Silver Is On The Move, Was This Summer A Bottom?

90% Silver US Half Dollars

For anyone invested in silver, this year is proving to be quite a ride.  Silver started the year at just under $28/oz and in a matter of months climbed up to $37.50 (actual date 2/29/2012) up 33% for the year.  

This high was very short lived, and silver prices began to fall almost immediately after reaching that high.  Silver consistently lost around $2/oz per month from March to June, and leveled out around $28/oz.  Since June the price has been hovering around this value.  It has been stuck at this value and it has been boring to watch.

If you look at silver's performance dating back to 2009.  The last time silver had more than a 3 month period of flat or little change was between the spring and summer of 2010.  Which as we now know was followed by silver's nearly steady 8 month climb from the $18 to $48.70 (actual date 4/29/2011).  

Silver began this week (8/20/2012) at $28.09 and has steadily climbed nearly 5% over the last 3 days to $29.47 (8/22/2012).  ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) AGQ [currently $43.27] which is down 65% from one year ago, has gained 12% in the last 5 days, and nearly 16% over the past month.

Perhaps we have just past another bottom in the silver market.  There are plenty of factors that could push silver up; the European debt crisis, Greece leaving the euro zone, changes in China's economic growth, US economy is still recovering and the upcoming US presidential election to name a few.

I'm not trying to suggest that we're about to see a repeat of silver's steady climb from 2 years ago.  But it's nice to see silver beginning to move again.