I think that's terrible advise and the reason so many here are out of pocket on last years investments . Buying Silver when it's moved up ~$5 in a short space of time is not something I would suggest doing at this stage. Having said that it might pay to have something invested so you can at least feel the ups and downs before deciding to invest properly. Watch the charts, learn about resistance points and read up on what has happened since 2008 because a similar event could happen again and you have to be prepared for it. Never invest what you cannot afford to loose and stay well clear of permabull and delusional commentators that stink up the internet.
^^ That's actually what I was expecting to hear when I started this thread, given the last fortnights movement. Still, think I'll pick up a few ounces so I have something shiny, then make a decision about a bigger buy over the next month or so.
J-Money - first off Welcome! Learn about cost-averaging your purchases - that way, whilst the price you pay is still relevant, in the long term it's less relevant what you paid for one particular purchase. I am a strong advocate of the regular small purchases, with the occasional bigger buy if spot dips dramatically. Normal market volatility is less relevant to me. To do this properly you need to keep track of what you buy, price and the relation of buy price to spot. Also, whilst I like Ainslie, you can often do a lot better f2f with a stacker in Brissy. There's a lot of us around! You can often save a few bob waiting for a nice deal to pop up on the forum and snap it up. Even when there's no super special in the forums, the price you pay f2f is usually better than what you will pay retail. That said, it doesn't hurt to see Ainslie, buy some things, get to know the guys. Finally, keep an eye out on the Meetings forum for the next Brissy stacker meet - come along - meet other stackers, do some deals and grab a bargain or 2. Happy stacking!
Welcome to the world of stacking silver... I'm an infrequent poster keep to myself a bit. But have been into this since early 2007 and buying when silver was about 9 bucks. DOn't worry in 2007 I was that fringe lunatic mate trying to convince my mates to get into what I was... out of dozens, most thought I was a crackpot and only two ever listened... I tend to disagree with one point raised in this thread posted by uuuuuuuumm. The first thing you must do is to pay yourself with a dedicated savings plan... not after you pay the bills and everybody else, but yourself first. It is a fundamental principle in 'The Richest Man in Babylon', a book I first read in the nineties when given it by an uncle and well worth a read... interestingly a number of other writers that have become more prominent since the precious metals bull market became more apparent also recommend reading it... No witchcraft, alchemy, hocus pocus or even get rich quick advice... just some simple rules of managing money that are important to learn... And I think stackers would be wise to learn them... Not just to learn to acquire wealth but how to retain it... For even if precious metals do turn out to be a great investment and people become wealthy, you need to learn how to hold onto your newly acquired wealth in the long-term... My training programme in medicine was far longer than most of my peers and so I hit the workforce much later. But it always amazed me how cash poor my friends were, and even though they may get a raise or a bonus that money soon found a home in some form of consumption such as a new car, holiday, clothes or down at the pub and they were no better off than before. If your first payment is to yourself you will never miss the cash in the first place. It could be putting cash aside into savings and then finding the right time and investment to put it in. I think trying to pick the tops and bottoms in both Gold and Silver is a game myself and something I certainly don't have time for. Although keeping an eye on the 200 MDA is a reasonable indicator if you are paying too much or not at a particular time... I have the luxury of having gotten in relatively early with silver very cheap compared to todays prices, so am not sweating the current price changes too much. I don't think I can tell you what to do with your hard earned cash, but can tell what I have done for some time which is to take 10% of my fortnightly pay and put it aside into savings. I put half of that into physical silver or gold and what I don't spend on silver is saved to make a larger purchase if for some reason there is a pull back and I get lucky such as recent drop to $26. There are guys on here who have the luxury of time to spend studying charts and technical analysis who may be able to predict where things are going in short-term trends, I'm not one of them, but got a solid grasp of the fundamentals several years ago and have a fair idea of where the global economy will head long-term. Like many on here have read and digested the writings of many people on the subject... whether the final outcome is inflationary or deflationary a lot of people are going to come unstick very quickly in the future and realise they have lived too large and well beyond their means for too long... If you have ever followed Russell's Dow Theory letters or James Turk's writings, both advocate a dollar cost averaging approach and just buy a little each month... usually just before options expiry is good. In terms of physical silver I think some is better than none and would be nice to get a reasonable amount to start with then you can sweat the timing of your larger purchases. The next rule in 'Richest Man' is to get your money working for you, but to do that you need to invest in something you understand... so time spent learning about economics and the history of money is time well spent... there are some short cuts... some authors have done some of the grunt work for you... ie Mike Maloney's book and video series... from there you can springboard off and read whatever else takes your fancy... Hope this was of some use. Dr J
