The global economy is in a lull right now. Some expect a recovery sooner, rather than later. Others, like us, think that we could see a second downturn. Either way, there’s one investment you need to own right now: silver.

Silver is the most flexible metal on earth. We’re not talking about its malleability. We’re talking about how it is used.

Let’s take the point of view of those expecting a quick, painless recovery. In that case, silver is a great investment. It has many industrial uses other precious metals don’t. As the global economy kicks back into gear, we’ll see more demand from electronics manufacturers, battery makers and solar cell producers — all of which use silver in their products.

There are thousands of uses for silver in industry. It is used in water purification, medical machinery and, of course, jewelry. All of these industries will begin to pump out products again,

Joe Kunkle, Investment U Research Team

With gold and oil hogging the “commodities spotlight,” silver is too often forgotten. However, a new trend is emerging that indicates a major rally may be starting in silver prices and silver related stocks.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen more and more data that supports a rally in silver: from large institutional money making large bullish bets, to technical indicators of a breakout, fundamental valuations well below where they should be, and a possibility of a massive short squeeze.

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE: SLV) has gained 18% since the broader markets began to rally in early March, but we could easily see another 25% – or more – in the remainder of 2009.

All in all, they make silver a must-own in any diversified portfolio.

Here’s what the smart money is doing in silver right

Coming off the second worst one-day sell off since 1987, the Canadian Markets continued to freefall during Tuesday trading with slumping commodity prices and political uncertainty sparking a renewed bout of uncertainty. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange dropped 0.93%, while the TSX Gold Index bucked the down trend by adding 7.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 1.08% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 423 to 309 margin on volume of 153 million shares traded.

Esperanza Silver and partner Silver Standard (NASDAQ:SSRI) tabled a 31% jump in measured and indicated gold resources at their San Luis project in Peru. The new tally is 347,000 ounces of gold running 22.3 grams gold and nearly 9 million ounces of silver grading 578 grams silver per tonne. Esperanza ended the day up C$0.01 at C$0.50, while Silver Standard closed at

The Canadian Markets started off the month of December on a sour note with the bears once again coming out of hibernation to maul the bulls. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 9.32%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 13.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 3.55% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 543 to 253 margin on volume of 144 million shares traded.

Waratah Coal added C$0.26 to close at C$1.51 after the company and Mineralogy Pty. Ltd. entered into a definitive support agreement, in conjunction with a revised offer by Mineralogy or a wholly owned subsidiary of Mineralogy to buy Waratah at C$1.60 per share in cash.

Animas Resources managed to add C$0.015 to close at C$0.415 after reporting an 8.5 metre drill intercept running 2.98 grams gold per tonne at its Berta area on its