Many people believe in the tangible value of certain precious metals, such as gold and silver. If you're interested in buying gold you need to know what the spot gold price is so you can get the best deal possible.

Spot gold is an over the counter market and the prices are based on supply and demand, so the prices can fluctuate greatly . Spot price refers to the price that was quoted for the silver or gold that will be paid two days from the initial transaction date. Spot prices are determined in London and are fixed twice a day for gold (they are fixed only once a day for silver).

Sales of gold and silver are done in much the same way as currency pairs.  Deals are made against the U.S. dollar. For instance traders can take a long or short position, just like with currency trades, while they take an opposite position with the dollar. You can also trade gold and silver against currencies from other countries too.

Also, similar to the currency trading market, the trades are conducted round the clock from Sunday at 6 p.m. EST to Friday at 5 p.m. EST.  There are three major centers for trading gold and silver: New York, London and Zurich.  There isn't a central market for gold and silver trading.

When the markets in Europe and the New York market are both open, that is when the prices tend to be the highest. That means for traders in the United States there is a time frame of about four hours where the liquidity is at it's highest. Liquidity tends to drop off later in the day closer to the time the markets close.

Due to the round the clock, and round the world, nature of trading gold and silver, huge trades can be conducted virtually instantly which makes for a real rough and tumble trading environment where supply and demand are the only real rules.

If you would like to get involved in this exciting, and volatile, market you can do so. Precious metals can be traded with Forex brokers online. Each broker will have their own fees and restrictions so you should be willing to spend some time shopping around so you find the best fit for you and your needs.

There are many similarities between precious metals trading and Forex trading, one of those similarities is the high risk nature of the market.  This is not the place for an amateur to be. You have to take some time to learn how this market works and even then there aren't any guarantee's.

There are many places online where you can learn the skills, and even set up free practice accounts. This step is vital if you don't want to lose your shirt. Ignorance is the number one way to lose a lot of money when it comes to trading precious metals.

Spot gold price is just one of many of the terms and concepts you'll need to learn before you can expect to have any success trading precious metals. If you're serious about learning this type of trading you can really make a lot of money. Just remember that the amount of success you'll have will be in direct proportion to the knowledge that you have.