What is an 'average' stack?

K

K22

New Member
Morning all,

Stacker in the making? Perhaps!

I've had my eye on silver for a little while now, and had decided I would make my first purchase at the end of this month. I was forced to bring that purchase forward today with an ad offering a Kilo of Umicore for 600 some 30 miles away; I somehow managed to agree a final price of 430 and here we are! There's something about that shiny bar (and wow so heavy for such a small thing) that I find really quite irresistible; I can see this developing into an addiction before long.

I'd like to get some idea of how much members hold, and what is considered an 'average' stack? Whilst I appreciate it'll largely depend on how much disposable you have, at what point do you feel it becomes a 'stack' rather than a few bars, and what would you consider a reasonable monthly purchase moving forwards using your own price predictions? Would you even consider a 'monthly purchase', or rather save money and buy on the dips? I ask as I'm obviously very green in all of this, and don't want to go crazy and end up biting off more than I can chew. I'm by no means rich, not even well off, I'm just an average Joe purchasing a little Silver to (hopefully) offer some form of security for the future.

Whilst I'd love to go all out and buy with everything I have (which isn't much I might add!), I know that's not a good idea and may not end well. Those of you who've been into this a while probably have a pretty good idea of how much of a loss in one purchase, can be absorbed or substantially softened by another at a lower price? Whilst I'd love buy it all at as low a price as possible, in reality it's just not that easy is it; sooner or later I'll be calculating the average. How much do you think I should buy with the prices as they are? Should I hold out on any further purchases on the assumption it'll go considerably lower, or buy a little now, and a little later, taking the average route?

The questions just seem impossible when I read them back, but perhaps someone can help me out here :/

Thanks, K22
 
While I am a noob here I am not a noob to stacking. I think you just add what you can when you can and do not worry about what others have. I have seen mega stackers with mucho K ounces of AG but I just add by drips and drabs as I can and YOU should to. Do not keep up with the joneses just add what you can. Over time you will be fine.
 
$665 for your first kilo? Bah!

You'll probably get chided for asking about the size of members stack on your first post as it's obviously quite personal. Nobody in the right mind will post such info on a public forum ;)

Anywho, 1,000oz is a target for a lot of stackers but what constitutes an actual stack, that's quite subjective. I'd say anything over 200oz with regular buys would show some commitment to being a stacker. I tried buying on dips but it just kept dropping so decided on weekly Dollar Cost Averaging all the way down and all the way back up.
 
It's a stack when you feel like it is a stack.

Buy when and as much as you feel comfortable.

Know why you're stacking. :)
 
I'd say your Kilo could count as a stack. If you put a coin on top it is definitely a Stack.
 
LTEK4NZ said:
I'd say your Kilo could count as a stack. If you put a coin on top it is definitely a Stack.
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I think its been discussed here b4 you need 3 things for a stack 2 is a piggy back ride . :p:
 
renovator said:
LTEK4NZ said:
I'd say your Kilo could count as a stack. If you put a coin on top it is definitely a Stack.
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I think its been discussed here b4 you need 3 things for a stack 2 is a piggy back ride . :p:
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I remember that thread. I was of the opinion that "Three is a Pile" :P :D
 
K22 said:
Morning all,
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Morning, and first and foremost, welcome to the "club" as it were :)

K22 said:
I'd like to get some idea of how much members hold, and what is considered an 'average' stack?
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This will be a bit tricky, for privacy reasons, I am not sure how many folks here will be prepared to reveal what they currently have in the way of holdings. With all respect, whilst I understand your reasons for asking, I personally won't say (here or via private message) - a large part of the answer will come down to various things that we will touch on working forward through your questions :)

K22 said:
Whilst I appreciate it'll largely depend on how much disposable you have, at what point do you feel it becomes a 'stack' rather than a few bars, and what would you consider a reasonable monthly purchase moving forwards using your own price predictions?
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You're right, it does depend on what one can afford to set aside - I have heard of some folks who can afford one ounce of silver a week, and I am sure there are others who can afford much more. It becomes a stack when you say it is - two one ounce silver coins can become your stack (heck, even one to start is also fine). If you're planning on purchasing each month, you will be well placed (assuming, as I believe, that over time the price of silver will trend upwards) to "dollar cost average" your stack - buying a relatively set amount every month in a rising market will average the price of your stack at the middle price point (to explain, buy 1 ounce 2 weeks ago at $10, 1 ounce last week at $15, and 1 ounce today at $20 means the average cost of your silver is $15 per ounce).

K22 said:
Would you even consider a 'monthly purchase', or rather save money and buy on the dips?
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There is no issue with buying a set amount every week or month - the above explains the advantage you get in doing this - however, I would suggest not spending all of your PM funds every month - I personally don't buy a set amount every month, but I do have a budget for making purchases - with that budget, I will keep the stack "ticking over" by adding some things regularly, but I build a little wad of cash on the side - unspent from that budget - to take advantage of dips.

K22 said:
I ask as I'm obviously very green in all of this, and don't want to go crazy and end up biting off more than I can chew. I'm by no means rich, not even well off, I'm just an average Joe purchasing a little Silver to (hopefully) offer some form of security for the future.
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I'm by no means rich either - like you, just an average guy looking to protect myself and provide some security for the future. Here is the way I see things - I believe fiat currencies are being inflated to the moon, we may not be seeing this right now (though I don't trust official government statistics), but there is no way that EU, US, and JP central banks can be pouring this much ink onto this much paper without something going boom somewhere at some time. On that basis, and the incoming financial crapshoot I see brewing around the world, I am looking to store some true value somewhere that I can whip out after the "big bang" and use to trade/buy other assets etc., and PM's provide me that opportunity.

By even having a stack of just one ounce, I am better off than 99% of the people around me. I'm not saying that from a smug, self satisfied, hey look at me point of view - I'm analysing the "landscape" in which I may end up coming into... the average person does not hold precious metals, they are invested in the share market, mutual funds, bonds, and the real estate market - all of which I believe are headed for significant trouble ahead. The middle class as we know it will potentially be wiped out - they will become the new poor, as most, if not all things that they hold their wealth in will be either taken away, or wiped out. I believe the only way of taking some of your wealth through this will be to hold some precious metals.

K22 said:
Whilst I'd love to go all out and buy with everything I have (which isn't much I might add!), I know that's not a good idea and may not end well.
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I think you're wise here, never go "all in" on anything is my personal belief.

K22 said:
Those of you who've been into this a while probably have a pretty good idea of how much of a loss in one purchase, can be absorbed or substantially softened by another at a lower price?
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I'm going to point out here that once you purchase some silver or gold, you don't lose (unless you wish to trade the silver or gold for fiat again - but why would you?). This is another way of saying that there is no loss until you realise that loss by converting back to paper currency.

K22 said:
Whilst I'd love buy it all at as low a price as possible, in reality it's just not that easy is it; sooner or later I'll be calculating the average. How much do you think I should buy with the prices as they are? Should I hold out on any further purchases on the assumption it'll go considerably lower, or buy a little now, and a little later, taking the average route?
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Here's where I'm going to "bow out" so to speak - these questions are ones that no-one can answer for you (or, if they did know for sure the future price of silver, which is effectively what you're asking, they'd be extremely, extremely rich). We touched on dollar cost averaging above, and for most stackers, that's about the way it's done. You buy a bit extra on the dips (a dip being what you consider is a dip, which may not be a market low, but it's still a dip), and you start stacking stuff away - we touched on these methods above.

One final thought I will give you - I know you're talking about stacking silver here, I would also give some thought to other precious metals. Silver is an industrial metal, and a precious metal at the same time, which makes it somewhat unique, and it may not be the only metal you want to hold.

K22 said:
The questions just seem impossible when I read them back, but perhaps someone can help me out here :/
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Some were impossible, but I hope the above might help you in some small way. Welcome again to the "club" :)
 
K22 said:
I'd like to get some idea of how much members hold, and what is considered an 'average' stack?
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According to some, there are about 1 billion oz's of silver in existence. (http://www.silverseek.com/commentary/one-billion-silver-ounces-and-100-billion-owners) Thus, assuming a world population of 6 billion, the average stack size is around 5g.
However for the part of the population for who a stack is both affordable, and desirable, there have been a couple of polls in the past:

http://www.goldclubasia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10313
http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=135229&results=1

What is a good sized stack? 240 oz's gold - one oz per month for the first 20 years of retirement. :)
 
Quite a busy forum I see!

Such a shame that no-one can predict the future... I will have to do as you do; use a little logic, method and prediction when deciding how much, and when to buy. TBH, it looks like a win-win to me; if I don't put the money into this, it'll just go into something else, and that 'something else' certainly won't offer any security or the potential for return in the future. I can't stop buying rubbish that I don't need, perhaps this will finally put a stop to it?

I can also confirm (after much deliberation) that I now consider four pieces a stack, three a pile, and two most definitely a piggy back, though unfortunately I'm no closer to guesstimating what the average stack is! Don't tell me what you've got, just what you think the average is... I just want to be like the other boys :lol:

I look forward to the coming trials and tribulations with all of you, and thank you for taking the time to respond!

Thanks, K22
 
Uhhh, sorry, I don't get it :/

Simply having visions of throwing silver bars into fields *scratches head*
 
Hmmm, maybe this is a local expression, not dissimilar to one involving a sausage and an alleyway :rolleyes:

Heading to bed now as it's an eyewatering 04:50am *yawn*, no doubt we'll catch up soon.

Thanks again to you all, especially the megapost!

K22
 
One coin or bar placed on top of another is a stack and one full monster box placed on top of another is a bigger stack. I think the concept of an "average stack" is somewhere between meaningless and non-existent because very few stacks stay the same size for very long. I never sell--I only buy and I doubt my stack has ever been one constant size for a full month. The stackers who buy, sell and trade are another story. I doubt their stacks are ever the same size for 48 hours.
 
Asking about someone's stack is like peeking sideways at the urinal.

There's an unwritten rule we all abide by, and it's simply not done.
 
Approx.650 $ for a kilo is very cheap!

That comes at 20.21 $/oz.

Extremely cheap, sub-spot. I wish I could find that cheap! :)
 
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