Precious Metals

Gold

For thousands of years, gold has been a storehouse of value, medium of exchange, a standard for government-issued paper currency and the most highly prized metal for jewelry items. In this century, gold has also found important uses in medicine, technology and industry. It has long been a traditional "safe haven" for investors in times of political and economic uncertainty. Capital Asset offers gold to physical investors in units of 25 ounces.

Silver

In the Anglo-American world, silver's use as a monetary standard dates from 800 AD, and significantly predates that of gold. Britain's pound sterling originally meant a pound of silver. Silver is still used today in coins around the world and has numerous applications in photography, technology and jewelry. Silver is available to investors in units of 1,000 ounces.

Platinum

One of the many attractions of platinum is its scarcity. The extremes to which man must go to extract this metal from the earth range from delving beneath the frozen wilderness of Siberia, to plumbing the heated depths of the Merensky Reef. Gold and silver, long prized for their beauty and rarity, are relatively abundant when compared to the small quantities available for man's exploitation. Platinum's primary uses are in autocatalyst production, jewelry and investment fabrication into bullion and bullion coins. Capital Asset offers platinum in units of 10 ounces.

Palladium

Lightest and lowest-melting of platinum metals. This gray-white metal element occurs alloyed with platinum and iridium in Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa. Easily worked but not easily tarnished, it is used in jewelry, dental alloys, watchmaking, surgical instruments, and as a catalyst. The pure metal is used in electrical contacts in telephone equipment. It was isolated in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it in honor of the newly discovered asteroid Pallas.

Industrial Metals

Aluminum

This metallic element is the most abundant in the earth's crust, but is found only in combination with other ores, chiefly in bauxite. Having good conductive and thermal properties, it is used to form over 100 hard, light, corrosion-resistant alloys. Aluminum became broadly obtainable and relatively inexpensive only after the discovery, little more than a century ago, of how to distill it by electrolytic reduction. Global refined production of primary aluminum tops 19 million metric tonnes annually. Capital Asset investors can place aluminum in their accounts in units of 5 metric tonnes.

Copper

Trading in the copper market is just about as old as civilization itself. Copper coins and artifacts date back to early Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures where it was valued for its attractive red luster, its malleability and, as affirmed by its survival in ancient monuments, its resistance to corrosion. Copper was in wide use in Britain long before the Romans arrived and made eager employment of it in their armaments. Today's uses of copper center primarily in its industrial, electric and telecommunications applications. Annual production of copper typically exceeds 10 million metric tonnes. Capital Asset offers copper to investors in units of 5 metric tonnes.

Lead

This base metal was discovered in pre-history and has had innumerable uses down through the ages. Lead's high resistance to corrosion and low conductivity make it a good choice for several electrical, industrial and plumbing applications, but its primary use is in batteries. Approximately 63% of the lead processed each year is used in battery production. Worldwide production of lead averages about 5.4 million metric tonnes each year. Capital Asset offers lead in units of 5 metric tonnes.

Nickel

Of all the base metals, none offers more diversified uses than nickel. It is alloyed with many other metals and its actual and potential applications are myriad. The primary use (about 64%) of nickel is in the fabrication of stainless steel; other major uses are in non-ferrous alloys and electroplating. Nickel is similar to iron in a number of properties, such as high-melting point, extra hard strength and lively response to magnetism. Annual production of nickel is approximately 850,000 metric tonnes. Capital Asset investors can purchase nickel for their accounts in units of 1 metric tonne.

Tin

Tin is often referred to as the "survivor metal". Among things tin has had to survive is an unjust reputation for being "tinny", in the sense of being cheap and flimsy. In fact, early tin cans bore an instruction that they were to be opened with hammer and chisel! Today, aluminum is largely substituted for canning, with the chief use of tin in the manufacture of tinned plate. Other uses include solder production and the fabrication of certain chemicals and alloys. Only about 200,000 metric tonnes of tin are mined each year. Capital Asset offers investors tin in units of 1 metric tonne.

Zinc

Zinc is commonly mined as a co-product with lead and both metals can depend on growing core markets for their consumption: lead in its use in batteries and zinc on galvanizing. Nearly half the demand for zinc, approximately 47%, is in galvanizing steel and other metals. Additional uses of zinc are in the creation of brass and bronze, various alloys and in chemical production. About 7.2 million metric tonnes are produced globally each year. Capital Asset investors can trade zinc in units of 5 metric tonnes.

Currencies

Capital Asset offers its clients the ability to deposits funds in several currencies; Sterling, Euros and UAE Dirham in addition to US Dollars.
As all physical commodities are bought and sold in US Dollars, Capital Asset converts other currency deposits to US Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate on the date the currency is received.