The post Metals Trading Guide: How to Trade Base and Precious Metals by Henry Stater appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.
Exposure to metals can be a valuable addition to an investment portfolio, with a wide range of use cases depending on the metal like diversification or just profit. However, it’s not always obvious how to trade metals or choose the best investment strategy. Throughout this guide, Benzinga explores the intricacies of trading a variety of metals — such as precious, base and ferrous metals — while also examining the pros and cons of choosing between mining company stocks and physical metals for investment purposes.
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How to Trade Precious Metals
Precious metals, especially gold and silver, are some of the most popular metal investments because of their status as safe-haven investments and hedges against volatility. There are several ways to trade precious metals, but one of the most reliable methods is through reputable online precious metals dealers.
Some of the best precious metals dealers include Advantage Gold, Red Rock Secured, Birch Gold Group, American Hartford Gold and Augusta Precious Metals. These platforms offer direct delivery and IRA purchases, making them all great choices if you want the tax benefits an IRA can provide. Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium are safe-haven investments that often perform well during times of economic uncertainty.
Get started
securely through Advantage Gold’s
website
When you choose to invest with Advantage Gold, you can set up a Gold IRA or purchase Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium. There is a robust learning center that teaches you how to hedge using precious metals, and you can begin to move your money to one of the more popular safety nets in the world of investing.
Best For
- Precious metals investing
- Gold IRAs
- Variety of precious metals to choose from
- Several coins and metals to buy
- Impressive educational section
- Quality customer support
- Variety of options may confound some users
get started
securely through Red Rock Secured’s
website
Retirement investing is always a tricky thing. It requires investors to look deep into the future while investing their money today. This only underscores the importance of having a diverse portfolio. Historically, investing in gold has been a great hedge against market volatility. Red Rock Secured wants to make gold and precious metals investing even easier by offering both gold and silver individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Best For
- Retirement investors looking to diversify
- Investors looking to buy precious metals securely
- Investors looking for a simple way to buy gold or precious metals
- Offers investors the chance to diversify retirement with a precious metal IRA
- Zero maintenance fees
- Low investment minimums
- Seven-day price protection policy
- None noted
get started
securely through American Hartford Gold Group’s
website
American Hartford Gold is a family-owned business based in Los Angeles, California. The organization is a market leader in precious metal investing. American Hartford Gold specializes in selling gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars and in helping its clients to set up Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) invested in precious metals.
Precious metals are popular investments during times of high inflation as investors look for a hedge against inflation. Gold and silver investments may not follow the same trends as stocks, making precious metal investing a potential safe haven.
American Hartford Gold offers investors the following services:
- Gold, platinum, palladium and silver investments
- Gold IRAs
Investors need an amount of $10,000 or more to start their retirement investment journey with American Hartford Gold. The company also assists investors looking to roll their current IRAs into gold IRAs. There are no taxes or penalties on either the trustee-to-trustee or 60-day rollover IRA options it offers. American Hartford Gold will buy back the precious metals when investors want to cash out.
Best For
- Investors looking for a hedge against inflation
- Retirement savers looking for tax benefits
- Great customer reviews across the board
- Open an online account in minutes
- Online education and information on precious metal price movements
- Customer buyback available
- Online catalog doesn’t show pricing
- No international shipping available outside of the US
- Investments have the risk of loss
get free guide
securely through Augusta Precious Metals’s
website
Although diversifying your investment portfolio to include physical gold and silver can be a good idea, people generally show a greater sense of urgency in doing so when inflation goes up. Augusta Precious Metals is a leading gold IRA company that specializes in helping savers diversify their retirement savings with gold and silver. It has the best reputation of the companies we reviewed. One thing that stands out is that this company offers retirement savers education on gold IRAs and fees, the economy and high-pressure tactics to watch out for from other companies. They give Americans the chance to buy into a gold- and silver-backed individual retirement account (IRA) and to buy precious metals directly from the company.
Best For
- Investors looking for a hedge against inflation
- Investors looking to diversify their portfolio with a precious metals IRA
- People looking for a quick and easy process
- People unhappy with their current gold IRA company’s high-pressure tactics
- Investors looking for the most compliant and transparent gold IRA company — with the best reputation
- Company highly rated by users and ratings services
- Specializes in gold and silver IRAs
- Provides guides helping consumers avoid gimmicks and high pressure
- Up to 10 years of fees paid for you
- Account lifetime customer support
- Higher minimum of $50,000
get free kit
securely through Lear Capital’s
website
90,884 happy customers can’t be wrong. Over $3 billion in precious metals transactions and over 25 years in business – that’s an extremely solid track record for this industry. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Lear Capital is a full-service precious metals dealer specializing in gold and silver self-directed individual retirement accounts (SDIRAs). The company offers an extensive precious metals inventory of premium rare coins and investment-grade bullion.
You can easily diversify your portfolio with precious metals and Lear Capital shows you how. Lear Capital helps customers transfer traditional IRAs into gold IRAs seamlessly, tax and penalty-free. They also sell bullion and numismatics outside of IRAs for home storage and peace of mind.
For IRA transactions, Lear Capital ensures your physical assets are securely and properly stored in an IRS-approved vault with a solid and reputable custodian. They also have a price match guarantee and many incentives and special offers to give you great bang for your buck. With more than 25 years in the business, Lear Capital has earned a AAA rating with the Business Consumer Alliance. Lear Capital is also a professional coin-grading dealer, so they know what they are doing. No one knows the gold investing space better than Lear.
Best For
- Investors seeking diversification with precious metals
- Individuals wanting to hedge savings against global volatility
- Retirees wanting security against market crashes
- Investors aiming to capitalize on gold price action during crises
- Individuals concerned about the possibility of capital controls
- Collectors seeking premium rare numismatic coins
- Up to $15,000 in bonus metals
- Price match guarantee
- Free IRA set-up and storage; up to 3 yrs a $680 value
- 24 Hour no-risk purchase guarantee
- 1st Yr commission free after initial transaction
- Business since 1997 – 2X longer than competitors.
- IRS-approved custodians for secure IRA storage
- Personal account executives for concierge service
- 15-day delivery with free, insured shipping
- Live chat unavailable on the website
- Minimum purchase amount of $15,000
How to Trade Base Metals
Base metals, such as copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, iron and steel, all play absolutely essential roles in various industries, and their demand is closely linked to global economic growth. Learning how to trade base metals can be a valuable skill for investors.
A few of the easiest ways to trade them are investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track their prices, purchasing stocks in companies specializing in the mining or production of these metals or trading futures and options contracts through a commodity exchange. The latter option can be more complex and requires a more advanced understanding of financial markets.
Here is a list of a few stocks, ETFs and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) for base metals:
Copper: Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: COPX), United States Copper Index Fund (NYSEARCA: CPER)
Zinc: Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE: TECK)
Nickel: iPath Series B Bloomberg Nickel Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEARCA: JJN)
Aluminum: iPath Series B Bloomberg Aluminum Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEARCA: JJU)
Iron: BHP Group (NYSE: BHP), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO)
Steel: Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD)
You can purchase any of these stocks, ETFs and ETNs with top stock broker apps like Robinhood, Webull or eToro. It usually only takes a few minutes to sign up, verify your identity, deposit and start trading with all three platforms. If you want to trade metals more directly, you can sign up for a commodities exchange like HYCM and trade futures contracts.
Get started
securely through HYCM’s
website
HYCM is 1 of the world’s leading forex brokers, offering investors access to over 69 unique currency pairs. However, forex isn’t the only thing the broker offers — HYCM also offers high rates of leverage, stock and ETF trading, commodity investing and much more. Getting started with HYCM is quick and easy, and most investors can open an account in as little as 10 minutes.
HYCM offers a varying fee structure, which allows investors to choose the spread option that’s best for them. A wide range of educational and investing tools are available, which can be equally beneficial to both experienced and novice traders. Though HYCM isn’t currently available in the United States, it can be a great choice for residents of the other 140 countries where it offers service.
Best For
- Investors who want a customizable fee schedule
- Traders comfortable using the MetaTrader platform
- Islamic traders who need swap-free accounts that don’t build interest
- Mobile app with a simple trading experience
- Wide range of currency pairs available
- Excellent selection of educational tools
- Not currently available to traders based in the U.S.
get started
securely through Robinhood’s
website
Robinhood is a broker designed for traders who want a simple and easy-to-use platform. It takes out all the bells and whistles that can be confusing to the modern day trader, serving as the perfect place for beginners to learn the markets. The interface is intuitive and easy to master, streamlined to ensure you don’t get distracted as you build a portfolio. Though advanced traders might like more thorough analysis tools, Robinhood gives you everything you need to start trading and learn the ropes.
Best For
- Beginner traders
- Mobile traders
- Streamlined, easy-to-understand interface
- Mobile app with full capabilities
- Can buy and sell cryptocurrency
- Fewer analysis tools than most
get started
securely through Webull’s
website
Webull, founded in 2017, is a mobile app-based brokerage that features commission-free stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading. It’s regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Webull offers active traders technical indicators, economic calendars, ratings from research agencies, margin trading and short-selling. Webull’s trading platform is designed for intermediate and experienced traders, although beginning traders can also benefit.
Webull is widely considered one of the best Robinhood alternatives.
Best For
- Active traders
- Intermediate traders
- Advanced traders
- No account maintenance fees or software platform fees
- No charges to open and maintain an account
- Intuitive trading platform with technical and fundamental analysis tools
- Does not support trading in mutual funds, bonds or OTC stocks
get started
securely through eToro’s
website
eToro is a broker that offers access to over 25 of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies and 1600 stocks. They have a few unique education and useability tools. Traders can begin buying and selling in as little as 10 minutes.
eToro’s unique CopyTrader feature allows new investors to “copy” the buy orders of professional investors, while the company’s eToro Club feature provides investors with a range of additional education tools and resources.
Best For
- Traders looking for an easy-to-use platform
- Traders who want to practice their trades using a virtual account before entering the market
- Simple platform that is easy to master
- CopyTrader feature that allows new traders to copy the same strategies used by professionals
- Virtual dummy account that gives you $100,000 to practice trades
- High non-trading fees
Are Mining Company Stocks, ETFs or Physical Metals Better Investments?
Mining company stocks and physical metals have advantages and disadvantages. Investing in mining company stocks can offer higher returns and the potential for dividends. However, they also carry the risk of company-specific issues and market fluctuations. ETFs may be your best middle ground if you don’t want to buy mining company stocks or have to deal with having metals delivered to you and storing them.
Precious metals like gold and silver are some of the most attractive investments and are generally considered safer and more stable investments than many base metals. They can act as a hedge against volatility and economic uncertainty and as a store-of-value asset. However, the returns on physical metals can be lower than riskier mining stocks, and they come with the added burden of storage and insurance costs.
Is it a Good Idea to Start Trading Metals?
Trading metals can be a wise investment decision if done strategically and with proper research. Metals can offer diversification to your portfolio, and precious metals can serve as a safe haven or source of profit during volatile economic conditions. However, be sure to consider the different types of metals, investment methods and associated risks before making your own educated decisions.
The post Metals Trading Guide: How to Trade Base and Precious Metals by Henry Stater appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.
