Gold Buying

LATE NOVEMBER'S drop in the gold price spooked many analysts and traders,writes Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.But it saw users of our physical precious-metals exchange the largest such provider to private investors online seize the opportunity to add to their holdings, building what one of them calls"monetary collapse insurance"ahead of 2013.The Gold Investor Index is based on actual gold buying and selling data from the 43,000 people worldwide who have now used BullionVault.By taking the balance of net buyers over net sellers,it shows whether more people are buying or selling gold, or choosing to sit tight.And in November 2012,the Gold Investor Index rose for the fourth month running,reaching a six-month high of 56.5 from October's level of 56.0.