Here's why silver is a better investment than gold:

Here's why silver is a better investment than gold:

About 10 years ago, M3 was about $4 trillion, and silver was at $5/oz. By the spring of 2008, M3 is exceeding $13 trillion, and silver is at $21/oz. Relative to the recent increase in money supply, silver today is still about as cheap as it ever was!

Silver has all the same monetary properties of gold, and more!

The historic price ratio of silver to gold shows that about 10 ounce of silver would buy one ounce of gold, a 10:1 ratio. Recently, the ratio is about a 50:1 ratio (with silver at $20/oz., and gold at $1000/oz.) As the silver to gold ratio returns to historic values, from 50:1 to 10:1, you may make over 5 times more money investing in silver, than gold!

Silver prices may rise to exceed the 10:1 ratio, for the following reasons:

More than all of the silver produced by the mines each year is consumed by industry, which leaves little to no room for substantial investment demand. The tiniest bit of investment demand will drive prices sky high.

Further, higher silver prices may not cause substantially increased mine supply. Why not? Because most silver is produced as a by-product of mining gold, copper, zinc, or lead. Thus, higher silver prices will not substantially increase the amount of silver mined each year. Here's a little known fact: In 1980, when silver prices went up to $50/oz., less silver was mined than in 1979!

What's more, higher silver prices may not cause reduced demand. Why not? Because most silver consumed by industry is used in such tiny quantities in each application, such as in film or electrical contacts, that rising silver prices will not easily slow down the growing industrial demand.

Additionally, as paper money continues to fail, people will buy silver and gold without regard to price, or they will buy simply because prices are going up! Because most investors today are momentum investors!

Each year, silver mines produce about 650 million ounces of silver, about 200 million ounces come from scrap recycling, and about 100 million ounces used to come from investor selling, or government selling. That's a total of about 1000 million ounces. Of that, about 42% is consumed by industrial use, about 28% consumed by jewelry, 20% consumed by photography, 5% consumed in coins and medallions, and that's 95% of total available silver each year! This implies either a "surplus", or "investment demand", of about 5% of the total. Investment demand remains small, but is growing!

Due to silver use, or consumption, since the 1950's, silver may now be more rare than gold, in above ground, refined, deliverable, forms. It is estimated that there are about 200-300 million ounces of refined, above ground silver available to the market at the present time. There are about 125 million ounces of silver at the NYMEX, the big commodity exchange in New York.

Each silver contract at the NYMEX is a promise. There are too many contracts, too many promises to deliver silver that may not exist. Each contract is for 5000 ounces. There are often over 175,000 contracts for 5000 ounces, that's a total of 437 million ounces of silver, promised to be delivered. Yet the exchange has only about a third of that in real silver. How can they promise to deliver more silver than exists? If they fail to deliver silver, according to the promises and contracts that they have made, then confidence in the world's entire financial system may collapse. Industrial users of silver may have to shut down their factories. To prevent this, the users will bid silver prices much higher.

Due to the risk of default in the silver futures contracts, I suggest that you avoid buying futures contracts, avoid options, and avoid storing your silver with anyone else! Take delivery of your silver, and put your silver in your own safe!

Despite silver's intrinsic properties as money, silver began to lose its status as money starting in the late 1800's, as nations stopped using silver, and started using only gold as money. Over 100 years of this "demonetization" has caused a serious drop in silver's value, and this trend is about to be reversed as investors learn about silver's intrinsic properties (and market fundamentals) again.

In the end, as paper money fails completely, the neglect of silver's use as money will be over. Once again, silver will be valued based on other measures of value, such as a day's wage, or a ratio to gold. If silver exceeds its historic value, as I expect it will, due to the scarcity, from its importance in electronics and photography, then perhaps a silver dime, silver quarter, or silver dollar's worth of silver will be worth far more than a day's wage, as it once was.

How high will silver prices go? You do the math on what a day's wage should be, and you tell me!

Will people be hurt if silver and gold prices rise? Not you if you own some! But also, honest weights and measures used in commerce are supposed to produce prosperity for all of society, not poverty.

But you must act to benefit from this information.

Don't wait for silver to rise before buying it. Silver prices could rise by over $20/day to exceed $100/ounce at any time if large funds or billionaires buy with desperation.