So You Want to Invest in PMs - a 3 Year History

[Pete]

Before all you enthusiastic young stackers out there believe your path is lined with gold or silver - take care before jumping into this market feet first.

 

As the financial gurus repeatedly advise - in commodities you are taking a risk and be prepared to loose some or most of your money.

Of course there can be tremendous upsides but you are advised to keep your PMs to 10-15% of your conkers.

 

I have merged two charts illustrating the LOSSES you would currently hold on paper if you were in this game only 3 years ago.

They are pretty dramatic - especially for silver AND you can deduct a further ~20% selling back to dealers as they will not include your VAT so friends; do you still see silver as a smart investment, loosing about 70% ! ?

 

Hopefully silver must be near rock bottom but 3 years ago stackers only saw blue sky.

On the assumption silver can return near its peak there is serious money to be made.

 

 

[Danny-boy]

Nice post Pete.

I guess with any investment, if you take a 3 year snapshot, it can look fairly grim.

If, for example you were to take early 2009 to mid 2011, it would look like the investment of the century.

I agree with the outline of your post, don't treat it as a cash cow and be prepared to lose a large portion of your investment, just like any other.

[HelpingHands]

_{Also, some people may have just wasted the money instead of spending it in PMs.  Maybe we need a graph of the +/- biscuits versus silver (not that biscuits are a total waste)}

[SilverPirate]

I agree it looks nasty but totally agree i would of spent the money on what ever ,at least this hobby/storage of wealth, has preserved my money that would of slipped through my grubby paws.Even if i sell at a loss i have still accumulated wealth.

What ever else you have stored away and sell on e-bay will also sell at a loss most of the time, i have been selling models, i have made a loss on everything but it has brought in money,in a way it has stored wealth, i think we make to much of making vast jaw dropping profits and should look at the bigger picture if you can not hold on to your money very well P.M's can help you save even sold at a loss. 

If the bank account is empty and the car needs a new gearbox and all you have is metals,You will say thank god i had that to fall back on.

[motorbikez]

You've lost nothing unless you need to sell,exactly like buying shares or any other asset,

[Ares]

PMs are almost a certainty IMO, the caveat being if you are willing to hold onto it for the long haul than flip it in the short.