Is it starting to feel like the silly season all over again? On a day after higher consumer confidence and weak durable goods, spot gold is up just over 1% at $1,788.90 but spot silver is up almost 4% at $36.99 per ounce. Silver is now at a high back to when the rug was yanked out from under its feet in September. A Euro cash infusion and a 10% silver mine activity in December may be adding fuel to today’s fire.
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) is up 5% at $36.06 and we have seen 20.6 million shares trade at 12:45 PM EST versus an average volume of 18 million shares. The ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE: AGQ) is up 10% at $73.20 and it has already crossed its average daily volume as well with its double-leverage. The SPDR Gold Trust now has more than $71 billion in assets and it is up ‘only’ 1.2% at $173.80.
The individual stocks are lagging today. Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) is up 3.45% at $39.83. Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) is up 2.7% at $26.08. Even the most battered of the lot in Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is up only 1.9% at $5.33.
Silver has more industrial use than gold, besides silver is called the devil’s metal for a reason. We’ve seen this movie before.
JON C. OGG
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