by Ted Butler
Silver Seek
Silver purchased in retail forms tends to be held for long periods of time, often sometimes over a lifetime and passed on to heirs. To some extent that’s because of the rather few opportunities silver investors have had to cash in at high-enough prices. While silver has yet to visit price levels where most investors considered selling it, that day is surely coming and I believe most silver investors agree. This is one reason why silver investors have been remarkably tenacious in holding onto their silver.
It’s not just silver in retail form that is so tightly-held. Eighty percent of the world’s total silver bullion inventory of 2 billion ounces is tied up in the world’s silver ETFs or in the COMEX warehouses. That’s 1.6 billion ounces of all the 1000-ounce bars in existence. In the face of much steeper price declines than occurred in gold, the reduction in the holdings in the world’s silver ETFs has been nonexistent. While gold ETF holdings are at the same level they have been for years, silver ETF holdings are 500 million ounces more than they were at the start of 2020.