[link to www.bloomberg.com]

Silver, the best-performing and most-volatile precious metal of the past year, may rebound from a bear market as investors bet on growth in developing nations and an extended European debt crisis.

The metal may average $38 an ounce this quarter and rise to a record $42 by the final three months of 2012, compared with $31.245 at 7:48 a.m. in Singapore today, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of 11 analysts. The gains will mean record profit for producers Pan American Silver Corp. (PAA) and Fresnillo Plc (FRES), analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.

China, the biggest emerging-market user, is expanding at more than five times the speed of the U.S., driving consumption of the precious metal most used in industry. Demand is also coming from investors looking for an alternative to cash and gold, which costs about 50 times more than silver. The 30-week correlation coefficient between the two metals is now at 0.82, from as low as 0.47 in 2005, data compiled by Bloomberg show, with a figure of 1 meaning the two move in lockstep.



Will be nice to see a new upswing. We have been in a range for a while, but that is good -- consolidation & wash out of weak hands. When we move up it will not just be on froth & dreams.