Why Gold Has Stalled?

Dec. 10 2010 | What's behind stalled gold prices, with Jim Iuorio, TJM Institutional Services, and Tom Lydon, ETF Trends.

Silver industrial demand

Unlike gold, silver is used mainly in the industry. Not to mention the demand for silver for investment ,  VM Group analysts in London expect a growth in demand of 350 million ounces of silver in 2020, due to the industrial use of silver for:
- RFID tags for anti-shoplifting and identity cards
- Solar panels, which are expected growth of 20/40 times in 10 years
- The replacement of arsenic in wood preservatives
- Medical use, food hygiene and anti-odor fabrics
This increase could be counterproductive for the industrial market, because it pushes the price to a sharp rise, with consequences on the application. In any case, the VM Group forecasts are based on the data of the Silver Institute, which provides 450 million ounces in total industrial demand for 2008. The reasons for investing in silver do not affect only the current monetary crisis

How to Invest in Silver

Until a few years ago, in many countries , direct investment in silver by private investors was not in use. He then bought silver worked so burdened by the costs of processing, distribution and trade margins, or silver coins are often subject to numismatic premium.

In both cases, then, the trades were subject to value added. Which is why, in economic terms, the investment was disadvantageous from the start. There remained only the pleasure of the object.


Subsequently, the liberalization of markets, it became possible to acquire material is that betting on silver is not worked through its listing futures and options.

In the first case, we must face the cost of custody of bullion, or take the risk of theft. In the second case, futures and options, it is not a real investment, but to bet on a rise or fall in prices. In practice, a gambling game.


Since April 28, 2006, however, something has changed to 'American Stock Exchange (Amex) has been admitted to listing an ETF, iShares Silver Trust, SLV Symbol, which tracks the price performance of silver. Consequently, from that moment came the opportunity to invest or to speculate on the price of silver sim-ply a buying or selling shares listed in the most liquid stock market in the world.
If we broaden the perspective in the long run, we can see, the recent gains have largely surpassed the previous record high, a fact that in the case of gold has not yet occurred. Of note, however, that investing in silver in all these years has not made anything, while stocks, bonds and real estate generated income. It therefore constitutes a purely speculative investment, as gold and diamonds.


CONCLUSIONS



As to whether or not to invest in silver, in our opinion, that counts as such, is that if anything would be better to invest in mining shares such as those examined in investing in commodities. The final choice remains but to the reader: We do not solicit investments, we only tools for analysis. In our view, however, such an investment may be performed only in a context of great diversification of the portfolio.