Which precious metals make the best short-term investments? And which are best if you are investing in metals and metal scrap you plan to hold for years before liquidating them?

Those are two interesting questions. And here’s an interesting fact to consider. Some metals are excellent investments whether sold quickly or held long-term.

Precious Metals that Make Profitable Short-Term Investments

Over the last few years, people have become skeptical about importing and exporting just about anything.

Due to high tariffs on goods imported into the U.S., doing so has become less attractive and more difficult for American companies. Plus, simply transporting foreign goods into the U.S. has become more difficult. Off the coast of California, ships carrying all kinds of goods from Asia, including semiconductors, electronic devices and even automobiles, are waiting to dock. Although that delivery holdup is lessening, the slowdown that was caused by the coronavirus pandemic is still exerting a negative effect on U.S. manufacturing and commerce.

There’s no doubt that the coronavirus crisis has changed everything. It has changed the way we connect with other people, shop, work, enjoy our free time, and much more.

So it only stands to reason that the crisis has changed the way we invest, and profit from, precious metals. But the funny thing is, not everything has changed. Gold scrap, silver scrap, platinum scrap and certain other investments were smart investments before the pandemic struck – and they are still good investments today. But how can you determine which forms of those scrap investments will yield the biggest return today? How can you make the smartest picks among all the precious metal investments that are available right now?

Have you been completely satisfied with the investments you have made in precious metals? Do you think you have invested your money in the right metals? Do you feel like you could benefit from some new ideas and new strategies to realize more income from the bullion, gold scrap, platinum scrap, silver and other investments you have made?

Okay, everybody is worried right now about the state of our economy. And one thing you have to say about the current situation, bad as it is, is that those fears are based in reality. Small businesses are hurting. Some are closing, possibly for good. Individual investors have seen the value of their assets plummet – at least on paper. Kids who are graduating from college right now are having a terribly difficult time finding jobs. Plus, many of our institutions, ranging from universities to museums to theater companies, are wondering if they will ever bounce back.

We are about to enter one of the most uncertain economic periods in modern history – one that many analysts fear could rival the Great Depression.

We don’t like to write about the negatives, we really don’t. But if we want to formulate a strategy for retaining our investments’ value, we need to consider some of the bad things that could just happen in the wake of the current virus crisis:

People who invest in precious metals like to keep moving forward. They don’t sit around. They get out to the places where they like to look for precious metals and scrap, whether that means grabbing a metal detector and heading outdoors or driving to an estate sale to see if any treasures are waiting to be discovered.

Are you a little down in the dumps right about now? Well, we don’t blame you, but we would like to offer you a little bit of advice that applies to investing in precious metals . . .

Snap out of it and keep moving forward!

Okay, you’re stuck at home during the current Coronavirus shelter-in-place period. Maybe you can’t take part in all your usual activities as someone who invests in silver scrap, gold scrap, platinum scrap and your other favorite investments. Go to an estate sale to look for jewelry, tableware and other items? Forget it, nobody is holding estate sales right now. Go to an antique mall to poke around? Forget it, the doors are locked.

Are you an expert about metals?

Good, but let’s start today’s post with a simple-sounding question that is harder to answer than it seems . . .

What do all metals have in common?

We don’t write often about base metals on this blog. After all, we are a precious metal refining company.

But have we been failing to tell you how you can make a lot of money by investing in base metals like aluminum, copper, and brass? Today, we’ll find out.

“How do I make a profit by investing in precious metals?” seems like a pretty simple question. But even though it’s a simple question to ask, it is a difficult one to answer.

Why? Because there are a number of ways to make a profit when investing in precious metals. In today’s post, we will look at three of them.

A customer called recently and asked us, “How much gold is in platinum?” And then he added, “I guess that is a pretty silly question, right?”

If you go to your local bookstore and say, “I am looking for a book that will tell me everything I need to know about investing in platinum scrap,” the salesperson will probably respond with a shrug or a blank stare.

You see, there aren’t any books that can tell you what you need to know about making money recycling platinum scrap. But that’s okay, because we have covered everything you need to know right here on the Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners Blog.

Another school year is about to begin. And because we are thinking about education, we would like to ask this question . . .

What is the best way to educate young people about investing in precious metals?

Did you know that gambling casinos typically generate a profit of about 2% on all the money that is bet in their facilities? So if $10 million is wagered in a casino in one day, they make $200,000! That explains why casino hotels are likely to offer you a cheap room to stay in, or even a free one. The more people they get through their doors, the more money they make.

As 2018 is now in the past, we are sensing a lot of uncertainty about investing in precious metals. Some of that uneasiness is due to recent events, such as our country’s imposition of higher tariffs on imported goods. Another new development is that AMPEX, a major dealer in bullion, is now allowing investors to pay for their purchases with Bitcoin. We don’t actually know whether that will produce big changes in the trading prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium – after all, every time you buy any precious metal you are paying for it with some kind of currency, right? But paying for precious metals with Bitcoin is making the news, and causing traditional traders in precious metals to ask, “What does it mean?”

“A bucking bronco” is the best way to describe what has been happening on the stock market in year 2018. On any given day, the Dow Jones can plummet 300-500 points. Then the next day it comes galloping back. And just when jittery investors start to think, “Thank heavens that is over, whatever it was,” the Dow takes a plunge again.

“Using other people’s money to get rich” is a pretty appealing idea, isn’t it? That explains why the concept is so widely promoted in those “make a fortune in real estate” courses you see advertised around the country. You know what they are - they are big courses that are held in meeting rooms at roadside hotels. It costs nothing to attend them, then they try to get you to sign up for much more expensive courses that teach you to invest in real estate.

For centuries, gold has been thought of as the greatest, most beautiful and most desirable metal in the world. That concept has entered popular culture in many ways. When a product or commodity is spoken of as the best of its kind, it is called “the gold standard.” When athletes compete at the Olympics, the first-place winners are awarded gold medals. And through the ages, many events have happened because of gold. There was the Gold Rush of 1849. Centuries earlier, Spanish explorers sailed to the New World in search of El Dorado, a city made of gold.