I'm a stacker. I'm constantly looking at silver and gold prices, the spread, inventories, premiums, derivatives in SLV, etc, etc.
The obvious trend since SVB went down was a move to towards safer assets, let it be a "too big to fail bank (lol)", government securities (lol), and precious metals. Premiums on 1 oz silver rounds (generic) are nearly $5 anywhere you look. My local coin shop (LCS) was charging $4.75 per ounce over spot on generics, which is actually lower than the vast majority on JM bullion and SD bullion.
With silver spot being 24.25 as we speak, a $5+ premium is nearly a 20% premium on the price. Higher premiums almost always mean high demand and low supply. Inventory on the comex is dropping at a pretty staggering rate (277 million oz left) and the entire comex could be drained with a mere $6.6 billion dollars.
My LCS said it's been insane since the banks began to fail. Way more buyers than sellers.
The price of silver specifically has been artificially suppressed by the big banks through derivatives and artificial contracts traded amongst the big banks. As inventory continues to drain, the dollar falls, BRICS grows it's membership, and uncertainty remains, precious metals SHOULD skyrocket.
Ultimately, I don't invest in PMs are a get rich quick scheme, but they really are a great store of value. Not investment advice, but holding silver and gold, while you can still get it, could be an answer to rapidly rising inflation.
What's stopping a silver mine from selling direct to the public / market? How can they create & maintain a global cartel / monopoly on gold & silver?
Any mine or dealer can sell to the public. Comex / LBMA can maintain a global monopoly only because they are the biggest. In 2016 it was 90B oz in Comex and 50B oz in LBMA (source).
The monopoly is only a price monopoly. But once Comex / LBMA silver runs out, then so does their monopoly. No one's going to care what they set silver paper contracts for; it's the mines and dealers that will be setting physical prices.
If they are a monopoly, which means they have some sort of control over the mining of precious metals, how would they "run out"?
I'm honestly trying to learn because I've been interested in PM's for a couple years but can't wrap my head around how the COMEX works.....