It has been a breather week for the metals, but they were due to take a short break. Gold was down 1.7% to $2,335, silver was down 3.5% to $27.54, platinum was down 4% to $919, and palladium was down 2% to $1,047.
From a year ago today, gold is up 17%, silver is up 9.33%, with platinum down 16% and palladium off 32%.
Today in part 2 of our discussion, “What is a Silver ETF?”, we will discuss additional differences between owning physical silver and the paper version of an ETF.
Those who promote silver ETF’s tout the convenience and simplicity of purchasing a silver ETF in an existing brokerage account, vs buying and storing physical silver.
It might be more convenient to eat the bag of chips and donut sitting on the counter, than to cook and eat a freshly-grilled steak - but the steak would be more fulfilling and nutritious.
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Running the numbers using three leading Silver ETF’s, the 1-yr performance of spot silver exceeds the performance of the Silver ETF’s by 7.5% to 74%, depending on the ETF.
Convenient, perhaps. But you are not enjoying the full benefits of the price growth of Silver, and when the markets are closed (for whatever reason), only physical silver is available to barter for what you may need.
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byBill Stack