When it comes to alternative currencies, gold is usually the tender of choice. David Morgan, publisher of The Morgan Report and creator of Silver-Investor.com, disagrees. Morgan says that when it comes to precious metals as legal tender, silver is the best bet.

Silver is less expensive than gold, which makes it easier to transport and use. “In an absolute crisis, silver would be would be the monetary metal of choice. Its value per unit is a lot less than gold,” Morgan says.

The lustrous metal has been synonymous with money throughout history. “Silver has been used as money in more places and more times than gold ever has,” Morgan tells The Daily Ticker.

Related: As Gold Prices Collapse Investors Seek Answers

Silver is trading near $23 an ounce in the futures market, having recovered only about 5% from recent lows. The precious metal reached record highs of $50 an ounce in 1980 and again in 2011 when the Hunt Brothers famously tried to corner the market.

Gold, in contrast, is trading

The U.S. housing market – once seen as the savior of the economic recovery – has now come under intense scrutiny. Some experts are ringing the alarm bells that ultra low interest rates championed by the Fed could result in the next housing bubble. David Stockman, President Reagan’s OMB director, believes the U.S. is already in the middle of a new housing crisis due to artificially low rates and speculation. Former FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair told The Daily Ticker earlier this month that low rates were actually discouraging banks from lending and, in turn, hindering economic growth.

Related: The Recovery in Housing Is Behind Us: David Rosenberg

Now government regulators are expressing apprehension over the meteoric rise in mortgage REITs. According to The Wall Street Journal, mortgage real-estate investment trusts “have been selling shares to the public at a rapid clip over the past three years” and “assets held by mortgage REITs are increasing from $159 billion in 2009 to $450 billion