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Showing posts from March, 2025

How the market has performed

  How are gold and silver developing now? Gold and silver have had an exciting development recently, and gold has reached a new all time high at $3084,33/oz. Silver has climbed to its highest price since 2011, at $34,12/oz. The price of these commodities have been influenced by \several factors, including macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical uncertainty and exchange rate movements.As mentioned, gold has reached a new alltime high, driven by the weakening of the American Dollar, a decline in bond yields, and investors seeking safe haven assets. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) has fallen in recent weeks, making gold cheaper for foreign investors and boosting demand.  What has happened in the market? Recent developments have been characterized by a weakened dollar due to expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this year. Historically, lower interest rates makes gold more attractive because it does not yield interest, leading investors to favor it in un...

Gold reach new heights

Gold prices have crossed the $3000 mark per ounce for the first time in history. This comes partly as a reaction to the tariffs that have been put in place by the American President, Donald Trump and the uncertainty in the world after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This pushes investors to invest in safe-haven assets, like gold. Gold had its all time high at $3017 per ounce. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, central banks have turned to invest in gold rather than the American dollar. The freezing of Russian assets has reinforced concerns about the U.S. dollar being used as a geopolitical tool, leading some countries to seek alternatives for reserves. This has likely contributed to increased demand for gold, as nations and investors view it as a safe-haven asset that is not subject to political influence. Consequently, this shift in sentiment has put upward pressure on gold prices.  The American dollar has seen a drop of more than 4% since the start of 2025. This is t...

Silver in solar panels (the industry's "Super metal")

Commodities are in general priced based on the demand for the commodity in question. Silver is not an exemption of this. Silver is used for a number of industrial products and systems. One of the products that use silver as a component are solar panels. One single solar panel uses about 20g of silver. In comparison to a cell phone, which on average holds 200 to 300 mg of silver, or a computer, which on average holds 1 gram, an average solar panel holds a lot of the commodity. Silver plays a crucial role in solar panels, particularly in photovoltaic cells, where it serves as a conductor. Its high conductivity ensures efficient electron flow when sunlight strikes the panel, making it essential for maximizing the conversion of light into electricity.  The US has the biggest demand for silver in the world, and in 2022, 10% of US silver demand was used for the production of solar panels. This could point to a shift towards renewable energy. Even though we have seen a shift in the last f...