GFMS’ World Silver Survey for 2007 released

Gold Fields Mineral Services has released its World Silver Survey for 2007, and mineweb.com has posted a review. The report is quite bullish, which should come as no surprise to anyone who is following the silver market.

Source: CMI Gold and Silver

Analysts Bullish On Goldcorp, Silver Wheaton After Positive Penasquito Reserve Update

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG - News) is considering the prospect of an expansion at its Penasquito project in Mexico after the company’s latest reserves update promised a significant increase in production.

Goldcorp announced that gold contained at Penasquito increased by 30% to 13-million ounces, silver increased by 50% to 864-million ounces and zinc and lead increased by 60% to 12.8-billion pounds.

Source: Seeking Alpha on Yahoo Finance

iShares Silver ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) Reviewed

An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is a pretty nifty investment vehicle. Much like a mutual fund, an ETF allows many investors to pool investment funds and buy shares in a professionally managed investment fund. What makes an ETF even more attractive is that shares of an ETF trade exactly like a stock: they can be bought, sold and shorted almost instantaneously.

Moreover taxation on ETFs are more favorable than with traditional mutual funds. Most ETFs specialize in particular groupings of companies and industries that have certain common characteristics. Moreover, expenses for ETFs are low and range between .1% to 2%.

SLV-New opportunity or new turkey? On August 28, 2006, after much controversy and scrutiny by the SEC, the first silver exchange traded fund- Barclays ISHARES SILVER TRUST (AMEX:SLV) - was launched on the American Stock exchange.

The fund was touted as a new vehicle for investors to help diversify risk across many silver industry companies and have their shares backed by physical silver in-ventory.

Nice idea. But thanks to some smart investors with some free time and a penchant for detail, some rather disappointing-and in some cases-shocking- facts have since been uncovered.

At first, one of the main concerns during SEC discussions before SLV was allowed to be brought on stream was the potential impact on silver prices. Most silver investors know that silver is in short supply and estimates place about only 5% of the available supply as “excess” and thus capable of becoming the “tail wagging the dog”.

And sure enough, even before the fund was approved, the rumor sent silver prices to their highest levels since the Hunt brothers cornered the market back in 1980. But despite this concern, the fund was given the approval.

After an initial run-up and sell-off (“buy the rumor and sell the news”), the fund’s share prices now seem to have stabilized and closely track silver prices. But other facts still cloud the fund.

James Turk, a knowledgeable silver investor and silver analyst, seems to have done silver investors a favor by taking out his magnifying glass and going over the required fund prospectus. (You can view his article at: http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/turk/2007/0305.html.)

In his article, he points out the fact that contrary to the hype, SLV fund shares are not totally backed by physical inventory. As a matter of fact, the inventory shortfall demon-strates another fear of silver futures investors- that they may not be able to get delivery of silver contracts if they are called for delivery if contracts exceed actual silver supply.

But what has become even more disturbing is the fact that the fund is not under the jurisdiction of the SEC! The fund is not subject to regulation by the SEC as an investment company.

Consequently, the owners of SLV do not have the regulatory protections provided to investors in normal investment companies. To add more suspicion, Turk uncovered the fact that the prospectus allows the fund to use a mechanism called SPEs (special purpose entities) which were used by Enron to defraud its investors. Incredible!

So far, Barclays- the owner of� SLV- has not made a formal rebuttal to these serious accusations.
As far as other Silver ETF opportunities, there are three other Swiss Silver ETFs but they are only available to Swiss citizens. So, for now, SLV is the only active silver ETF.

Considering the fact that there are some serious doubts that SLV� � is not what it was designed to offer investors- a cost-effective means of making an investment similar to holding silver- investors are probably best advised to fully educate him or herself before investing in the Silver Exchange Traded Fund.

Investing In Gold and Silver Right Now - Video

Mexican Silver Mine with $3.7 Billion in Reserves

Coin Investing - Video

Ten Common Investment Errors, Part One

Ten Common Investment Errors: Stocks, Bonds, & Management - Investment mistakes happen for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty that are irresponsibly downplayed by market gurus and institutional spokespersons.

Losing money on an investment may not be the result of a mistake, and not all mistakes result in monetary losses.

But errors occur when judgment is unduly influenced by emotions, when the basic principles of investing are misunderstood, and when misconceptions exist about how securities react to varying economic, political, and hysterical circumstances.

Avoid these ten common errors to improve your performance:

1. Investment decisions should be made within a clearly defined Investment Plan. Investing is a goal-orientated activity that should include considerations of time, risk-tolerance, and future income… think about where you are going before you start moving in what may be the wrong direction.

A well thought out plan will not need frequent adjustments. A well-managed plan will not be susceptible to the addition of trendy, speculations.

2. The distinction between Asset Allocation and Diversification is often clouded. Asset Allocation is the planned division of the portfolio between Equity and Income securities. Diversification is a risk minimization strategy used to assure that the size of individual portfolio positions does not become excessive in terms of various measurements.

Neither are “hedges” against anything or Market Timing devices. Neither can be done with Mutual Funds or within a single Mutual Fund. Both are handled most easily using Cost Basis analysis as defined in the Working Capital Model.

Steve Selengut http://www.sancoservices.com http://www.valuestockbuylistprogram.com Professional Portfolio Management since 1979 Author of: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read”, and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”

Silver Wheaton Silver Reserves Jump

“Silver Wheaton Proven and Probable Silver Reserves Increase at Mexico Project. Canada-based silver miner Silver Wheaton Corp. announced a 50 percent increase in proven and probable silver reserves at the Zacatecas, Mexico-based Penasquito Project on Monday.”

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070625/silver_wheaton_silver_reserves.html?.v=1�

Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver Fall Slightly This Week

“Gold remained near unchanged in Asia before it edged up in London and traded nearly 1% higher above $655 in early New York trade, but it then fell back to unchanged by early afternoon ahead a $3 rally in the last 20 minutes of trade that left it with a gain of 0.46%. Silver dropped to as lows as $12.94 before it also rallied back higher in late trade, but it still ended with a loss of 0.15%.”

http://news.silverseek.com/GoldSeeker/1182544396.php�

2007 Silver Dollar Proof, Little Rock Central High School Desegregation

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School the U.S. Mint has coined the feet of students escorted by a United States soldier and walking toward school are depicted below a row of nine stars symbolizing the Little Rock Nine.

(The Little Rock Central High School Desegregation Silver Dollar is limited to a total of 500,000 coins (across all product options) including 50,000 coins to be included in the 2007 United States Mint American Legacy Collection™.)

Surcharges for the sale of these coins are authorized to be paid to the Secretary of the Interior for the protection, preservation, and interpretation of resources and stories associated with Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Which includes site improvements at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, development of interpretive and education programs and historic preservation projects, and the establishment of cooperative agreements to preserve or restore the historic character of the Park Street and Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive corridors adjacent to the site.

The reverse of the coin features a rendition of Little Rock Central High School as it appeared in 1957.

Shipping of the Little Rock Central High School Desegregation Silver Dollar Coins may take up to 4 weeks. When placing your order, please consider your credit card’s expiration date, as charges will coincide with shipment. If your credit card has expired by the time of shipment, your order will be canceled.

To update your credit card information, you must call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) and have your order number available.