Sunday, February 05, 2006

Spot Silver

What is spot silver?

Firstly, Spot is the price for cash (immediate) settlement. Spot Silver then is the price for cash on the day. Another way of looking at it then is, The present delivery price of a given commodity being traded on the spot market, also called cash price.

One can get the price for silver, or the value for silver anytime by going to Spot Silver. the value of silver can be seen here as it raises and falls on a daily basis. Generally the value does not change.

The bullion market operates on a two-day settlement (the value date is on the 2nd business day following the trade date).

Apart from a peak in 1980, silver has been a relatively stable precious metal for many years . Since 2001 the value has started to steadily rise and possibly in part due to the fact that silver is industrially in short supply looks set to continue that rise for some time.

This makes spot silver an excellent buy.

One can purchase silver in the form of stocks in silver on the stock exchange, silver jewelry or silver bullion.

The value of stocks can depend not only upon the spot price of silver but the management habits of the company in whom one has shares. Along with the tax implications of owning shares, this introduces variables that can interfere with the value of your holdings. Jewelry commands a high mark up and poor resale value so, as beautiful as it may be, is not a good option for the investor. Silver bullion however, in the form of silver coins and bars, can provide a satisfactory investment in the long term.

The mark up is small, especially when purchasing larger bars such as one kilo, for example, and silver coins often improve their value due to other factors such as rarity and quality of the coin. The storage and transport of silver bullion is manageable by most people also.

In terms of spot silver then, bullion is probably the best way to accumulate and store your silver investment.

There is nothing quite like having the real thing when it comes to spot silver!

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