Been doing the usual things: Work, Study, Exercise, Games, and time seems to fly

Work:

• Been working 6-7 days per week for the past few months
• The boss is happy to give me a week off in April, and some time off to attend events around June-July period

Studies:

• Recently completed a course in Austrian economics relating to the 'Anatomy of the Feds' – Did you guys know that if you deposit $10,000, the bank can lend out $90,000 out of thin air and charge someone else interest on it?!
• Currently reading the book 'The Power of Focus' by Jack Canfield, and trying to develop more successful habit
• In terms of investments, I invested quite heavily in Silver back in November 2010, and the shares have appreciated by a staggering +40% since then! My plan in 2011 is to prepare for the next phase of my investing by studying material relating to property investing. I had a brief look at Australian properties, and 'Tasmania' looks like a good place to invest in – especially the suburbs with median house price of below $100,000, 7% yields, and 10% growth
• Also looking into a work from home business in the health and nutrition industry, by the name of 'Herbalife'

Exercise

• Currently walking 30 minutes per day, and going to the gym once a week, but am considering doing more weights and more cardio, every morning
• Have gained about 1kg of lean muscle mass in the past fortnight – my goal being another 5kg by the end of the year, and a six pack

Games

• I enjoy playing strategic games, like Starcraft II and have recently attained Gold Ranking in all team matches

Hi WinstonWolfe,

Thanks for the indepth charts and your valuable insights 

Just like you I am investing in where I believe the returns will be greatest and investing in cycles

I am a firm believer that there are cycles in everything, from properties, to shares, to commodities

And right now I believe the best asset class to invest in during this decade is 'Commodities'

Particularly the precious metal 'Silver' because it is not only a monetary metal but also an industrial metal

However, rather than taking an active approach and trading, I've taken a passive approach

I purchased shares in Silver mining companies such as Hecla, and SilverCorp metals back in November 2010

And intended to hold onto them for the long term portfolio gains E.g. 1 to 4 years

So far the shares have appreciated by a staggering +45%

And with many experts predicting +$50 this year I am very excited about being part of this BULL market

Do you have to lodge a Product Disclosure Statement with ASIC in order to get financing from a private investor, or is it mainly because this has been posted in a public forum?

Hi White_goodman,

Thank you for raising your concerns.

I agree with your comment about all bubbles eventually bursting.

But I don’t quite understand how you’ve come to the conclusion that Silver has increased parabolically and is currently in a bubble.

One of the most common aspects of bubbles such as the dot.com bubble, the Tulips bubble, the South Seas bubble and the Florida Housing bubble is that they were all characterized by a excessive buying by the public, leading to unsustainable prices – speculators just buying because they notice rapid rise in the price of the asset and are anticipating further rises, rather than buying an asset because it is undervalued.  Right now I don’t see this happening with Silver, and despite the fact that Silver has increased by 70% this year I still believe it is extremely undervalued.

 “The suggestion that gold is in a bubble phase is the latest tactic of anti-gold crowd, whose predictions, incidently, for the price of gold and silver have now been consistently wrong for 10 years. Jimmy Rogers, who is one of the world’s leading authorities on commodities, dealt with the bubble issue recently by recounting an interesting anecdote. While addressing a group of highend money managers, he inquired as to how many of them held gold or silver in their accounts and remarkably, 75 per cent replied that they have never owned either precious metals” John Embry

“When gold is trading at several multiples of the current price… you can be assured that every single person at a similar gathering would be long and then discussion of a bubble might become legitimate” Jimmy Rogers

Brent Harmes summarizes the three phases of a bull market quite well and it appears that we have not reached the 'Euphoria phase' yet and are still in the second phase of the bull market, the ‘Wall of Worry Phase’

In conclusion, I agree gold and silver will eventually become bubbles (some say the ‘ultimate bubble’), but I do not agree that they are in a bubble right now.

Regards,

Kong

I agree with a lot of points already made

1. The need to be clear on your goals, whether it is capital gains, cashflow or quick cash (and a strong 'why')
2. That a debt of $600,000 for a PPR will reduce your borrowing capacity for investment purposes
3. That there are many tax issues (and legal/asset protection issues) that need to be discussed with an accountant

With regards to US properties, it is true that there are some great bargains out there, especially with a lot of home prices dropping by well below 50% of their all time high, but in my view the real estate bubble in the US hasn't completely deflated yet. Of great concern is tsunami of Alt-A and Options ARM mortgage crisis that looms ahead. If I were to invest in US properties right now I wouldn't be investing for growth until 2014, but I would be investing for cashflow (and I would also be very careful about where I invest)

Its sounds like you love your son very much and still have emotions for your partner, and that the main cause of your breakup is finance problems. If this is the case, I would strive towards finding a solution to the financial problems, and only resort to a divorce as a last resort, whereby I would consult a lawyer for advice.

Hi D,

Whether you decide to invest the $150,000 into properties, Silver or both, really depends on who you are, what your goals are and what time frame you are looking at.

Personally, I believe Silver is the biggest investment of this decade, not only because it is a monetary metal, but also because it is an industrial metal and because of supply/demand fundamentals:

• Monetary Metal: When people lose faith in fiat currency because of excessive currency printing, they always flock back to gold/silver, which has been money for thousands of years
• Industrial Metal: Because of its unique properties,  Silver is used in all sorts of appliances e.g. electronics, mirrors, photography
• Demand: Demand for Silver is likely to increase. Not only because of an increase in demand for consumer electronics (e.g. cell phones, computers) due to the rise of middle class in China and India, but also because of emerging uses of Silver such as in Water Purification, and in Solar energy
• Supply: Stockpiles of Silver are at an all time low, and are being consumed rapidly as the information age progresses. It is estimated that there is less than 10 years supply  and there is not much new supply being discovered

As a result of my beliefs, and my confidence in the metal I have invested all of my funds into Silver, and my portfolio is fairly aggressive, consisting of 10% physical silver, and 90% Silver mining stocks. However, having said that, this does not mean that you should as well. Before investing any money anywhere, regardless of whether it is shares or properties, you should always do your own research and due diligence first

Kind Regards,

Kong

Hi Swampy,

When calculating yields to compare between different properties I would use the information that is available today… With so many confounding factors it is difficult to predict what the market value of properties will be 5yrs, 10yrs, 20yrs from now… Furthermore yields are based on both the value and the income of the property i.e. if the income rises at the same rate as the price, then the yield will remain the same despite the property doubling in value. Many investors use yields to help determine where to put their money

E.g. an investor may have a rule where they only invest in properties that yield at least 10%. They start off by buying a house at 10% yield. 3 yrs from now, the value of the house doubles, but the income does not, thus yielding 5%. He/she then decides to sell the house and use the proceeds to purchase 2 other properties with 10% yields

Hope that helps

Kong

Hi Intrigue,

Like many others I am very BULLISH on Silver and have invested heavily in Silver mining stocks because I believe Silver is extremely undervalued. When I first decided to invest in mining shares, my intention was to hold them for at least 1 year to attain the 50% capital gains tax reduction, and try to sell at within 20% of the peak for a nice profit. I was looking more at long term (1-4yrs) gains rather than short term – I was surprised when I saw that my shares had increased 70% in less than 1 month! I believe Silver still has a long way to go, and will increase astronomically in the next few years.

As Patriotsoldier has mentioned, not only is Silver a monetary metal but it is also an industrial metal. When people lose faith in fiat currency because of too much currency printing, they rush back to Gold and Silver, which have been money for thousands of years.  Silver is also a great investment because of its high demand for industrial uses, especially for electronics such as computers, cellphones http://www.silverinstitute.org/silver_uses.php It also has many emerging uses such as in solar energy and water purification.

Simply looking at Economics 101, Supply curve shifting to the left (decreasing supply), and demand curve shifting to the right (increasing demand), I am 100% confident that Silver will continue to increase in price… On the conservative side I predict a price of at LEAST $300 per ounces, and on a more speculative side a price of +$2,000

Regards,

Kong

Have you considered selling your $3M property?

In my view, that money could be put to better use, earning a much higher ROI