My opinion, right now, is that silver is a gamble, so if you want to gamble 5 -10%, go for it.
I bought silver bars in the late 80's, but after 20 years I'm thinking seriously about dumping them. It's been a long, long haul of languid performance and finally some rewards, on paper at least.
On the upside, sliver is being used more for more products than ever and the Chinese are now allowed to buy the commodity, where they weren't before.
On the downside, speculators may turn on the metals in favor of stocks if the economy continues to rebound.
My thought process in the late 80's was that after it's fall from $50 an ounce, buying at an average of $5 an ounce was a no brainier, since it could only go up from there, right? Well, it didn't go anywhere for a very long time, but started to make some gains a couple of years ago, but would always retreat when it hit the $18 range.
The last 6 months have been fantastic, with silver almost doubling, but whether this means a continuous upswing or a pull back is anybodys guess and you'll find proponents on both sides.
All I can say is do your homework and do what you think is right.
If you've been investing for 25 years, you're probably in your 40's. If so, you've got maybe 20 years before retirement. If that's the case, then a little silver in your portfolio probably won't hurt you, but I wonder which would offer a better investment return percentage in 20 years, a bar of silver or a T206 Ty Cobb?
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