Silver’s Brilliant Year Validates Longtime Bugs’ Enthusiasm
- Soaring price comes amid weaker dollar, government stimulus
- ‘Silver bugs’ believe fiat cash system is headed for collapse
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Ned Naylor-Leyland has been all-in on silver for 18 years, earning derision along the way from fellow investors favoring the more glamorous gold. Now, with silver’s price skyrocketing 51% this year, he’s got reason to feel vindicated.
The manager of the $1 billion Merian Gold and Silver Fund in London proudly calls himself a “silver bug,” a term describing an investor whose fervor for the precious metal is more extreme than the typical bullion enthusiast’s. The bugs foresee a crash of the fiat cash system in the aftermath of unprecedented monetary stimulus, putting silver back in play as a viable currency. Their core tenet is that gold’s cheaper, more volatile cousin will continue surging in value.