I bought silver today. Spot $36 is still a little over the moving
100 day average, but less by a lot than the highs of last week. I
will need the material soon for production, so the landslide presents
a buying opportunity.
Why was it up? Why is it down? Who knows? “Rumors” and “leaks” by
the Soros Foundation seem to have something to do with it as well as
new higher margin requirements putting the brakes on price.
Apparently if you put the words “rumors” and “leaks” in “quotes” you
can insinuate that they were not authentic and that Soros was not
"manipulating" the market, but the story I read does not actually
deny that this master speculator was working some mischief.
Silver crash: The COMEX margin trick and Soros “rumors” worked well
The thing I try to remember is that when I make silver jewelry that
the cost of the materials, even at $50 and ounce, is still a fraction
of the retail price that can be absorbed with only a small increase
in price. If a piece weighs half an ounce, the silver cost, even with
milling is probably not much more than $30. That same piece at $20
spot silver might have cost $13. I just took a necklace from my case
that weighs half an ounce and see that it is priced at $110 retail.
It was priced that way since last year. So add the new cost
difference to $110 and you get $127, an increase of 15% retail. What
will the chain cost me now? I don’t know. How long will it take to
sell it for 15% more? I don’t know. My hope is that with silver
having a higher price it will get more respect as a precious metal,
but I suspect that it will take the culture a few years to adjust to
new perceived values.
Stephen Walker
Andover, NY