Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index is a traded in U.S. dollars stock index of international gold and silver producers. The index is traded under the ticker symbol on the NASDAQ OMX PHLX XAU (formerly Philadelphia Stock Exchange). The symbol XAU is not to be confused with the short name in ISO 4217, the price of a troy ounce ( 31.1034768 grams = ) denotes gold.

Calculation

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ( XAU ) comprises the shares of international gold and silver producers that are listed on the NASDAQ OMX PHLX listed (formerly Philadelphia Stock Exchange). The XAU represents a portfolio of hedged and unhedged mining companies whose funding is secured both without and with forward sales. This is a major difference from the NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index ( HUI ), which represent shares of gold producers includes, make the no forward sales.

The calculated in U.S. Dollars XAU is a price index, dividends, are not included in the calculation. The Index will be determined solely on the basis of share prices and adjusted only to income from subscription rights and special. They are weighted by market capitalization. Corporate actions such as stock splits have no ( distorting ) influence on the index. Updates are always done on a quarterly basis after the close of trading on the third Friday in March, June, September and December, so that each share component represents its assigned weighting in the index. The XAU is positively correlated with the current development of gold and silver prices.

History

Historical Overview

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ( XAU) was established with a base value of 100 points on 19 January 1979. The trading of options on the index began on 19 December 1983 at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange ( PHLX ). The PHLX founded in 1790 and is the oldest stock exchange in the United States.

In 1980, a twenty-year downward trend in the gold price and thus also of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index. In order to end the economic stagnation that gripped the U.S. central bank, among other measures as the limitation of monetary growth. The first resulted in a gain of recession and unemployment, but this policy slowly stabilized the economy and controlled inflation. In the 1990s, the U.S. experienced under Democratic President Bill Clinton ( 1993-2001) a prolonged economic boom ( the "New Economy "). After an interim high on 5 February 1996 152,70 points of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index finished trading on 17 November 2000 at an all time low of 41.85 points. The loss since February 1996 is 72.6 percent.

Since 2001 the price of gold and thus the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index is continuously increasing. This increase has a clear correlation with the growth of the U.S. national debt and the weakening of the dollar against world currencies. On 28 February 2008, the XAU closed for the first time above the limit of 200 points. On 14 March 2008 he finished trading at a record level of 206.37 points. Since the low of November 2000, the profit amounted to 393.1 percent.

On 7 November 2007, The NASDAQ OMX Group announced the acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The acquisition was completed on 24 July 2008. To reflect this change, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange was renamed NASDAQ OMX PHLX.

In the course of the international financial crisis in the U.S. subprime crisis had its origins in 2007, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index began to decline. On 15 October 2008, the XAU ended the trading 95.16 points below the 100 - point mark on 27 October 2008, he graduated to a low of 65.72 points. The loss in March 2008 is 68.2 percent. Many hedge funds and other investors had to sell shares or positions dissolve in order to remain solvent in the face of the credit crisis.

The October 27, 2008 marked the turning point of the descent. From the autumn of 2008, the XAU was back on the way up. On 8 April 2011 the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index with a closing level of 228.95 points at an all time high. Since October 2008, the growth was 247.0 percent. On May 15, 2012, the index closed lower than a year earlier at 141.60 points, up by 38.2 percent.

On May 15, 2012, the XAU ended trading at 141.60 points. The loss since the all-time high on April 8, 2011 is 38.2 percent. On September 19, 2012, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index closed higher than four months earlier at 194.87 points, up by 37.6 percent.

Highs

The overview shows the all-time highs of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index.

Milestones

The table shows the milestones of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index since the all-time low on 17 November 2000.

Annual development

The table shows the development of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index since 1983.

Composition

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index is composed of the following 30 companies (as of: March 3, 2014).