- Feb 2, 2006
- 578
- 179
"We will eventually find out that silver at $10 is the bargain of the century."
---Howard Ruff, Financial Columnist
I've been following the silver market for the past year and a half, as well as reading the weekly column of Ted Butler, a silver expert who writes a column for www.InvestmentRarities.com. He has been shouting from the mountain tops for at least the past 5 years about looming shortages of silver on world markets and how this will be a slam dunk investment opportunity for everyday people.
It turns out that demand for silver far outstrips supply, which would normally would make the price of silver many, many times higher than its current price of $10.50 an ounce (as of the close of business on the COMEX today). According to Butler, the only reason that it is so low is because of price manipulation on the part of large institutional investors who've been conspiring to keep prices artificially low in order to avoid financial ruin. What they do is a sell silver in the form of thousands of futures contracts, which creates the illusion of a glut of silver on world markets when in fact there's no real physical silver to back up these contracts. The price of silver on the open market is based solely on this unethical activity (including the silver jewelry that people wear). Butler has complained in writing to the US Attorney General's office as well as various govt regulatory agencies about this price manipulation, all to no avail. What is really telling though, is that not one expert on precious metals has challenged him on his prediction of massive price increases, which I have seen unfold in the past 18 months right in front of my eyes. Since Sept 04 when I started following this commodity, silver is up over 60% with plenty of room to go a lot higher.
What exactly does all this mean for people who don't have deep pockets? At $10 an ounce, silver is going for fire sale prices, but it won't be this cheap too much longer. The general public hasn't caught on to this yet, and the price manipulation is ongoing, though I believe the manipulators are sitting on staggering losses (hundreds of millions of dollars) and are on the verge of bankruptcy. When these 2 factors change (and they HAVE to change--it's a question of when, not if) --KaBLAMMO--the price of silver will go way, way up--probably forever. The demand for silver for industrial uses (it is used as a conductor in just about anything that runs on electricity) as well as for jewelry in China and India continues unabated. Couple that with the fact that all of the world's known physical inventories are very low and we've got a severe supply/demand imbalance. This provides interested parties with the opportunity of a lifetime to buy very low and sell very high. The headlines for this upcoming scandal have yet to be written. When this house of cards collapses, it’ll make the Enron scandal look like a kindergarten picnic.
All interested persons should visit the Investment Rarities website and click on the "Ted Butler's Weekly Commentary" link in the upper left hand corner. There is an archive of his columns going back to 2000. If you get bit by the silver bug and decide to take the plunge (you can get started for as little as $14 per order), do your due diligence first: double check my research, do some of your own, and decide for yourself what you want to do. I am not in the business of giving investment advice, but my silver portfolio has been kicking butt lately, and I plan to make more purchases very soon. I wouldn't advise ordering from Investment Rarities, as I find their prices to be a little on the high side (though the information on the site is excellent and they are a reputable company). I buy most of my silver from The American Precious Metals Exchange (at www.APMEX.com) and the Silver Eagle Coin Company. They both have the most reasonable prices I have found so far, and are reputable companies (with fast delivery).
Questions? Comments?
---Howard Ruff, Financial Columnist
I've been following the silver market for the past year and a half, as well as reading the weekly column of Ted Butler, a silver expert who writes a column for www.InvestmentRarities.com. He has been shouting from the mountain tops for at least the past 5 years about looming shortages of silver on world markets and how this will be a slam dunk investment opportunity for everyday people.
It turns out that demand for silver far outstrips supply, which would normally would make the price of silver many, many times higher than its current price of $10.50 an ounce (as of the close of business on the COMEX today). According to Butler, the only reason that it is so low is because of price manipulation on the part of large institutional investors who've been conspiring to keep prices artificially low in order to avoid financial ruin. What they do is a sell silver in the form of thousands of futures contracts, which creates the illusion of a glut of silver on world markets when in fact there's no real physical silver to back up these contracts. The price of silver on the open market is based solely on this unethical activity (including the silver jewelry that people wear). Butler has complained in writing to the US Attorney General's office as well as various govt regulatory agencies about this price manipulation, all to no avail. What is really telling though, is that not one expert on precious metals has challenged him on his prediction of massive price increases, which I have seen unfold in the past 18 months right in front of my eyes. Since Sept 04 when I started following this commodity, silver is up over 60% with plenty of room to go a lot higher.
What exactly does all this mean for people who don't have deep pockets? At $10 an ounce, silver is going for fire sale prices, but it won't be this cheap too much longer. The general public hasn't caught on to this yet, and the price manipulation is ongoing, though I believe the manipulators are sitting on staggering losses (hundreds of millions of dollars) and are on the verge of bankruptcy. When these 2 factors change (and they HAVE to change--it's a question of when, not if) --KaBLAMMO--the price of silver will go way, way up--probably forever. The demand for silver for industrial uses (it is used as a conductor in just about anything that runs on electricity) as well as for jewelry in China and India continues unabated. Couple that with the fact that all of the world's known physical inventories are very low and we've got a severe supply/demand imbalance. This provides interested parties with the opportunity of a lifetime to buy very low and sell very high. The headlines for this upcoming scandal have yet to be written. When this house of cards collapses, it’ll make the Enron scandal look like a kindergarten picnic.
All interested persons should visit the Investment Rarities website and click on the "Ted Butler's Weekly Commentary" link in the upper left hand corner. There is an archive of his columns going back to 2000. If you get bit by the silver bug and decide to take the plunge (you can get started for as little as $14 per order), do your due diligence first: double check my research, do some of your own, and decide for yourself what you want to do. I am not in the business of giving investment advice, but my silver portfolio has been kicking butt lately, and I plan to make more purchases very soon. I wouldn't advise ordering from Investment Rarities, as I find their prices to be a little on the high side (though the information on the site is excellent and they are a reputable company). I buy most of my silver from The American Precious Metals Exchange (at www.APMEX.com) and the Silver Eagle Coin Company. They both have the most reasonable prices I have found so far, and are reputable companies (with fast delivery).
Questions? Comments?
