Silver has been about the best performing metal commodity so far this year, currently fetching more than 25% more than it did at the close of 2011 - not a bad performance in a short couple of months!  However the big question for silver investors is whether its current rate of progress is sustainable - and depending on who you listen to for advice it's a tough call.

Firstly, on a pure supply and demand basis, the position is controversial.  On the face of things there is plenty of potential silver supply out there, but even so the fundamentals are basically unchanged from this time a year ago when silver was roaring up to new highs, before it came crashing back down on what has to have been a very nasty bit of market manipulation presumably by those who could have lost a fortune in over-large short positions.  The silver commodity market is small enough to be manipulated in this way by those with big enough pockets which is why it can be such a dangerous metal in which to invest.

Those looking at the industrial and jewellery demand fundamentals, but perhaps ignoring much of the ongoing investment demand, though, will tell you that silver is in substantial oversupply and prices are not sustainable, but perhaps they are missing the point.

A 17-ton trove of silver coins recovered from a Spanish galleon sunk by British warships on a voyage home from South America in 1804 was set to be flown Friday from the U.S. to Spain, concluding a nearly five-year legal struggle with the Florida deep-sea explorers who found and recovered it.

Spain’s ambassador to the United States, Jorge Dezcallar de Mazar, was expected to watch when the two Spanish military C-130s take off from a Florida Air Force base with 594,000 silver coins and other artifacts aboard, packed into the same white plastic buckets in which they were brought to the U.S. by Tampa, Fla.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration in May 2007.

It wasn’t clear when exactly the planes would depart or where and when they would land in Spain. With much at stake, the Spanish government requested a high-security operation and key details arranged with U.S. authorities weren’t disclosed.

Prices for precious metals met resistance as Greece continues to be the main focal point in the ongoing European financial crisis. Despite agreeing to strict austerity measures, including cutting 15,000 public sector jobs and cutting the minimum wage by 22 percent, the coalition leaders would not agree to make substantial cuts in supplementary pensions.

March 20th Deadline for Debt Repayment

Unless Greece receives the €130 billion bailout package, the country faces missing a €15.5 billion debt repayment that comes due on March 20th. Greece has been solvent for the past two years on the first EU/IMF/ECB bailout of €110 billion.

The two years of austerity measures have been extremely trying for Greece, with unemployment rising to 19 percent. Civil unrest has also sparked controversy as the overwhelming majority of Greeks are opposed to the troika’s austerity measures.

The euro fell to its weakest level in almost a week versus the dollar as investors speculated European policy makers won’t be able to reach an agreement regarding Greece’s debt obligations.

Canada’s dollar fell from a three-month high against its U.S. counterpart after the nation’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter. The dollar and yen pared earlier losses as stocks fell after consumer confidence and business activity in the U.S. was weaker than forecast in January. The euro weakened against the majority of its most- traded peers as Standard & Poor’s increased the number of Portuguese banks on “creditwatch negative.”