Silver pushed above $27 an ounce last week and rallied to over $28.50 on May 18. There has been some selling since, but as of the morning of May 19, the white metal was trading around $27.40 an ounce. That’s a better than 70% increase year-on-year. Even the mainstream is bullish on silver with many commodity analysts saying the rally will likely continue.
CPI came in much hotter than expected. Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida actually said, “We were surprised by higher than expected inflation data.” But should we really be surprised by this? In this episode, Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey talks about inflation and suggests maybe you shouldn’t be shocked. He also discusses the whacked-out labor market.
If you are a regular Fun on Friday reader, you know I love sports. Hockey is my favorite followed by football. My favorite teams are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, all of those worlds collided in a moment of sports harmony this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski joined Lightning players at their practice. Gronk even donned the goalie pads. (He showed a pretty solid glove hand.)
Gronkowski even brought along the Lombardi Trophy. Lightning players posed for pictures with the Super Bowl hardware.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did a big flip-flop this week. Her comments and her subsequent attempt to walk them back were telling. She accidentally revealed the ugly truth about inflation and the central bank’s ability to deal with it. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey takes Yellen to task. He also talks about the recent rally in both gold and silver.
Silver investment demand surged in 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the feature story in the most recent edition of the Silver Institute’s Silver News.
Holdings in silver-backed ETFs tripled last year, surpassing 1 billion ounces for the first time. Meanwhile, investment in physical silver also saw a healthy increase. Silver coin and silver bar purchases grew 8% to 200.5 million ounces in 2020.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently signed a bill into law exempting gold and silver bullion and coins from sales tax. This will not only relieve some of the tax burdens on investors in the state; it will also take a step toward treating gold and silver as money instead of as commodities.
There was a lot of news and economic data that came out this week. The Fed held its April meeting. President Biden unveiled yet another tax and spend plan. And the Q1 GDP numbers came out. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey gives an overview of the week’s news and draws a rather unsettling conclusion — this economy is totally jacked up.
By and large, the mainstream is bullish on the economy. According to conventional wisdom, we are in the midst of a robust recovery. In fact, many people out there believe the Fed is going to have to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than later. But there are a few people in the mainstream who seem to have caught a glimpse behind the veil. Former JP Morgan managing director Jon Deane told Kitco News that we’re sitting on an economic cliff. And because of that, Deane is extremely bullish on gold and silver.
The coronavirus pandemic fueled significant growth in investment demand for silver in 2020. And according to the Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey 2021, demand is expected to remain robust through 2021.
The price of silver was up 27% on average last year on the back of a surge in investment demand. ETF inflows took global holding to over 1 billion ounces for the first time ever.
I learned something today. Did you know silver is considered a hazardous waste?
So, I’m just going to say upfront that if you have some silver to dispose of, I’ll be happy to take it off your hands.
