Reddit's silver "apes" now targeting silver, opportunity or fool's gold?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

inflation might be playing a bigger role? Hard assets are holding up compared to stocks?

[james.hendrickson]

inflation might be playing a bigger role? Hard assets are holding up compared to stocks?

Living, my thinking is that this is why diversification makes sense. There is nothing wrong with having maybe 4 or 5% of your portfolio in physical precious metals or collectibles that you can easily sell.

I'm not following the silver short, however, for some context, there was a famous attempt by the Hunt Brothers in the 1980s to corner the silver market. They actually managed to get about 2/3rds of the market before people figured out what they were doing and put a stop to it.

Here is a summary of what happened:

Until his dying day in 2014, Nelson Bunker Hunt, who had once been the world’s wealthiest man, denied that he and his brother plotted to corner the global silver market.

Sure, back in 1980, Bunker, his younger brother Herbert, and other members of the Hunt clan owned roughly two-thirds of all the privately held silver on earth. But the historic stockpiling of bullion hadn’t been a ploy to manipulate the market, they and their sizable legal team would insist in the following years. Instead, it was a strategy to hedge against the voracious inflation of the 1970s—a monumental bet against the U.S. dollar.

Whatever the motive, it was a bet that went historically sour. The debt-fueled boom and bust of the global silver market not only decimated the Hunt fortune, but threatened to take down the U.S. financial system.

The panic of “Silver Thursday” took place over 35 years ago, but it still raises questions about the nature of financial manipulation. While many view the Hunt brothers as members of a long succession of white collar crooks, from Charles Ponzi to Bernie Madoff, others see the endearingly eccentric Texans as the victims of overstepping regulators and vindictive insiders who couldn’t stand the thought of being played by a couple of southern yokels.

In either case, the story of the Hunt brothers just goes to show how difficult it can be to distinguish illegal market manipulation from the old fashioned wheeling and dealing that make our markets work.

here is the rest of the article:

https://priceonomics.com/how-the-hunt-brothers-cornered-the-silver-market/

[QuarterMillionMan]

Doing my homework to purchase some silver for my precious metals IRA, in general only these popular coins are approved. I wanted to get larger pieces such as a few of this 1 kilo poured cast bars bars but I don't think it's IRA approved.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Take this 1 oz silver eagle which has the IRA approved designation.

[james.hendrickson]

QMM, do you have to hold the silver in your IRA? Why not just buy it and stash it at home or in a safety deposit box?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Correct it has to be held in the IRA. The tax advantages of the IRA takes precedence over buying it outside of the IRA and stashing it at home.

[james.hendrickson]

QMM - how does someone hold something physical in an electronic bank account? I'm sure this problem has been solved before, but I don't understand exactly how that works.

[QuarterMillionMan]

[james.hendrickson]

Heh, and do investors get to inspect the gold held in their names?

[QuarterMillionMan]

I don't think so. I have $73,000 worth of gold, silver, and platinum in my IRA but never seen any of it. It would be nice to be able to inspect it like you suggested.

[james.hendrickson]

It might be interesting to email your IRA/storage provider and see what the inspection process is like.

I have some silver, but its all physical...it makes sense to have maybe 3 to 5 percent of your portfolio in precious metals. I'm just not really clear on what would happen if you had to get the actual physical metals.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I'm looking at the BIG picture.

Half the world to dump U.S. dollars in future, causing 'tsunami of inflation' and asset price 'collapse', paving the way for CBDCs and The Great Reset - Andy Schectman | Kitco News

[QuarterMillionMan]

I came across this IRA eligible pieces where I still have about $1100 in my available balance so i can get 4 of these (and maybe a 5 oz piece). Spot market is closed so during the week but also prices are dropping so will try to time it to get the best price rather than trying to carch a falling knife.

[james.hendrickson]

QMM - at least you're making an effort to keep an eye on your wealth. A lot of people just check out and don't pay attention.

[QuarterMillionMan]

A snapshot (page 1 out 2) of my holdings in my precious metals IRA over the years totaling about $73k worth showing the cost basis, market value, unrealized gain/loss, etc. Every year I max out the $7500 but I've also opened a bitcoin IRA and regular IRA with stocks & mutual funds but too boring.