Those transfixed by gold blasting through the $1,750 level have been missing the real action in silver. The white metal has soared 34% to $34 since the beginning of the year, compared to only a 14% move for the barbaric relic, an outperformance of 2.4 to one. I have been a raging bull on the precious metals space since early August. Silver gives you additional diversification into the space with that extra bit of spice on the volatility side.
It is nothing less than owning gold with a turbocharger. Silver gives you a nice double play. Its qualities as a precious metal are giving it a major boost from the flight from the dollar, a certainty since Ben Bernanke proclaimed QE3. It is also an industrial commodity, which unlike gold, is consumed, and therefore gives you a call on the recovering economy. Most of the silver mined in history has been burned, used in chemical processes, is sitting at the dump, or in people's teeth in graveyards around the world.
If you don't think this move is real, check out the shares of the silver producers. Coeur D Alene Mines (CDE) has rocketed by a gob smacking 92% in less than three months, while Silver Wheaton (SLW), and Hecla Mining (HL) have also done almost as well.
Until the shock value of the magnitude of this QE3 are fully digested by the market, the white metal should continue to appreciate. Should the "RISK ON" move continue, $40 an ounce is on the table by early next year.
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Players here should entertain calls or call spreads on the silver ETF (SLV). Those who like to live life dangerously can look at the triple leveraged long silver ETF (AGQ). If you are in the futures market, you trade a 5,000 ounce contract on the COMEX, which offers 8.8 times leverage on an initial maintenance requirement of $18,900.
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