RE:Silver Institute Data Challenged By Keith Neumeyer - BradforI listened to the interview with Bradford Cooke about Neumeyer's criticism of the Silver Institute's budget and the reason for Neumeyer's withdrawal from membership. In his response Cooke said that the budget for jewellery market demand study has been retired; about 400,000 dollars a year out of a 1.2 million dollar budget. Neumeyer considered it wasted money, and the Silver Institute's response suggests that he was correct. Maybe Neumeyer will rejoin the Institute membership.
My opinion is that the expense did seem like a lot considering that silver jewellery is probably not a big growth business but more a fairly established market and there has always been a demand for silver jewellery even in the poorest of societies. I have some, including a sterling silver Zippo lighter which I've used for years. There are highs and lows in demand driven by the public's interest in silver depending on what the headlines say about big price moves in bullion but overall silver jewellery has always been in demand because of its low price compared to gold jewellery.
Cooke is the CEO of Endeavour Silver (a share I have held in the past) and it was interesting to hear that EDR had withheld silver from the market if the price was too low. If you can afford to do that and wait for better prices it's a good thing to do. They don't hedge production either.
I haven't held any EDR for a long time (last time I did it was 80 cents, I sold and made a bit of money then it went to almost 5 dollars, an experience I've had too often). I just have a small number of AXU lately. I had only 5,000 but increased it to 10K lately when the price went to 2 bucks because I thought that was the bottom. But AXU has a history of turning on a dime, up or down, when you least expect it so I'll just sit with the 10K for now.
I've been interested in silver and gold since I was a kid in the '50s, and actually used to go to the bank and buy silver dollars (when they were really silver) and carry around a pocketful which I used as currency. Should have saved them.
I started trading gold and silver shares in the '60s when I was a teenager up north, sitting around in the broker's office with the old guys watching the ticker. The Windfall Mining penny stock days.