Philippines braces for first typhoon of year

MANILA // Nineteen fishermen were reported missing as the Philippines' first typhoon of the year barreled toward the country's east coast today, prompting flight and ferry cancellations, school closures and warnings of floods and landslides. The military and coast guard have launched a search for the fishermen, who ventured to sea despite the rough weather in northeastern Catanduanes province, officials said.

Thirty-three of the country's 81 provinces and the capital Manila have been placed under storm alert, and residents in low-lying communities and near mountains and hills have been told to evacuate at any sign of danger. "Don't wait for the wall of water or rolling boulders," the social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman said. "Families should evacuate preventively if they're in the path of the typhoon."

Typhoon Conson, with sustained winds of 120kmph and gusts up to 150kmph, was expected to make landfall late today in mountainous Aurora or Quezon provinces in the country's rural northeast. The storm is then expected to cross rice-growing Luzon island on Wednesday and head out to the South China Sea, the government chief weather forecaster Prisco Nilo said. Big waves overturned three boats, carrying nine fishermen off Pandan township in Catanduanes. Villagers rescued one fisherman but eight others remained missing, the regional army spokesman Major Harold Cabunoc said. In nearby Bagamanok town, a villager reported that 11 men failed to return to shore after venturing out to sea to fish despite the rough weather, Mr Cabunoc said, adding authorities have warned fishermen to stay on shore due to the bad weather. The newly elected President Benigno Aquino III, facing his first possible natural calamity, has ordered disaster-response agencies to stand by to provide help, Ms Soliman said. Several domestic flights were canceled or diverted. Grade schools were closed in Manila and nearby regions. Sea travel by small ferries was suspended, stranding more than 2,000 people in ports on Luzon, Coast guard chief Wilfredo Tamayo said. Ms Soliman met budget secretary Florencio Abad Tuesday to discuss how to replenish the government's calamity fund, which was heavily used to rebuild communities devastated by back-to-back typhoons that killed nearly 1,000 people last year. About 20 typhoons and tropical storms lash the country each year. * Associated Press

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi

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Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi

Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia

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How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.

Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”

Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”

By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.

You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.

You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.