Silver is Consumed!

Industrial Demand

The first fact that jumps off the page is that the future for silver looks remarkable with industrial silver demand rising from 15,160 tons (487 million ounces) in 2010 to 20,712 tons (666 million ounces) in 2015. Much of the growth in the global total of industrial silver consumption will be driven by stronger demand for a number of established uses including the manufacture of electrical contacts and the use of silver in the photo voltaic industry. New uses center on silver's antibacterial qualities, while other new uses tend to make use of its conductive properties, including solid state lighting and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Overall please note that silver’s importance in the technology of the day is huge. We go so far as to say that the demand from silver has transformed from a want to a need! Whether we are in a boom or bust silver’s demand will remain robust. It is now needed to make all facets of an economy run well and at all levels, even down to individual needs. This secures its future and assures us that silver prices are well supported. Here is the list of the amounts used in different applications that emphasize this point.

- Cell phones used 404.35 tonnes [13 million ounces] of silver last year.

- Computers consumed 684.29 tonnes [22 million ounces].

- Thick film PV consumed 1,461.90 tonnes [47 million ounces] in 2010.

- Automobiles which used 1,119.75 tonnes [36 million ounces] of silver.

- Electrical and electronics demand for silver reached an all-time high of 7,555.21 tonnes [242.9 million ounces].

- Solar Power in 2011 is expected to reach 2,177.29 tonnes [70 million ounces], up 40%.

- RFID tags in 2010 reached between 31 and 62 tonnes with a long way to go before reaching full market.

- Water purification used 62 tonnes [2 million ounces] set to grow to 74.65 tonnes [2.4 million ounces].

- Medical applications may grow strongly to reach 93.3 tonnes [3 million ounces] by 2015.

- The use of nano-silver in goods packaging and hygiene combined would consume 124.4 tonnes [4 million ounces] of silver over the next five years.

Silver is consumed

While photographic use of silver allows for the re-cycling of silver, reclamation of silver from most of the above uses is difficult to nigh-on-impossible. This in itself assures either a constant or rising demand for these applications. Of particular note is the growth in Asia where we are watching around half of the globe’s population developing at infrastructural level as never before. This growth will continue at double figures, per annum for at least the next decade. Gold is rarely consumed as it is deemed far too valuable. Reclamation efforts relative to the value of the gold ensures that scrap merchants will go to extraordinary lengths to recover the gold. In silver’s case these efforts would cost more than the sale of the silver so used. As the silver price rises further reclamation efforts will become profitable and more silver will be recovered, but we are still a long way off from that day.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick
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Spartacus: Gods of the Arena - Ancient Past vs. Present Investment Strategies?

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a dynamic and truly worthy prequel produced by Starz that chronicled the rise of an infamous Roman slave, Spartacus, who lead the worst slave rebellion Ancient Rome had ever seen. Though this article is somewhat of a departure from the usual financially-oriented subjects of this blog, I believe that readers of this article will find my conclusions useful and pointed nonetheless in the study of investment strategies.

To the eyes of the average American, the tale of the House of Batiatus is a fascinating, if shocking, glimpse into the life of Ancient Rome. In this series the protagonist is Quintillius Batiatus, a Lanista, or owner of a Gladiator Training School. Batiatus seeks to raise himself and his House to heights of glory never before achieved by his ancestors, or indeed by any Gladiator Trainer before him. We can't help but applaud and root for this underdog who rose from beneath his father's heavy heel and successfully defeated numerous powerful opponents in his attempt to achieve prominence far above his current station in Ancient Capua and the Roman World. We must understand, however, that his all or nothing strategy though compelling to risk-taking, egalitarian, and over-achieving Americans, is ultimately doomed to utter failure. In fact, I think our Roman friend's strategy is as instructive to us today as it would've been to the eyes of the Ancient Romans. It is a morality play that perhaps can teach us a lesson today that just might save our financial lives.

The Ancient Greco-Roman world would've enjoyed the Spartacus offerings by Starz every bit as much as we Americans and all Westerners have to date. We must not make the common mistake, though, made by some that assume the whole world thinks and views the world through the same prism as the West does. The current eternal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are instructive to any willing to pay attention that the worldview and goals of radical Islam share little in common with those of the more liberal and secular West. No, the Ancients would have viewed Quintillius as a fatally flawed character whose over-reaching hunger for advancement above his station deserving of nothing but ignominious death and ruin. Indeed, the Ancient Greco-Romans viewed love of tradition, caution, and humility as high virtues. They would've seen the eventual rebellion of the gladiators under Spartacus as a righteous penalty inflicted by the Gods upon a House and man who himself sinned through his intemperate craving to overturn the rightful order of the Universe. In the Ancient World the Gods reined at the pinnacle, the nobility/ruling class second, merchants, farmers, soldiers, and lanistas next, followed by free workers, and lastly, enslaved men. Batiatus, by seeking to raise himself into the heady heights of the republican ruling class in Rome was clearly guilty of seeking to overturn this divine order. His precipitous downfall would've been seen as a just punishment of the Gods for his sheer temerity and lack of respect for the laws that held chaos and ruin at bay.

In short, I imagine the ancient Romans would've counseled investors to similarly stay within bounds familiar to them, and not over-reach into unfamiliar areas with an all or nothing investment strategy. While such a moderate strategy may never enable one to become the next Bill Gates, it will insure the prudent investor also never finds themselves and their "House" lying in ruins about a torched and corpse-littered landscape.

The wise ancient Roman would most certainly have understood and approved of wealth measured in gold and silver, disdaining the paper (risky banking and investment stocks)!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

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How Would You Invest $100,000?

How would you invest a $100,000 windfall? Well, if you're like the Chief Investment Officer of Sprott Asset Management you'd do the following:

"I would probably put 80% in precious metals, 10% in energy, and another 10% in agriculture, as well as special situations stocks. In the precious metals area, I would put at least 60% into something oriented toward silver. I think silver will appreciate on a percentage basis way more than gold over the next decade and trade back down to a gold-to-silver ratio of 16:1, where it has historically been. It’s something like 48:1 now. In the energy sector, I’d own some oil and gas and uranium stocks, while in agriculture, it would be potash and phosphate."

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!