Silver shines but equities decline (Silver breaks $10/ounce! 22-year high!)

Yahoo/Financial Times ^ | 3-2-06 | Dave Shellock

[Atlas Sneezed]

The prospect of further rises in interest rates in the eurozone unnerved both equity and bond markets on Thursday.

...

The price of silver rose to a fresh 22-year high above $10 an ounce amid expectations that a silver exchange-traded fund would soon receive US regulatory approval.

[nonkultur]

Cool just got my 2006 First Strike MS-69 Silver Eagles.

[jim_trent]

Wake me when it gets to $45-$50 per ounce again.

[CodeToad]

The only people I hear poo-poo the problems with fiat money are either those that think the term means "conspiracy theory" or those who make money directly or indirectly on interest rates.

[Travis McGee]

At this point, I can only conclude that they are in the real estate or equities selling businesses, and they are trying to make some more deals while they can.

[Travis McGee]

Hey, I'll buy all of your $5 dollar rounds for $6 bucks, since we're pals!

[Travis McGee]

Exactly. And the "conspiracy theory" or "tinfoil" rap is totally unmerited and only shows the extent of their own brainwashing, as I demonstrated above with all of the mainstream and reputable sources.

[Lurker]

I'll bet you will!

Seriesly though for years silver rounds were a great value. I don't know if I'd pay ten bucks for them but I was buying 5-10 a month back when they were going for $4-5 each.

It was less painful than buying gold, and easier to find. Not many places kept 1/10th oz rounds of gold. All you could find were 1 oz and that was pretty pricey even when gold was at $350 or so.

So I did the next best thing and stocked up on inexpensive silver rounds. Besides I think they'll be easier to liquidate in a SHTF scenario. They'd also attract less unwelcome attention IMO.

Am I advocating that everyone sell off their 401ks and go buy bullion? Of course not. That would be just plain silly. But I do think it's prudent to have a few tubes of 'hard money' locked up with the other metals I invest in. (Copper, brass, and lead.)

Just my two cents.. (Hey I made a funny..get it? two cents...I kill me.)

Aren't you supposed to be writing something?

Back to work you slug!

L

[Travis McGee]

I think that for SHTF, silver beats gold hands down in every area but one: compactness. If you have to bug out, it's better to haul gold. I call it "flight capital," as in: how much wealth can you pack aboard a Cessna 150? Or in a backpack, or hidden inside the lining of a coat?

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

As a general investing rule I avoid buying something that is at a 22 year high.

Generally, I sell anything that hits a 22-year high, and wait for a 22-year low before buying.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Generally, fiat currencies are worthless.

Ferrari currencies are a whole 'nother story, though. ))):~)>

(BTW, the smiley is Mohammed having a bad turbine day. Let the riots begin!)

[djf]

Literally true, but not figuratively or financially true.

The United States once held the greatest silver stocks of all time. Over twenty BILLION ounces.

It's gone. It's in the landfills in old busted TV's and such. Broken mirrors. Hundreds of billions of old negatives sitting around.

Estimates are that above ground available stocks of silver are now less than a billion ounces. All of it getting used fairly rapidly. And while your averageproduct that uses silver only uses 25 cents worth or so, it is absolutely indispensibe to the product.

To put it in perspective, there are somewheres between 4-5 billion ounces of gold avalable worldwide.

So an ounce of silver is an ounce of silver. Keep talkin that way. But remember...

It's getting used up. And, unlike paper used in a printing press, it don't grow on trees!

[RightWhale]

I don't ever intend to do anything with it

Silverware, platters, candlesticks. Then somebody will have to polish it before guests come over.

[ndt]

"It's getting used up. And, unlike paper used in a printing press, it don't grow on trees!"

I understand what you're saying about finite supplies. If however silver were to become a rarity, in the uses to which it is currently put, it would no longer be used. If silver becomes prohibitively expensive, less expensive alternatives would come to the forefront for all the uses to which silver were not absolutely critical, resulting in a reduction of a demand and lowering of cost.

Is it possible to get 100, 300 even 500% increase on your investment, even accounting for inflation? Absolutely. Will that ever make you rich? No it wont, unless you were pretty close to being rich to begin with.

Take a look at the silver crash of 1893. At the low (after the crash) silver was selling for .62 cents per oz. That is the equivalent in todays dollars of roughly $12.63 per oz (I used this).

So if one oz of silver in 1893 had the purchasing power of $12.63 (todays dollars) and today sells for $10 an ounce, that means you only had to wait 113 years to lose 20% of your value.

That same .63 cents invested in the broad U.S. stock market would be worth thousand of times that today. Not double, not triple, but thousands. Such is the power of compound interest, something you don't get by holding precious metals.

[Sic Luceat Lux]

Read from 22 on for a laugh.

Just got to your post and read the above. I'll bet that many of the folks who belittle investing in gold and silver coins/ bullion bars -are most likely stock brokers. Every stock broker I've ever discussed gold and silver investments with, has finally admitted that they hate to see their clients money 'trapped' in gold and silver. By that I mean they will definitely not get that amount of money from their clients to do their buy/sell's ...thus losing commissions on that tied-up money until it's freed up again.

Regardless, I think gold and silver will continue their upward spiral. I think silver will pony over $11 this month - possibly sooner; and the sky's the limit on silver, gold, platinum and all the commodities - if Iran shuts down the Strait of Hormuz.

[Sic Luceat Lux]

Travis, even though I have invested heavily in silver bullion bars the past two months, I'd never invest more than 15% of total investment funds in one area of investment.

ndt, you're a stock broker correct?

[Sic Luceat Lux]

Strategerist, is it you here who is the stock broker?

[ndt]

"ndt, you're a stock broker correct?"

Nope software programmer.

[Sic Luceat Lux]

Hey, I'll buy all of your $5 dollar rounds for $6 bucks, since we're pals!

lol

[Sic Luceat Lux]

O.k., was just wondering, thanks.

[US_MilitaryRules]

I took a gamble in stocks. Lots of shares at .10. PTSC You might want to do some DD!