View live silver price charts and today’s current update on PMBull’s Live Silver Price page.

Jan 30, 2012 08:30 PM EST – The rally in silver prices peaked at $33.99 per ounce in the New York afternoon session on Friday. On Sunday evening, silver gave back a dollar before prices reversed early in the morning and continued rising into the COMEX session. Prices never managed to recapture Friday’s range with March Silver closing COMEX today at $33.527 per ounce, down $0.262 or 0.78%. Spot silver finished New York electronic trading at $33.50, down $0.49 per ounce.

We may be told that concerns over Europe and the inability to gain any traction on a Greek debt deal are responsible for under performance in commodities and equities today. Further, specifically on the silver front, supply constraints are loosening with reports of higher production. Yet we saw a lift later in the day, and that can be attributed to reports of increasing demand for silver coins.

Frankly, it is possible for any news organization attempting to summarize silver price movements on a daily basis to point to a whole host of datapoints that are either bullish or bearish and then attribute daily price swings to that data. It is a silly exercise really. After last week’s explosive rally on the heels of a dovish Fed statement, it is possible that silver prices simply need to consolidate gains for a bit. Some traders are going to book some profits. Can the rally continue from here? There is certainly a lot of strength behind it and the fundamental reasoning behind the rally is sound. Nevertheless, if trading silver short-term, we couldn’t fault one for taking a little off the table.

If holding silver for fundamental long-term reasons with expectations of various $60 to $100 per ounce predictions to be realized, it’s best not to get cute with your position. We may begin to see a shift in silver coverage as prices continue to march higher, which can trigger more of those big moves we saw in last year’s rise to nearly $50. Consider this article from Bloomberg Businessweek: Silver Powering 20 Million Homes as Glut Subsides. That is the kind of coverage we like to see because it helps a given asset class reach its full potential, if not bubble territory. We aren’t there yet.

On the Sprott Physical Silver (PSLV) vs. SLV front, we have further validation that drop to a 5% premium last week was indeed a gift. That historically small premium was a great opportunity to gain upside momentum and downside protection on the silver trade. Last week during the rally, we saw PSLV’s price rising faster off that premium bottom. Today, PSLV was up 0.6% while SLV was down 1.3% with the price of silver itself. The premium over NAV for PSLV now sits 9.15%, which means we have seen an incremental 4% upside relative to silver prices in general.

View live silver price charts and today’s current update on PMBull’s Live Silver Price page.

Jan 26, 2012 06:09 PM EST – Silver prices were up once again today, with COMEX January Silver closing at a price of $33.702 per ounce, a gain of $0.61 or 1.8%. Spot silver trading in New York subsequently took the price back down to $33.47 as traders retreated from earlier highs during morning floor trading.

It should be noted that PMBull closing silver prices refer to January Delivery, while spot silver prices are calculated as the highest volume near-month contract, which may be a few months out. As a result, the silver price movements quoted between the close of floor trading and New York electronic trading may partially be the result of price differences between the January and March contract.

Silver continued to rally off the the Fed’s soft stance yesterday, which has taken all commodities higher. We did not see follow-through in equities. Perhaps the equity markets are beginning to see the economy for what it is – so bad that it actually necessitates the Fed’s dovish stance. Stocks may have already built in the best case scenario and could be coming to the realization that additional liquidity sloshing around is not going to fix the predicament we are in. All that liquidity is still driving commodity prices higher though, at least for the moment. Could we be at a point where silver and gold prices decouple from equities? Is that even possible?

In yesterday’s update, we observed that the premium on Sprott’s Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) was down below 5% early in the day, and that this was historically low. Should the premium grow under falling silver prices, PSLV will provide some downside protections. Should the premium grow under rising silver prices, PSLV will boost gains. Die-hard silver bugs will tell us that it is still paper silver, but we like PSLV as long as the premium is within reason.

Today, PSLV finished up 1.73% and SLV finished up 0.19%. The outsized price movement for PSLV puts the premium at 6.52%. Does that sound like too much? Compare it to the premium you would pay for a tube of Silver American Eagles (as well as the discount at sale), and then compare your transaction cost to shipping fees. To be sure, we are also an advocate of accumulating physical for the day when shortages become evident. PSLV just happens to be a great way to trade without having to worry about getting caught off-guard by other silver funds and we feel the fluctuating premium simply increases opportunities to time purchases.

Jan 25, 2012 11:30 PM EST – The price of silver closed at $33.092 today, up $1.61 per ounce for a gain of 3.6%. Electronic trading in New York added another $0.178 to close the session at $33.27 per ounce.

Visit PMBull’s 24 Hour Live Silver Price page for live silver price charts and today’s update.

There were two big drivers behind today’s price action. Apple earnings, which yesterday had stock futures trading up after hours, was first on deck. While Apple opened much higher, the broad indexes were mostly trading lower, with the exception of NASDAQ. Traders were apparently waiting for Bernanke to provide a green light with more QE talk. The FOMC announcement came, and everything ramped, including silver prices. The fact that nothing but Apple was up early on, and in fact a lot of stocks were selling off at the end of the day, should serve as a red flag.

Silver initially traded down roughly $0.40 this morning before the nearly 4% run higher on the Fed Announcement. Yesterday we had suggested a $0.30 – $0.35 dip in prices was just enough to form a mini-trough that traders might be able to buy. That was close enough.

It appears as if traders were simply looking for nothing to dissuade them from continuing the rally in the Fed statement and Ben was particularly dovish in his comments, or at least dovish enough to continue the “buy” programs that bots trading markets have been running.

Here is where we might provide a little caution for equity buyers tempted to join the party late. Apple gapped up above its upper trend line and failed to gain much after that, printing a red down candle by the end of the day. Could that have been a final exhaustion gap? Bull markets and rallies end on good news, after all. Google continues to sell off, having broking through its bearish rising wedge. Volume continues to remain light. Bearish divergences have been developing on several technical indicators throughout the rally. Shorts continue to be light, which is bearish.

The silver price is now up well north of 25% since its last bottom. Is that enough for the silver traders? We know the physical silver buyers are looking for those $60-100 silver predictions to develop over time and are not really concerned that silver might pull back hard when equities get the rug pulled out from under them. True silver stackers welcome the pull-backs, always hoping to acquire just a few more ounces before prices begin to reflect the true state of silver supply and demand.

If paying attention this morning, you will have noted that the premium in Sprott’s Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) got down to under 5%. It finished the day at 5.46%. If still buying funds, don’t let last week’s offering that took out the 30% premium scare you away. Now may be a better time than ever to buy PSLV over other paper silver investments. Check out how rarely the PSLV Premium has dipped below 6% since the trust’s inception. If Sprott’s Physical Silver Trust begins to add back premium, while silver prices are going up, this could be a way to gain more upside. If the premium increases while silver prices are falling, this fund may provide some downside protection. Granted, the premium could shrink from here, providing more muted gains, as it did in fact do today. [Silver Update Archive]

Visit PMBull’s Current Silver Price page to view today’s update with multiple live 24 hour silver price charts in 10-second to weekly time-frames.

Jan 24, 2012 07:30 PM EST – January Silver settled COMEX today at a price of $31.921, down $0.302 or just under 1%. Electronic trading in New York added another $0.13 to the price, finishing the session at $32.05 per ounce.

Price action in equities, as well as silver, was subdued as traders waited for the Fed FOMC statement on Wednesday, nervously eyed the impending Greek default talk in Europe and prepared for a key earnings announcement after hours. A “pullback” for the silver price was not unexpected today after a 5.7% gain over the prior two days. We added quotes because one can barely consider less than a 1% move, representing only 17% of the two-day gain, a pullback. One would normally expect even better entry points tomorrow as selling accelerates into a mini trough, perhaps at a 38% Fibonacci retracement of the breakout move (which would take the price down another $0.30 to $0.35), if not trading down to test the $30 breakout area altogether (real silver buyers wouldn’t wait for that).

However, all bets are off on trying to predict prices for tomorrow. Note the small pop in silver prices at the end of electronic silver trading in New York today. We did get that earnings announcement, with Apple revealing blowout top and bottom line results after the market closed. This propelled stock futures higher and perhaps carried silver prices with them. As Apple earnings dominate the headlines, one might almost forget that we were waiting to hear from the Fed tomorrow afternoon. This is where the financial press has its work cut out for it. If stocks continue to surge on the presumption that all is well, citing Apple earnings as the evidence, then how can the Fed justify easing further? What if everything rallies, regardless of what the Fed does? Can the Fed disappoint with no easing dialogue, if market participants decide easing isn’t even needed because all is well? Can the Fed spin it this way, getting higher equity prices, without having to ease further? We can already hear the argument: Everybody in the world is buying iPhones and iPads, so the markets are in a position to rally on fundamental growth, which is taking place. Who needs QE to keep pushing higher? The global economy can’t be that bad, can it? Can it? Hello?

Are those crickets chirping, or just the distinct ring one hears as silver bugs continue stacking physical. [Silver Update Archive]

Visit PMBull’s Current Silver Price page to view today’s update with multiple live 24 hour silver price charts in 10-second to weekly time-frames.

Jan 23, 2012 07:10 PM EST – The silver price today settled COMEX at $32.333, up $0.0586 or 1.9%. Globex electronic trading in New York only added another $0.02 before the session ended.

Why were silver prices up today? Euro strength probably helped. Another rumor was passed off by the Financial Times with an hour to go in equity trading, causing virtually all risk asset classes to ramp, just as they were beginning to roll over. The rumor / denial game gets old after awhile. Many are increasingly buying into the rally on hopes that the Fed will hint further at additional easing later this week. If not that, they are hanging their hat on technicals. We saw at least one “this time its different” article published by a technical analysis blog. The more they buy in, the riskier the markets get. There is an utter lack of volume, and a sharp decline in short interest, both of which should be viewed as bearish.

After Friday’s breakout rally, the silver price felt somewhat muted today, even though it managed to climb nearly 2%. The bulk of today’s move was realistically a continuation of Friday’s rally during electronic trading Friday afternoon, followed by overnight trading in Asia. The dynamic today was a pullback into COMEX open, followed by a run higher, then a pullback throughout the rest of the day, with silver prices ending New York relatively flat. All the gains came outside of COMEX floor trading.

This is the difficulty with watching the world silver price on a 24 hour chart. The demarcation line for determining daily gains and losses is fuzzy. For many, simply watching the price for a Silver ETF is easier. Yet the reality is that the price of silver moves on a 24 hour basis. It is possible to purchase Physical Silver online at any time and often, the best time to buy physical at the best price presents itself during panic selling, sometimes outside of normal silver ETF trading hours.