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The mom who wants to put a silver spoon in everyone’s mouth just sent eBay packing.
Joyce Espinosa, who mothered a brood of silver bullion aficionados, says her Mom’s Silver Shop is on its own. No more middle-Bay, AKA eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY, Stock Forum).
With silver prices rising, the longtime silver madre says her new www.momssilvershop.com is receiving individual orders as high as $5,000 a day. “It’s only been up a month or so,” her son, silver coin designer Ted, tells me. Top seller: the one-ounce A-Mark Liberty Eagle pictured here.
Joyce is grateful for the eBay auction experience. Still, she says she knew the time was right to stake her own spot in the retail silver market. Better margins for her and better prices for customers, she says.
As silver’s price heads toward $14 an ounce, Ms. Espinosa says garage-loft investors are often pleasantly surprised they do not need to buy “junk” silver or government coins to grab a stake in bullion.
“I think it is partly the designs – the skulls and pyramids and bottles of beer, even Obama ‘rounds’ – and part of it the low premiums,” she tells me. ‘Rounds’ are affiliated with no government but represent a full ounce of 99 fine, as they call pure silver.
Ted isn’t the only clan member, all of them in California, pressing and selling silver coins. Her son, Jason Hommel, spins his www.silverstockreport.com for an audience and auctions large amounts of silver bars and coins on Peter Spina’s www.seekbullion.com. A third son helps work the technology behind the Internet whirligig.
Jason Hommel, who will be at the Las Vegas Money Show selling silver coins, is back east right now, checking out a continuouscasting silver extrusion machine before it ships out to his Nevada City, Calif., mint scheduled to go online later this year.
Mother Joyce’s new Internet shop gives ordinary folks a chance to own what they call silver “rounds” at decent prices. Each of them is 99.99 percent silver and comes with different designs, many from son Ted. My favorite is New World Order … and no, I am not a Bible toter. But Jason Hommel is current on The Good Book and often quotes scripture in his silver coverage.
Joyce Espinoza and sons believe in the silver credo so much these days, Jason just bought and polished up an actual coin shop – in Rocklin, Calif. He says the business is going great guns, in part because most folks “just don’t know how to get hold of bullion unless they see a coin store on the street.”
At the show: Money, money
At next week’s Vegas Money Show, I’ll be with Jason and Ted and Joyce, along with Ticker Trax Planetary Prospect Endeavour Silver (EXK and EDR), which uses silver rounds to spread the word about its two Mexico mining locations. The Money Show will feature several sessions on silver as an investment and is competing with New York City’s precious metals conference in Times Square.
Endeavour Silver, one of five Ticker Trax Planetary Prospects, is seeing its shares outpace those of many small and mid-sized silver producers. The USA-traded shares touched $1.80 each on Thursday, and like all five Ticker Trax Planetary Prospects, we here at home not only own it, but we intend to hold it for a long time.
CEO Bradford Cooke of Endeavour Silver and President Godfrey Walton are assembling a Mexico-centric approach to mining silver efficiently and humanely in that beautiful country. Were it not for H1N1, I would be down in Sierra Madre right now, eating dust at Endeavour’s Guanajuato property.
Hugh Clarke, Endeavour’s communications lord, tells me just one of the small or mid-sized silver company shares seem to be besting Endeavour Silver’s right now ... and that is Silver Wheaton (SLW is ticker in USA and Canada). Silver Wheaton, active in Latin America, is 20 times greater than the market worth of Endeavour Silver.
Clarke sent me two comparisons: this one is Endeavour Silver vs. primary silver producers. That is: stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$SILVER&p=D&yr=1&mn=0&dy=0&id=p69628216738&a=114161937.
Here’s Endeavour Silver vs. the junior group: stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$SILVER&p=D&st=2008-01-01&id=p80914397991&a=114163406.
“The sector as a group has punished investors but on a relative basis, we’ve consistently out-performed everybody,” Clarke tells me. Part of the attraction, aside from rising silver prices, is locating excellent sources of easily mined silver in cheap-peso Mexico.
Some of the deeper pockets around like what they see. A few months ago, Peter Schiff’s Euro Pacific Capital sopped up an $8 million Canadian convertible debenture (a bond that can convert to common shares). The bond has a 10 percent interest rate. The money lets Brad Cooke and company improve its two mining locations in God’s country. Endeavour looks to product almost three million ounces of silver from Mexico in 2009.
A new thing: Gene Arensberg of Got Gold Report splices and dices with yours truly:https://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/2567. In it, we talk the Ivanhoe cabal, natural gas and insider purchases.
That is all for now. Thank you!
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THOM CALANDRA in 27 years of road work has helped his audience find value in a quagmire of investment choices. Thom co-founded CBS MarketWatch andMarketWatch.com. As the voice of Thom Calandra's StockWatch and The Calandra Report, Thom pegged $300-ounce gold as a long-term hold. Thom visits bioscience companies, metals mines and energy companies in a search for reliable sources.
HOLDINGS: Thom’s holdings are listed for all Stockhouse members on www.Stockhouse.com under the “portfolio setting” for user TCALANDRA. It is public and free to view. He and his family own recently minted gold and silver coins. They own all five Ticker Trax Planetary Prospects, including Endeavour Silver.
Ticker Trax™ is published by Stockgroup Media Inc. Ticker Trax is an information service for subscribers and neither Stockhouse nor Thom Calandra is a broker or an investment advisor. None of the information contained therein constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Calandra or Stockhouse/Stockgroup Media that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Ticker Trax does not purport to tell or suggest the investment securities subscribers or readers should buy or sell for themselves. Subscribers and readers of Ticker Trax should conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decisions. Ticker Trax will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained in the reports. Subscribers and readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions. Opinions expressed in Ticker Trax are based on sources believed to be reliable and are written in good faith, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to their accuracy or completeness. All information contained in Ticker Trax should be independently verified. The editor and publisher are not responsible for errors or omissions or responsible for keeping information up to date or for correcting any past information. Ticker Traxdoes not receive compensation of any kind from any companies that may be mentioned in the report. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Owners, employees and writers may hold positions in the securities that are discussed in Ticker Trax. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THOM SEEKING PERSONALIZED INVESTMENT ADVICE, WHICH HE CANNOT PROVIDE. Copyright 2009 all rights reserved.