2Labradors

A Silver Takedown's Currently in Progress

gold and silver at this level are becoming like stocks in this sense... everyone (long or short) WANTS and is EXPECTING a pullback. Therefore I doubt we'll get one....

Today in Commodities: New Opportunities

Im looking into some call spreads on some of the commodity stocks here at this level. Notably on coal stocks such as MEE, FCX, and even SLV

Commodities Today: Buy Rumor, Sell Fact

interesting ideas. what event/catalyst do you think will push silver and gold above highs. I'm not refuting that they will go higher, I'm just wonder what you (the author, or anyone else who cares to comment) think will cause it to move past these points of prior resistance and rocket up to new highs.

Top 5 Most Desired ETFs by Fund Flow Percentage

UNG is a buy. I think a great pairs trade is short coal, long gas

Home Depot's Not So Awful News

HD is a great buy here around 24 bucks. Pretty decent dividend too. This is a great play on the (supposed) housing "bottom". Whether housing bottoms in a few months or a few years, HD is sure to benefit and pull through strong.

7 ETFs to Short Right Now

Wow, you are net short the market here after this big big run. Congrats. Surely this is a comfy bias to have after this huge brisk move upwards we've had. You are the classic "late to the party bear." You use terms like " hedge fund selling hanging over the market", "hogwash", "hype" and you speak about how the dollar will "inevitably plunge". Sure these things could be true, but believe me, anyone reading S.A. is already aware of these short arguments. Look, if you missed the rally, just be honest and come out and tell us that. You should have titled this article "Gosh I hope we get a pullback so I get a second chance to get in on this bull market"

Gold vs. Silver: There Is No Debate

So to you people who preach to stay away from the metals ETF's like GLD and SLV....I ask you:

Just how and when will this demise of the ETFs that you predict come about? Will they suddenly collapse? We those holding them wake up one morning to see $0.00 as the value on them in their brokerage accounts? Would they slowly lose correlation to the physical spot market? It could happen somehow I suppose and if it does, people can just simple get out once they become dissatisfied with the effectiveness of the ETF to serve its goal. Others may continue to stay in because to them its still close enough. Either way a slow decoupling will not cause any mass chaotic loss for the small investor.

As of yet, It is shown that so far the ETFs track the metals pretty darn close to dead on as far as performance.... I know its not a perfect correlation but its very very close. Lets say you disagree with this notion (which many of you do) a decide to go buy physical gold. So you go to a gold dealer somewhere or maybe one of these gold websites you see paying on late night TV. You pay whatever the brokers cut is on the gold (those websites obviously have some margin/mark-up from their cost) and your pay to have gold sent to you or to some other place. Now begins the burden of having to store that gold. Whether it be paying to have it stored at some central place or enduring the risk of storing it yourself, there's no free lunch. Now, when you go to sell your physical gold or silver, you must find a buyer for it. Who? Your next door neighbor? I don't think so Unless there's some fluke, you won't find someone who will just step right up and buy your asking price. You will likely have to sell it back to a broker or "market maker" of some sort and lose the "bid/ask" spread again on the way out! Much like you do when you place a market order on a stock trade. I can guarantee you the people who buy and sell physical gold are taking a lot bigger "lick" than the $.01 between the bid/ask on SLV and GLD.

In summary:
Overall, I just don't see how, for the ordinary investory, buying the physical can possibly be a prudent, logical choice when you consider the following:
1. paying the "ask price" from a gold dealer when you buy your small quantity of gold.
2. selling at the "bid" price back to the gold dealer.
3. enduring the costs of storing the gold (whether it be monetary or non-monetary)

I remain very content with my bullion ETF's. I have both SLV and GLD.

The advantages of the ETF's are that they are highly liquid and you can go into and out of them very quickly. Also, I can guarantee you that when the ETFs go to buy and sell huge sums of the physical they are getting a much better deal than that gold dealer is giving you when you buy your dozen coins.

Gold Has Not Begun to Shine

Decent article. Holding GLD and SLV (or even better, the physical) is an excellent hedge for a diversified portfolio at the very least. At best, they could be huge trades as this world economy reinvents itself. I have both and don't intend to sell anytime soon. Now that the "fear trade" may be over, where do we stand? One point related to Gold/Silver ratio that is probably worth mentioning within this context for why Silver may continue to outperform gold as this economy recovers:
It is more heavily used in industrial applications and therefore demand should increase as production recovers.

Adding to Capital One Financial Short Position: Gotta Love the Stress Test

I share your sentiment that COF is a shaky finance company with potentially some serious looming problems, notably on consumer credit default. However, It is widely believed and preached by many of the world's best traders that adding to a losing trade is one of the most fail safe ways to lose money. Especially, I would think, in a margined or infinite loss situation such as shorting. Scaling into a position as a long term investment is one thing, but shorting stock is not an investment, its always a TRADE. Now that being said, I have also been short COF several times in the past year. That was when the chart looked like a ski slope heading towards the ground. I think it could be a good short again at some point in the future. Just not now. You can't catch a falling knife and you can't stop a rocket lauching higher. Maybe buy some puts. Maybe just keep your cash on the sidelines and wait for a better entry point into this trade. But shorting all the way up is going to be a sure way to quickly eat up your capital.