My 2 losing silver bets-Should I try for 3?

[birmingplumb]

1982 or 83 …Welding on Nuclear Power House (Perry) in Cleveland…200 miles from home. Pipe fitter partner named Olenik from Toledo Local 50 ..” I buy silver every week all I can.. and u should too….They are going to have to print more money..making silver go up…or they have to (forgot 2nd reason) making silver go up.(Dropped from Hunt bros $40 oz ) So find a local Coin shop and take it home …100 oz englehards.I have 10,000 oz and sold my house to buy more …” unquote.
So I buy 100oz @ 12.22 from coin shop. Eventually I buy 3000 ozs and bypass the baseball cards everybody is buying at coin shop ( not silver) I buy each month 2 bars while I work there . It is dropping every week and is 8.00 or 9.00 when I get laid off.
I did use the 100oz bars as a weight to strengthen my welding arm if thats any consolation.
In 1984 I welded on San Onofre there in San Clemente and saved 28k (12 checks going exempt) when I got laid off. I went to coin shop, bought 28k worth of $5.50 oz silver loaded up the kids and drove back to Detroit.
I rented 2 large safety deposit boxes for the over 5000 oz I had at a $7.59 break even point.
It sat there at $5.00 until I remarried and new wife wanted to turn her house, my old house and our condo into rentals and buy a 4th. I dumped it all at $5.75 after holding it 17 years ( funny number 17- also married to 1st wife 17 yrs)
Fast forward to 2004 – reading about silver- many experts said when silver goes up 25%- silver mine stocks double. Then as fate would have it a electrician with 550k in his 401k ( at Chrysler Jefferson) said “I buy sunshine mining when its under a dollar ( 4 times in 5 years) and sell when it hits a dollar. I made tons doing this” . And he said its 54 cents now so stock up on it… “it will go back to a dollar a share I promise.” I am owed by “silver” so I try to get my money back and buy 70,000 shares at .52 3/8 and promise myself if it ticks up to .52 3/4 I make like a couple of grand and will get out. Well it drops ..and drops and drops to 23 cents . Then does a reverse 6 to 1 split …then drops to 40 cents before I salvage 2k of the 30k I had into it.(New wife thinks I as…hole)
So I lost $50k total on silver. Why? (Here is your help) Nobody figured the Iron curtain would fall in the 80’s and the Russians would dump 10 trillion tons of silver on the market to feed its people…..And on the stock… I read Sunshine Mineings annual report and it mentioned the “find” in Brazil and it gave the tons that the find would bring out of the ground and the value. Well there just wasn’t enough money to be made by sunshine so how could the stock go up? There wasn’t a endless amount of silver to be mined @ $4.50 dollars a ounce to be mined. I failed to do the math before investing and gambled like a horse racing handicapper on my buddy being the horse.(twice)
So now with $500k in assets at age 63 I tell my wife ” Lets sell the houses, buy $500k of silver @17.00 and bury it…then give the kids treasure maps when we die and go live a apartment.
Of course this was a foolish idea she said. Is it?
One last “bet ” in me in Motown

[Coronita]

Just leave the metals for your kids. Doesn’t sound like you need the money anyway.

Plus since it is metals, as an added bonus, leave it in a safe deposit box.. What taxes?

[Anonymous]

That’s an interesting story. Sorry it didn’t work out.

You are wise to call it a “bet” in your title – that’s all it was.

If you really want to see your wealth grow my advice would be to avoid bets and instead make investments.

There is a difference.

BTW: I would also be careful about driving across the country with large amounts of anything valuable. You could be robbed – by the cops.

[scaredyclassic]

there are no longer any investments. everything is a bet

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=harvey]
BTW: I would also be careful about driving across the country with large amounts of anything valuable. You could be robbed – by the cops.[/quote]

Yes, it happened to a friend of mine. Luckily he didn’t have anything.

The cops, often in rural America, are trained by private firms on how to legally confiscate assets drivers are transporting. Basically, they’re looking for cash, gold, silver, etc.. worth more than $10,000. There’s a process to get it back, but it’s often not worth the time and effort.

The cops target people driving long distances, across several state lines. If the cops stop you with a stash of silver in the trunk, they will take it!

[HLS]

Most people are bullish & foolish.
The key is to protect your downside risk which is
easily & readily available.

It’s buying insurance to limit losses.
It’s what professionals do and amateurs don’t.

You can have unlimited upside and limited downside.

[CA renter]

[quote=scaredyclassic]there are no longer any investments. everything is a bet[/quote]

Exactly.

And, BP, it sounds like you’ve done fairly well with your other investments. Personally, I don’t think you should sell guaranteed moneymakers (rental properties that are steadily producing a positive cash flow) for more silver. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

[moneymaker]

Even though I bought silver and gold recently I would not bet the house on it going up. My secret is to buy low,hold, only sell when it is higher. Of course job layoffs will torpedo that plan as will any large unexpected medical costs. I’m sure gold and silver will one day be higher, how much higher and when I’m not so sure about. If silver dropped below $10 then I would say go all in. P.S.- If I could I would plow my entire 401K into silver, now many people would say that is foolish but I think the bond bubble will soon pop and stocks are over valued so what else is there other than investments that actually produce earnings.

[Author]

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