Now that was brutal. Anyone who owns silver or silver investments probably felt a punch in the gut last week. Silver prices today (Monday) are down again slightly, slipping 0.22% to $16.04.
But the light at the end of the silver price correction tunnel just might be shining brighter.
We all pretty much knew the Fed was going to raise rates. What followed led to a surge of roughly 250 basis points in the U.S. Dollar Index, and in turn some wholesale silver dumping.
That pounded silver prices by 2% in the immediate aftermath, and then by a further 5.25% over the next day.
In last week's gold update, I told you it was possible we had seen a bottom for this correction. Of course sentiment had gotten way oversold, plus history could rhyme if not repeat.
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I say that because silver bottomed a year ago at $13.70, right around the same time as gold. And that was right after the last Fed rate hike. So only the next few weeks and months will tell us if we get the same price action this time around.
Right now fear is rampant in the precious metals sector. It could be time to get greedy. Here's how silver prices today are trending and where they could be headed next...
Silver Prices Today Continue a Tough Stretch for the Metal
Silver prices started out the last trading week mostly flat. They opened for NY trading at $16.84 on Monday and climbed modestly to close at $17.05.
Tuesday reversed that action with an open at $17.05 and a close at $16.88.
But Wednesday, as we approached the Fed rate hike news, silver opened at $17.07 and climbed to $17.14 by 2:00 p.m. But then hell broke loose, and silver dropped to $16.77 by 4:00 p.m. that day, and closed at $16.80.
Thursday brought more follow through negative price action. Silver opened at $16.15 and kept dropping to reach a 12:00 p.m. bottom at $15.89. From there, it reversed direction and headed slightly higher to close at $15.95, still below the psychological $16 level.
And here's the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) action that silver had to fight against.
That hefty 250-basis-point rally from Wednesday into Thursday was silver's nadir. But we can see that the DXY peaked midday Thursday, and as it began backing off, silver prices began rising.
By Friday afternoon, silver had regained the $16 level, trading at $16.06 by late afternoon.
So what's next for silver? My sense is there's a strong possibility silver's bottom for this correction is behind us. If that's the case, then 2017 could be shaping up for a spectacular year.
Where Silver Prices Are Headed in 2017
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We know that silver's looking oversold on a technical and on a sentiment basis. So is it time to get greedy? Well, just maybe.
The rate hike this past week caused what might have been the final capitulation sell-off in silver. It lost 7.3% in under 24 hours.
But here are a couple of factors that could help propel the precious metal higher in the new year.
Canadian bank CIBC thinks the industrial applications of silver could help drive it higher into 2017. Silver has outpaced gold in 2017. The bank's analysts point to expected demand from a major ramp up in infrastructure spending. They also highlight that silver holdings used to physically back certain ETFs have been more resilient than gold.
Also, the Silver Institute has forecast it expects silver used in photovoltaic cells (solar panels) and in ethylene oxide should rise by 32% between 2015 and 2020. These two applications alone will represent 120 million ounces of annual consumption between 2016 and 2020.
If the bottom is indeed behind us in silver, I think we could see the metal regain $17.50 by the end of Q1 and likely challenge the $22 level before the next year is out.
Editor's Note: An incredibly rare gold market anomaly is shaping up in the markets as we speak - one that has occurred ONLY twice in the past 20 years. And it's about to happen again. Details here...