Prices for the metal trade 25% higher for July
by Myra P. Saefong
Market Watch
Investors have focused on a rise in record prices for gold, but silver’s up about 25% in July—the metal’s second-biggest monthly gain on record—and it’s still undervalued compared with the yellow metal.
“Silver is often called the ‘poor man’s gold’ because some of the same factors that cause gold prices to rise do the same thing to silver prices,” says Ed Moy, chief market strategist at gold retailer Valaurum. “And what is driving gold prices now are mainly the fear of inflation due to the magnitude of the monetary and fiscal stimulus worldwide, and the flight to safety due to the uncertainty around how and when the global economy will recover.”
Silver, however, is “cheaper per ounce” than gold, and its prices are much more volatile, he says. It has also been “lagging behind gold’s rise” and the ratio of the number of ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold is historically high, implying that either “gold is overpriced or silver is underpriced.”