Based on the repeating drumbeat to buy silver & gold, and the sideways movement for the first half of the summer, I finally relented, and on Thursday 7/17, I bought shares of SLV @ $18.21...
As of today, I'm down -5.35% -- in less than a week! And SLV shares appear to be continuing their downward plummet today. What a major bummer.
So what gives? Why is the market suddenly shunning silver and buying up shares in troubled financials, weak air carriers, etc?

There’s no easy answer to this question. So let’s start from the top.
First, any buyer of gold and silver today should stop looking at their position in a short time frame. Look at this as an investment you make for years. You’ll stress a lot less about the day-to-day movements.
Nothing has fundamentally changed this year from last in the gold and silver markets. If anything, the case is now stronger for owning both. So why aren’t they moving higher?
Most investors think we’re going to see a big global slowdown, which will take down the price of most commodities, which in turn would bring down the rate of inflation and make gold and silver less attractive investments. But will that happen? So far global growth continues to boom. We may see a slowdown, but it won’t be big and it probably won’t last very long.
You also wondered why people are buying up the weakest companies in this market. I think people are bottom fishing. But, last time I checked, you don’t bottom fish for companies that are losing billions upon billions. That’s a strategy for disaster. If you really hate your money that much, feel free to send it to me.
In the end investing is about sticking to what you know unless you’re proven wrong. So stick to your guns. You should do well in the next 6-12 months.