Investing In Pms & Copper

If you really want to invest in metals I would suggest uranium mining stocks. The prices fell since the disaster in japan and have not recovered yet. There is still high demand for uranium so the stocks are sure to increase in value once the disaster has left the news cycle.
-XoG

I would consider that as a viable investment and have read a bit about uranium stocks as potentially good investments. As a scientist, I understand nuclear technology and am not terrified of the things I cannot detect with my own senses. Such things can be dangerous and deserve a lot of respect but the science is there to support nuclear technology. Of course, this can always be poorly applied, as it has been at the Fukushima plant in Japan. That is a 40 year old design with NO passive safety controls at all... HUGE mistake that was recognized and corrected by design engineers 30+ years ago. Even if nuclear power is not expanded in the US, it is being expanded in other countries and they will need to buy fuel for their reactors. As a long-term investment, uranium looks good to me.

The trend is definitely in this direction for sure. This is one of the reasons why a lot of the small investors out there have left the stock market and have no intention of returning. You get a snake in the backyard pool and before you know it, no one wants to go swimming!

High speed trading ought to be illegal. There really isn't any good case that can be made for it. Retail investors can't do it, so why should anyone else? Besides, don't those guys rack up some pretty big high-speed sales costs while they are at it or can they do it for next to nothing in fees?

I think that what we are seeing here is that the market has experimented with a lot of new whiz-bang things that are intrinsically bad for the market but because a few people make scads of money doing it, it must be a good idea to keep it going. Uh, sorry, but no. Anything that fundamentally damages the market should not be done, whether money can be made doing it or not. Money can be made via bank robbery too but robbing banks does not enhance the customer's banking experience or profits.

I hear that copper just takes up to much space as a semi-precious metal. Those bars are huge :)

Correct, Silverhawk. What I am doing, in addition to buying some physical silver and maybe some gold someday, is just buying shares in a company that produces copper. I have no interest in copper bars or in acquiring any of those. My shares in Freeport-McMoran give me a right to a portion of their profits. If they are successful and make lots of money, their shareholders should do well too. Any company that is making a lot of money will also see their share price rise, so that can add some kick to it too. While I will probably hold this stock for a while yet, I can always sell it very quickly with just a few mouse clicks if I need some money. For the time being, I have a trailing stop on it at $5 under the current price. This stop will rise with the share price but will execute if the share price drops $5 from its high. This is some really good downside protection in the event of a sudden market decline.



Thanks for the vote of confidence, Silverhawk. I appreciate that. Yes, I am a small but relatively successful investor. I've been at it since the early 1980s and made enough to retire at age 55 back in 2004. Getting back into coins and PMs is great, though, and I am enjoying that too.



All stock investing works this way. The trick is to do your "due diligence", which means checking out the company thoroughly, usually by reading their 10K and 10Q statements and their annual report to shareholders. Look at the amount of tax they pay. Companies can do slight of hand accounting and show profits that aren't really there, like Enron did, but they are very unlikely to try bluffing the IRS. They can go to jail for that and they know it. If they show a lot of profit but not a lot of tax paid, look out.

Another aspect of this is to be well diversified. Own investments in different companies, countries, and sectors. Own some bonds and some real estate... and, of course, some PMs. Commodities are hot right now and there is no decline visible on the horizon. One will come eventually but for the time being, let 'em ride and keep your stops in place!