Silver, precious metal mining shares the latest hit by Reddit-fuelled volatility – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 29, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The silver market is the latest to experience incredible volatility after retail investors incited by promotional posts on social-media site Reddit bid up the prices of the precious metal and silver miners.

One post on the Reddit group WallStreetBets implored investors to inflict “THE BIGGEST SHORT SQUEEZE IN THE WORLD” on the silver market and suggested investors could bid up the price of the precious metal to US$1,000 an ounce from US$25.

“Silver Bullion Market is one of the most manipulated on earth,” the user who went by the name u/jjalaj30 posted. “Any short squeeze in silver paper shorts would be EPIC.”

On Thursday, shares in Canadian silver miner First Majestic Silver Corp. surged by as much as 50 per cent in early trading while the prices of exchange-traded funds that track physical silver bullion increased by up to 7 per cent.

In a release on Thursday morning, Vancouver-based First Majestic said there was no material news that would account for a surge in price and trading volume in its shares.

For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-silver-precious-metal-mining-shares-the-latest-hit-by-reddit-fuelled/