Silver (SLV) is down 5% this month and re-testing the $22.50/oz level. This relentless selling pressure continues to put a massive dent in sentiment, with despondency across the sector. This is evidenced by bullish sentiment sitting at its lowest levels in nearly three years and many investors exiting the sector for greener pastures. Let’s take a closer look below:.It’s been another rough month for the precious metals sector, with the price of silver (SLV) plunging 5% to re-test the $22.50/oz level and the miners taking another leg down, testing new 52-week lows across many indexes. This relentless selling pressure continues to put a massive dent in sentiment, with despondency across the sector. This is evidenced by bullish sentiment sitting at its lowest levels in nearly three years and many investors exiting the sector for greener pastures. While extreme pessimism alone does not guarantee a bottom is on the horizon, it does increase the probabilities, but the key will be how the silver/gold ratio acts over the coming weeks. Let’s take a closer look below:
(Source: Daily Sentiment Index Data, Author’s Chart)
As shown in the chart above, bullish sentiment for silver has finally flipped to a short-term buy signal as of Wednesday’s close, with the long-term moving average for bullish sentiment dipping to 20%. This is the lowest reading we’ve seen in over two years for this indicator and is a complete 180 from the sentiment picture we saw in late February, a reading of 78% bulls on the back of an attempted silver squeeze by the WSB community. The last time sentiment was this low was the fall of 2018, which marked the low for the precious metals sector, with the Gold Miners Index (GDX (NYSE:GDX)) rising more than 60% over the next 11 months. The price of silver rose 30% in the same 11-month period, and this marked the low for silver over the next two years (excluding the March 2020 crash). History does not have to repeat itself, but with the previous signal having a forward 12-month drawdown of ~6% and a forward 12-month draw-up of ~30%, this was an excellent time to begin building a position in the metal.