2014 Top Stocks Market, Best Stocks Investment In 2014, Top Stocks For 2014: 5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012

Active trading is a risky endeavor. To stay one step ahead of the pack, active investors need to continually monitor existing stock holdings while also researching new investment ideas. It takes a lot of time, and for many, simply parking money into an index fund or a mutual fund is a much easier path.

What is the downside of this strategy? These funds hold a range of investments that can bring mixed results. Moreover, the expenses on the funds can often eat into returns, and that really adds up when the power of compounding kicks in.

Perhaps the wisest move is to find a handful of great investments and hold on to them for a very long time. The transaction costs will be minimal, and your portfolio won’t be weighed down by “flash-in-the-pan” stocks.

Here are five companies that could easily form the core of a well-rounded portfolio. Each company has been around for a long time and is likely to remain as a major force for many years to come. In fact, you could probably hold onto these five stocks forever.

5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012:Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW)

Silver Wheaton Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a silver streaming company worldwide. The company has 14 long-term silver purchase agreements and 2 long-term precious metal purchase agreements whereby it acquires silver and gold production from the counterparties located in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Greece, Sweden, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Portugal. Silver Wheaton Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Christopher Barker At 2012-2-22
Parallel to my selection of major producer Goldcorp among my top 10 gold stocks for 2012, Silver Wheaton might appear a relatively conservative pick as compared to the stable of smaller-cap growth stories that fill out the rest of the list. But don't let Silver Wheaton's hefty market capitalization fool you; this is a stock from which I continue to expect multi-bagger gains as this long-term bull market for silver matures. What's more -- with an enterprise value that equates to just $5.63 per total-resource ounce of silver (or $10.77 per ounce of proven and probable silver reserves) the stock remains dirt cheap! It's not quite as cheap as it was when I treated readers to a truly uncommon opportunity just over 3 years ago, but just watch how this stock responds as the market comes to terms with the likelihood of silver penetrating the all-time high near $50 per ounce and blasting into fresh record territory. Keep in mind, Fools, that Silver Wheaton is targeting about a 70% production surge by 2015, to reach a monumental 43 million ounces of silver per year!

Silver Wheaton has been a bit quiet lately with respect to adding new silver stream agreements to the pipeline, and personally I suspect the hiatus is likely linked to an adjustment of its signature rate structure (paying roughly $4 per ounce delivered into a stream agreement) to account for a much-transformed silver price environment. But I do note with interest the company's recent appointment of mining analyst Haytham Hodaly -- as senior vice president for corporate development -- to aid in the negotiation of new silver streams. I do not expect the pause to last through 2012, and view the prospects for one or two major new stream announcements as likely stock catalysts for 2012. And as Silver Wheaton's newly established dividend policy of distributing 20% of cash from operations collides with a rising silver price, I expect Silver Wheaton to remain a major focal point of global silver investment demand.

5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012:Endeavour Silver Corporation (EXK)

Endeavour Silver Corp., a mid-cap silver mining company, focuses on the growth of its silver production, reserves, and resources in Mexico and Chile. It principally holds interests in two producing silver mines in Mexico, including the Guanacevi mine, located in Durango State; and the Guanajuato mine located in Guanajuato State. Endeavour Silver Corp. was formerly known as Endeavour Gold Corp. and changed its name on September 14, 2004. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Christopher Barker At 2012-2-22
Fools who endeavored to participate in this tremendous growth story following my August 2010 interview with CEO Bradford Cooke have seen Endeavour's share price promptly quadruple to reach a 2011 peak of $13.10. My recent tour of Endeavour's expanding Guanajuato mine complex confirmed for me just how well-deserved that glistening performance has been. And now that a substantial retracement in the sector has driven Endeavour back into the $10 range, I see a timely opportunity for investors to embark on Endeavour's continuing journey of well-executed growth.

With a major expansion of its plant capacity in Guanajuato (to 1,600 tpd) completed during 2011, Endeavour is beautifully positioned to capitalize on steady output expansion from the growing array of near-surface vein structures surrounding the plant. Recent confirmation of high-grade silver and gold mineralization within the vein structures of La Joya and Belen have the company touting "a substantial increase in reserves and resources at Guanajuato" for early 2012, and offer a near-term roadmap for matching production to the expanded plant capacity.

I consider Endeavour's San Sebastian, Parral, and La Brisa exploration projects very promising elements of the company's project pipeline, but I urge Fools to pay particular attention to the recently acquired target for bulk-mineable silver and gold in Chile called Lomas Bayas. With a 10,000-meter drill program already under way, I expect successful assays from that project to provide additional stock catalysts during 2012. I consider Endeavour's management the best in the business, and I recommend the stock as a long-term silver holding without reservation.

5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012:Silver Wheaton Cor Com Npv (SLW.TO)

Advisors' Opinion:

By Glenn At 2011-10-30
Silver Wheaton is considered to be one of the most stable silver stocks due to its unique and stable business model.

“They don't have the risks of excavating and not finding anything,” said Yu Dee Chang, Principal at ACE Investments. “Their costs are fixed. That's why their profit margin is also fixed. I like this as a more stable play.”

Silver Wheaton's core approach lies in buying already-excavated ores from miners, then extracting silver from it. The company's portfolio includes silver streams from Goldcorp's Peñasquito mine in Mexico and Barrick's Pascua-Lama project spanning the border of Chile and Argentina.

The company says it currently has 15 silver purchase agreements and two precious metals agreements where it has the right to purchase all or a portion of the silver production at a low fixed cost from high-quality mines located in politically stable regions. Silver Wheaton estimates that it will have exposure to 40 million silver equivalent ounces of annual production by 2013, from about 23.5 million silver equivalent ounces in 2010.

David Christie of Scotia Capital has a sector outperform rating and one-year, $40 price target for the stock. “Silver Wheaton performed better than any other silver investment including the metal itself year-to-date,” he told investors in late 2010, noting that few silver stocks have outperformed the metal. Christie praises the company for being the best-leveraged and safest operational growth story of the precious metals companies he covers.

5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012:Taseko Mines Limited (TGB)

Taseko Mines Limited engages in the exploration, development, and operation of mineral properties in British Columbia, Canada. The company principally holds interests in the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine located north of the City of Williams Lake; the Prosperity gold-copper project situated in the Clinton Mining Division, southwest of the City of Williams Lake; the Harmony gold project located on the Queen Charlotte Islands, also known as Haida Gwaii; and the Aley niobium project situated in the Omineca Mining Division. Taseko Mines Limited was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Barker At 2011-10-30
After losing its bid to gain regulatory approval for the Prosperity copper and gold project, Taseko is essentially a pure-play on copper at the moment (it could be worse!). I can't shake the feeling, however, that Taseko will be given a second chance at prosperity.

5 Best Silver Stocks To Buy For 2012:Rubicon Minerals Corp (RBY)

Rubicon Minerals Corporation, a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada and the United States. It primarily explores for gold and base metal deposits. The company?s key asset is the Phoenix Gold Project located in the Red Lake gold camp, in the Province of Ontario. As of March 31, 2010, it controlled approximately 65,000 acres of prime exploration ground in the prolific Red Lake gold district of Ontario, Canada, as well as approximately 380,000 acres surrounding the Pogo Mine in Alaska and approximately 225,000 acres in northeast Nevada. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Barker At 2011-10-30
This is the sole pre-production company to make my list, and with good reason. Rubicon lays claim to the most exciting discoveries of bonanza-grade gold deposits that this Fool has observed in the industry, and the project's prime location in Ontario near existing major gold mines makes this one stand out as a particularly low-risk play.

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