Though the details below were shown to illustrate gold facts, what stands out to me is how small the silver market really is in comparison. No wonder the big boyz bullies pick on silver.

Color graphics wouldn't post, but below are the figures that were illustrated:

Silver Industry $ 9 Billion

Silver Production 11 Billion

Gold Production 90 Billion

Gold Industry 200 Billion

Microsoft 250 Billion

Exxon 350 Billion

Privately held physical investment gold 900 Billion

(Source: Matternhorn)

In the chart above, Egon von Greyerz (of US Global Investors), shows just how small the precious metals market is in relation to large companies like Microsoft and Exxon. Global privately held bullion is only about three times the size of Microsoft’s value, a miniscule number for global ownership. In total, privately held physical investment in gold makes up only 0.7 percent of total investable financial assets. Mr. Greyerz argues that currently the average fund manager and investor relatively has no exposure to gold, but says that a doubling in the allocation to gold would be supportive for the gold price in the future.