The precious metals sector (gold, silver, platinum) have been in a strong uptrend for the last five years, and of these, silver has had a particularly steep ascent, rising from $2.50/oz to about $13.90/oz - a rise of 350% in five years. But those who leveraged this run by investing in small-cap silver mining stocks had returns that were as much as twice that high! Small-cap silver mining stocks get the benefit of not only the rise in price of the metal, but an increase based on its overall property, as well as its success in bringing more of the metal to the market.

Of course, the factors that make small-cap silver stocks so tempting and rewarding also make them correspondingly riskier. Even as the price of the metal has gone up, it has attracted more companies into the mining industry, with many of them not having the kind of property or expertise to successfully mine silver. And even when a company has the pedigree, the chances of failure are high. On the other hand, going with a well-established large-cap silver stock will not give you the returns you desire, with growth in value fairly tracking the rise in value of the underlying metal.

The best choice then is to invest in a portfolio of small-cap silver mining stocks (also called silver juniors) that will hedge your bets a little, but also allow you to add more to stocks of those companies that are navigating their way successfully to profits. And of course, it will allow your portfolio to survive a few bombs. Making a selection of a portfolio of small-cap silver stocks is a non-trivial task, requiring many hours of study about the mining industry, the state of the precious metals market, knowing the knowledgeable management teams, attending seminars and conferences and being on top of any government programs for selling silver. And if your focus is on small-cap silver stocks, information about their activities is often scarce.

For the above reasons, and to be able to get the benefit of those who have tread this path before, it is best to subscribe to an investment newsletter - a letter whose editor has already done the legwork, and is a known entity in the silver markets. An editor to whom the various company management teams talk freely, and who can get the right market information in your hands in a timely fashion. One such outstanding investment newsletter for the silver markets is The Silver-Investor, edited by David Morgan.

David Morgan has been following the silver markets for several years, and was among the handful of silver analysts who predicted this strong bull market, and was on top of the move when he predicted mid-2003 as a likely time for the start of this bull-run (which turned out be almost exactly the time when silver took off in earnest). At $130 for a one year subscription, we consider it as money well-spent, especially in this bull market.

The silver bull market is alive and well, and there is much money to be made. Use all the help you can get - and The Silver Investor is a strong ally for this run.