By FXEmpire.com

Introduction:Silver futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts in which the contract buyer agrees to take delivery, from the seller, a specific quantity of silver (eg. 30000 grams) at a predetermined price on a future delivery date.

Some Facts about Silver

Silver is a soft, shiny and heavy metallic element with a brilliant white luster. A very ductile and malleable metal, its thermal and electrical conductivity is the highest of all known metals.

Besides being used as a store of value, other main uses of silver include applications in areas such as electronics, photography and as antiseptics.

Consumers and producers of silver can manage silver price risk by purchasing and selling silver futures. Silver producers can employ a short hedge to lock in a selling price for the silver they produce while businesses that require silver can utilize a long hedge to secure a purchase price for the commodity they need.

Silver futures are also traded by speculators who assume the price risk that hedgers try to avoid in return for a chance to profit from favorable silver price movement. Speculators buy silver futures when they believe that silver prices will go up. Conversely, they will sell silver futures when they think that silver prices will fall.

Weekly Analysis and Recommendations:

Silver ended the week at 28.837 after bouncing back from the 27.00 price range. Rising fears about global growth, tumbling commodity prices and a sharp pull-back from risky markets means that commodity and emerging market currencies are now coming under the pressure. Silver falls into two categories, that of industrial metal and precious metal. With the slowdown in manufacturing and production the industrial demand for silver is reduced and with risk aversion and markets supporting the USD, there is little support for the metals group.

FxEmpire provides in-depth analysis for each currency and commodity we review. Fundamental analysis is provided in three components. We provide a detailed monthly analysis and forecast at the beginning of each month. Then we provide more recent analysis and information in our weekly reports and we provide daily updates and outlooks.

Major Economic Events for the week of June 19-23, 2012 actual v. forecast

Date

Time

Currency

Importance

Event

Actual

Forecast

Previous

Jun. 19

02:30

AUD

Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes

10:00

EUR

German ZEW Economic Sentiment

-16.9

4.0

10.8

Jun. 20

09:30

GBP

Claimant Count Change

8.1K

-3.0K

-12.8K

17:30

USD

Interest Rate Decision

0.25%

0.25%

0.25%

19:15

USD

Fed Chairman Bernanke Speaks

23:45

NZD

GDP (QoQ)

1.1%

0.5%

0.4%

Jun. 21

09:30

GBP

Retail Sales (MoM)

1.4%

1.2%

-2.4%

13:30

CAD

Core Retail Sales (MoM)

-0.3%

0.2%

0.3%

13:30

USD

Initial Jobless Claims

387K

380K

389K

15:00

USD

Existing Home Sales

4.55M

4.57M

4.62M

Jun. 22

09:00

EUR

German Ifo Business Climate Index

105.3

105.9

106.9

13:30

CAD

Core CPI (MoM)

0.2%

0.3%

0.4%

Historical:

Highest: 49.813 on Apr 25, 2011

Average: 27.592over this period.

Lowest: 14.655 on Feb 05, 2010

Economic Highlights of the coming week that affect the Euro, GBP, CHF and the USD

Date

Time

Currency

Event

Previous

Jun 25

6:00

EUR

GfK German Consumer Climate

5.7

25th-30th

GBP

Nationwide HPI m/m

0.3%

14:00

USD

New Home Sales

343K

Jun 26

8:30

GBP

Public Sector Net Borrowing

-18.8B

13:00

USD

S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI y/y

-2.6%

14:00

USD

CB Consumer Confidence

64.9

Jun 27

All Day

EUR

German Prelim CPI m/m

-0.2%

8:30

GBP

BBA Mortgage Approvals

32.4K

10:00

GBP

CBI Realized Sales

21

12:30

USD

Durable Goods Orders m/m

0.2%

14:00

USD

Pending Home Sales m/m

-5.5%

14:30

USD

Crude Oil Inventories

Jun 28

7:55

EUR

German Unemployment Change

0K

8:30

GBP

Current Account

-8.5B

8:30

GBP

BOE Credit Conditions Survey

8:30

GBP

Final GDP q/q

-0.3%

12:30

USD

Unemployment Claims

12:30

USD

Final GDP q/q

1.9%

23:01

GBP

GfK Consumer Confidence

-29

Jun 29

29th-4th

EUR

German Retail Sales m/m

0.6%

6:45

EUR

French Consumer Spending m/m

0.6%

7:00

CHF

KOF Economic Barometer

0.81

8:00

EUR

M3 Money Supply y/y

2.5%

9:00

EUR

CPI Flash Estimate y/y

2.4%

12:30

USD

Core PCE Price Index m/m

0.1%

12:30

USD

Personal Spending m/m

0.3%

13:45

USD

Chicago PMI

52.7

13:55

USD

Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment

74.1

Click here a current Silver Chart.

Originally posted here