Silver Price Report Live Silver Prices and Silver Commentary

Silver, A Star Preformer

Spot silver prices opened the week at $33.40 trading as high as $35.36 on Friday and as low as $33.32 on Monday. Settlement price on Friday was $35.30, up $1.90 for the week. Silver support is now anticipated at $34.47, then $33.95, and then $33.72. Resistance anticipated at $35.36, then $35.60, and then $35.80.

. . . and from leading precious metals consultants GFMS Limited of London, in their monthly ''Precious Metals Market Outlook'' report, released March 4th:

"Silver once again has been the star performer over the past few weeks, with the price posting an almost straight line rally to a fresh 31-year high of over $34 in early March. In addition, what made silver's gains even more impressive was its massive outperformance of other industrial metals, such as copper, which saw a hefty fall in late February. Key to this was renewed investor interest for precious metals as safe haven assets, on the back of increasing geopolitical tension, coupled with rising inflationary fears. Furthermore, given silver's low costs and wide trading range, it has become increasingly popular among more speculative investors. Indeed, even at $34/oz (at the time of writing), silver is still way below its all-time high of $50 in 1980, which clearly has given an additional boost to investor confidence in the white metal.

Looking ahead, the recent backwardation in the silver market and news regarding difficulty of securing silver bullion in volume, including by the Royal Canadian Mint, suggest that the metal could soon break out and move sharply higher. Specifically, as gold is likely to approach $1,500, we would not be surprised to see silver challenging $40 in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, due to its historically high volatility, we would caution the potential downside for silver, with the metal in our view probably falling to below $30 at its lowest point in May, something very likely, given the growing pessimism regarding the economic outlook."

Silver is Extraordinary. It Shoots Ahead!

Silver prices opened the week at $33.18 traded as high as $33.75 on Wednesday and as low as $32.58 on Friday. Settlement price on Friday remained at $33.00, down $.18 for the week. Silver support is now anticipated at $32.80, then $32.31, and then $32.03. Resistance remains anticipated at $33.13, then $33.72, and then $34.30.

From Mary Anne and Pamela Aden, editors of the Aden Forecast newsletter, in a weekly update posted on their website on February 23rd:

"Events and changes in the Middle East are happening fast. Country after country is being affected and this is moving the markets. Silver, gold and oil are soaring, and other safe haven investments are getting a boost as well. But stock investors are getting nervous and this is putting downward pressure on the stock market. These are indeed fascinating times and it looks like unrest is going to continue. This in turn will keep pressure on the markets. Here is what we're currently watching . . .

Silver is extraordinary as it shoots ahead, gaining almost 20% just this month. It's clearly the top performer as it hits 30 year highs on a daily basis. It'll remain super strong above $30. In fact, the longer silver stays above $30, the more impressive the rise will be because, historically, it was only above $30 for 10 weeks during the 1979-80 blow-off peak.

Based on silver's action, gold's 'D' decline is clearly over and the A rise has begun. That is, if silver is leading . . . and it seems to be. Gold broke clearly above its 15 week (75-day) moving average, which means the trend is up and an 'A' rise is likely getting started. If gold (basis April) now stays above $1373 and closes at a new record high, then gold is clearly following silver in a renewed leg up in the bull market. This could well be a powerful move!"

Silver Rallies to set New Record High

Silver rallies to set new record high of $33.82 today. New concerns over inflation and tensions in the Middle East have prompted the recent rise in the price of Silver. The increase in demand is beginning to create shortages in supply.

Silver Shows Massive Run Up

Today silver posted huge gains, up $0.78 a 3.53% gain. Investors poured into silver and gold on news that the Bank of Japan cut interest rates -- a surprise for investors.

BoJ is also considering buying short term credit notes and possibly a Japanese real estate ETF.

The Dow Jones also posted large gains:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 10,945, +193.45, +1.80%) climbed 193.45 points to end at 10,944.72, its highest close since May 3 (Market Watch)

Jerry Swank, president of Swank Capital noted,

“We’re not going to have a double dip, but slow growth. And with interest rates so low, equities is one of the few places to generate returns. . .  If odds of a double-dip recession stood at 45% in June and July, they’re now down to about 10% to 20%", said Swank.

America’s Over-sized Status as the World’s Largest Consumer

Silver prices opened the week at $21.53 trading as high as $22.15 on Friday and as low as $21.13 on Tuesday. The settlement price on Friday was $22.05, up $.52 for the week.  Silver support is now anticipated at $21.80, then $21.47, and then $20.88. Resistance anticipated at $22.15, then $22.54, and then $23.75.

From Peter Schiff, president and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, in the Euro Pacific Global Investor Newsletter, on September 30th:

''Given the US dollar's status as the world's reserve currency, America's oversized status as the world's biggest consumer, and the influence of overseas export-oriented businesses on their home governments, the falling dollar is a difficult issue for many countries to ignore.  And with the imminent arrival of a second round of 'quantitative easing' from the Fed, the big guns of dollar destruction are being locked and loaded.   The move looks poised to set off a frantic race to the bottom among global currencies, which will have important ramifications for every investor.  Unfortunately, this is one race the United States is poised to win.

The goal of those trying to win the race to the bottom is to promote exports and create jobs.  However, people don't work simply for their love of labor.  They work so that they can earn enough to consume the things they need and want.  Under normal conditions, a nation only exports its production, rather than consuming it domestically, to leverage its comparative advantages.  If a country can produce one type of good especially efficiently, it can trade that good for other goods it doesn't make as efficiently at home.  As a result of this process, its citizens will be able to consume more goods than if consumption had been limited to domestically produced goods.

However, when a government debases its currency in order to gain sales overseas, the nation earns less foreign exchange for the goods that it exports.  As a result, its comparative advantage is blunted, and its citizens consume less as a result.  In other words, as a nation's currency declines, its citizens are forced to work harder for less.''

Gold and Silver in a Massive Primary Bull

Silver prices opened the week at $20.86 trading as high as $21.31 on Friday and as low as $20.52 on Tuesday. The settlement price on Friday was $21.40, up $.54 for the week. Silver support is now anticipated at $20.88, then $20.20, and then $19.65. Resistance anticipated at $21.45, then $23.25, and then $25.80.

Going forward from Richard Russell, editor of the Dow Theory Letters service, in remarks posted on his website on September 23rd:

''The national debt of the US is now over $13 trillion. The unfunded debts of the US are over $50 trillion. There's no way either of these debts will ever be paid off. They'll have to be reneged on or inflated away. If the Fed tries to inflate the debts away, our creditors will eventually panic out of dollars, and the dollar will be destroyed. This is the big picture.

Therefore, the ultimate value of gold as related to dollars is potentially infinity. Most investors don't 'get' this concept. If they did, they would jump the gun and get rid of their dollars by swapping their dollars for some other asset, preferably an intrinsic asset.

The stakes are so huge, that I think of gold as outside the realm of ordinary items. Where gold is going, I don't know. How far gold will rise in the face of a doomed dollar, I don't know.

What I do know is that gold is in a massive primary bull market, a bull market that probably 95% of Americans have not joined in on. We're going to see action and phenomena ahead that have never been seen before.

Sept. 17th Market Update

Spot silver prices opened the week at $19.85  traded as high as $20.89 on Friday and as low as $19.85 on Monday and the settlement price on Friday was $20.80, up $.95 for the week.  Silver support is now anticipated at $20.67, then $20.55, and then $20.35. Resistance anticipated at $20.90, then $21.00, and then $21.25.

Going forward, from Liam Pleven and Carolyn Cui, in an article in The Wall Street Journal on September 17th:

''There is a silver lining to the gold rally.

Silver futures on Thursday hit their highest level since 1980, the year the Hunt brothers allegedly attempted to corner the market.  Individual investors are snapping up new Silver Eagle and antique coins, and hedge funds have been plowing money into the metal since midyear.

The fervor has pushed prices up 4.8% this week, and 23% this year, outstripping even gold's 16% gain. Silver settled Thursday at $20.7450 a troy ounce, topping its 2008 high of $20.685 and hitting the highest level since Oct. 15, 1980.  Prices hit their all-time high of $48.70 in January 1980, fueled by the Hunt brothers' buying.''

''Silver is still well below the record high hit in January 1980, the year the big silver bet by William Herbert Hunt and Nelson Bunker Hunt began going sour.  Prices dropped sharply early that year, slamming the value of the value of the Hunts' holdings.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, silver prices are even further from their 1980 high.  The last time silver was higher than Thursday was on Oct. 15, 1980, when it settled at $20.98 -- $55.94 in 2010 dollars.''

This Week on the Silver Market

Spot silver prices opened the week at $18.11, traded as high as $18.23 on Tuesday and as low as $17.34 on Wednesday. The settlement price on Friday was $17.99, down $.12 for the week.  Silver support is now anticipated at $17.85, then $17.66, and then $17.33, and resistance anticipated at $18.10, then $18.40, and then $18.71.

Going forward from Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal, in an article in the July 26th issue of Barron's:

''Silver has always stood in the shadow of its more glamorous sister, gold.  But these days, silver looks like the Cinderella metal.  And its night at the ball could be coming soon.

The white metal, which has many industrial uses, may see some near-term price pressure because of concerns about global economic growth.  But some bulls think that, over the long term, it will best gold, which has far outpaced it over the past decade.

Silver, trading around $18 an ounce, is 'really, really depressed on a historic basis,' says Jim Rogers, a commodity investor and former Barron's Investment Roundtable member.  He notes that silver is 70% below its all-time high above $50 an ounce, hit in 1980 when the Hunt Brothers cornered the market.

The metal has risen 30% in the past year, but it is still well below its near-term high of $21 an ounce, set in 2008.  Gold, at its recent price of $1,195, has been trading at 66 times silver, versus the 10-year average of 62 times and the longer-term ratio of just 16 times.''