As we write silver is trading around $17/oz, having pierced the magical $20/oz ealier this year. We anticipate this year being a good year for silver bugs; but we still expect silver re-visit its 200dma, which stands at $15.50/oz at the moment although it is moving upwards which will ultimately support silver prices.

Here is a summary of the silver stocks we are currently invested in or following:

Hecla Mining Company (HL) – Initially we bought this stock for $5.27 - a quality silver stock which was going along nicely and then we thought Hecla was overbought, as it hadn’t corrected with other silver stocks, therefore we took profits on Hecla at $11.89, the stock price then dropped so we bought it back at $9.72, getting a 18% discount on our shares. On the 14th April we sold 50% of this stock for $11.79 in order to lock in some profits as we anticipated a fall. HL closed yesterday at $10.37. We are constantly monitoring this market with the view to identifying a suitable re-entry point when we can once again re-purchase HL shares.

Pan American Silver Corporation (PAAS) – Initially we bought this stock for $18.00 and on the 23rd August we gave another BUY signal on PAAS when we said “We made a further purchase today at $24.10” giving us an average purchase price of $21.50. On January 31st, 2008 we sold about 50% of our shares for an average price of $36.65, locking in a profit of around 70.32%. PAAS closed yesterday at $34.64.

Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW) – Bought for $9.41, this stock has been subject to the recent volatility in the market so our paper profit has been reduced to 48.45% since we bought it. Silver Wheaton is a unique silver company and should continue to profit from rising silver prices. SLW closed yesterday at $13.97.

Silver Standard Resources Incorporated (SSRI) Initially we bought this stock for $19.98 and on the 20th August we gave another BUY signal when we wrote “we think Silver Standard is at a good level to buy at the moment and we bought today at $28.99” giving us an average purchase price of $24.48. On January 31st, 2008 we reduced our exposure by selling around 50% of SSRI for an average price of $34.82 locking in a profit of 42.22%. SSRI closed yesterday at $27.75.

Eagle Plains Resources Limited (EPL) – We bought this stock for around $0.53, it closed on Friday at $0.32, having traded as low $0.27, a very disappointing performance by this stock, but hopefully the worst is behind us now. We will continue to hold for now and keep a close eye on it.

Endeavour Silver Corp (EXK) – We initially bought Endeavour for $3.97 and on 7th December 2007 we bought more shares saying; “EXK is down from over $5.50 and as it has been beaten down so much we are signalling a BUY again on this stock and recently we bought for an average price of $4.10 per share and doubled our position.” We have wrote and expressed our disappointment as we had tried again to buy more of EXK but our order was not filled, so we decided to be patient and not chase it. However our patience was rewarded when we secured EXK for $3.26 on the 2nd April 2008. This purchase being the largest we have ever made in EXK. Yesterday EXK closed at $3.04. Look for their quarterly results due out later this week.

Minco Silver Corp (MSV) - Bought for $2.80 so this stock is going well despite a tricky start and being sold off recently from a high of around $4.00, yesterday it closed at $3.52, having traded as low as $3.00 recently.

Traders Corner: We continue to look for short term trades on silver and silver stocks as we have done in the past. We have avoided buying over this period as silver has pulled back and would appear to be in a consolidation mode. Our short term trades have worked out reasonably well for us and we are pleased to have taken some profits as we could now buy those stocks back again at cheaper price levels. However, the silver market will remain volatile so watch carefully and try not to pay too much for your favourite silver miners. The month of May is here so it remains to be seen if we will see a significant sell off. As we have already had a major pull back the downside does appear to be limited. We will continue to look for opportunities as we go forward as this year could well be different, so stay alert and be prepared to pick up some cheap stock during the summer doldrums.

Please stay tuned for our trading signals by subscribing to The Silver Prices Newsletter completely FREE of charge. Simply click here and enter your email address.

If you are also interested in gold and gold mining stocks and wish to subscribe to The FREE Gold Prices Newsletter then please click here.

Have a sparkling week.