Word: metallism
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...last week in the silver market, where prices spiked to a nine-year high after Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, disclosed that he had taken a major shine to the metal and bought up 129.7 million oz. of the stuff. That amounts to 37% of the world's aboveground stock of raw silver, according to the CPM group, a commodities and precious-metals consulting firm...
Buffett made his gleaming presence felt. The price for an ounce of silver to be delivered in March hit $7.28, up 16% in the two days after Buffett's disclosure and up nearly 70% since he started buying the precious metal six months ago. Despite the surge, veteran--and thus oft-pummeled--silver traders will note that a price just north of $7 is nothing next to silver's peak in 1980, when it hit $50 amid an infamous attempt by the brothers Herbert and Nelson Hunt to corner the market...
Buffett's purchases shifted vast amounts of silver from U.S. warehouses, where stocks of the metal were publicly listed, to warehouses in London that are not required to disclose how much they hold. That helped to keep the purchases under wraps. The disappearance caused a Canadian investor to sue the giant commodities-trading firm Phibro for deliberately hiding supplies of silver to push prices up. Phibro, a unit of the Travelers Group--whose shareholders include Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company--denied the charge...
...starters, silver prices were down last summer. That made the metal a value play, something Buffett is good at. In fact, Buffett says in a statement that he saw a huge imbalance between the amount of silver available and the demand for it to make things like jewelry, photographic supplies, electronic components, mirrors and batteries. So he began buying because "equilibrium between supply and demand was only likely to be established by a somewhat higher price." Translation: It looked like a good deal...
...been moving to protect against both risks. The T-bonds he bought last fall give him a hedge against deflation. Their value would soar if the economy soured and knocked down interest rates. The silver he just picked up gives him a hedge on the other side. The metal would gain value along with other commodities in a heated economy that raised inflation and interest rates. But small investors should be wary of following Buffett into silver lest he decide to take his profits and run. "How long will this last?" asks Moore of Flemings Global. "Buffett has to exit...