Better the devil you know: Investors turn to silver in an uncertain year

Metal shows its mettle amid market volatility

Over the course of 2020, investors living in an uncertain world turned to the most traditional safe havens as equity markets collapsed, negative interest rates were posited and currencies were debased.

The price of gold spiked more than 30% higher than it began the year, but silver outshone its yellow counterpart, rising 121% from its March lows to more than $27 per ounce by September, according to data from BullionVault. In 2021, 'the devil's metal' has already proven its reputation, rising 18% in less than a week and falling 11% just three days later, with some commentators pointing the finger at Reddit day traders, who vowed to "kill the banks with SLV" by turning their purchasing power to physically backed exchange-traded commodities, although the reality of this is debated both by...