Welcome!

PHYS is a fund that invests in physical gold bullion.

http://sprottphysicalgoldtrust.com/

It is a great way to get into the gold market without buying physical gold.  The price is also much more attractive than the physical bullion or the GLD ETF.  One quick note about buying PHYS: make sure you check the intraday premium/discount calculation available on the website.  The lower the better because it means you are getting the shares closer to the actual price of the bullion.  PHYS generally follows the price of gold but since it is a much more liquid asset, it may go up or down when gold does the opposite.  Don't fret, generally speaking, it simply means some large entity is buying or selling in a large quantity and somewhat manipulating the price.  Over time, PHYS will mirror the price of gold.

Please ask if anyone has questions.

PSLV is the silver equivalent to PHYS