"As of the close of business on Friday 4-28-06, the Barclays iShares Silver Trust ETF (Trading symbol: SLV) had nearly 21 million ounces of silver, up from 1.5 million ounces of silver when it started trading Friday morning.
The Silver ETF (SLV) continues to be priced slightly higher than silver bullion spot prices; at present the ETF is at about $14.27/oz., (minus half of 1% annual fees and other expenses), while silver is at $14.18/oz.
This spread, driven by market created demand for the ETF, creates the arbitrage incentive for the Silver ETF market makers to buy physical silver, in lots of about 500,000 oz. for 50,000 ETF shares, for the trust.
Twenty million ounces is a shocking increase in the amount of silver purchased in a single day, and at this rate, the Trust could obtain about 100 million ounces of silver by Friday this week, and by next week, we might see a default on delivery of silver via NYMEX futures contracts! Silver moved up over $1/oz. on Friday, up again about $.50/oz. on Monday and up another $.20/oz. Tuesday".
