Gold has gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of months amid volatile markets and geopolitical concerns. But so far, that buzz hasn’t translated into much new buying interest for the traditional hedge.
At the same time, palladium has sparked headlines after hitting record highs.
Meanwhile, silver, which was expected to be the shining star of the precious metals market for 2018, has been one of the sector’s greatest disappointments and is currently down 15% for the year and prices sit near their lowest levels in nearly three years.
But silver deserves another look heading into the new year.
“I think silver will be up near $18 to $20 [an ounce] and I think silver is going significantly higher too and I expect it, in the next couple of years, to close the ratio between gold and silver. I expect silver to be stronger than gold when it gets started,” Todd “Bubba” Horowitz of bubbatrading.com said to Kitco News.
So far this year, silver has dramatically underperformed gold prices, with the gold to silver ratio holding near a 25-year high, according to Kitco.
With global economic growth curbing industrial demand for silver, the precious metal is now at its most affordable level in almost 25 years. And now looks like a good time to buy as many experts believe that silver is primed for a bullish 2019 as it shakes off its industrial influences and begins to shine as a monetary metal.
“If you are bullish on gold, you should be bullish on silver,” Bill Baurch, president of Blue Line Futures, said.
Natixis, a French bank, agrees. “Although silver has significant industrial demand, it is still a precious metal and eventually will see a pickup in investor demand,” Bernard Dahdah, the precious metals analyst at Natixis, said.
Dahdah also noted that silver is roughly 1.3% more volatile than gold, and if gold prices move higher, silver should outperform.
“We think that silver prices have seen the low and we expect higher prices from now,” said Georgette Boele, coordinator of FX ad precious metals strategy at Dutch bank ANB AMRO. “Our positive outlook for gold prices should also support silver prices.”