Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have made it easier to invest in silver, which along with gold is seeing huge investment demand as a safe haven. However, one analyst warned Thursday that speculative money can move out of silver just as quickly.
“The fact that the bulk of silver investments are currently being made in highly liquid, exchange-traded products, like the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV), increases the odds of a swift and severe correction,” writes Louis Basenese, chief investment strategist at Wall Street Daily.
The analyst noted that last year investors purchased 494.98 million ounces of silver via exchange-traded products versus 101.3 million ounces of coin and physical silver.
Basenese also cited data from GFMS Ltd. that world investment demand in silver rose 40% in 2010, to 279.3 million ounces, while industrial demand rose only 21%.
“The latest data reveal that the primary driver behind silver prices hasn’t been economic supply and demand,” Basenese wrote. “Instead, speculators are moving the market.”