Silver Shining Bright in 2020

What a year it has been for silver!

Both gold and silver continue their year-over-year bull market runs, but as we have explained, silver likes to magnify the moves!

Over the last 12 months (11/19/19 – 11/19/20) silver has gained an impressive 40 percent.  

And that is after a 2o percent correction from its August high.

Americans are renewing their love affair with silver this year.  The Silver Institute, an international trade organization, issued a report last week concluding that silver demand can be expected to surge to a 5-year high:

“Physical investment is expected to surge by 27 percent to 236.8 million ounces in 2020, which would be a 5-year high. The largest retail market for bars and coins, the US, will lead the way with a projected 62 percent gain. This reflects the impact of increased price volatility and healthy price expectations. The second largest market, India, however, has experienced a markedly weaker second half, with outright liquidations, resulting in an estimated 20 percent decline for the full year total.”

On the supply side, the Institute also reports that COVID-19 and lockdowns will result in a 6.3 percent fall off in silver production this year.

One more silver note:  FXStreet.com published an analysis last week that calls silver “the new oil.”  That is an interesting way to frame silver’s role in the production of renewable energy and its growing importance to energy independence.