Gold and silver both have been hit hard.  The dollar, in a surprising move is on the way up?  Banks are paying back their TARP “loans” and the global economy is questionable.  Maybe all that money that the government printed isn’t going to suck the dollar into oblivion.

China isn’t giving the bullish reports (although the china bulls are calling for amazing growth over the past 2 years) there is a slow down on the horizon it would seem.  The stock market is falling backwards, the dollar is advancing and precious metals like silver and gold are falling by the wayside.

Just check out this article about SLV and GLD ETFs. They have been slammed along with the price of silver and gold. Once what was on a tear is now on the decline. So what gives?

Could it be that all the hedge funds, mutual funds, and general investing public is taken profits after a rediculous upswing that cause outrageous ratios that didn’t make sense? PE’s that made 10 years down the road, but really, willing to by GE at a PE of 30? Doubtful.

OK, so we exaggerate.

But honestly, with the worldwide economy cooling, is it wise to take your money out of precious metals? We thing not. We think it’s a perfect time to buy precious metals. Prices are retreating all over the place, because the economy isn’t as great as everyone thought it was. Who cares? Why not get in on some deals and buy silver at these reduced rates while China and India prepare for the growth they promise?

The market took a rest for the month of December and most of January.  It looked like the markets of old, when prices just kept climbing with intermixing of small declines for profit takers to reap the rewards of the most recent jumps.  But, as news of inflation, jobless numbers remaining, and earnings not quite what everyone thought they were going to be, we’ve seen some large declines.

So, is it all money back into previous metals?  Ride the gold train all the way up?  We’re not sure about gold, but silver is definitely still looking good in our minds and remains a buy for many at the current price of $17 an oz.

Historically, silver is no where near it’s non-inflation adjusted price of $50 per ounce, while gold is setting a new high every other week.  So whats the deal?  Will silver finally correct itself or will we see the price of silver take a back seat as the rest of the words markets wait for the economy to recover.

Buying silver, as we said last month, for 2010 may be one of the smartest bets you can make with your money. And as we wrote that, silver was around $17 an ounce. Now, just days into 2010, it’s already creeping back towards it’s 52 week high.

$19 is near for the price of silver and if you want to buy silver, now may be the time to do so. With the jobs market still shaky and earnings reports for a flurry of companies on the S&P 500 due out in the next month, you may want to put a little bit in silver to keep your rear end covered.

Gold, although still rising amid recent selloffs, is high priced and difficult for some to get into. Well, silver tends to follow the trend of gold and you may want to ride the wave. Just look at the chart below at how closely silver follow gold. This is a 1 year comparison chart of the price of ETFs, GLD and SLV.

If you think gold is going to rise, you may just want to buy into silver and watch that price follow all the way up.

Where will the price of silver go in 2010? It’s a new decade, there’s a new set of investing rules out there, and both gold and silver are looking find new highs in the new year.

While gold is ever stretching towards new highs, silver is still lagging behind. Silver ranged in price from $10 to $19 in 2009, still well, well below it’s highest price ever. $49.50. That’s right, in 1980 the price of silver was 2.5 to 5 times higher than it’s all time high of nearly $50!

Gold on the other hand continues to break through it’s all time highs as world banks stock pile the precious metal to back their currencies and individual investors buy gold to combat inflation, looming around every corner.

So where oh where will the price of silver go? We think up, and up and up. But what do we know, we just write this blog….

The market was down, commodities were down, everything was down. So where do you put your money? Especially if you can’t put your money in precious metals, which are supposed to save you from inflation.

Well, we don’t think the world has gone crazy and decided to take their money out of everything. We think rather, the market is correcting itself. Investors are taking profits from both equities and commodities and we’re seeing a sell-off. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look into buying these.

We think instead, you should think about buying into the market, especially something like SLV or GLD. Both of these ETFs look to provide you with buying opportunities in the coming weeks. Especially if we see another pull-back in the market. What around or get in now, either way, it looks like there might be some dollars to be had in the precious metals world.

The recent stock market rally has allowed investors to regain some of the losses they endured last year.  Commodities like silver and gold are no exception.  You’d think with a strong equities martket they would be, but nope, this isn’t the case.

Instead, with the dollar looking to weaken based on a fed that continues to print money, precious metals may be a good buy.  So how do you get into precious metals?

Well, one way is to buy ETFs like the silver trust ETF SLV. These types of funds allow you to directly invest in silver and gold without having to buy the precious metals themselves. But the question is, will silver, and likewise SLV be abel to survive the market rally? We think yes. Even though gold and silver have had amazing gains, we think they will continue to do so.

Although this is just our opinion, you have to look at what might cause this. Inflation, due to all that money printing, may cause investors, who like to hedge against downside risk of their dollars being worth less, by investing in silver. Others may want to play the silver game based on the fact that china and markets like it, namely india, are expanding at a rapid pace, and all those people are going to need things with gold or silver in them.

That’s why, it may be prudent just to keep a little SLV or GLD in your portfolio for the time being.

Silver investing is what this blog is all about. Buy silver, invest in silver, get into silver! That’s what we say every day. But why do we say that?

Well, it’s not because we have to say that, we’re not analysts, we’re not paid by any of the big silver ETFs, we just like silver! One interesting point that we found in an article over at business 24 – 7 is about one fact.

The fact that silver is the only commoditiy that hasn’t jumped above it’s all time high during this commodity boom. Yes you read that right, every thing else has jumped above it’s all time high but silver. The precious metal silver is behind. And from what we’ve heard (only third hand so do your research) the silver supply is low and demand stays the same or is growing.

So why the low price?

We’re not sure. But it just adds to the reason why you should buy silver.

Silver has been a roller coaster ride lately with ups and downs and in betweens. No one can figure out this market. And if you can, you’re kidding yourself.

Buying silver, which historically, buying gold and silver has been done when the markets or dollar is down, is even a risky investment. Investors in precious metals have seen both of the major metals swing more than 15% in a months time. Going from 52 week highs to lows within a week.

However, the latest news from Wall Street, that Goldman Sachs beat estimates this quarter, comes as a boost to all commodities. Not because it’s finally good news from the investment banking world, or the banking world in general. But because the reports say that Goldman has had better than average returns in the commodities world or it’s investments.

To some this may seem obvious. Oil is up, way up, and buying things like gold and silver is just safe plays on a weak dollar and a strong commodities market. Traders don’t even have to buy just mining companies. They can get in by investing in silver ETFs like SLV.

But to others, just jumping on the bandwagon, it’s not that obvious and can still be a strong play in their investment portfolio, even in this run-up. As Blog Silver has said before, the demand is high and people are hesitant to dump their money into a volatile stock market. So they go looking for safer investments. Safer investments like gold and silver ETFs that can get large boosts from earnings reports that boast about commodities earnings.

Some may think that buying gold and silver right now is crazy. You may think that the markets are possibly on a turnaround and the dollar isn’t doing so bad. Buying precious metals at a high point would be crazy.

But what about the rest of commodities around the world? And better yet, the worlds use of those commodities.

It’s increasing, and increasing at a huge rate. China and India, named way too many times to count in this blog and similar financial blogs, are all about buying the commodities that China and India are buying and need to survive. Some of those commodities are gold and silver, which you may want to consider buying.

Buying silver now may not be the worst idea. Oil is on the rise, stocks are chaotic at best, and the dollar, although rebounding on news that the fed is done lowering rates, is still not as nearly as strong as it’s closest rivals. You need to consider the rest of the market, not just those historical indicators of the price of silver.

There are a ton more investors in the game now and with Silver ETFs gaining popularity along with all the other sector ETFs out there, you may want to think about getting into silver right now.

The iShares silver trust ETF, SLV is holding strong amid all this up and down buying and selling of silver and gold. The silver trust may be the best way to get into a silver market that some say is going to go even higher.

As oil continues to rise, gold and silver are tending to follow the trends set by the market. When there’s a sign that the economy could rebound and the dollar could be on the rise, the precious metals fall. But as the market shakes with rising oil prices, people are back buying silver and gold. A big way they buy these precious metals is to buy into the silver or gold ETFs (Gold, IAU).

These funds are easier to trade and cost an investor less in the long run than buying silver or buying gold directly in the form of bullion bars or coins. The two trusts are holding strong, fluctuating with the price of gold and silver as they should since they are backed by the precious metals.