StockBullz.com

Alain from Montreal sent me a nice link today to a report done by CPM sent by Endeavor Silver Corp to all their Investors. They claim this report is a "rational and succinct analysis on Barclay's Silver ETF".

Check it out:

    2March 2006
    No. 2006 – 2
    Silver ETF Approved
    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the American Stock
    Exchange’s proposal to list iShares Silver Trust shares, to be issued by Barclays Global
    Investors. The ruling was dated 20 March and was released on the morning of 21 March.
    The silver market reacted by rising 20.3 cents to $10.565 in afternoon trading. Prices rose
    a few more cents in Wednesday morning trading.
     
    When the SEC posted the Amex proposal in the Federal Register on 23 January 2006,

NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. benchmark silver futures shot to a 22-year high on speculative buying on Tuesday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved rule changes for a silver exchange-traded fund.

Silver for May delivery <SIK6> at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange had surged $10.55 an ounce, up 16.8 cents -- the priciest for futures since late 1983 -- by 12:13 p.m. EST.

The SEC said it has approved rule changes that will allow the American Stock Exchange to list shares in Barclays Plc's (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) iShares Silver Trust, which is designed to track the price of the metal.

This is the news us Silver Investors have been waiting for!

I posted a chart comparing the price of gold to silver a few days ago. Well here is the price of silver compared to the price of gold:

I was quite surprised to see Silvercorp up so much today without any news. The only thing that I could find today that was new was this article by an independent research site with an interview with Cathy Fong of Silvercorp Investor Relations.

This is what she had to say:

As China is seen to be relaxing regulatory measures, creating a more encouraging environment for exploration companies to enter the market, the wonder is whether or not this will lead mining companies into expanding their operations. Expressing his thoughts on the matter Turner implied that, “China certainly is thought to have large gold reserves, though I imagine the big mining companies will remain reluctant to commit there and will concentrate on more established foreign countries for expansion, until they are convinced it is going to be a success.”

Commenting on the latest pattern of mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector, Michael Turner said, “the takeover of Placer Dome by Barrick is likely to lead to a new wave of mergers and acquisitions. Many companies seem happier expanding in this way than through new mining development. There is also some desire to be the, “no. 1 producer.”

I posted an article about this on January 5, 2006 on the old blog. This is exactly what I wrote:

I don't hate gold. It's just that silver is a BETTER investment than gold.

Gold is not really useful for anything. To me it's pure speculation on wheather inflation goes up/down....etc.

Silver has MANY industrial and consumer uses. For example I heard that all(most?) the power to be transported out of the new chinese nuclear factories will be done through power poles with silver lining and/or wire (because it's more efficient than what's currently used). Can you imagine how much silver they're going to use?

And why did Warren Buffett buy silver and not gold? Maybe he's thinking like I'm thinking. Gold is over rated! (it will go up but silver will go up more)

Today, I discovered a beautiful chart that shows how right I've been.

The lower you see the chart go the better it is for us Silver investors. This chart tells you how many ounces of Silver it will take to buy an ounce of Gold.

Silver prices are still hovering near record highs in anticipation of the release of a silver exchange-traded fund. But analysts say investors looking to strike it big shouldn't abandon silver mining stocks if the new ETF starts trading.

Silver was trading at just under $10 an ounce last week, down from the two-decade high of $10.26 reached earlier this month on speculation that the silver ETF proposed by Barclays Global Investors would soon be available to the public. The ETF hasn't gained regulatory approval to date, but the Securities and Exchange Commission recently closed its 21-day public comment period on the fund. BGI is applying to list 13 million shares backed by 129 million ounces of silver in a arrangement similar to the pair of existing gold ETFs, the StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD:NYSE) and BGI's own iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU:Amex) . Under this structure, the precious metal is tucked away in a vault while investors buy and sell shares that represent a fraction of an ounce. Since 129 million ounces equates to roughly 16% of the world's annual silver production and 21% of the known above-ground inventories of silver, according to investment bank Salman Partners, the ETF potentially could drive up silver prices more than it has already, perhaps even squeezing the market. As a result, the ETF has come under attack by the Silver Users Association, a trade group that lobbies on behalf of silver producers and distributors. The group says the proposed ETF "could make silver illiquid" and lead to manufacturing job losses. Salman Partners recently raised its forecast for silver prices in 2007 to $11 an ounce from $7.75 on account of the new ETF's impending introduction, and the firm says prices could top $12 over the next two years. The SUA may be worried about prices skyrocketing to dangerous levels, but investors in silver mining stocks have been giddy about all the attention silver has been receiving. Shares of silver miners have spiked since mid-January, when movement on the ETF was reported, and in most cases the stocks rose more than the metal itself because of the leverage associated in owning the miner instead of the metal. "Silver companies have not been profitable for a long time, so marginal projects, if managed correctly, can turn into huge cash flow if prices stay high," says Rodney Stevens, a mining analyst at Salman Partners. For example, Stevens estimates a beta-to-silver on the shares of Vancouver-based Silver Standard Resources (SSRI:Nasdaq) of 1.3 times. In other words, if silver prices go up 10%, Silver Standard shares will rise 13%. Stevens rates Silver Standard a speculative buy and says the company's Pirquitas property in Argentina could provide a significant impact if it reaches its potential to produce 11 million ounces of silver per year.