I took one look at my portfolio today and I saw a field of red. I watch 30 stocks and they were all down, half of them by over 10%. So I turned off my computer and went out and spent the day with my very good friend Karen and we had a great time enjoying a perfect Edmonton afternoon.
Part of the deal in investing in PM stocks is the volatility. Today was one of those days and we shall no doubt see more on the road ahead. Some no doubt that will make today look like a little blip.
My point today is to remind all that the reason we are in this, is a belief in higher silver prices. We should see a lot of bumps along the path but the destination should always be kept first and foremost and that destination is silver valued in reality rather then in some manipulated distortion. Hang tight, stand firm and keep your eyes on the prize.

So far in a couple weeks of trading the silver ETF has already purchased 44 million ounces of silver, quickly on the way to the proposed 130 million ounces.
The question at present is whether or not that silver is already in physical form or if it is a paper contract waiting for delivery.
We have seen gold continue it’s march upward this last week and silver stalled out. Should be interesting if this silver is being delivered at the end of May. I think we are seeing at present the dealers making a last ditch effort to not lose their shirts. The great news for silver bugs is that the more the price is held back, the higher it will explode.
The ETF, the short position, the worldwide demand, the new uses, and last but not least the return of silver as a good investment, add up to an explosion that could rock the financial world. We have recently been seeing silver move up and down over $1 a day, something unheard of till recently. $10 a day swings is just around the corner and $100 an ounce silver could be this year.
It’s a great market no one really has an idea. Hang in there. The fun is just beginning.

The Bolivian Government announced yesterday they were nationalizing oil and gas and the VP said there would be higher taxes for miners.
Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. They are creating a tighter control to make some money off their natural resources. This was known ahead of time about oil and gas. But as to mining, there was no word as to higher taxes until yesterday. This news is positive for silver but Bolivian silver stocks may not perform as well with an impending threat of higher taxes as the silver price soars.
Apogee was my #3 pick. Today I take Apogee off my list. I learned a lesson today. In a silver bull market there is no need to gamble on unstable political situations when there is already so many stable silver plays out there. Apogee may do quite well and the risk reward is definitely higher then most but I think this Government threat will hang over this one for quite awhile until we see some stability happening down there.

Samsung has come out with a number a silver nano products. Nano silver is becoming the most popular of all the new nano products. Silver at a nano level is able to kill bacteria on contact. The uses of this are truly endless. Think about hospital instruments and surfaces. 30,000 Americans die each year from an infection they got in hospitals.

The question on a lot of investors minds is where to put their hard earned money, on silver, gold or oil.
The historic ratio has stood at 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold.
Today that ratio is at 48-1.
In 1980 it took 1.5 barrels of oil to buy an ounce of silver.
Today it takes 5.3 ounces of silver to buy a barrel of oil.
Silver has been completely erased as a form of money by governments and banks.
Gold is still looked upon as a form of money but not as a favorable one amongst governments and central banks.
Silver has become an industrial commodity. It stands in the ranks of base metals. This perception is held by many. This perception of silver was born within the last century and it didn’t happen by accident. In 1947 an organization formed called the SUA (Silver User’s Association). No other commodity has garnered the respect to have its own User’s Association. The SUA formed from major U.S companies whose desire was to keep the silver price low in order to keep the cost of their production down. Today the SUA uses 80% of the silver produced in the U.S. With the help of government and central banks silver was completely demonetized and became what the SUA wanted, a cheap metal.
The one problem that arose from this, is that to keep the price of silver low, government inventories had to continuously sell into the market to meet demand. Now these government stockpiles are near their end.
The SUA petitioned the SEC to stop the silver ETF from trading. Why?
Because the SUA has successfully turned silver into an industrial commodity and the last thing they want to see is silver begin to gain it’s rightful place again. As a form of money. The silver ETF makes it easy for anyone to invest and with a 100% gain on the year, silver is starting to be an attractive place to invest paper dollars into.
Silver is undervalued compared to gold and oil. Silver should be trading around $40 to be historically in line with gold and oil and this doesn’t even take into account silver’s present day scarcity.
Silver was brought down sharp and hard 10 days ago but already it has almost recovered it’s losses. Look for $20 silver just around the corner.

I will run a daily feature on the uses of silver, each day highlighting a different company.

Today more then anytime throughout history, silver plays a vital role within society.
Since silver was first discovered it’s uses and demand have gradually increased. Through modern technology we are beginning to see the limitlessness for the uses of silver. The U.S. patent office receives approx. seven new patents a week for something involving silver.
The reason for silvers growing usages is simply because of it’s properties. Silver is the best conductor of heat and electricity, it is non-corrosive, it has a high melting point, it has the best mirror-like finish, it is very malleable, it is an antibacterial and it is a form of money.
Silver has become the high tech metal. American Superconductor, is a U.S. company that makes wire using a silver alloy. American Superconductor’s HTS wires are capable of carrying 150 times the power of conventional wires of the same size. This wire is being produced and so far the main buyer is China. Last I heard it took 1,000 ounces of silver to make a mile of wire. But I know this company is continually developing a more economical product.
With America’s overworked electrical grid system beginning to fail in places, look for this wire to begin handling some of the heaviest load areas.
American Superconductor trades on Nasdaq under the symbol AMSC.