Since the early 1990s, financial markets have experienced a wide variety of changes with the introduction of new investment instruments. The resulting market transformations, though not all negative, have drastically influenced the way global financial business is conducted. The abberations created by fiscal manipulations, now neccesitates portfolio adjustment by both money managers and investors. This is particularly true in the case of precious metals.Although there are reasons to hold both silver mining shares and physical silver, today’s economic climate gives investors plenty of reasons to increase their stores of precious metals bullion. The best of these reasons is simply that bullion poses much less of an investment risk than silver mining stocks.Precious metals shares constitute equities, along with their attendant corporate risks. These can include mine production failures and the costs of mining, itself. This issue becomes even more apparent when considering the fact that the demand for mining shares is quite small, particularly when compared to the demand for the physical metals they represent.Physical precious metals, by contrast, encompass global markets, where they are traded for use in coins, jewelry and industry. Precious metals simultaneously represent both commodities and money, making them much more liquid than mining shares, which are only traded in a handful of developed countries.
The risks and liabilities experienced by mining stocks are non-existent for silver bullion. Ownership of physical silver is largely subject to the amount that is bought and sold. Although supply and demand can produce drastic effects on the price of precious metals, their owners will never experience the pain of a completely worthless investment.
http://www.safehaven.com/article/23220/should-i-buy-physical-gold-or-silver-shares-part-v
