Sky High

The price of silver, gold, and platinum continues to rise.

My hope is that it will not rise too much more, but I am not a market analyst. What I have come to understand is that so far the market is not nearly as bad as it was in the late 70s and early 80s. In April of 1987 silver spiked 35% in just seven days. So far this year silver has risen 35%, as it rose over $20 an ounce yesterday, though it did take two months. It was down around $0.50 as of today though.

Remember that jewelers don't buy their wire or metal components at the market price. We may be seeing some sharp increases in jewelry prices - and not just sterling. Base metals also rise with the commodities markets. And Gold is just an outstanding $980 some odd dollars an ounce. Ouch! So much for me starting to work with gold anytime soon.

Some people actually want the price of silver and other metals to rise because they are making money. And predicting the market future is just as hard as predicting the stock market. And can be just as dangerous to those who speculate.

I'll keep buying my metal as painful as it may be - though customers will start seeing a price increase in my work. It can't be helped. I want to keep my prices reasonable but also have to factor in my costs.

As long as the U.S. dollar is weak, silver will remain high. Markets fluctuate and I expect that we'll look back on $20 silver as a memory ... though who knows when.

Hang in there!