Filed Pursuant To Rule 433
Registration No. 333-151056
July 14, 2008
As Good as Gold: A Standard for the Ages
The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit. Ralph Waldo
Emerson
CHALLENGE
Among all precious metals, golds appeal is legendary.
Since the beginning of time, gold has propelled the growth
of empires, the birth of nations and the evolution of the
worlds financial institutions.
To what can we attribute the enduring influence and
intrigue of gold?
SOLUTION
Virtually indestructible, highly malleable, ductile and
impervious to tarnishing, gold is among the most beautiful
and useful elements in the world. Gold can be hammered
into sheets so thin that light can pass through, and a
single ounce can be drawn into a wire fifty miles long.
Gold artifacts and coins buried thousands of years ago,
when unearthed, look as lustrous as the day they were
created. Golds chemical and physical properties have long
made it coveted by artisans and industry alike. But above
its utility to craftsmen and industrialists, gold has been
most revered as a form of currency.
BENEFITS
People typically have not sought or owned gold for golds
sake, but for what it represents. Above its aesthetic and
monetary worth, gold imparts autonomy. It offers freedom
from unpredictability, from a haunting fear of the
unknown. Its value has weathered centuries fraught with
political upheaval, economic turmoil and inconceivable
cataclysmic events. Commonly accepted in many parts of the
world as payment, gold is perhaps the most lasting and
trustworthy store of financial value known to man.
GOLD THROUGH THE CENTURIES
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4000 BC
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Cultures in Eastern and Central Europe begin to use gold to fashion
decorative objects. |
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1500 BC
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The immense gold-bearing regions of Nubia make Egypt a wealthy
nation, as gold becomes the recognized standard medium of
exchange for international trade. |
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560 BC
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The first coins made purely from gold are minted in Lydia, a kingdom of Asia Minor. |
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344 BC
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Alexander the Great crosses the Hellespont with 40,000 men, beginning one of the most extraordinary campaigns in military history and
seizing vast quantities of gold from the Persian Empire. |
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58 BC
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After a victorious campaign in Gaul, Julius Caesar brings back
enough gold to give 200 coins to each of his soldiers and repay all
of Romes debts. |
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814 AD
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Charlemagne overruns the Avars and plunders their vast quantities
of gold, making it possible for him to take control over much of
Western Europe. |
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1284 AD
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Venice introduces the gold Ducat, which soon becomes the most
popular coin in the world and remains so for more than five centuries. |
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1377 AD
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Great Britain shifts to a monetary system based on gold and silver. |
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1511 AD
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King Ferdinand of Spain says to explorers, Get gold, humanely if
you can, but at all hazards, get gold, launching massive expeditions to the newly discovered lands of the Western Hemisphere. |
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1817 AD
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Great Britain introduces the Sovereign, a small gold coin valued at
one pound sterling. |
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1848 AD
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John Marshall finds flakes of gold while building a sawmill for
John Sutter near Sacramento, California triggering the California
Gold Rush and hastening the settlement of the American West. |
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1868 AD
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George Harrison, while digging up stones to build a house, discovers
gold in South Africa the source of nearly 40% of all gold mined
since then. |
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1900 AD
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The Gold Standard Act places the US officially on the gold standard,
committing the US to maintain a fixed exchange rate in relation to
other countries on the gold standard. |
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1944 AD
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The Bretton Woods Agreement establishes a gold exchange
standard and creates the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank. |
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1967 AD
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South Africa produces the first Kruggerrand. This 1-ounce bullion
coin becomes the favorite among investors around the world. |
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1971 AD
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The US terminates all gold sales or purchases, thereby ending
the conversion of dollars held by foreign governments and central
banks into gold. Two years later, the US officially abandons the
gold standard and all currencies are allowed to float freely without
regard to the price of gold. |
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1990 AD
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The US becomes the worlds second largest gold-producing
nation, behind South Africa. |
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2004 AD
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Central banks renew the 5-year Washington Accord agreement,
limiting their gold sales to 500 tons per year. |
State Street Global
Markets, LLC
State Street
Financial Center
One
Lincoln Street
Boston, MA
02111
866.320.4053
spdrgoldshares.com
On May 21, 2008, the Trust changed its name to SPDR Gold Trust. Prior to this date
it was known as streetTRACKS® Gold Trust.
streetTRACKS® is a
registered service mark of State Street Corporation.
The SPDR trademark is used under license from The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. No financial
product offered by SPDR® Gold Trust, or its affiliates is sponsored, endorsed, sold or
promoted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill). McGraw-Hill makes no representation or
warranty, express or implied, to the owners of any financial product or any member of the public
regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in financial products
particularly or the ability of the index on which financial products are based to track general
stock market performance. McGraw-Hill is not responsible for and has not participated in any
determination or calculation made with respect to issuance or redemption of financial products.
McGraw-Hill has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or
trading of financial products.
This material must be delivered with a prospectus. The prospectus contains material information
about the Trust and its Shares which is material and/or which may be important to you. You should
read the entire prospectus, including Risk Factors before making an investment decision about
the Shares.
SPDR® Gold Trust has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the
SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the
prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for
more complete information about the Trust and this offering. You may get these documents for free
by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Trust or any Authorized
Participant will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll free at
1-866-320-4053 or contacting State Street Global Markets, LLC, One Lincoln Street, Attn: SPDR Gold
Shares, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02111.
STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document includes forward-looking statements which generally relate to future events or
future performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such
as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict,
potential or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements (other
than statements of historical fact) included in this document that address activities, events or
developments that will or may occur in the future, including such matters as changes in commodity
prices and market conditions (for gold and the Shares), the Trusts operations, the Sponsors plans
and references to the Trusts future success and other similar matters are forward-looking
statements. Investors are cautioned that these statements are only projections. Actual events or
results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses the
Sponsor made based on its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as other factors believed appropriate in the circumstances. Whether or not
actual results and developments will conform to the Sponsors expectations and predictions,
however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to
fluctuations in the price of gold; reductions in the amount of gold represented by each Share due
to the payment of Trust expenses and the impact of the termination of the fee reduction under the
Trust Indenture; purchasing activity in the gold market associated with the purchase of Baskets
from the Trust; the lack of experience of the Sponsor and its management in operating an investment
vehicle such as the Trust; unanticipated operational or trading problems; the lack of protections
associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 or the protections afforded by the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936; the lack of
a market for the Shares; the level of support from the World Gold Council; competition from other
methods of investing in gold; the impact of large-scale distress sales of gold in times of crisis;
the impact of substantial sales of gold by the official sector; the effect of a widening of
interest rate differentials between the cost of money and the cost of gold; the loss, damage, theft
or restrictions on access to the Trusts gold; the lack of adequate sources of recovery if the
Trusts gold is lost, damaged, stolen or destroyed, including a lack of insurance; the failure of
gold bullion allocated to the Trust to meet the London Good Delivery Standards; the failure of
sub-custodians to exercise due care in the safekeeping of the Trusts gold; the limited ability of
the Trustee and the Custodian to take legal action against sub-custodians; the insolvency of the
Custodian; the Trusts obligation to reimburse the Purchaser and the Market Agent for certain
liabilities in the event the Sponsor fails to indemnify them; competing claims over ownership of
intellectual property rights related to the Trust; and other factors identified in the Risk
Factors section of the Prospectus filed with the SEC and in other filings made by the Trust from
time to time with the SEC. Consequently, all the forward-looking statements made in this material
are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results
or developments the Sponsor or Marketing Agent anticipates will be realized or, even if
substantially realized, that they will result in the expected consequences to, or have the expected
effects on, the Trusts operations or the value of the Shares. Neither the Sponsor, Marketing Agent
nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the forward-looking
statements. Neither the Trust, Marketing Agent nor the Sponsor is under a duty to update any of the
forward-looking statements
to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect a change in
the Sponsors or Marketing Agents expectation or projections.
The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of the gold held by the Trust (less Trust
expenses) and fluctuations in the price of gold could materially adversely affect an investment in
the Shares.
Investors should be aware that there is no assurance that gold will maintain its long-term value in
terms of purchasing power in the future. In the event that the price of gold declines, the Sponsor
expects the value of an investment in the Shares to similarly decline.
Shareholders will not have the protections associated with ownership of shares in an investment
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or the protections afforded by the
Commodity Exchange Act of 1936. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not required to register under such act. Neither the Sponsor
nor the Trustee is subject to regulation by the CFTC. Shareholders will not have the regulatory
protections provided to investors in CEA-regulated instruments or commodity pools.
For more information: State Street Global Markets, LLC, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA, 02111
866.320.4053 www.spdrgoldshares.com
Marketed by State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors, One
Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111-2900 IBG.GLD.HIS.0608.v1
Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value