Silver ETFs: Always a Bridesmaid

May 13th at 11:00am by Tom Lydon

Silver: always a bridesmaid, never a bride. While gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) soar to all-time highs, silver ETFs take a backseat even though they’re doing slightly better than the yellow metal.

In the last two weeks, silver ETFs are up about 8% while gold is up about 6%. To be fair, both are worthy of attention, but gold always seems to be grabbing just a little more. But silver may have even more appeal than gold when you break it down:

Silver has more industrial uses than gold. [Why the Outlook for Silver is Bullish.]
Silver is cheaper than gold, and as such is often called “the poor man’s gold.” iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) can be had for about $20 a share right now; SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) is going for around $122 a share today. If GLD is too spendy for you and you want to invest in precious metals, silver may be an appealing option.
Like gold, silver is also viewed as both a safe haven and a pretty metal to wear.

Peter Cooper for Goldeek reports that together, both silver and gold advanced late last week in the aftermath of Thursday’s 1,000-point plunge in the Dow, and bounced higher in the immediate reaction to the $1 trillion euro-bailout package on Monday morning.

Gold and silver often seem to move in lockstep. As gold is forecast to move higher in the coming months, silver could do the same. [5 More Reasons to Like Silver.]

For more stories about silver, visit our silver category.

In addition to the ETFs below, Global X very recently launched the first silver miners ETF: Global X Silver Miners (NYSEArca: SIL), which gives investors an equity play on the metal.