Advanced technology is both a blessing and a curse. Where mouse-clicks and emotions are simultaneous.

Those of us braced for the storm ahead will likely find the upcoming volatility (in all financial markets) to be like nothing we could ever imagine.

Many expect silver prices to fluctuate wildly. Both to the upside and down.

Even the “sideways” trade may unnerve the best of us. Uncertainty leading to despair will arise as fundamentals slowly break out from dormancy. – no matter how committed we are to the long-term, insurance character of silver.

Physical silver investors are tethered to the primary trend. Possession of the actual metal requires an entirely new layer of appreciation – and there is little glamor or excitement about it.

Yet we all crave a little excitement.  Or the occasional signal or impetus to buy? And why not understand the nuance of the trade? Learn all you can about this scarce resource – that primal money you hold in your hand?

Is there a way to balance observing the short-term, while remaining committed to the long-haul?

And read commentary about what it all means for yesterday and tomorrow, regardless of the direction of the primary trend? Yet, from source that “gets” it…

That every fiat currency ever created has had the same fate. That markets today are managed by rogue investors enabled by sovereigns to take down sovereigns in a great new battle in the shadows.

Fundamentals have been ignored for so long here, and in other markets, that the professional trade can essentially the influence.

Let me introduce you to Bill Downey’s GoldTrends.net.

Mr. Downey has a simple to follow, clear, technical analysis website for gold and silver.

While the content serves the advanced-technical mind, it is presented with a nod to the fundamentals and an accessible presentation.

Not much hype, nothing fancy. It doesn’t need it.

The site is well written, honest, and passionate  — and his service is Free. So why not?

Only a couple reasons why you might want to stay away.

1. If you are like me, a sponge for precious metal content and particularly interested in the how bearish signals manifest.

(Yes, bearish! In fact, I  am so bullish that I have become a skeptic by default. I crave any analysis that depicts the downside scenario).

2. The other reason to tread carefully, outside of the time-sync in if you choose to read the content — is that when the volatility swings against the trend, you may not find the emotional support you need to retain your focus. I’m just saying because I know.

The way these (all) markets are traded on a daily basis is criminal and so far from natural that its a wonder that the whole thing does not blow apart tomorrow.

Take a look at Bill’s silver page here.

Or check out the article that first alerted me to his site about silver’s most important price point right around one of the more difficult moves to endure.

Better yet, here’s the Mogambo Guru — also a Downey follower — who always serves to put things in perspective.

Those three links plus the one below ought to give you what you need to help you decide for yourself.

Bill provides an excellent, free resource for dabbling deeper into the technical aspect of silver (and gold) trading. Or, take a look at his long-term strategy for silver here.

Bottom line:

Taking physical possession practically eliminates the mouse click in times of despair.

But you don’t have to pretend to be disinterested in the day to day or month to month evolution of the technical perspective.

Worst case is that you end up enduring a dose of bearish reality. Best case, you find a short-term motivation to buy a few more coins.

If you stand the heat and you like to check the price or guess the action short-term…Or if you want to get a sense how the technical crowd keeps up with the market, I urge you to give Bill Downey’s site a try.

(Which reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to get across to you. Silver “coins” are not necessarily the same as silver “bullion”. I am technically more interested in bullion or generic silver. The purest may resent lumping coins and bullion together, but most people new to this world will not be immediately familiar with definition of “bullion”).

Now then.

Doug Casey is the Chairman of Casey Research, a unique organization that makes it’s living on subscription services for investment reports on a variety of mostly contrary or overlooked opportunities.

This interview series is one of the many Free subscriptions Casey Research provides and again,  it is highly recommend it for the long-term view and broader market trends.

Doug Casey is a highly respected author, publisher and professional investor who graduated from Georgetown University in 1968.

He literally wrote the book on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: his book “Crisis Investing” spent multiple weeks as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980 with 438,640 copies sold.

The timing (of my discovery) is a bit ironic in that from a monetary standpoint, we are in a similar predicament to 1980. Even more ironic, perhaps, is the fact that I saw Paul Volcker testifying before the Senate the other day in what may be only symbolic, but nevertheless interesting, given Volcker’s role as Federal Reserve Chairman in the early 80’s.

I look forward to the weekly interviews with Doug Casey because he stands for fundamentals and the long-term – with an eye for interesting recommendations for securities in the short term. And he is one of the few truly outspoken.

Additionally, he covers some broad topics like this recent one on Haiti and this one on education.

Here’s an excerpt from the “education” interview:

“Put it this way. The quality of a person can be determined by how he relates to three critical verbs: Be, Do, and Have. The classical liberal arts show you how to “be” – they help form your essence, your character, your will. The mechanical arts show you how to “do”; they are important, but really are just acquired skills. As a consequence of what you are, and what you can do, you “have” – acquire goods and money and reputation.”

The fundamental analysis is a key for any silver coin investor who desires some semblance of sanity in the world of derived price management and volatility.

Publications like this one, provide this much needed semblance.

Update: 1-20-2010

Mr. Butler was kind enough to clarify his prespective on the difference between Silver and Gold.

Here’s what he had to  say…

Gold had a mini-rally of $5 during yesterday’s trading, but overnight has sold off $9…

I want to make something perfectly clear, that I’ve talked about before regarding Gold… When I talk about Gold, I’m also talking about Silver… I just don’t want to have to type Gold and Silver every time I’m talking about the precious metals… Silver is another store of wealth… In the December Currency Capitalist, I talked about giving the gift of Gold, and teaching whomever you gift it to, the lessons of wealth building… When my older kids were youngsters, I bought them Silver coins, for I could not afford anything else then… Those Silver coins have proved the point of providing a store of wealth, as they have never gone to zero, and have gained in value over the years!

Thanks Chuck!!

*******************************

What can I say?

I nearly fell out my seat the morning when I read Chuck Butler’s, “Daily Pfennig” where, in a mere instant, he had served up  – and efficiently denied, my beloved silver its proper place in the limelight…

Nevertheless, bullishness manifests in mysterious ways, and (perhaps) we should be thankful for the fact that silver is overlooked and misunderstood by the likes of many – and especially people who (we think) ought to know better.

That is part of my rationalization for sticking with the Pfennig.

The other part is that I just like Chuck.

And, you probably will too.

So why would a silver coin bug like yours truly be so interested in this quick and daily synopsis of currency news?

Here’s why:

Currency traders are technical, but the world is so big that they can never take their eye off the fundamentals.

No matter what, the fundamentals always catch up with the markets.  And, you don’t get much more fundamental than silver.

In addition, the heavy technical aspect to currency markets lends itself to being a good place for getting some training in the language of the markets. You can then apply the lessons to other markets.

And lastly, currency trading is ultimately about money trading and silver has always been money…

Oh yeah, I almost forgot — Not anymore, according to Mr. Butler.

More on that in a  moment.

First a brief overview about the Daily Pfennig and Chuck Butler:

This is a free and fun 10 minute read without much at all in the way of direct ads –

Mr. Butler is a great writer. Funny, friendly, and easy to follow – yet full of vinegar and controversy.

The Pfennig always starts with a personal note to warm up and ends that way as well.

He probably takes some heat for this, but I’ll bet a few silver coins that this is one of the main reasons for his success and thousands of loyal readers.

Essentially, the Pfennig (a penny for your thoughts) was designed to give folks on the trading desk an early insight and flavor before the markets open.

It ends up being a really good way to get a quick re-cap of the news…with the focus on world currencies or the macro-perspective.

Why does a silver investor need this?

Well, us little guys always need to stay a step ahead.  So few seem to get it that we can never be too sure that when discussing gold — an analyst also means silver. You need to be careful in making this assumption as I believe the real gold analysts understand the distinction between the two precious metals.

Currencies are important for a silver investor because Silver is/was  currency.

And I know that “currency folks” are mainly talking about fiat currencies, but that is actually the point. In fact, most currency analysts put gold in the currency category, albeit with super-natural status.

Mr. Butler recently (and rightly) took up reading the Creature From Jekyll Island (another time I almost fell out of my seat) and has since been referring the Fed as the Cartel. You GATA love that. Another huge reason to follow him, regardless of my silver gripe.

Anyway.

Understanding how currencies are traded, printed, and manipulated provides insight into the daily practices of centralized monetary policy and part of that mission is to bash confidence in real money.

But, understanding the value of international currencies requires a similar analysis to that which you would apply to a company stock or perhaps a commodity — like silver.

But in case you thought I forgot — silver is also money!

Mr. Butler is a big deal in the FOREX world. Formally of Mark Twain Bank, he is now president of EverBank in St. Louis and if I ever hit really big, I’ll probably open up one of their “market safe” CD’s. (That’s not necessarily a plug, by the way).

Mr. Butler is a character. Like an old friend from the neighborhood who may invoke rock-and-roll song lyrics throughout the middle of an important rant or upon delivering these missives, he is very likable and probably would prefer you call him Chuck.

Nevertheless, he disappointed me on silver.

In a recent Pfennig,

“As I said earlier, Gold reached $1,218 yesterday… Kristin mentioned to me that Silver has risen 69% this year, but all everyone ever talks about is Gold, and wanted to know why…

Well… Silver is another excellent choice of a store of wealth… But, it’s just not Gold! There are a number of reasons for this, but the most compelling one is that Gold used to be money, and to many, it is considered to be the only real currency… The practical reason is the fact that if you wanted to carry Gold in your pocket, two coins, worth $2,400 would be just fine… But if you wanted to put $2,400 worth of Silver in your pocket, you would need a lot of people’s pockets to help you carry it!”

At least he said “excellent choice as a store of wealth”.

And no, it’s not gold — it’s more important than gold. Its everywhere and soon silver will be “no where”.

And there is already less silver than gold.  Maybe he can have Kristin do a little project on silver supply.

From the keys under Mr. Butler’s (self-proclaimed) “little fat fingers”, to the refrigerator, washing machine, IPhone, cell phone, silver is in a much of the stuff we use on a daily basis in the industrialized world.

This also includes airplanes, hospitals, medicines, and plastics!

I know you can’t eat it, but there are small amounts of silver in all this stuff that no one thinks about and totally takes for granted – like all the electrical panel switches in your house that magically work every time you flip the switch.

Why do you think central banks got rid of their silver? They sold it to fuel all of these nice industries.

But don’t forget about the strategic uses- the military needs silver badly in everything from batteries to the lubrication on the jet-engine ball-bearings.

It’s always about the ball-bearings.

I’m not so sure that silver has been actually discontinued as “money” – and certainly not because central banks don’t keep it any longer. Are we to assume that because the The Bank Cartel (by Treasury proxy) sold it — that it is no longer money?

It’s funny that all the silver I own was either circulated as money, looks like money, and feels like money. It says in the US Constitution that silver is money. And I can go sell some at the coin shop and get some paper money to buy stuff with…

And finally we come to the practicality of silver versus gold.

I like traveling light as much as anyone, but $2,400 of silver when Mr. Butler dropped this on (me) his readers was about 6 rolls-worth of silver rounds  – or about 10 pounds.

I’m not trying to brag, but on more than a few occasions, I’ve carried this much silver home in the back-pack that I was also carrying my daughter (25 pounds) in — on my way back from the coin shop! And that was for fun.

Maybe I’m not the average reader, but I’ll bet more than a few Pfennig readers could handle 10 pounds of silver in a paper bag to the car.

It’s good exercise besides.

Did I mention that silver is more rare than gold?

Okay, you get the picture. I could go on and on and on.

I’ll send this over to Mr. Butler. Maybe he’ll share this with his readers, creating a new rush for physical silver that finally pushes the already tight physical market over the edge, sending all the shorts running for the hills and we’ll get this adjustment back to fundamentals over with. And then I can put some into one of those currency accounts — maybe have Mr. Butler pick one for me…..

And of course, I’m not mad. I still love Chuck!

Even though this has been  surreal to say the least.

To almost see “my team” in the spotlight.

And that moment, like a slow motion train-wreck, where silver was lifted it up so high for all those many thousands of readers to see, just long enough for it to be “destroyed” as a credible, and for once, untarnished poor-man’s asset.

The horror!

I’ll keep reading Pfennig (and so should you), pretending that when Mr. Butler brings up gold -that he is also talking about silver — sort of — even if he doesn’t know it.

I’m used to it.

It’s the way the world works.

In the meantime, here’s a more formal take (and shameless plug) about the value of silver and gold.

Silver and Gold might be money, but they ain’t traded on the Forex.

I suppose this is part of why Chuck Butler’s Daily Pfennig has become a part of my daily routine.

Butler recently quoted David Galland on buying Gold… Here’s David…

“Buy gold. Unless and until there is an angry upwelling of popular discontent at the growing size of government – and it has to be far more substantive than just a few vocal talk radio jocks, or even 100,000 or so people peacefully gathering on the Mall in Washington DC – the government will continue to grow, or even just keep running at current levels, which means the destruction of the dollar. Many tangible assets will do well, but their intrinsic value as money means gold (and silver) will do best.”

That would have been enough for me, but as it turns out, I had already come to know David Galland, who also turns out to be a fan of one of my favorite books, THE FOURTH TURNING, AN AMERICAN PROPHECY, by Neil Howe and the late William Strauss.

More on this in a minute…

Last week I happened to be listening to a radio interview with Mr. Gold, Jim Sinclair of JSMineSet (previously reviewed by me).

Sinclair was talking about his father, who worked with the legendary trader, Jesse Livermore.

(It turns out a good day-trading friend of mine had recently discovered Livermore, which was the first I’d heard of them)

Anyway, Sinclair brought up a Livermore axiom that really stuck with me and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

Livermore said that the most important thing when trading is to:

“establish and commit to a position, then use the technicals to support or improve the cost basis..”

Hey, just like I do. I don’t really consider myself a trader. I buy silver coins on the dips and/or when I can. That’s the commitment.

The other part of that or “using the technicals to support or improve the cost basis” is a tricky thing to do in the silver market.

Especially, as long as prices are determined by futures or paper silver. That is to say, manipulated or suppressed.

I think the only way to know when it’s really time to sell is when silver shows up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

I often feel taken advantage of by the chartists anyway.

Pardon the surf analogy, but it’s somewhat how I think about the surf conditions –Even though the short-term or local conditions matter some, its the long-term ground swell that we wait for.  You know the winter is coming, just now when the good days will actually arrive.

If you have a lot of extra cash, you might be able to use the technicals to leverage money around the mining sector, to support your cost basis. But for guys like me, that is mostly dreaming. I’m just happy my local coin guy is still able to find coins.

Okay. So anyone who invests in silver can attest to volatility.

Therefore, we need a direction, a path, a clear sense of where things are headed, a signal that the seasons are about to change.

Among other things it’s important to look at what the macro is telling you and stick to that direction and try to keep the short-term volatility in perspective.

I think a lot of people sort of wake up to find it warm and sunny and only then realize that it must be summer.

I enjoy learning from David Galland,  guys like him take “the chance” and really look at the long-term picture. Or, unlike many writers, he simply looks at what the policymakers are doing, and acknowledging their power to carry out these policies, and their track records.

Galland puts together a really good, once a week kind of read, an organized look at how the short term relates to the longer view contrarion  point of view.

You can find him over at Casey Research in the free section.

Galland is also an inflationist, which again, for the long-term is always in the cards for a fiat currency and what all central powers do, if they can get away with it – which they probably will for a while.

As I alluded to above, I became a raving fan of Galland is from reading the interview that he did with Neil Howe, author of “The Fourth Turning”.

You can check it out here:

http://www.safehaven.com/article-14670.htm

Galland may help you in keeping that needed focus on the broader horizon.

Up until the last minute, I was ready to wrap this up and conclude that Market Oracle devotes too little space to my beloved silver and that it primarily functions (from a the silver investor’s standpoint) in getting the word out generally about precious metals -but definitely weighs too heavily on the technical side to the markets.

Then there was this:

Peak Silver and Mining by a Falling EROI

And then this:

Silver set to Soar as it did in the 1970’s

So I had to change my mind a bit.

But first a word on where I was going…

Some find fundamentals to be boring. I guess it depends on your perspective, or your motivations for evaluating a market.

People I’m mainly concerned with  are those looking at silver, (or more specifically silver coins), as a long-term investment, and therefore care more about fundamentals.

In fact, the fundamentals and silver, because they have been ignored for so long, lost to the mainstream, are precisely why the people who can afford a small long-term investment will eventually flock to this area.

It’s more difficult to say the same thing about gold. In most of the content and commentary at Market Oracle was focused on gold, and not silver. (Until very recently!)

Frankly, I’m tired of technicals.

As a pure silver bug, I can do without another chart, or another wave analysis, with moving averages, pivot points, and the like.

The lure of the technicals makes sense, and good writers do it well. And make no mistake, there is no shortage of talented writers here. Contributers – link

Looking at charts and patterns provides a way to stay excited, a way to feel like you’re a part of the game.

We all need a little excitement.

For us, technical analysis  provides a way to rationalize an investment space that has traded Contrary to fundamentals for many many years.

In silver, The fundamentals are simply not in play. That’s probably the understatement of the year.

Believe me, you and everybody else will know it once silver begins trading based on fundamentals again.

To be fair Market oracle is not completely technical. And now we’re talking silver too!

An example of this can be found here, in Merv Burak’s “Gold Topping Action Continues”, from Oct 25, 2009.

Mr. Burak starts out with a fair treatise on fundamentals, and even a healthy argument as to why we need to keep them in mind before we start looking at charts and historical pivot points and price points.

Of course, the rest of this very well written, but unfortunately, technical posts, goes on to evaluate markets for not traded based on fundamentals for a very long time, including metals and agriculture.

That said, Market Oracle is a place where you can get a good cross section of who the major technical experts and gols (and silver?) market commentators are – the writing professionals in this space.

Take a look and see if you recognize any Market Oracle contributors here.

There is no shortage of content – the risk is never catching up.

So at first, I hesitated to recommend this to you, the faithful silver coin investor, in the waiting in the trenches, the the poor man, not necessarily interested in the trade or the gamble – or even the fast buck.

But then, all of a sudden, as if ordained by some magical market force, two articles appear with a focus on silver!

This one, you should go check out today.

Perhaps my fear (and maybe yours too) about fundamentals being forever obscured are about to change?

We wait and see. In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more silver coin-centric content and add Market Oracle to our feed.

If you are wondering about where I’m coming from with this – or or to get the overall perspective on what it means to be a silver coin investor, check out my free guide and E-course here.

We silver coin investors are a funny bunch. You see, folks lucky enough to have figured out a way and a place to store what little wealth they have left over have come to this from many a direction.

Typically, we are contrarian to begin with, salt of the earth types, with not a lot of extra income lying around to gamble with.

But there is a world that opens up around you when you discover the simplicity in holding silver. (Whether that world is above or below is a matter of debate).

Many find the idea of buying physical silver for investment uncomfortable and about as appealing as a romp through the wilderness on foot that leads to a campsite in the middle of nowhere.

This is okay with us because, as a group, we like low-impact wilderness and the lessons learned in fending for oneself. This includes a level of a preparedness that comes only after considerable thought and research.

As much as we might otherwise find the plushness of the towering casinos and the allure of the fancier things in life, our resource-circumstance limits us to a different existence.

However, we are never fully disconnected from the bright lights, big cities, and indoor pluming – no more than silver can be eliminated from most of inner workings that make these modern wonders possible.

Therefore, our quest includes the need to know how our precious metal functions in the modern world, whether we are considering the markets, the industries that use silver, or the greater macro-economic or geopolitical trends that influence the value of our little stash of silver coins.

So in the quest for knowledge, there is much crossover, and we invariably come across letters and publications like “Investment Underground” – and so will you.

When you have a passion for this market, and an open curiosity, it’s easy to lose a sense of oneself and find yourself pouring over an investment offer carefully designed to lure you in.

Have fun with it. For there will perhaps come a day for this in the not-too-distant future – when you find yourself in a position to ‘leverage’ your silver coin investment. When that day comes, you’ll likely return to this email newlsetter. But for now, here’s the deal:

First off, when you sign up for investment underground,(watch the pop-up),you get a pretty steady flurry of content in your inbox.

And this part of a well-oiled machine. So, you can sit back and dabble a little from time to time – pick out a headline and then leave it be.

This is information marketing at its best. So, you’ll need to learn how to read with your silver coin identity firmly entrenched and allow yourself to dream a little, while checking any remorse for not being able to gamble – at the door.

Much of the content is specifically designed to hook you into reading and then, clicking. More often not, you get stuck reading what turns out to be an advertisement for one or another investing program.

Also, if you’ve read Addison Wiggin or will Bonner over at the Daily Reckoning or if you simply keep up with Chuck Butler’s Daily Pfennig, you can get the gist of what these e-mails cover in a broad macro-sense. You can pretty much stick with those guys. You’ll get the same message:

With the recent and ongoing financial crisis, and the amount of information sloshing around out there, crossing in and out and overlapping with similar content to Investment Underground, it makes it even more strenuous to put up with a message that shoots a little bit to the side or over the head of the typical silver investor.

And as much as I’d like to support the family affair (Will Bonner is Bill Bonner’s son), things must, at some point, come back down to earth for the silver coin investor.

Well, unfortunately for them, it doesn’t speak loud enough to the average investor.

In that most of us are just looking for a way to acquire a few more coins, and get a better understanding of how and why and what goes on in the macro world and how it affects our small world.

We need to make the connections between the broad market conditions and how they impact things that matter most to us like, silver supply tightness, industrial versus investor demand, and the ongoing and relentless price manipulation.

Of course, very few investing news sources currently give the time to those specific areas of interest, but we believe in time they will as more people will need to know.

Like many other newsletter publications, and yes, this one is free (so what could it hurt to try it out), they seem better directed toward where a lot of us are likely to be in a year. Further down along the way, maybe coming up out of the canyon, a little heavier with a few more coins on board.

But again, for the average silver investor, who has a sense of why silver is important, and where it will likely go in terms of price. You can probably skip this one.

Bear in mind that this is written for a range of readers, including swing and day-traders, market-makers, long-term investors, hedge fund managers, “upstairs” traders and floor pros, as well as laymen who simply enjoy the editor’s acerbic humor.

We like it because it is unconventional.

We look at this and apply the same sort of reasoning to why we follow writers like Chuck Butler or Bill Bonner.

You get some entertaining “voice” about the issues that trickle down to hard money.

Most of us don’t have a ton of cash sitting around waiting to be invested in currencies or in day trading. But we can certainly pay attention and learn about the big picture and do what we have to (add a few silver coins to our little stash from time to time).

And by the way, if you want an overview of Rick’s technical approach to trading, check out his video

Some of you will be intrigued by the technical analysis and one more about the approach that Rick uses for trading.

(To be fair, we only got about 10 minutes into and realized that it it was a little bit over our heads).

But the e-mail newsletter is a different story. It won’t take up much space in your inbox.

Most importantly, he’s in our camp. Through his commentary you’ll find that his opinion and perspective on the macro economy and the news that effects or influences markets is on the same page with those of us who see silver as a way to keep a little nest egg incubating.

Here is where I “discovered” him at GATA.

“Bernanke & Friends are probably throwing everything they’ve got at gold right now to suppress its price. And for all we know, Uncle Sam has loaned every ingot (supposedly) in Fort Knox to carry-traders at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. The ability of these well-connected bullion bankers to borrow more or less unlimited quantities of physical gold is for them even better than a license to print money, since money itself is most surely not what it used to be. The feather merchants have repaid the government’s kindness by sitting on gold futures prices. This price-fixing operation is all the more impressive because its perpetrators have managed so far to peg bullion to $1,000 even though the U.S. dollar has broken some key technical supports in recent days.”

You can practically say the same thing for silver, though we all know silver is a different animal.

You can find out pretty much everything else you need to know about Rick here.

The nice thing about signing up for feeds and newsletters is that you don’t really have to feel that pressure you get when you  discover a great site, rich in content, and the pressing need to digest it all at once.

You can simply sign up and start getting e-mails to get a ticket to justice what it’s all about.

Okay, so for the average silver investor (that’s me), What does Rick have to offer?

Well first of all, we need to understand silver in the context of not only the macro economy, but also the nano economy.

Nano economy?

Yeah, that’s the economy of the regular guy. The typical silver coin investor.

The guy who just wants to take delivery of a few silver coins to protect his nest egg or maybe just be prepared (diversified) in case of a really big crisis. No one wants to think about bartering with silver coins, but whiskey never lasts long in our house, so that won’t be an option.

So, I was pleasantly surprised after reading through a couple of months of Rick’s posts.

And for those who aspire to get the word out, wake somebody up, or just make it in an Internet publishing capacity, we could learn a lot by the way Rick delivers the goods… Short, up front, wise, and funny.

Anyway, lo and behold, here’s what he has to say on his about page:

“Indeed, we are quite possibly entering an economic period unlike any before it – one in which, paradoxically, deflation’s grip on the global economy has intensified even as credit and money growth have soared to unprecedented extremes. We are not in Kansas any more, for sure, and the old investment strategies are becoming increasingly risky as the weeks and months go by. Forget about doubling your money on the next Big Thing. It is time to safeguard the bulk of your nest egg while setting aside a modest portion of it to pursue exceptional gains. This is where Rick’s Pick’s aims to be of greatest value to you: in shaping your trading and investment decisions so that risk and reward are in optimal balance. Discover how you can confidently chart your own path to a financially secure future.”

As far as the trading stuff and stock picks, I look forward the day, (perhaps not far off), of having the ability to make more of these kind of trading and investment decisions.

I think most silver (coin) bugs understand that this day may come soon. Never hurts to be prepared.

Because after silver really takes off, I might have enough money left to play in the world of chart investing, Elliott wave analysis, or technical fund buying, etc. What fun!

Rick would likely point out that one group of readers who subscribe and join his camp include long-term investors.

Well, what better place to be for a silver coin investor?

Check out Rick here.

As a resource, it’s big, broad and raw. You can pick through it if you have the time and/or energy. There are definitively jewels nestled within. They admit that they keep it simple on purpose.

Streamlined traffic serves a good in this space. Some 75,000 visitors per month get a glimpse of the precious metal story, though never enough of the silver story.  The more the merrier – unless you are not invested…then you wouldn’t really understand.

However, I believe most people would rather pay to have this type of content  filtered and delivered, and with a ‘voice’.

On the way to the forum …which was down during the week I spent putting this together, I realized that they could probably do well by sprucing things up a bit- maybe even putting together an email package of ‘highlights’ with commentary.

Time and skill = money.

For me SafeHaven represents a HUB-full of rich content.

I read a lot in this sector. I’ve been at this for a while. I get the language. And I own silver bullion, which makes me particularly sensitive to quality. I don’t the money to ’simply buy gold’. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way.

It takes one to know one and I appreciate it and realize that no perspective should be completely ignored.

I like digging into content from the ‘professional’ perspective – which is what you’ll get here.

But you don’t need to be a professional to miss the big picture. Again, it just takes one to know one and discovering the ‘truth’ is not a straight path. Professionals and academics tend to come loaded with assumptions that are considered standard.

That’s where it gets tricky, in my opinion.

For me, everything boils down to physical silver. It’s all very simple over here in silver-coin-land. I want to help regular people see this too. I’m not sure that this is a great place to reinforce what most people need to get started with something as simple as silver coins.

The masses need access to some way of protecting wealth. They may not have much, but silver is cheap enough to provide protection for very little exchange- at least for now. It won’t last long. So there is urgency to add to the emotion.

For the regular person just becoming aware of this, SafeHaven will likely feel obscure.

What I decided to do was break down there own About Us section for you.

What follows is a paragraph by paragraph break-down with my comments (as they apply to the silver coin investor (link: http://www.silver-coin-investor.com) in between.

Here’s how I see it:

SafeHaven Says:

“At some point in your life you will want to, or be forced to consider an investment program. The main criteria in choosing one that is right for you is summed up in three words “Preservation of Capital”. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?”

Yes it does. Which is why I like silver. It is simple, fundamental, of the earth, etc. And precious metals have always been a key for wealth preservation. Of course, gold priced in dollars is expensive for folks like me. Silver is not. Silver (and gold) can be purchased at your local coin shop. And silver coins are liquid and easy to store for the regular guy.

SafeHaven Says:
“Remember, “Investing is not Saving”!”

This is where I need to part company a bit. Or maybe I’m missing something. Every one needs to save these days. Especially the average American. But a traditional savings account provides little interest, and it is denominated in dollars. Unless you believe in the official numbers and the presumption in the mainstream that their will be low inflation – if any at all – there is no way that the dollar will retain the purchasing power that it has today. So saving ‘in silver money’ makes sense. But given the market fundamentals and the relative scarcity of physical metal, silver is also a potentially ‘lucrative’ investment.

SafeHaven Says:
“The mainstream media would lead us to believe otherwise (in terms of saving, me) and seldom comment on the risks inherent in equity ownership or debt investments. They are quick to point out the positive aspects of every news event with prepared soundbites of information. They provide simple, continual commentary on the respective markets to show they are up to date with the latest developments.”

The mainstream media is the ultimate form of propaganda designed to keep the masses quiet. It has the appearance of being ‘civil’ because it currently does not use force. (Outside of creating a revolving-door ‘prison-subculture’ for moral crimes, like drug abuse).

SafeHaven Says:
“They don’t comment on developing trends until the trend is obvious to everyone; acting as cheerleaders for the greatest bull market of the twentieth century. A cautious and more reasoned approach is needed.”

Yes. Unfortunately, the reasoned approach will never be accepted. Its like trying to get and even when the media catches on to the inevitable shift, it will not likely happen without a context – like war or some other societal scapegoat.

Even today, you can read passionate discourse about the ‘morality’ of the inflation-hawks. Thus, creating a new belief paradigm about sound money – with Orwellian fact-changing all along the way.

SafeHaven Says:
“We are not permabears, nor are we bullish for the foreseeable future. The Stock Market Bubble is not our greatest concern. The Credit Bubble, however, when it inevitably implodes, will wreak havoc on all sectors of the World Economy, including the Stock Market.”

Indeed, the problem we face in the West is one of debt. We cannot afford deflation because everything we ‘own’ is financed. When the value of these assets falls, so does the servicing ability. We need ever more debt to pay off the existing debt. This is totally ignored by the media, though it is, ironically, well understood by the average American in the wake of the Madoff scandal.

SafeHaven Says:
“The articles from GoldenBar and PrudentBear are all a must read. As a starter, we suggest you read On the Manipulation of Money and Credit by Doug Noland of Prudent Bear and Inflation versus Deflation by Ed Bugos of GoldenBar. These articles help towards an understanding of the Bubble and monetary inflation.”

I would partially agree, but I also recommend that for the Average citizen looking for wealth protection or an alternative asset like silver coins, in the beginning, the ‘need’ for technical analysis will risk clouding the underlying factors – making this simple investment seem inaccessible.

SafeHaven Says:
“GoldenBar articles are published bi-weekly, and PrudentBear is published Wednesday and Friday evenings. Please visit their web sites.”

Nothing wrong with getting paid for value.

SafeHaven Says:
“If you have an interest in long-term cycles, then start with Generations and Business Cycles by Michael A. Alexander and Measuring Financial Time: The Magic of Pi by Barclay T. Leib.”

I found these recommendations somewhat tedious for my interest. I think one of the very best and broad works on Generations and Historical (inducing business) is ‘The Fourth Turning”, by Strauss and Howe

SafeHaven Says:
“Also strongly recommended is David Jensen’s In Denial of Crisis and Antal Fekete’s two series, Revisionist View of the Great Depression and The Goldbug Variations I.”

You can go there if you like, though again, for the big-picture investor, you could skip these.

SafeHaven Says:
“We won’t update every hour of every day- it is not necessary. Bull and bear markets evolve over many months and years, and a single news event has never changed the long-term direction of markets. If you have written an article, if you wish to provide a link to a newsworthy item, or if you have comments, suggestions, or recommendations, please Contact Us.”

Maybe we will submit this one.

“The site has been kept simple to allow quick download times and to keep problems with old browsers to a minimum. If you are having a problem, please email us and we will try to adjust for your browser or printer.”

Yes, it’s simple to navigate and very dense with information that you (as a silver coin investor) may put off today and possibly enjoy tomorrow.

SafeHaven Says:
“Enjoy your visit and visit often!”

Thanks, we did, but we probably won’t.

Ed Steer, correspondent-at-large for Casey Research is a keen observer of the financial scene and a director of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA).

And if that were not enough – he’s a good friend of the esteemed silver guru, Ted Butler.

So yes, The Gold and Silver Daily may be written for the serious (and passionate) silver and gold investor. However, it is a good place to hit the ground running for the relatively new on the silver and gold new scene.

This is an excellent, short and friendly read that can start you off with just about all you need to know for the basics in short term trading.

Now that doesn’t mean than the newly initiated will not to think and do some homework. There is a technical language spoken here.

And you’ll need some knowledge of how options work – especially trading on the short-side.

A few terms you will need to become familiar with include:

• Open interest

• Swaps

• Spreads

• Concentrated Short position

• Bullion banks

• Commercials

And you’ll need to get an overall sense of who these futures traders are. And what is a bullion bank?

Maybe we’ll put together a primer on gold and silver futures trading in the future, but for now, we think that if you’ve made it this far – you can handle jumping right in the what Steer has to offer.

Bookmark the site and from it. Soon your knowledge and passion for this sector will grow.

The Details:

Yes, these daily reports are useful for the more advanced trader, but again, if you are like us, and lets say that from time to time, the opportunity arises where you can add to your investment – this is a place where you can check-in and see about a few ‘extra’ signs that prices are gearing for a dip into negative territory. (Buying a few silver coins on dips).

Also, this the quintessential contrarion or non-mainstream view. In other words, what you need to expose yourself to. The view you GATA have.

The background is this:  Basically there is an ongoing battle to keep gold and silver prices low or in control, stealing money from honest investors in the process.

The gold and silver furtures market (COMEX) basically functions like a mini printing press, papering over physical gold and silver – thereby smothering the value of the physical metal.
t is all to easy to feel helpless and lose hope that there will be a fortunate ending

It is difficult to avoid channeling that helplessness into anger and then walk around with that feeling – which is ultimately unproductive.

Indeed, I cannot count the number of times I’ve begun a civil conversation about the silver markets with the un-initated that didn’t lead to some sort of emotional plea for understanding the outright crime of it all.

Even if you are skeptical that there could exist such a coordinated effort to distort prices, I would highly advise that you educate yourself about this anyway. And the Gold and Silver Daily is as good a (free) place as any.

Go there and live in this for a while and you will come to know the evidence – and probably begin to question a lot of assumptions that society makes about the motives behind those in power.

And of course, you’ll probably want to go out add a few coins to your collection.

Each Gold and Silver Daily contains:

Play by play summary of each trading day’s technicals, including price, open interest, and volume data from the futures market, as well as the mainstream view about the day’s trading.

You also get high-quality, working links to precious metals and financial news from around the world.

You get a concise overview of the latest developments in these markets – with brief comments about those articles.

Plus, from time to time, an update from the trenches of the GATA and Silver (Ted Butler) army.

Here’s an excerpt and a link to give you a flavor:

And lastly is another piece that I highlighted during the transition phase to this new column. It, too, is commentary that is not to be missed. It’s contained in a GATA dispatch with a preamble by GATA’s secretary treasurer, Chris Powell. As I said in my previous comments about this report… it’s certainly above my pay grade in places, but it’s not the parts that I don’t understand that scare me. I urge you to spend some time on this 9-page offering entitled “A Grand Unified Theory of Market Manipulation”… and the link.

There are a few ads, but we didn’t mind. They are easy to scroll through and many of them have Ed’s voice intertwined -so it doesn’t interupt the flow.

In summary:

It’s a good place to go to get a real taste of the nitty-gritty dynamics of the COMEX trade.

There is good flow and easy options to get out and follow a useful link to with the content – if you choose.

This is for more for the serious gold or  silver bug, but I think a good place for the newly initiate who want to make this more than a simple hedge you put away and forget about.

But you’ll need some of that intestinal fortitude as you go deep into the bizarre realm of the short-term, manipulated world, temporarily leaving behind the most important reasons for being here to begin with – the long term factors. I can’t stress this enough.

Those of us with a passion for silver coin investing as not only a way to protect wealth, but also for the opportunity to own something of real (and potentially great) value have a difficult time going down the road of the short-term.

Just as we are reminded of the manipulation and tight control over these (and all) markets.

As we wade into the evidence as commentary at Steer’s Daily, we can add one of the most compelling arguments for holding physical metal.

Bottom line, our world needs more people like Ed and the folks from GATA.

Here’s a list of the posts reviewed for this review. Go ahead a check them out:
What Golden Secret is the Federal Reserve Hiding?
August 22, 2009

The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!
August 21, 2009

“GFMS Cooks the Books to Make Gold Look Bad”
August 20, 2009

European Central Banks Sell No Gold…Again!
August 19, 2009

“Da Boyz” are Back in Town!
August 18, 2009

China Tell Its Citizens: “Buy Silver Now!”
August 15, 2009

ETF’s Backed By Bullion
August 14, 2009

It’s free and you really have nothing to lose in being exposed to this aspect of precious metals world.

First a little bit  about Monex.

The Monex companies have been around for a long while and they are indeed, an established leader in America’s gold and precious metals investment space. They’ve done over $25 billion in precious metals transactions and have an excellent reputation for customer service.

For the silver bug who doesn’t mind placing a phone order, they offer government-minted coins, 90% and 40%, and bullion bars.

As far as silver rounds…They don’t go there.

As a small investor who can only really afford 10-20 ounces at a time,  silver rounds are nice way to hold the pure (.999)  metal at a lower premium.

We don’t really care too much about the numismatic value and we like that rounds look enough like coins that they could be traded in a worse-case scenario. If that time comes, I have faith that people will be able to figure out what the weight is worth.

We reviewed 6 weeks of Monex updates and alerts and they’ve grown on us.

Heck, we have even come to depend on them for a nice weekly wrap-up, and the great collection of quotes from some of our favorite market commentators.

For example, here’s one from Richard Russell  that stood out from the August 14, 2009 wrap-up.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

“From Richard Russell…What is the US government’s attitude toward allowing its citizens to own gold? . . . I believe the US government WANTS Americans to own gold. Thus, if the purchasing power of the dollar declines, there will be less public outrage if the public is protected by owning gold! How are you going to keep the public quiet if an administration devalues the dollar? Encourage them to own gold, which appears to be the Fed’s and Washington’s policy. Will the US call in gold again as they did in 1934? Forget it! It’s not going to happen.”

You get the picture. And not all of them are this long.

And they also choose from the likes of Ron Paul, Steve Forbes, Warren Buffet, Bill Bonner, and Jim Sinclair.

And, of course, we were more than pleased to see twice-mentioned (in 6 weeks), two quotes by silver guru, David Morgan.

Bravo Monex, for keeping silver on the agenda – as the silver bug can’t get testy about being left out and treated like a second fiddle.

So in each Monex weekly overview you get:

• Price Range For Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium

• Support And Resistance price levels

Support and resistance levels are interesting – even though a long-term investor doesn’t have much to gain by beng a ‘chartist’.

• And News Developments + Quotes

We love clear and concise economic overviews as they pertain to precious metals.

And you also get infrequent Monex Alerts from time to time when significant news develops in the markets – such as the recent Monday take-down in gold and silver. Monex is happy to remind us about buying on the dips – as if we needed reminding.

If you’re like me, that kind of reminder just feels like salt in an open wound.

We know that every long-term investor (especially in the PM’s) needs to have some healthy respect for the daily price and yes, the blatant and coordinated take-downs are tough to ignore.

And okay, a price dip for a regular guy without a while lot of cash serves as perhaps the last opportunity to accumulate the metal…but no one is perfect and Monex is, after all,  a business.

But we still highly recommend this FREE MONEX newsletter and appreciate its weekly arrival.