Silver is a precious metal just like gold. But as compared to gold, silver has far more industrial applications that includes in bearings, welding, conducting electricity, photography, brazing, soldering, washing machines, jewelry and others. As the global economy emerges from its recession, demand for silver is going to skyrocket three times more fast than gold. Silver is in high demand in industrial economies as well as emerging economies. Silver can play an important role in your portfolio. Because of its precious metal status, you can use it as a hedge against inflation. Now, you can invest directly in silver by buying and selling silver coins and bars. Two popular silver coins are the Silver Maple Coins (produced by Royal Canadian Mint) and the 100 oz. Silver Bar. Silver futures contracts like the gold futures contracts give the most direct access to the silver market. The most liquid silver futures contracts are the COMEX Silver futures contracts. This is the standard silver futures contracts that get traded on the COMEX Division of NYMEX. The other is the CBOT Mini-Silver. This contract is available for electronic trading. Another way to invest in silver is through the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The iShares Silver Trust Fund issued by the Barclays Bank holds silver bullions in a vault and mirrors the price of silver in the spot market. There are not many silver ETFs. This new silver ETF is a testament to the increased demand by investors to include silver in their portfolios. Another alternative method of investing in silver is through investing in the stocks of silver mining companies. Although some of the larger mining companies have a silver mining operation, however, you can get direct exposure to the silver market by investing in companies that specialize in mining this precious metal. One of the silver mining companies is the Pan American Silver Corporation. It has got six mines. Some of these mines are located in Peru, Mexico and Bolivia. Another silver mining company is the Silver Wheaton Corp. Many silver mining companies have smaller interest in other metals too. This is one of the few companies that generate all its revenues from silver mining activities. Silver Wheaton focuses exclusively on mining silver. It has its operations that stretch from Mexico to Sweden. There are other silver mining companies that you can research and invest in too. So there are many possibilities for investing in silver.
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