I bought SLV about two weeks ago at $38.66. That investment closed just shy of a $7k gain yesterday.
With the press coverage silver has gotten over the last month or so, I personally think silver is due for a correction in the near term. I placed a relatively tight stop order to sell if silver drops much so I can lock in at least a $6k profit.
Anyone considering using ETF's to trade silver or gold should be aware of the special tax rates applicable...particularly if the investment is for buy and hold purposes. Of course, the best way around the tax disadvantage is to trade in IRA or self-directed 401(k) accounts.
It's easy to look at charts like we currently see with silver and say "I should have bought years ago." and take no action. After all, who wants to pay top dollar for something?
What works for me is to ask myself "How much am I comfortable losing if my belief that the asset will continue to rise, at least in the near term, is wrong?" I'll then buy, and upon order execution place a stop loss order set at a price that locks in the maximum amount of money I'm willing to lose. Then, if my position appreciates in value, I'll begin moving that stop loss order higher to protect my original capital.
Silver was a trade that worked brilliantly, pun intended, for this strategy. When I bought it, it had already increased in value substantially. After I bought, it continued to rise, so the question quickly changed from "How much am I willing to lose?" to "How much profit am I willing to risk in order to hold the position?" A couple of days ago I placed a stop loss order to lock in a $4k profit if silver pulled back. Yesterday I modified that order to lock in additional profit.
I suspect that when silver experienced a short-term correction, there's a very good chance it will be rapid and perhaps as much as 20% or more. I may well be wrong, but for now I'm sitting in a pretty good position. My holdings will continue to increase in value if I'm wrong about a near-term correction (sometimes it feels good to be wrong). Likewise, if I'm right about a correction, not only will I feel good about my theory, I'll have at least $6k I didn't have before.
It's nice to see an investment-related thread on Hayabusa.org.