After the FOMC meeting on Dec. 13-14, our new silver price prediction shows the price of silver rising substantially.
In fact, Money Morning Resource Specialist Peter Krauth believes that silver prices could rise to the mid-$20 level within six to nine months.
We'll look more closely at Krauth's 2017 silver price prediction in just a moment. But first, let's look at what to expect at the FOMC meeting this week...
What to Expect During the Upcoming FOMC Meeting
Investors widely project the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this week. According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there's a 97% chance of a rate hike on Wednesday.
Now, the rate hike would be small -- just 0.25%. And that would bring the fed funds rate up to between 50 and 75 basis points. If the Fed chooses to raise interest rates now, its moves will closely mirror the timing and size of its last interest rate hike, which also occurred in December and was just 0.25%.
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When the Fed raises interest rates, it makes the dollar look more appealing. And since the dollar directly competes with silver, this can put some downward pressure on silver prices in the short term. Higher interest rates also boost the attractiveness of other non-commodity investments, like certificates of deposit and savings accounts. That's because after a rate hike, investors can generally earn a higher rate of return with these investments.
That being said, silver will always retain its safe-haven appeal. And that's something unique to the precious metal.
So whether interest rates are going up or down, it's always a smart idea to own silver in case we enter another bear market or recession.
And the FOMC meeting, while a short-term headwind for silver prices, will not hold back the precious metal in 2017.
In fact, we see the price of silver rising double digits early into the new year because of a key economic indicator.
And that's just the beginning...
Our Silver Price Prediction for After the FOMC Meeting
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Higher inflation is on the horizon, and that's good news for silver investors.
You see, President-elect Donald Trump looks like he'll be a big spender during his presidency. He has promised a huge $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan, along with big corporate and personal tax cuts. Both policy moves will cause the federal budget to balloon. And with higher spending comes higher inflation.
Another clue that points to rising inflation is higher bond yields, Krauth said. The current 10-year Treasury yield has risen about 3% since the election. Inflation is a bond's worst enemy because it reduces the purchasing power of the dollar. This makes current bond yields look less attractive.
"When that reality begins to sink in," Krauth said, "investors will quickly flock to silver and bid it up to new heights."
As we mentioned earlier, silver's real appeal is as a safe haven from market or economic turbulence, like inflation. Silver, unlike bonds, isn't affected by inflation because investors see it as an alternative currency to the dollar, although silver itself is a dollar-denominated commodity.
So whenever investors perceive inflation levels rising, silver prices generally drive higher because investors speculate the metal will become more valuable.
Krauth predicts that higher inflation will "come back with a vengeance" after the FOMC meeting. When it does, silver prices could easily reach the $19 price range by the first quarter of next year.
And looking even farther ahead, silver prices could climb to the mid-$20 range by June or September 2017, according to Krauth.
Silver is currently trading at $17.23 per ounce as of Monday intraday.
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