INVEST IN SILVER

INVESTING IN SILVER is definitely a good idea nowadays. There are many reasons why you should start buying silver now. Here is a list that I have concocted to enable you to think twice about where to put your hard earned money. (Circumstances may vary so please consult your own adviser)

INVEST IN SILVER REASON NO. 1: GOLD IS HOARDED WHILE SILVER IS CONSUMED. Gold is not lost, it just take a lot of forms from dentures to jewelry. I consider it a 'morph' metal since it endures and takes different shapes. Silver on the other hand is another story. With the vast applications associated with silver from your LCD, to your mobile phone (it's an excellent conductor) to medical treatments, it will be a wonder to see the levels of supply shrink in the long term.

INVEST IN SILVER REASON NO. 2: SILVER IS STILL DIRT CHEAP. The psyche of the population is still towards gold and not on silver--YET. When the masses realize (and they will soon) that silver is the metal to keep they will all come charging in, depleting supplies and pumping prices sky high.

INVEST IN SILVER REASON NO. 3: GOLD IS EXPENSIVE. You can only keep so much gold because of the current prices and that can be a bummer especially for middle income employees who have limited resources.

These are simple yet observable reasons why we should not stop finding ways to INVEST IN SILVER.

SILVER INVESTMENT TIPS

SILVER INVESTMENT TIPS can be useful especially for the new time investor. Right now silver has breached the 15$ per ounce price and is headed out the window. If you have not started buying, you might want to squeeze a little more cash to get things done. Here are a few SILVER INVESTMENT TIPS that can become really helpful:

SILVER INVESTMENT TIP NO. 1: NO ETFs or PAPER SILVER- paper silver issued by investment companies especially in the US can be manipulated and is worth nothing (sorry for the blunt description). The mess in the US was caused by much greed and dishonesty, especially in fiscal reporting.

SILVER INVESTMENT TIP NO. 2: GO FOR ACTUAL SILVER- whether your holdings are in bullions (which tend to be more expensive), popcorn, bars or whatever you have, as long as the purity is .999 then that is alright. My opinion is if you have small denominations of pure silver in your possession then that can be easier to spend than silver bars. (get the jist?)

SILVER INVESTMENT TIP NO. 3: STERLING IS NOT PURE SILVER- if you were thinking about heading to the SM Mall and buying all the Sterling silver you can get your hands on, then strap your boots for a moment and listen. That is why you need to heed these SILVER INVESTMENT TIPS so that you would understand that sterling is below .999 in purity, it could be .92 or .90, which is certainly very less in value and does not appreciate as much.

SILVER INVESTMENT TIP NO. 4: NUMISMATICS- this refers to collectible items and other coins that are very expensive due to the fact that they were minted for a certain premium. It takes a lot of training to eye the real coins from the fake ones and you might end up with chocolate in the inside.

SILVER INVESTMENT TIP NO. 5: READ CREDIBLE SILVER AUTHORS- there are a lot of gurus out there which are trying to tell you to buy their stuff. Check out their credibility and if they are really who they say they are. One authority that i trust is David Morgan, author of the Silver Investor website.

If you know what you are doing, this kind of investment should protect you in the long run. Whenever there is a great investment like Silver, then surely SILVER INVESTMENT TIPS can aid the aspiring metals investor.

Perfect storm for silver brewing as antibiotics substitute--Silver Institute

Silver may soon replace antibiotics as an alternative for healing, and is increasingly gaining ground in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Friday , 25 Sep 2009

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON -

The over-prescription of antibiotics and the rapid spread of bacteria globally are creating "a perfect storm for silver," which will encourage even more medical use of the precious metal, Silver Institute Executive Director Mike DiRienzo said Thursday.

In a presentation to the Silver Summit in Spokane, DiRienzo detailed new and emerging uses for silver, lead by the metal's growing significance in hospitals and the practice of medicine.

"Currently we're seeing a surge of applications for silver-based biocides in all areas: industrial, commercial and consumer. New products are being introduced almost daily," he said.

Silver may soon replace antibiotics as an alternative to healing, he explained. The use of silver in medical implants is in the testing phase, such as the use of silver in medical implants to reduce the threat of spinal infections.

DiRienzo explained, "Engineers at the University of California, Davis have developed a ‘smart' contact lens designed to measure pressure within the eye. High eye pressure can be a sign of glaucoma, the world's second leading cause of blindness."

"At the heart of the new lens are sensors that measure stress on the cornea and the fluid pressure within the eye. The lens is composed of a type of silicone used in commercial contact lenses and silver particles placed on the lens that act as conductive wires and double as antimicrobial agents," he added.

The new lens could be used by hospitals and doctors to check for glaucoma but also by patients in their homes through a personal computer hooked into a wireless network.

Meanwhile, hospitals are increasingly utilizing silver in equipment surfaces, coatings, and other uses aimed at reducing bacteria growth. Silver is even being used in the paper used in hospital notes.

The Federal Drug Administration is permitting silver to be used in bottled water, DiRienzo noted. It is already being utilized in coatings for equipment used in the processing for milk.

Silver can also be found in germ-killing lockers now being used by the military, he said.

The precious metal is also being increasingly used in textiles, such as in polyester fiber coatings. DiRienzo said India just began using silver to preserve silk fabrics. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi have developed a method to create anti-microbial silk by infusing the delicate material with silver ions.

"This marks the first time that silver ions have been embedded into woven silk although it has been successfully applied to cotton and synthetic textiles," DiRienzo noted.

Among other consumer applications of silver are consumer electronics with millions expected to be invested in silver conductive inks by 2015, DiRienzo explained.

Silver has been used in surface mounting, which allows components to be fastened both mechanically and electronically to printed circuit boards. Components are placed in indentations on circuit boards and molten silver alloy solder flows across its surface to create an instantaneous permanent bond between the two.

Silver is used to concentrate solar-energy for power generation, and in humidifiers to slow the growth of bacteria. It also used in rechargeable solar batteries.

Silver is also reducing bacteria in refrigerators and in washing machines, he added.

DiRienzo noted that "the newest trend is the use of nano-silver particles to deliver silver ions as the nano-technology industry grows and we become more knowledgeable about how nano-particles behave."

He called silver nanotechnology "a huge market," which is being somewhat stymied by a two-year battle with EPA over the designation of the technology as a potentially toxic metal.

The U.S. has the heaviest nanotechnology investment, DiRienzo noted, with Japan is second place.

*This is going to cause a resounding demand for silver. Invest now while prices are still low.

Should you be buying silver now?

by Dr. David Eifrig M.D.(The Daily Wealth)

In 51 countries, the words for silver and money are identical.

Silver has been used as money for longer and in more parts of the world than gold. And silver was money long before the idea of paper and electronic currencies.

With the government creating an unprecedented amount of paper and electronic money, you could find yourself much poorer if you don't own something that holds value through chaotic times. That's why metals like gold and silver make sense in times like this. They have intrinsic value, and they can't be created on a whim... There's only so much gold and silver to go around.

For now, gold is more popular with investors. That's the problem... Lots of people are turning to gold as an investment. They've pushed gold prices up to $950. Gold hit its all-time high in March 2008 at $1,004, and I expect it'll get there again soon.

But silver at about $13 [currently about $14] is not even close to its all-time highs in the $50s (or inflation-adjusted highs above $1,000). As a result, gold is overvalued relative to silver (I'll explain this more in a moment).

Think about it this way: We've all seen ads from companies offering to pay you cash if you mail in your gold jewellery (don't go anywhere near those sharks, by the way). Have you seen any for silver? Me neither.

At the time of writing, you would need 71 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold. This difference in value is wildly out of step with centuries past. And it's not going to stay that way...

The US Congress established its monetary system in 1792 and agreed to mint coins using both gold and silver. At the time, you needed 15 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold. (In other words, what we call the "silver-to-gold ratio" was 15:1.)

That ratio was well established. In fact, 15 ounces of silver had roughly equaled an ounce of gold for the previous four centuries (at least according to my 1932 edition of the US Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook).

But then, in the early 20th century, governments around the world (notably ours) stopped backing their money with gold. People started hoarding gold, driving up its value, and the ratio went haywire, first cracking 71:1 during the Great Depression.

A variety of political and economic factors calmed the gold market and the ratio narrowed (though not to pre-Depression levels). It eventually bottomed out at 20:1 in the 1960s... when the US stopped backing its currency with silver. Soon after, people bought up silver coins, driving the price of silver higher relative to gold.

Silver is incredibly cheap relative to gold

Guess what? Right now, enthusiasm for gold has pushed the ratio back to its 15-year high of 71:1... exactly where it was in the last Depression, when people were crazy for gold. If the ratio dropped back to 15:1, silver would sell for around $60... a 369% increase from prices [at the time of writing] of $13.

I believe you will make a lot more money in silver over the next few years than you can holding ordinary stocks or mutual funds. And it's a no-brainer to hold silver versus gold.

Will the silver-to-gold ratio drop back to the pre-Depression ratio of 15:1? No one knows. But given the reasons for precious metals to rise, it's smarter to own the metal near its all-time low rather than the one near its all-time high. And I think the recent run in silver is just the beginning.

*Great advice for long term investments in silver!

Increased Awareness

Recently, i read many threads and forums in PinoyMoney Talk on the subject of Metals Investing. There were responders, newbies and those who have acted on the pressing need to own metal.

There were sites also recommended by Pinoys abroad like GoldMoney (I use this), BullionVault, Gold Seek and yes, even Ebay for sources of having the metals. We are not endorsing any of these sites, but please, for your own protection, please check the integrity and the safety of your metals before indulging the services of any of these vendors. You might want to take a look at if it is Insured and constantly being audited, also ease of use and the ability of a vendor to cater to the smallest investor is also a big bonus.

There were others in that forum that even went as far as recommending ETFs,which in my opinion is very dangerous since the fund in itself is not reliable. Others have went to numismatics as a hedge for the coming economic storm. Whatever you take, the road is wide, as long as you know what you are doing.

Of significance is the advice to hold the metals in your own keeping--I think that this would be one of the greatest sources of confidence in trying times. One can start owning the 'popcorn' form from the mines and eventually when there is a budget to turn them into bars then this can be done at a reasonable costs. (we can help you with this)

I am glad that many Pinoys are beginning to understand the advocacy that we are having in educating the masses regarding this very urgent and pressing matter.

There is another Pinoy with an educational site regarding investing in the metals and this is his site.

Be Well!