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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;V. Kurt Bellman, post: 1988167, member: 71723&quot;]Since we agree with your first line here, why do so many writers on silver insist on counting coinage in the consumption line? Could it be &quot;pump and dump&quot;? That&#039;s my only remaining explanation. They need to create a plausible yet flawed argument to argue on silver&#039;s fundamentals.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, as to the really true remaining actual consumptive uses of silver: most have quite literally come and gone over silver&#039;s history. While smart phones and set top boxes and photovoltaics may be&nbsp; snazzy for now, I keep remembering the film industry, in which I toiled for over 25 years. Every picture anybody ever shot, every one, &quot;used&quot; (we could get into a 100 page treatise on the rises and falls of silver recovery efficiency as the film business evolved, but let&#039;s not) a measurable amount of silver, more with B&amp;W, less with color.&nbsp; It underpinned silver as a PM for more t han a century. It can reasonably be argued that the introduction of the Kodak Instamatic camera, with its easy loading that anyone could do, in the early 1960&#039;s did as much for altering the value of silver, and hence its demise as a circulating coinage metal, as any other single factor. I did mention Fuji, the number 2 consumer, and not number 1 Kodak up thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>Where we part on the 2008-12 deal, at least I think so, is I am trying to talk about new demand, or the loss of it (call it silver demand&#039;s &quot;delta&quot;) and if I&#039;m reading your comment correctly, you seem to be referring to total demand. If so, I think you make a good factual point, but I believe CHANGES in prices are driven by CHANGES in demand and CHANGES in supply and not their respective unchanged components so much.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, supply. Aka mining. I end up forced to read mining reports, because the news aggregators I read put it in my face. I am seeing scads and scads of new silver deposits being found. Big time stuff almost on a weekly basis. Am I missing something?</p><p><br /></p><p>Second source of supply - finite but still significant one-time recovery from discarded radiographs. The silver recycler my sister&#039;s firm uses, (yes, she&#039;s the only sibling still in the old family business), is Pyromet, out of the Philly suburbs. In addition to ion replacement canisters, which photo labs still bring them, their BY FAR hugest source of new silver supply is truckload after seemingly endless truckload of recently digitized and now purposeless X-Rays, medical and industrial (remember Jack Lemmon&#039;s character in China Syndrome?). There is a MASSIVE supply overhead still banging around out there in not yet discarded radiographs, particularly from smaller market towns where digital systems remain unaffordable. Who says? Pyromet does.</p><p><br /></p><p>And now that I have read Jeff&#039;s post above mine, this last part of mine I hope answers one of his queries. Yes, I do believe that MOST of the damage is done, but radiographs from secondary markets are STILL BEING DONE other than digitally, and that in particular still needs to unwind over time.</p><p><br /></p><p>OTOH, if it were up to artsy colonies like Portland, Oregon, (or me for that matter) silver photography would still be the Mac Daddy. I still have never seen a digital photo that can compare with my 1970&#039;s Kodachromes.</p><p><br /></p><p>I do have to admit one thing - one of my favorite reasons for listening to and watching someone I think is utterly clueless substantively, is the inexplicable attractiveness of Kitco&#039;s Daniela Cambone. I can&#039;t explain why, but I find her compelling. But when I hear her earnestly asking questions of guys who are chart jockeys, I almost can&#039;t breathe from laughing so hard at what they apparently are taking seriously. Given my age, I&#039;ll probably need to soon put on an adult diaper before firing up Kitco. Too funny!</p><p><br /></p><p>Advice from a guy who&#039;s seen a good deal more than most - cancel the Forbes subscription (Steve is no Malcom), and buy a lifetime one for The Economist. The profits you&#039;ll book from following better advice will more than pay for the upfront hit. and if you want to try before you buy, fine, download The Economist in podcast form. Yes, the Brit accents almost sound put on, but the content is magnificent. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie33" alt=":cigar:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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