Although gold is historically the most prominent method of storing and transferring wealth, there’s a reason why men like George Soros, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates have invested heavily in its slightly less glamorous cousin… I’m talking about silver.

If you’re like most Americans today, you’ve grown tired of hearing words like “inflation”, “national debt”, and “credit crisis”. For years now, it’s been hammered into your brain — the fact that your government has been writing checks it can’t cash, and in the process, diluting every cent you’ve managed to store away in your savings account. And for almost as long, you’ve probably been hearing financial advisors and so-called economic gurus telling you about how certain investments can protect you during these times of uncertainty. Advertisement

The Metals Secret that JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Don’t Want You to Know…

Without a doubt, recent historical rises in gold prices have gotten your attention; made you think. Maybe you’ve even started to view the jewelry in your house more as currency than personal possessions. Perhaps you’ve even thought about buying some gold yourself… Turn some of those depreciating dollars into stable wealth by locking in at a good price. Well, let me stop you right there. Although gold is historically the most prominent method of storing and transferring wealth, there’s a reason why men like George Soros, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates have invested heavily in its slightly less glamorous cousin… I’m talking about silver. Actually, there’re a couple reasons why right now — more than ever before — silver is not just the superior hedge against inflation… But a serious profit vehicle in its own right. And today I’m going to tell you why. The Magic Ratio If you average out the price ratio between gold and silver throughout history, you land on a single magical proportion: 16 to 1. And even experts who do not subscribe to fixed pricing relationships generally agree that a price ratio of around 20 to 1 should be considered normal. What is not normal is the current ratio of — wait for it — 66 to 1! To investors, this means one of 3 things: 1.) That gold is overvalued; 2.) That silver is undervalued; or

3.) A combination of the two. Any way you look at it, silver’s price cannot be predicted to drop in any of these scenarios. And since these same experts are continuing to predict gold’s rise towards $2,000, a realistic target price for silver should be between $100-$125/ ounce. Already, that’s over a 500% gain over today’s price of $18…

Silver’s Two Faces Silver isn’t just a precious metal; it is also one of our main industrial metals. One of the most conductive substances known to man, it’s used in everything from photography, to compact discs, to semi-conductors, to medical equipment. Basically, if something is high-tech, it contains silver. The metal’s so heavily used, in fact, that for the last several decades, the world’s total silver supply has barely been able to keep up with demand — even though the 20th century saw historic production increases. Demand ramped up in the last quarter of the 20th century to the point where, for almost two decades (between 1998 and 2007), silver was in a fully-fledged global deficit. It wasn’t until the worst economic disaster in three generations that supply finally dropped to below production levels. However, with photography alone consuming 128 million ounces of silver annually as of 2007 (that’s more than 3 times the US’s total Silver reserve), and other industrial processes accounting for another 312 million ounces, the world’s total available silver (both produced and hypothetical) is steadily — and irretrievably — decreasing.  So while gold is constantly being transferred based on price fluctuations and demand alone… silver, as an element, is actually vanishing.

The Broadest Options With China and India buying up silver at unheard-of rates (Chinese silver demand tripled between 2004 and 2007), the industry has had no choice but to create new ways to own the metal. There’s never been so much variety in the way you can own silver as there is today. For those looking for that wealth-saving hedge, there are a number of silver bullion producers that are minting high-quality, high-purity coins for minimal premiums. A perfect example of this is the 1 ounce Mexican Libertad. However, for those interested in riding silver’s imminent rise will look for something less tangible, like silver ETFs, or, the most aggressive option: silver mining stocks.

And it’s that last option that I wanted to talk to you the most about. Because with so many people piling into gold exploration companies for all of the reasons mentioned above, the case for silver is just that much stronger. With the magic ratio currently at such a disparity — 66 to 1 vs. 16 to 1 — those moving into silver exploration today stand to make about four times what their counterparts can expect to cash in investing similarly in gold. Sounds nice, I know… And the fact is that investing in silver mining right now may not just be the most profitable angle to take with this most consumed of precious metals — but also the easiest. To learn more about the only silver investment you’ll need to make this year… Just click here. Good investing, Luke Burgess Editor, Wealth Daily Investment Director, Hard Money Millionaire

Bob Moriarty of 321Gold.com in this exclusive Gold Report interview commenting on  Kiska Metals Corporation, on of the few-and-far-between juniors that manage to get things exactly right.

“TGR: In a recent 321Gold report, you wrote what a great pleasure it is on your site visits “to see those companies that get it exactly right. They are few and far between.” Can you tell us what some of these companies are getting exactly right, and what makes them stand out?”

BM: Another company that is in a little bit earlier-stage work-in-progress than Rio Alto is Kiska Metals Corporation (TSX.V:KSK). It has some potential for being one of those companies to get it exactly right. Kiska has a big district in Alaska that probably has the potential of a Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSE.A:NAK; TSX:NDM). I’m going to go see them in mid-July. Kiska is very cheap and management appears to be very good. Kennecott Exploration Inc.—a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Ltd. (LSE:RIO; NYSE:RTP; AUS:RIO)—has back-in rights to the Island Mountain Discovery in Kiska’s Whistler Project. If Kennecott exercises these rights, it would be financially very lucrative for Kiska. If they don’t, it would remove the uncertainty. Investors hate uncertainty. It doesn’t matter if Kennecott backs in or not, there is uncertainty.

TGR: They’re just finishing some assays on that?

BM: Yeah. They have a major program underway. And again, they’ve tied up an entire district. It’s going to be a very big, high-grade project.

TGR: How does Kiska’s property compare to the district that Del Steiner’s tied up in Idaho?

BM: Kiska has the potential of being a NovaGold or a Northern Dynasty with up to 40 Moz. of gold. Del Steiner’s is a lot smaller. Del’s might be 5 Moz., but he has the ability to put it into production really cheaply. He has to do a lot of things right to get it going, but it should be a very profitable. It’s a nice size district with lots of potential.

TGR: What about costs for Kiska?

BM: Kiska’s is going to be an expensive project; it will be one of those projects that costs $1 billion to get into production. I don’t remember for sure, but I think NovaGold spent $9 million just on its earn-in and has easily spent $50M–$100M at Donlin Creek. It’s like Northern Dynasty, where hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent. When you’re dealing resources worth between $10 billion and $30 billion, you have to spend the money in exploration.

More in the Gold Report – Bob Moriarty: Due for End-of-Empire Do-Over?

Economic rebound? Not with 22% unemployment. Banking reform legislation? Loaded with pork. Bankrupt nations? Rock-solid, lead-pipe cinch. “We need to start all over,” says the inimitable Bob Moriarty in this exclusive Gold Report interview. “And in the end, we will.

Silver Posting Best Streak Since Hunts No Matter Which Way Economy Turns

Silver, the precious metal most used in industry, is attracting investors betting on both faster and slower economic growth as prices extend the longest run of quarterly gains in three decades.

Doubling as a store of value for buyers concerned about the economy and as an industrial material for those bullish on growth, silver is outperforming metals from copper to zinc this year and keeping pace with gold. It will rise as much as 15 percent to $22 an ounce before December, from $19.145 today, according to Daniel Brebner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG whose fourth-quarter outlook was accurate to within 0.7 percent.

While the Federal Reserve warned last week that financial conditions are “less supportive” of growth, investors held a record amount of silver in exchange-traded products backed by the metal, Barclays Capital data show. Options giving traders the right to buy the metal at $25 before Nov. 23 are the most widely held on the Comex in New York.

“Silver is really attractive because you have strong investment demand and strong fabrication demand,” said Jeffrey M. Christian, the managing director of CPM Group, a research company in New York. Silver rose 68 percent since he recommended buying the metal in a Bloomberg interview in October 2008. “You buy gold when you think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. You buy copper when the economy is booming. In between those two, if you’re a bit confused, you buy silver.”

All-Time High

The metal, used to create the first telegraph messages, rose 9.5 percent since the end of March, heading for a sixth quarterly advance. That’s the best streak since 11 consecutive quarters through the beginning of 1980, a year after the Hunt brothers tried to corner the market.

While gold reached a record $1,265.30 an ounce on June 21, silver would have to more than double to get to the all-time high of $50.35 reached in New York in 1980. Silver rose 13 percent this year in London, gold added 14 percent and the London Metal Exchange Index of six industrial metals fell 9.2 percent.

Silver will trade as high as $21 by the end of this year, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of 27 analysts and traders. Open interest in the call options expiring in November to buy at $25 was almost 7,200 contracts June 25. The next biggest positions are the call options for $20 and $30 by the same date, Comex data show.

….read the next 21 paragraphs on Industrial uses, Warren Buffet, Silver Stocks, Mexico City, Volatility, Silver/Gold Ratio, Economic Downturn  HERE