Mid-Session Silver Market Report - CME Group

Mid-Session Silver Market Report - CME Group

www.TheSilverPrice.info

Gold and Silver: Keep It Simple (NYSEARCA:GLD, NYSEARCA:SLV, NYSEARCA:GDX, NYSEARCA:IAU, NYSEARCA:AGQ) | ETF DAILY NEWS

Gold and Silver: Keep It Simple (NYSEARCA:GLD, NYSEARCA:SLV, NYSEARCA:GDX, NYSEARCA:IAU, NYSEARCA:AGQ) | ETF DAILY NEWS

www.TheSilverPrice.info

Is silver finally bottoming out? - Business Insider

Is silver finally bottoming out? - Business Insider

www.TheSilverPrice.info

Over a year ago, I penned an article entitled “4 Silver Investments to Avoid.” About two weeks later, on April 26th, I wrote another article: “Should I Sell My Silver?” saying that I expected an imminent correction in the silver price, after it had gone “parabolic.”

It caused quite a stir at the time. There was no shortage of people calling me delusional for suggesting the bull market in silver was overdue for a pause. Some even labeled me a “traitor,” presumably to the “hard money” movement.

One of the silver companies I recommended to NOT buy immediately contacted me after the article was published, insisting there was nothing to worry about, and that their stock was a great investment.

For the record, since then, the price of silver is down 35.2% (based on the London PM fix). And of the four silver investments I said to avoid:

1. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is down 33.3%.
2. Large silver bars have obviously gone down commensurately with spot silver.
3. Shares in Silvercorp Metals (SVM) are down a WHOPPING 61.5%.
4. And shares in Coeur d’Alene (CDE) are off by 50.8%.

Not pretty.

One of the biggest headwinds for the gold and silver markets right now is the weakness in India’s economy and currency.

For a long time, India has been the world’s biggest market for physical precious metals. Though it was recently eclipsed by China as the world’s single biggest market for physical gold, India remains in the top 3 for both silver and gold.

As the Indian economy slowed rapidly over the past 12 months, the Indian Rupee swan-dived. Today it takes more than 57 rupees to buy one US dollar, up from 46 a year ago.

That makes the price of silver (and gold), which is priced in US dollars on world markets, much higher for Indian buyers.

Demand has dropped accordingly– silver bullion sales volumes in India are off between 30% and 40% versus a year ago.

Nonetheless, the weakness in India’s currency, which has also been undermined by political uncertainly, is a perfect illustration of why it pays to hold silver and gold in the first place.

Indian savers who entrusted their savings to banks and kept their money in rupees have been at the mercy of the sliding currency.

Those who bought and held precious metals, on the other hand, have seen their purchasing power hold steady, even as the rupee tanked.

While the US dollar may again be enjoying a period of relative strength, this is almost certain to prove temporary.

And just like Indian savers who kept their money in rupees, trusting your money to the government will be a losing proposition in the long term.

Holding your money in US dollars, particularly in some insolvent, illiquid bank earning one-half of one percent interest, will result in the destruction of your purchasing power.

If you agree with that thesis, the question still remains, what’s a good price to exchange your dollars for physical silver at?

To be fair, nobody can accurately divine the short-term movements in precious metals prices. But from a purely technical standpoint, silver is starting to look very interesting.

The gold/silver ratio has been clobbered over the past year in an almost uninterrupted pattern except for a brief respite in early 2012.

At the peak of the last precious metals boom, it took fewer than 20 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold. Over the past few years, the ratio has dipped as low as 32. But today the number has blown out 57.

If the thesis holds that we are in another precious metals boom, it certainly stands to reason that the gold/silver ratio ought to correct and become much lower once again.

More importantly, however, every single indication out there suggests that central bankers will continue doing… the only thing they know how to do: PRINT.

Despite some short-term corrections (as we saw in 2008), this is no doubt bullish for precious metals… and especially silver.

Given silver’s already steep decline from its highs last year, a price in the mid-$20s range is beginning to look very compelling.

Until tomorrow,

Tim Staermose
Chief Investment Strategist
Sovereign Man

Read more: http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/is-silver-finally-bottoming-out/#ixzz1yva1U4yy

Gold and Silver Rebound While Equities Sink | Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Gold and Silver Rebound While Equities Sink | Wall St. Cheat Sheet

www.TheSilverPrice.info

3 Silver Stocks Ready to Shine - CDE, PAAS, SVM - Foolish Blogging Network

3 Silver Stocks Ready to Shine - CDE, PAAS, SVM - Foolish Blogging Network

www.TheSilverPrice.info

here are two different types of silver mining companies:  those that produce and those that explore.  Production companies produce silver and have cash flow while exploration companies are still trying to find silver and have no cash flow.  Prudent investors looking for value and safety will select those production mining companies that have a proven financial track record.

The following three silver production mining stocks share the same traits: they make a profit, have low production costs and are trading around their lows.  Their stock prices have dropped not from material negative changes in the company but in response to the overall economic slowdown. 

Coeur D’Alene (NYSE: CDE), located in Idaho, is the largest U.S.-based primary silver producer.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $16.21 - $30.99, and the stock currently trades around $17.50.

The company operates mines in the U.S., Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina and Australia.  The company incorporated in 1928 and has been in operation ever since.  The company’s flagship mine, Palmarejo, is located in Chihuahua, Mexico. Palmarejo accounted for $513 million in metal sales in 2011, or about half of the companies’ total sales. In 2011, silver and gold production exceeded 9.0 million ounces and 125,071 ounces respectively. Silver production costs run between $6.50 - $7.50 per ounce.

Coeur D’Alene has a market cap of $1.57 billion.  The company’s revenue was $1.02 billion in 2011 as compared to $515.5 million in 2012.  Net income for 2011 and 2010 was $93.5 million and -$91.4 million respectively.  The company has operating cash of $397.4 million.  The price to earnings growth ratio is .22, and the price to book is .73.  The return on equity is 4.05% and the company has a current ratio of 1.77.

Silvercorp Resources (NYSE: SVM) is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and operates silver mines in China and Canada.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $4.89 - $12.12, and currently trades around $6.50 per share.

The company’s focus is in China and they have one particularly outstanding mine located in the Henan Province.  The Ying Mine has an unusually high concentration of silver, lead and zinc.  Every ton of ore yields approximately 11 ounces of silver, 160 pounds of lead and 24 pounds of zinc.  The profit made from the lead and zinc mined pays for the cost of silver production and adds an additional $7.00 of profit per ounce.  For 2011, 5.3 million ounces of silver and 1800 ounces of gold were mined. Silver production costs ran $3.25 per ounce in 2011.

Silvercorp has a $1.11 billion market cap and saw a 42% increase in 2012 revenue over 2011 from $167.3 million to $238 million. (Silvercorp’s 2012 fiscal year ended March 31, 2012).  Net income rose from $67.7 million or $0.40 per share in 2011, to $73.8 million, or $0.43 per share, in 2012.  The company has a price to earnings growth ratio of 2.78, a price to book of 2.55, a generous return on equity of 20.99%, and a current ratio of 4.48.  Silvercorp pays a $0.10 dividend and has a 1.50% dividend yield.  The next dividend date is set for July 19, 2012. 

Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS), headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, operates mines in Mexico, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.  The 52-week trading range is $14.80 - $34.49, and the stock currently trades around $18-$19 per share.

Pan American Silver is the 2^nd largest primary silver mine in the world.  The companies’ largest mine, Alama Dorado, is located in Sonora, Mexico and accounted for 24% of their total silver production for 2011.  Alama Dorado mined 21,853,582 ounces of silver and 78,426 ounces of gold, and had silver production costs of $4.80 per ounce in 2011.

Pan American has a market cap of $2.89 billion.  The company reported 2011 revenue of $855 million as compared to $647 million in 2010.  Net income for 2011 was $352 million and $14 million in 2010.  The company has a price to earnings growth ratio of 3.81 and a price to book ratio of 1.03.  Pan American sports a 3.81 debt-to-equity ratio and a current ratio of 5.49.  The company pays a dividend of $0.15 with a dividend yield of 0.80%.

Silver prices have been beaten up because of the global slowdown and the never ending problems in Europe.  Long term investors looking for growth and income opportunities may want to consider adding these three silver stocks to their portfolio.