Both gold and silver have historically been considered as stores of wealth, with silver in everyday use in coins until the seventies.
Unlike gold, silver is enjoying a growing use in manufacturing, the medical and other high tec industries, more than offsetting the diminishing use in photography.
Demand from the jewelry industry remains constant, the gold /silver ratio is out of historical synch (15:1) at around 60:1 and the premium over the silver content in the coin collectors market is said to be near its highest at up to 15%. It is also reported that the physical metal is in short supply but that is likely to be a short-term situation. Read more
After halting imports of silver for three months due to low demand, India has imported 24 tonnnes in May and June.
Although demand is expected to be low for the next month it is expected to pick up when the June to September monsoon period is over.
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Mondays Wall St close saw shares in silver miners gaining on the back of a firmer market for the metal
with May silver closing at $18.12 an oz.
Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW:NYSE) was the exception down by 17cents and Coeur d´Alene Mines (CDE:NYSE) falling back to its opening price of $3.94 after hitting over $4 in earlier trading.
Known for centuries for its infection fighting properties, silver is now being incorporated into bed wear that is already in use in some hospitals in a bid to stem the advance of MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) that can be fatal and other bug born infections.
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The short answer is yes and yes again!
The correction that has taken place in the last week or so is nothing more than a blip as precious metal prices have followed the general market see saw.
The problem is that the wall of worry about the US and other economies is growing higher week on week so it is hardly surprising that many nervous investors who have seen fat profits in their silver and gold positions have cashed in.
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A new report produced by NanoMarkets entitled “Silver powders and inks for printable electronics” forecasts that the market for conductive silver inks used in emerging technological applications will grow from US$176 million this year to US$1.2 billion by 2014.
NanoMarkets is a consulting and market analysis business that specializes in covering emerging market opportunities and advances in micro and nano technologies particularly in electronics, semiconductors, bio-medical devices, energy and advanced materials.
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Lets start this off with an intriguing question.
The research consultancy CPM tells us that in 1990 above ground stockpiles of silver amounted to over 2 billion ounces, that this had dropped to 1.4 billion ounces just 5 years later, and by the end of 2006 they estimated the stock pile to be only around 300 million ounces.
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Part One
Silver has enjoyed a good run over the last 12-18 months.
In August 2006 it hit a 23 year high at $12 an ounce and since then has see sawed around this mark to reach over $14 by this weekend.
The question is when can we expect the price to break out either to the upside or downside.
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At one time “silver” coins actually contained a considerable amount of silver, 50%-90% depending upon the issuing country.
Up to 1965 US dimes and quarters were minted with 90% silver and half dollars contained 40%.
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