Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
Silver prices dropped this week well below resistance levels, opening on Monday around $16.50 per ounce. Silver closed the week not too far below that point, after reaching the week’s low of $16.15 on Thursday. The path for silver seems to be a continuation of prices drifting lower in the current economic climate, potentially to below $16 per ounce.
Both gold and silver are being hit hard by the rebounding stock market, the strong dollar, positive economic news, a new Trump administration, and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. As silver prices are low, it is a good time to enter the market.
Silver prices have fallen 23% since July’s high of $21.13 per ounce. Compare this to a 14.1% drop in gold prices. The gold-silver price ratio has climbed to around 72.50 from 66 earlier this year. Silver is generally more volatile than gold because of the lower price point, and the rising dollar is weighing heavily on silver. Sell-off has been severe, as risk appetite has returned to the market; however, bargain hunting is an expected correlative, though it hasn’t been featured prominently yet.
With a 93% chance that the Fed will raise rates at their next FOMC meeting mid-December, some analysts expect that will give a boost to gold and silver prices before the end of the year. The optimistic uptick in the stock market after the presidential election is not expected to last for a sustained period of time. The use of silver in industry also provides support to the silver price.