Chart Of The Day: Silver Rallies On Real Fundamentals, Not Fake Reddit Targets

 | Feb 09, 2021 09:39AM ET

Based on the chart, which showed a price surge of 22% in just three sessions, one might have thought the asset depicted was Bitcoin. Surprisingly, the spike—from the low on Jan. 28 to the high on Feb. 1—was the action on silver, an asset not generally known for volatility.

Media reports said it was another 'Reddit Rebellion,' in the wake of the social-media-fueled move on such equities as GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) by retail investors forcing a short squeeze on hedge funds and financial institutions. That, however, was fake news .

Hedge funds and investment banks have been net long silver for some time now. As well, the total valuation on the precious metal is estimated to be anywhere between hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars, making it a much more difficult target to manipulate, versus GME's valuation of $1.4 billion at the beginning of 2021.

But though the news of another Reddit frenzy targeted at silver went viral, authentic fundamentals for the white metal were what actually caused it to move higher. In early August, Bank of America analysts had already noted that if Joseph Biden was elected President, his proposed “green stimulus” initiative would boost silver to $50, roughly doubling its value.

Now that he's President, Biden is on course to put the US on a path to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since silver is an integral component in solar energy technology, demand for the commodity will increase significantly, as will supply/demand activity on its technical chart.