Yeah but it's only 1/3 the size of the big contract. So unless your broker is charging more than $9 for the COMEX contract I don't see the appeal. Plus the last time I looked the mini's had next to no volume. Has that changed?
Another advantage of the mini gold is that, unlike it's big brother, there has not been a margin increase this year. 33.2 ounces for $270 overnight margin, versus $2000 for the 100 ounce contract
Seriously, you'd probably get your best price by selling your bullion on ebay, even after paying ebay vig. Alternatively, my fave bullion merchant is Tulving: http://www.tulving.com/goldbull.html He's got the tightest bid/ask spread around. AJPM isn't bad either: http://www.ajpm.com/htbin/gold.cgi
Back in April 1998, Buffett said in a speech, "It [gold] gets dug out of the ground in Africa or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."
If you're worried about such a small difference in relative margin requirements you're probably undercapitalized. Tighter spreads and depth of market in the biggie will decrease your transaction costs and should more than make up for any perceived margin disadvantage. Regards, Dr. Zhivodka
Yeah right! It has no utility as long as intrinsically worthless fiat currencies hold their relative value. When they don't, it does. Regards, Dr. Zhivodka
Wrong. Only fiat currency needs trust to attain value. Gold has held objective value since ancient times.... and I doubt Buffet ever said anything that dumb. You must have misquoted him.