Harbl the Cat's Rules for Trading Precious Metals

These are my personal rules for buying, selling, and swapping precious metals.  They're like the pirate code: they're more like "guidelines."  As far as I can tell, provided the precious metal bull market is in tact, I think these rules are valid.

I develop these rules as I make mistakes or smart decisions personally (mostly from mistakes).  Your mileage may vary in using these rules, but I post them here as a personal reference and in the hopes it may help educate you if you decide to invest in precious metals.

Buying

• Never buy precious metals with a credit card or line of credit - pay cash only and only if you have covered all your other expenses first
• If you don't have an ounce of gold or silver to your name, dollar cost average to buy a small amount regardless of price
• If you identify a buying opportunity, leave at least 25% of your cash and do not go all in
• Always buy silver when there's a 30% price correction within a month
• Always buy gold when there's a 10% price correction within a month
• If you have an existing stack, buy gold, silver, or platinum when the price is under their 200 day moving average
• Keep some cash in the event the precious metals touch their 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis lows, relative to their 200 day moving average:
• Silver was at 0.51 times it's 200 day moving average 
• Gold was at 0.81 times it's 200 day moving average 
• Platinum was at 0.56 times it's 200 day moving average

Selling

• NEVER sell anything with the intention to hold fiat currency for more than a week.  
• NEVER sell ALL of your metal
• Sell with the intention of trading for another metal
• Silver at 1.5 to 1.77 times it's 200 Day Moving Average is a good time to sell for fiat
• Gold at 1.15 to 1.29 times it's 200 Day Moving Average is a good time to sell for fiat
• Platinum at 1.15 to 1.40 times it's 200 Day Moving Average is a good time to sell for fiat

Swapping

• Never swap all of your metal for another metal
• 1.6 platinum to gold is a good ratio to trade a small amount of platinum for gold or silver (depending on the gold to silver ratio)
• 2.2 platinum to gold is a good ratio to trade a large amount of platinum for gold or silver (depending on the gold to silver ratio)
• 50:1 gold to silver is a good ratio to trade a small amount of gold for silver
• 80:1 gold to silver is a good ratio to trade a large amount of gold for silver
• 20:1 gold to silver is a good ratio to trade a small amount of silver for gold
• 9:1 gold to silver is a good ratio to trade a large amount of silver for gold