For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"The commodity bull market has a long way to run," says Martin Weiss, editor of Money & Markets. "And while individual stocks are inherently more risky than funds, they also have more potential upside. And one area with a lot of upside potential is silver. As such, my top speculative pick for 2008 is Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW).

"Silver should ride a tidal wave of fundamentals higher in 2008. Above-ground stockpiles are getting very low, new mine production is lagging, industrial demand is surging and jewelry demand is growing in both China and India.

"And then there's the demand from silver exchange-traded funds, such as iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), which held over 161 million ounces of silver as of December 7, and keeps growing. India doesn't have a silver ETF yet but should have one in 2008 -- that will bring more demand to bear on the market.

"Silver Wheaton gets 100% of its revenue from silver, and has outperformed both gold and silver this year. It purchases silver from operating mines at a set rate, less than $4 per ounce, insulating it from rising costs. Its production should come in at 13 million ounces in 2007 and rise to 25 million ounces by 2010. Finally, Silver Wheaton has 362.2 million ounces in proven and probable silver reserves.

"The stock isn't cheap, but it is outperforming both gold and silver. And I expect precious metals to head much higher in 2008. Overall, I consider this a red-hot silver play."

Best Stocks for 2008: Silver Wheaton (SLW) sees 'surging' demand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.