ETFs (SLV) (DBS) (SIVR) (AGQ) (SIL) Getting Crushed

Shares of silver ETFs iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV), PowerShares DB Silver (NYSE:DBS), Physical Silver (NYSE:SIVR), ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE:AGQ) and Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) like are taking a beating today as the price of silver plunged again as the silver market continues to be volatile.

ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE:ZSL) on the other hand is soaring, climbing to $21.78, up $2.99, or 15.93 percent, as of 2:15 PM EDT.

Silver futures prices were down 7.3 percent $35.660 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, was recently down $14.60, or 1%, at $1,502.30 per troy ounce.

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was trading at $34.38, falling $3.14, or 8.37 percent, as of 2:19 PM EDT. PowerShares DB Silver (DBS) was at $61.61, down $5.81, or 8.62 percent. Physical Silver (SIVR) was trading at $35.09, dropping $3.17, or 8.29 percent. ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ) was at $181.72, plunging $38.68, or 17.55 percent. Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) was at $23.75, down $1.84, or 7.19 percent.

Silver's (SIVR) (AGQ) (SLV) (SIL) After Metal Trades Down

Silver prices continued to be pressured Friday, as it has been weighed down by the investors taking profits in recent trade, and increased margin requirements, which has dragged silver companies Physical Silver (NYSE:SIVR), ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE:AGQ), iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) and Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) down on the week, although most rebounded on Friday.

ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE:ZSL) reversed direction, closing Friday at $23.11, down $1.23, or 5.05 percent.

Silver for July delivery dropped 95.3 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $35.29 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had risen as high as $36.43 an ounce in Friday's trading.

The front-month silver contract had its worst week since late March 1980. Silver for May delivery fell 27 percent in the five-day period — its biggest percent drop since that date. The most-active July contract also was down 27 percent on the week.

Silver has lost 14 percent so far in 2011. On April 25, silver had reached as high as $49.845.

Gold for June delivery climbed $10.20, or 0.7 percent, to $1,491.60 an ounce. Gold lost 4.2 percent last week, as it had settled at a record $1,556.40 an ounce the Friday before. Gold fell 4.2 percent on the week.

ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE:AGQ) closed Friday at $186.56, gaining $7.22, or 4.03 percent.

Gold, Silver Up as ETFs (GLD) (GDX) (SLV) SIL) Close Up or Level

Silver prices moved up with gold, reaching another 31-year high as gold blew past the $1,500 an ounce mark on Tuesday for the first time. SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) and Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) closed up or level on the day.

The gold contract for June delivery rose $2.20 to settle at $1,495.10 an ounce, shy of its all-time and daily high of $1,500.50 an ounce. Spot gold prices dropped 50 cents, to close at $1,495.90 an ounce.

Silver prices for May delivery climbed almost a dollar to settle at $43.91, adding 96 cents, another 31-year high.

Most of this is based upon the collapsing U.S. dollar, which pulled back again today, the tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, inflation concerns and consequences of the Japanese earthquake. Silver is used by some investors as a gold alternative when gold price rise to high levels as they now are.

The warning from rating agency S&P that the U.S. may have its debt downgraded if it doesn't deal with the risky debt crisis and you have a weak macroeconomic outlook favoring silver, gold and other commodities.

Global X Silver Miners ETF closed Tuesday at $28.73, gaining $0.50, or 1.77 percent. iShares Silver Trust ETF ended the session at $43.00, gaining $0.58, or 1.37 percent. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF closed at $61.64, up $0.81, or 1.33 percent. SPDR Gold Trust ETF closed the day level at $145.93.

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) (GDX) (SLV) (GDXJ) (SIL) Down with Broader Commodities

Gold and silver prices fell Tuesday after running up recently, as oil prices fell, dragging commodities in general down with them. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), iShares Silver Trust (SLV) and SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) all closed down on the day

Gold for June delivery fell $14.50, or 1%, to $1,453.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had traded as low as $1,445 an ounce.

Silver declined from its 31-year high over the previous session. The May contract (SIK11) dropped 55 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $40.07 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar fell again, making the downward move even more counterintuitive to the fundamentals.

Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF closed Tuesday at $39.44, down $1.29, or 3.17 percent. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF closed at $61.11, falling $0.99, or 1.59 percent. Global X Silver Miners ETF ended the session at $28.39, declining $1.00, or 3.41 percent. SPDR Gold Trust closed at $141.61, dropping $1.03, or 0.72 percent. iShares Silver Trust closed at $39.09, falling $0.12, or 0.31 percent.

Copper ETN (JJC) Up as (GLD)(SLV) Take a Break

After a record run up, shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEArca:GLD) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca:SLV) taking a rest today, while iPath Copper ETN (NYSEArca:JJC) has its turn in the sun.

Mining ETFs in the sector are also under some pressure in the trading session. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca:GDX) is down 0.3% and the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSEArca:SIL) were down or flat on the day.

The anticipated decision by Europe to raise interest rates hasn't had too impact on the commodity sector, as expectations are that will continue on at a very slow pace going forward, with that probably being done once a year, assuming past assertions are the practice.

In America, it's unlikely we'll see an interest rate boost any time soon.

Global X Silver Miners ETF was trading at $30.06, as of 12:51 PM EDT. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was at $62.60, falling $0.17, or 0.27 percent. iShares Silver Trust was trading at $38.61, down $0.01, or 0.03 percent. SPDR Gold Trust was at $142.05, down $0.33, or 0.23 percent. iPath Dow Jones UBS Copper was trading at $58.56, gaining $0.60, or 1.04 percent.

Newmont (NEM), Barrick (ABX), Goldcorp (GG), Eldorado (EGO) Jump on Safe Haven Focus

A number of things have again been lining up to support gold recently, including continuing sovereign debt issues in the EU; most recently with Spain. There's also rising inflation, and today's reminder with the earthquake in Japan, the fragility of the global economy. There's also the fighting in Libya which hasn't slowed down at all, creating more uncertainty.

Consequently investors are again migrating to gold and gold investments like miners Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Barrick (NYSE:ABX), Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), which are all up today as gold prices are bid up.

Gold for April delivery rose $7.10, or 0.5%, to $1,419.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares in SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEArca:GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca:GDX) and Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca:GDXJ) are all up as well.

Silver investments like the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca:SLV) and Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSEArca:SIL), along with Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW), are all up as well, moving in unison with gold.

Commodity ETFs (SLV), (SIL), (GLD), (GDX) Jump On Safety Concerns

Shares of iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca:SLV), Global X Silver Miners (NYSEArca:SIL), SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca:GLD) and Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSEArca:GDX) are all up Friday, as investors flee to safety and stability in light of the poor jobs report and ongoing Middle East crisis.

Silver prices were soaring again today, reaching as high as $53.30 an ounce, the highest level in over 30 years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted over 150 points in mid-day trading, also affected to the potential negative impact of rising oil prices.

iShares Silver Trust was trading at $34.50, gaining $1.08, or 3.25 percent, as of 2:27 PM EST. Global X Silver Miners rose to $28.09, up $0.57, or 2.07 percent. Market Vectors Gold Miners was trading at $60.24, up $0.37, or 0.62 percent. SPDR Gold Shares rose to $139.22, up $1.13, or 0.82 percent.

Grab SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), iShares Silver Trust (SLV) to Play Gold, Silver Futures

As gold and silver continue their rise, investors are increasingly putting their money into SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEArca:GLD) and/or iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca:SLV) as a way to play gold and silver futures, rather than invest directly in futures.

Both ETFs are trading at near the top of their 52-week range.

If you like ETFs, another way to play gold and silver is via mining companies, where one could invest in Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSEArca:GDX) or the Global X Silver ETF (NYSEArca:SIL), among many others, depending on what sector of the mining sector you want to focus on.

While all of these are relatively pricey because of the ongoing surge in gold and silver prices, it's doubtful it would be a good strategy to wait at this time for prices to pull back, as the time, during this season, has passed.