The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index, also known as the HUI Gold Index, is an index of publicly-traded gold-mining companies useful for tracking gold prices.

NYSE ARCA GOLD BUGS INDEX (^HUI) Components

The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index, better known as the HUI Gold Index, is an index of publicly-traded gold-mining companies that is useful for tracking short-term trends in gold prices. The two main differences between them are that the NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index exclusively tracks gold-mining stocks, whereas the XAU index tracks companies involved in both gold and silver mining, along with including companies that hedge their production beyond 18 months. The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index, better known as the HUI Gold Index, is an index of publicly-traded gold-mining companies that is useful for tracking short-term trends in gold prices. The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index gives additional weighting to its three largest holdings, re-evaluating its composition four times per year.
Gold mining companies make considerable investments in land rights, mining equipment, and workers in order to mine and process gold. When it was first launched, the index had a starting value of 200, which sank to 40 by Dec. 2000 and rose to a high of almost 575 in March 2011.﻿﻿ ﻿﻿ The index roughly doubled between March 2020 and Oct. 2020, increasing from 160 to roughly 330.
While you cannot invest or trade directly in the HUI, or any index, it can provide information to use in your analysis, such as by identifying gold-mining companies that may be especially sensitive to changes in gold prices.

NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index

Demurrage refers to the storage costs for a currency or commodity. It also refers to a penalty paid by cargo ship operators.

In finance, the term “demurrage” has two main meanings. Thankfully, when the third-party charter company that operates his vessels takes more than three days to load or unload his vessels, they are required to pay him a demurrage fee. When a chartered ship fails to load or unload its cargo in the timeframe set out in its contract, it may owe the owner of the vessel a penalty fee known as a demurrage. The first relates to the carrying costs of currencies and commodities, while the second refers to a penalty paid by companies who charter cargo ships. For instance, some would argue that demurrage costs are helpful because they encourage investors to deploy their savings into the real economy rather than “hoarding” tem in inert assets.

Demurrage

The New York Mercantile Exchange is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange and a part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange and is today part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group), which is the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange and is today part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group), which is the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace. Much larger volumes are traded in interest rate futures, options, and forward contracts that trade on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
NYMEX is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with the promotion of competitive and efficient futures markets as well as the protection of investors against manipulation, abusive trade practices, and fraud. CME Group consists of four exchanges: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), NYMEX, and the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX). Given that stock and commodity trading predates the invention of the telegraph, the telephone, or the computer by hundreds of years, it is fairly obvious that face-to-face human trading and trading pits were the standard way of doing business for a long time.

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)

Precious metals are rare metals that have a high economic value, such as gold, silver, and platinum.

Precious metals are metals that are rare and have a high economic value, due to various factors, including their scarcity, use in industrial processes, and role throughout history as a store of value. Traders and investors can buy precious metals through several mechanisms, including owning physical bullion or coin, derivatives markets, or precious metals ETFs.
In the past, precious metals played a central role in the global economy because many currencies were either physically minted using precious metals or else backed by them, as in the case of the gold standard. Several factors account for an increased desire to hoard the shiny yellow metal:
1.  **Systemic financial concerns:** When banks and money are perceived as unstable and/or political stability is questionable, gold has often been sought out as a safe store of value.
2.  **Inflation:** When real rates of return in the equity, bond, or real estate markets are negative, people regularly flock to gold as an asset that will maintain its value.
3.  **War or political crises:** War and political upheaval have always sent people into a gold-hoarding mode. Precious metals are metals that are rare and have a high economic value, due to various factors, including their scarcity, use in industrial processes, and role throughout history as a store of value. As an investment, precious metals are often sought after to diversify portfolios and as a store of value, particularly as a hedge against inflation and during times of financial uncertainty.

Precious Metals

A troy ounce is a unit of measure for precious metal weight that dates back to the Middle Ages. One troy ounce is equal to 31.10 grams.

A troy ounce is a unit of measure used for weighing precious metals that dates back to the Middle Ages. When the price of gold is said to be US $653/ounce, the ounce being referred to is a troy ounce, not a standard ounce. Because a troy ounce is heavier than a standard ounce, there are 14.6 troy ounces — compared to 16 standard ounces — in one pound. A troy pound (12 troy ounces) is lighter than a standard pound (14.6 troy ounces). The troy ounce is the only measure of the troy weighting system that is still used in modern times.

Troy Ounce

A vault receipt is a document that shows ownership of precious metals stored in a bank, warehouse, or depository. 

A vault receipt is a legal document given to the owner of a futures contract whose underlying asset is stored in a vault. A standard vault receipt will include important details such as the location of the metals, their reference numbers, the name of their owner, any ongoing storage fees associated with the metals, and the date of the receipt. By holding this vault receipt, the designated owner is entitled to withdraw or relocate the metals to another facility, although doing so may prevent them from selling those metals on the exchange. Most buyers choose to keep their metals stored in their existing vault, since relocating them is expensive and can prevent the owner from selling the metals on the exchange. This is especially common in the case of precious metals, where new owners either have the option of keeping the metals stored at their current facility, or else transferring them to a facility of their choice.

Metals Trading

More in Trading

Terms in Metals Trading

NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index

Demurrage

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)

Precious Metals

Troy Ounce

Vault Receipt