When I last checked, the spot price of silver was $16.75 per ounce, and gold was at $929.30. That’s an all-time high. There will be plenty of volatility and some very scary pull-backs, but the trend for the precious metals is still definitely upward. Meanwhile, the USD Index was at 75.56 and falling. The key number to watch for there is 72. Below that, watch out!
BTW, I’m not like those television cheerleader/analysts that have suddenly jumped on the precious metals bandwagon. After a dismal two decade bear cycle, I fairly accurately called the bottom of the silver market seven years ago. (For the record: I cited $4.25/oz. as the potential low point, but it actually bottomed (intraday) a few months later at $4.03.) I was touting silver back when nearly all of the mainstream market mavens were trashing it. But it has been enjoying a bull market ever since.
Just don’t ask me to call the top of this bull market. With the potential for massive government market manipulation of the relatively thin metals markets, that will be very hard to do. My advice is to sell your metals holdings gradually, and don’t try to catch the absolute peak. Don’t get greedy. Just slowly cash out as the metals prices continue to rise and immediately parlay the proceeds into other, less volatile tangibles. (See my previous commentary in SurvivalBlog for some suggestions.)
I’ll go out on a limb here and state that it would be foolish not to have cashed out of half of your precious metals by the time that gold reaches $1,550 per ounce. Once the price of gold approaches the magic milestone of €1,000 Euros per ounce, expect some blatantly Neanderthal market manipulation to push the metals prices down: They’ll announce government gold sales. They’ll change the COMEX rules. They’ll claim a scientific breakthrough in alchemy. They’ll do whatever they deem necessary to cap the price of gold and silver.
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Today we present another article for Round 14 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 14 ends on January 31st, so e-mail us your entry soon! Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.