You probably all get this investment newsletter anyway, but there you go. Nothing we don't already know... How To Buy REAL Gold And Silver... And Then Keep It Safe From Banks And Governments Tuesday, 7th June 2011 Melbourne, Australia By Dr.Alex Cowie How to buy REAL gold and silver... and then keep it safe from banks and governments ............................................................................................................................................................................. The Dirty Secret Behind Silver's Record Rise You might not have noticed, but since 2001 silver has actually risen more than gold. Silver bullion is up 790%, compared to gold's 458%. Recently silver hit a 31 year record. Why? The common answers are supply and demand, uncertainty in the markets and inflation fears. But the real reason for silver's meteoric rise is much more sinister. Find out what it is here. ............................................................................................................................................................................. Editor's note: Kris Sayce is preparing to draw swords with the property bulls in Sydney. Will he return to Victoria triumphant? Stay tuned. In his stead today, we present the good doctor: Alex Cowie... Maybe I watched Goldfinger too many times as a kid, but a part of me has always been drawn to actually owning precious metal. Or perhaps this classic Bond Film just tapped into the instinctive human draw to the metal the urge that has been behind a three thousand year history of collecting it. Maybe it's the sheer weight of the stuff. It's reassuring to hold. It doesn't do anything sure. But part of its beauty and value is that it is so inert and unchanging. Despite all the evidence that gold is money and worth owning, gold ownership today is still controversial. But not with people who know better. Chinese gold ownership has gone from nothing to an avalanche in just a few years. With hundreds of millions of newly-wealthy middle classes wanting to protect against inflation, and tap back into their long cultural history of gold ownership, gold demand is not going to drop off any time soon. Last week I talked about the new Exchange Traded Fund QAU that allows you to cheat the Aussie dollar and get the same gold returns as US investors. ETF's like this are the cheapest and most convenient way to buy, and sell, the metal. But the downside that I mentioned is that you never get to see the gold. It's held in a vault overseas. This means that you have counter-party risk: the risk that the bank that holds it could go belly up. Or even let the government confiscate it. Sound far-fetched? Maybe in today's more civilised times... but just read U.S President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102, where ordinary Americans were forced to hand in their gold to a Federal Reserve Bank, or face fines and imprisonment. Or ask the many citizens who lost their gold to the Nazi regime. This is extreme stuff of course. But the world we live in is getting increasingly extreme. I like to think of the ownership of precious metals as being the one-stop-shop to protect your wealth against government stupidity. By buying gold and silver, and actually arranging storage yourself, you are boiling down the process of precious metals ownership to the absolute basics. This is after all what the last one hundred generations of your ancestors did, right up until fifty years ago. So as Editor of Diggers and Drillers, I'm taking a look at how Aussie investors can get their hands on precious metals for the next newsletter. Then just as importantly I'm looking at how they can then store them safely; safe from thieves, safe from banks, and safe from the world's governments. By avoiding certain traps, you can buy physical precious metals with a surprisingly small margin above ETFs. Then get them stored safely nearby for half the price of getting a safe put in your house, keep them as part of your super fund, and then even sell them instantly above spot price. It doesn't take much organising, and should be part of everyone's portfolio. Even picking up a silver ounce coin for $40 is a big step in the right direction. We're pretty lucky here in the Lucky Country. The folks over in the UK have to pay the equivalent of 20% GST on buying silver. Total madness! This is a bit of a break from what I normally do for Diggers and Drillers readers, but I think now is the right time. Small cap precious metals stocks are another good way to play the gold or silver price, so I'll also be tipping my fifth precious metal stock in the last three months. The markets have been soggy recently to say the least and most of these stocks are still at good buying prices. When gold starts hitting new highs again in the next few days, the market will suddenly start focusing on gold stocks again. It happens every time. So while prices are down, now is a good time to look at small cap precious stocks. We also have a speech from the 'bearded genius', Ben Bernanke tonight. Every time he parts his beard to impart his pearls of wisdom the price of gold rises by $50. So take a position soon and watch the gold price tonight! Cheers, Dr. Alex Cowie Diggers & Drillers
