Seems sentiment in the silvery metal has changed awfully quick with analysts putting out forecasts of $28-$35USD by year end. Is silver back in the bull market? Published: Friday, 16 Aug 2013 | 4:33 AM ET By: Katie Holliday | Writer for CNBC.com It is silver's time to shine after the precious metal climbed for seven straight sessions to notch gains not seen in nearly five years, and analysts say its winning streak is far from over. Silver prices rallied to almost $23 a troy ounce on Thursday, after logging collective gains of 17 percent in over the past seven sessions, as a surge in gold prices and a more positive outlook for global industrial production boosted sentiment. "It's something that you can't really ignore at the moment...There is plenty of talk about silver being in a bull market now, after the recent gains, it does look like it is in really good stead," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at trading firm IG. (Read more: How gold and silver bears may actually help silver) Silver prices, which are closely correlated to gold, have followed steep falls in the yellow metal this year. Silver plunged 40 percent from the highs of at the start of the year to lows of $18.19 in June 28, while gold dropped 29 percent over the same period. Demand for the precious metals, which are viewed as safe havens, waned as investors grew more confident over a more stable global economy. However, prices have recovered in recent weeks as Fed dialogue suggested tapering plans could be delayed and a flare up of violence in Egypt renewed appetite for the safe haven assets. Analysts say the better than expected industrial output data from China last week, which stoked optimism for industrial metals, also helped sentiment. "One of silver's biggest components for use is industrials and we think that that's really what has given silver a decent shovel off," said David Lennox, resources analyst at equity research firm Fat Prophets, referring to better than expected industrial output in China recently and signs of a recovery in the euro zone. (Read more: China data blitz points to stabilizing economy) Lennox said the factors that helped spur silver's rally will continue to push the metal higher this year, and said it could hit highs of $30 to $35 before the end of the year. Furthermore, silver's dramatic rally over the past week is bound to attract investor attention and help fuel further gains, added. "There is one good way to get yourself on the radar, and that's to have a good price rally, all the speculators pick up on it and it then become self-feeding," he added. IG's Shamu forecasts that silver will reach $24-25 an ounce in the short term, and highs of $28 by the end of the year. "It looks like the trend in the short term for gold and silver is upwards they've broken through some key resistance levels," said Shamu. (Read more: Demand for physical gold jumps 53% in second quarter) Andrew Su, CEO of Compass Global Markets, said he expects silver to hit $25 over the next month on the back of a rally in gold and to surge to around $28 at some point in October, once Fed tapering has begun. "The fall below $20 was overdone and we are seeing the early stages of a sharp and strong reversal," he said. Su said the only scenario that could derail silver's rally, in his view, would be if the U.S. economy posted spectacular growth figures and consequently faster than expected tapering. "This would see gold once again come under pressure and would translate to price pressure of silver," he said, adding that this was not his base case. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100967380
Once the analysts bought back in, they talk about much higher prices. Before, they talk about much lower prices. Heh.
It's what happened all the time in recent years. When I bought most of my silver in feb 2011, and knew near to nothing about the silver market, I saw the price going up to $50 in a few months, and I was like baffled by the unbelievable willingness among Kitco forum users to just keep paying those prices, alike it was normal to see silver price 5 folding relative to 2008 without any general inflation and the dollars even not created. It had to end in a massive profitgrab and a World turned upside-down in 24 hours. Do you remember 'TPG' (abbreviated to not harrass) on the Kitco forum? Until a couple days before the -$18 collapse he made every day a sun flowers bees topic and said that silver could see a correction but not in the next months and only some hiccup before the next leap upwards. The very day of the price collapse, he created a topic 'Time for a little reality boys' and when silvers price became $32 he started to talk about selling. It's just crazy, and guess what, few even notice it. It was the first clear example of such behaviour, and later on I started to realize what Silver Doctors, Zerohedge and etcetera really were. And as discovered recently, seekingalpha isn't much better. Their stories appear valid and lotsa information, but it's all twisted towards creating the sentiment that inflicts the readers losses and the writers gains.
I've noticed the same thing (though I can't prove those that incessantly flip-flop have actually bought any significant amount). Most analysts make only safe 'predictions' and often use very vague terms. I think it's so fhey don't ever have to say, "Hey, I was wrong". Earlier this year I'd written that in Sept we'd see silver charge like a real bull ofter a summer of bigger lows than we have seen thus far. I may have been wrong about the level of the lows (I actually was hoping for about $14 silver). I'm good though as I made some purchases at around the summer's lowest spot. .
