladium. Investors can thus use the ratio as a timing indicator deciding when to reallocate investment positions between these two precious metals.

The PMI Index is an important indicator of economic health. It is compiled and released monthly by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM sends surveys to senior executives at more than 400 companies, asking managers about monthly changes in business conditions in five major areas:  new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries, and employment. Contrary to Markit Economics PMI’s, the ISM weighs each of these survey areas equally.

Abbreviation for Precious Metals Stock.

Point optimization requires solving problems concerning the maximization or minimization of a real function by checking all available alternatives (variables), and thereby discovering the best available solution.

The idea of a political business cycle is one of the theories of the business cycle, formulated in the 1970s. According to it, political incumbents try to juice up the economy during election years to improve their chances of re-election. They stimulate the economy just before an election to increase their odds of remaining in office, while reversing the course and restricting the fiscal and monetary stimuli shortly after the elections (to avoid harmful long-term consequences). Thus, major elections produce economic booms and busts, as politicians try to create an artificial boom before every election and take advantage of the voters' short-sightedness. Similarly, theory and history suggest that the U.S. central bank tries to avoid, if possible, any major monetary actions as an election approaches.

A portfolio diversifier is a portfolio addition which reduces the overall risk in a portfolio. This is an important feature, since diversification allows investor to obtain a desired return without taking as much risk as with an individual security.