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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cloudsweeper99, post: 881850, member: 3011&quot;]Holding physical silver is not a &quot;transaction&quot; unless you are in the business of buying and selling.&nbsp; It is an investment.&nbsp; If cost basis is $5 and the price is $4, that&#039;s a loss.&nbsp; It might be an unrealized loss for tax purposes, but it&#039;s a loss all the same.&nbsp; Everyone can define gain or loss for themselves in any way they choose, and if your personal definition is that you don&#039;t have a gain or loss until you cash out and use the proceeds for something else, it&#039;s your choice.&nbsp; I believe it leads to sloppy thinking and poor investment decisions.&nbsp; In my case, I mentally compare the current market value of all of my investments to the alternatives in making asset allocation decisions.&nbsp; So I agree with you that opportunity cost is important and can only be measured properly by marking to market and mentally knowing your approximate gain or loss at all time.&nbsp; Cost is a historical accident.&nbsp; Your silver is currently worth $17 per ounce [plus or minus the bid/ask spread and tax effect] and the market doesn&#039;t care whether you paid $5, $10 or $20 for it.&nbsp; It is ridiculous for someone who bought at $20 to deny the loss, just as it is for someone who bought at $5 to ignore the gain.</p><p><br /></p><p>But it&#039;s been pointed out that this has all been discussed before, so everyone has all of the information they need to decide for themselves how they wish to think about the subject.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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