The fundamentals are in place for silver and gold to move higher. The ongoing issuance of US treasuries and further quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve inevitably point to continued dollar weakness. The interesting fact that the Fed stepped in recently to indirectly buy some of the auctioned bonds points to a decreasing lack of investor appetite for US debt. That the Fed indulged in QE is no surprise - they announced that months ago. It was more the fact they had to step into the void created by the absence of buyers that was more telling. So much for the fundamentals now what about the technicals of timing?

No doubt you are aware that the US Dollar Index has breached longer term support at 77.7 and is currently slogging to retrieve that level of support. We don't think it will succeed but for how long it will hold out is as yet uncertain. The breach is slight and we are still looking for a decisive breach that will propel gold and silver higher. The chart below sums up the dollar situation with potential overhead resistance at 79.

Looking at silver, we are seeing a pattern emerge that suggests if the dollar breaks to the downside, silver will be targeting its former high of $21 though we are uncertain of it completely taking that high out in the medium term. Nevertheless a buying opportunity is present and as advised to subscribers, we already have gone long in July.

The question for those with positions is when to exit? The silver chart is shown below displaying the longer term trend in terms of months with the prospect of the upper channel being tested if the dollar falls through to its lower channel in the low 70s. As a guide, remember when the US Dollar fell to 70 in March 2008, silver went to $21.

Zooming into the daily charts, we see silver has begun a move up since mid-July not dissimilar to the moves up in February and June. Those moves lasted two to three months and we anticipate something of the same here. Note the support lines in the two prior moves and their similar angles of ascent. By way of projection I have copied the first trend line from February and superimposed it on the current move. It meets the longer term line of resistance at about $18. That is the kind of price action we hope silver will indulge us when the dollar breaks down further.

You will also note the Elliott wave notation. The last move up from April to June was a clear impulse wave and this current wave looks to be in a wave 3 now with all the upside potential that such a wave brings.

So the stage is set for some fireworks but to aid our silver and gold cause the resistance line on the US Dollar Index chart needs to hold. So far it is and next week should prove to be very interesting.

Further analysis of silver can be had by going to our silver blog at http://silveranalyst.blogspot.com where readers can obtain a free issue of The Silver Analyst and learn about subscription details. Comments and questions are also invited via email to silveranalysis@yahoo.co.uk.