Balance Silver

Since Gold prices are rising by leaps and bounds, Investors have been bound to take notice of Silver. Though it is still too early to get excited about the future and profit of investing in Silver, as of mow traders are happy to have found the “silver lining”. Considering that Silver had reached a high of $50USD in 1980, today’s prices of $16.89/oz, are just plain cheap when tuned for inflation, yet before planning your investment, it is a good idea to check past records.

Market study shows that the value of Silver The average price of silver oscillates due to the simple economic law of demand and supply. After jewelry and silverware, silver was largely consumed in the photographic industry. However, as a direct result of the wide spread acceptance of digital photography, there has been a steady decline in silver usage from this industry.

The Silver Book reported that in 2007, there was a surplus of 6171 tons of silver. In a short span of time, here has been a steady decline of demand for silver although the supply of silver will increase as traditional photography is replaced with digital and as the demand from other areas decline. Huge demand that will also affect the supply of silver will come from the stocks held by Exchange Traded Funds. New industrial as well as technological advances which are likely to make good use of silver, may increase its demand and thus reduce the supply. Thus prices increase in the process.

A final argument in silver’s favor for those who believe in reversion to the mean is the level of the gold/silver ratio. At the moment, you need 63 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold. 2,500 years ago, when coins were first made in ancient Greece, the ratio of gold to silver was generally between 10:1 and 13.5:1. In the 1930s and 1940s the ratio reached 90:1 or higher, and in 1991 it peaked at about 98:1.

For the last decade it has hovered at around 60:1. However, the last 350 years is more like 30:1, suggesting that to bring things back into balance, either the gold price has to fall, or the silver price has to rise. Studies clearly show that the tides are turning in favor of silver.

So on the whole this is a good time to invest in silver, while not trying to corner the market. Be it the balance of supply and demand or abstract idea of silver/gold ratios, from, your success depends on what forecast and subsequent strategy you follow.