Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) Stock

A global transition to clean energy should shine a light on silver's long-term prospects. Solar power demand, in particular, should prop up the need for silver moving forward.

Silver's year-to-date gain is even outshining its golden peer. Furthermore, silver's historic bull run could just be getting started.

Gold prices are up over 27% so far this year. But silver prices have outpaced its precious metal counterpart, with more than a 30% gain in the same time frame.

In any asset class, timing the market can be a difficult, but cyclical patterns can offer valuable information when creating investment strategies. In the case of silver, seasonal patterns could be beneficial.

Both gold and silver prices have been heading higher for the year, but the price relationship between the two could portend to silver overtaking gold in the future. Gold has been rising over 20% year-to-date, but silver hasn't been far behind with a 17% gain.

Silver and gold are again grabbing investor attention following bouts of softer U.S. data, which boosted prospects of an interest rate cut by the Fed in September. However, silver has an edge over gold due to various reasons.

PSLV shares are currently hovering around $9, indicating a potential shift from resistance to support. Technical analysis indicates a strong long-term upward trend in silver, with a possible move towards $30/oz. The increasing US debt and supply/demand factors in the silver market further support the fundamental case for PSLV.

The shift towards alternative energy on a global scale is expected to boost silver prices due to its use in clean energy technologies. This dual-purpose metal provides investors with the opportunity to benefit from its role in both industry and as a precious asset.

When it comes to being a store of value, gold has always been ahead of silver. However, silver's duality of an industrial metal along with being a precious metal could allow it to see record highs this year, according to the Silver Institute.