Anyone buying silver?

[Guest Revelator]

Just curious. Bit of a dip going on right now. I've been thinking about it, maybe some 1 oz rounds from Apmex or Northwest.

[jcoosi]

I have quite a bit of silver that was handed down on bought some a few years back.I have been thinking about buying some more since gold is so much higher.

[UncleJak]

I have a bit, but with the dip, I will probably get more. I am sure it will gain again.

[Guest USMC 2013]

This is a fantastic buying opportunity for silver and gold, IMO. I am thinking about picking some up from the local coin store on the way home myself. Once the government goes through with QE3 I believe silver prices will take a nice trip up.

Joe

[atlas3025]

Judging by what France and Greece did yesterday, I suspect Gold and Silver are wise. The euro is about to go TU.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I keep thinkin ought to buy some more, but have been in the habit of only buying on significant dips. Last silver purchased was in 2010 for $16.74 (including commission and shipping) and highest ever paid was 2009 at $18.12 (including commission and shipping). Maybe current pricing is a "bargain" and will never be lower, but OTOH current prices are lots higher than a couple of years ago. Metal prices can historically surge for years and then "inexplicably" drop back to nearly zilch. Maybe that will never happen again in the future, but has repeatedly happened in the past. Perhaps it isn't likely I'd pay $29 then in a couple of years it falls back below $10, but from a historical perspective such ain't impossible. It would be annoying to get stung that bad.

Investing value is one thing. Investing in beanie babies or baseball cards is something else entirely. Nothing is ever worth any more than what some other fool is willing to pay. There is some inherent value in the metals, and then there is the mass psychosis market value. If people become less worried about our imminent economic ruin, they ain't gonna be so inclined to pay thru the nose for a "useless" chunk of shiny metal. Possibly IF nothing horrible goes wrong in the next year or two, and IF Romney gets elected, then even IF the economy doesn't get better, people may get so irrationally exuberant that they become unwilling to pay more than $10 per ounce for silver next year. In such case, after so many newcomers get seriously stung on $30 to $40 "sure thing" silver buys, they will flee the market in droves and silver could stay in the gutter for years. Hard to say. I might take a bath on silver I paid $18 for, much less silver I might pay $29 for today, compounding my previous folly.

Predicting the future or deciding when to buy/sell, there's no good way. Technical analysis is not drastically different from superstitious numerology and I'm not versed in much technical analysis anyway. One method I try to decide if it is merely risky to buy, versus crazy-stupid to buy-- Compare current price against historical averages. Probably no better than divining chicken entrails, but you have to decide somehow.

http://www.kitco.com/charts/techcharts_silver.html

If you buy when the red line is higher than the blue or green lines, you are buying on a leading-edge of a bubble. What goes up must come down, so buying at those times increases the odds that the future value could be lower than what you paid. If you buy when the red line is lower than both the blue or green lines, it reduces the odds that future value might be lower than what you paid. Assuming the model that dollars will become increasingly more worthless against precious metals as time goes forward. That seems like a pretty safe assumption, but it is only an assumption and nothing else.

The current price does (barely) fit the definition of a short-term dip, and so assuming that silver prices will generally trend upwards, seems "kinda safe" time to buy. But reviewing other times I bought following that rule, I jumped in "too soon" and the price continued to fall for awhile before trending back up. So if I'd waited a little longer could have got even better, safer "bargain". Then again, sometimes the market wobbles can be very brief and if you wait it will only be a less-attractive price next week. Difficult to figure the odds.

[xRUSTYx]

stay away from apmex & nw ...

go with ProvidentMetals ... better spreads & cheaper shipping.

never thought I'd see sub $30 again, but alas, it came. I'd say its a pretty good time to buy if you got some powder laying around

[Guest Revelator]

Thanks for the heads up on Provident, Rusty. Just bought some Buffalo rounds from them and paid about a dollar less over spot than apmex. It came to a little over 29 per ounce.