Three Ways to Invest in Silver Before Prices Take Off

It's been a volatile week, but silver prices are expected to rise in U.S. President Barack Obama's second term. Silver futures prices ended the week with a 5.7% gain. Silver for December delivery rose 36 cents, or 1.1%, on Friday to settle at $32.60 an ounce. With the fiscal cliff the next major topic for Washington to tackle, investors are pushing into safe havens like silver and gold to balance market uncertainty.
With that in mind, here are three ways to invest in silver with prices on the rise.  

Invest in Silver with Pan American Silver Corp.

Pan American Silver Corp. (Nasdaq: PAAS), a silver-mining company, reported a 13% increase in third-quarter silver output with 6.3 million from the previous year on Thursday thanks to its recently-acquired Mexico Dolores mine. For the year's first nine months, silver output hit 18.2 million ounces and the company said it's still on track to meet its 2012 full-year guidance of 24.25 million to 25.5 million ounces. Pan American's quarterly adjusted net earnings were $37.6 million ($0.25 per share) on $251.8 million in record revenues but this is a decline from the previous year's $51.5 million ($0.48 per share). The company also announced a fourth-quarter dividend of 5 cents per common share to be distributed in early December.

Invest in Silver with Silver Wheaton

Silver Wheaton Corp.(NYSE: SLW) released its third quarter earnings report on Nov. 5, posting a 26% increase in its attributable silver equivalent production to 7.7 million ounces in the quarter.

But its profit fell 11% to $119.7 million (34 cents per share) and revenue dropped 13% to $185.2 million thanks to a 14% dip in silver prices from the previous year.

Invest in Silver with iShares Silver Trust

iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE: SLV), which tracks physical silver, recently hit the $10 billion mark in assets as it trades more than 10 million times daily, reported ETF Daily.

What's interesting about SLV is the fund will take its managed money and purchase silver bars kept in London vaults.

It also appeals to options traders.

Recently as silver prices declined after reaching highs in September, SLV is at its $30 support mark, and this means buyers.

With buying comes higher prices. In the last five trading days, the ETF is up 5.28% and year-to-date, it has increased 17.04%.

These numbers are higher than silver futures and with this ETF, you can have a sense of physically owning silver while still having liquidity.

Look for silver prices to remain volatile but the outlook is good with lots of opportunities to participate in the ride.