In Nov of 2004, the Streetracks Gold ETF was launched under the symbol "GLD"... since it's launch just 26 months ago, GLD has grown from next to nothing to now having accumulated over 450 tons of Gold Bullion holdings... 450 tons of Gold Bullion may not sound like alot, but when put it into the context of time, value, and Central Bank Gold holdings, it's a very impressive amount to accumulate in the very short time span of 26 months.

Incredibly, the Streetracks Gold ETF Gold Bullion holdings have grown from next to nothing to becoming larger than the Gold Bullion holdings of a minimum of approx. 67 of the world's larger Central Banks in just 26 short months... currently, only the Central Banks of approx. 8 countries have Gold Bullion holdings larger than that of GLD, those countries being; China, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA... and further, the GLD Gold Bullion holdings will likely surpass the Central Bank Gold holdings of China, Portugal, and Spain within the next 12 months, and those of Japan and the Netherlands within the next 18 months... then leaving less than a handful of Central Banks that'll have Gold Bullion holdings that exceed GLD alone, and that's just within the next approx. 18 months.

Pictures of the Streetracks Gold ETF Bullion Holdings... Held in Trust at the HSBC Vault in London  ...

While the Streetracks Gold ETF is very exciting... that's only the tip of the iceberg... where things get really interesting is;
because the concept of Gold ETF's are a newer phenomenon, and are a relatively new investment vehicle... Gold ETF's are only just now being planned for launches in India, China, & Europe... it gets better; there isn't just one ETF being proposed for each country like India and China, there are multiple Gold ETF's planned... in fact, it was only just reported in the news a couple days ago that India is currently seeing a flood of applications to create new Gold ETF's... but the picture gets better yet; when the Gold ETF's get rolling in India and China, the appetite for Gold investment in India and China is much, much larger than the North America market (plus they have a combined population of over 2 billion people) I wouldn't be surprised if several or more of the Chinese or Indian Gold ETF's eventually surpassed the Streetracks Gold ETF in terms of Gold Bullion holdings in due time.

If the Gold ETF's in India and China gain traction and achieve levels of success similar to the North American based Streetracks Gold ETF... investment demand for Gold Bullion just from the global Gold ETF's would be enormous, resulting in the absorption of a large percentage of the annual global Gold mine supply.

From a numbers point of view;
if new Gold ETF's planned for China, India, and Europe absorb similar (or even slightly less) amounts of Gold Bullion as the Streetracks Gold ETF... in a relatively short period of time (say within the next 24 - 48 months) global Gold ETF demand could absorb an amount equal to approx. 1/2 of the entire global annual Gold mine production... which would place enormous demand pressures on the price... that level of demand from just the global Gold ETF's would likely maintain a floor on the Gold price much higher than current levels... keep in mind while all these new Gold ETF trends and influences are happening for the first time in history, the annual global production of Gold is flat, and mine production is unlikely to increase anytime soon.

Another positive trend emerging in the Gold ETF's is; Gold ETF Investors are proving they have a longer-term investment outlook... during the sizeable price consolidation in the price of Gold during 2006, investors in the Streetracks Gold ETF hardly sold any of their Gold holdings on an overall basis, indicating that much of the investment demand in the Gold ETF's is for longer-term investment purposes... which ultimately will keep increasingly larger amounts of Gold off the market, tucked safely away in deep Bullion vaults, away from the hands of certain Central Banks that could use the inventory to manipulate currencies for nefarious purposes.