Add a Silver Lining to Your Portfolio

MarketWatch

If you're a physician-investor with aglittering gold fund, maybe another preciousmetal can make your portfoliogleam. A new silver exchange-traded fund(ETF) has recently been launched andsponsored by Barclays Global Investorscalled iShares Silver Trust (SLV). Accordingto , this ETF marks the firsttime that investors can put their moneyspecifically into silver without holding themetal or diving into futures markets. Thesilver ETF has been a long time coming,and has been delayed in part due toopposition from the Silver Users Association,a nonprofit group that says thefund will take a large chunk of silver offthe market and increase prices. The SEC,on the contrary, has stated that the ETFshould increase efficiency and transparencyof the silver market. If you'reinterested in a silver investment, keep inmind that it is classified by the IRS as acollectible, meaning that if you hold it formore than a year, gains are taxed at 28%,just like gold.