This year’s AI trading has taken many forms, from a surge in semiconductors to record ETFs and a new breakout in 7 Mag stocks.
Now, traders are turning to silver, an older variation on that theme that ended its recent rally.
Silver prices rose 7% on Monday to their highest since March, while copper rose 3.3% to $6.50, setting a new record. Both metals are used for thermal conductivity and electrical wiring in data centers critical to processing AI demands, but silver appears to be attracting more interest in retail stores.
transaction in iShares Silver ETF (SLV) Following this, options action turned quite bullish. There were more than twice as many call trades as puts, and more calls were bought than sold, with over 90,000 calls bought compared to just 31,000 puts.
iShares Silver Trust since the beginning of the year
At least one trader was bullish on both selling puts and buying calls on trades with exposures above $1 million. They sold over 1,000 70-strike puts expiring on June 18th for $259,000 and used the proceeds to buy over 1,900 80-strike calls on SLV expiring on the same day for $1 million, aiming for an 11% upside over the next 5.5 weeks.
SLV has soared more than 300% since early 2025 to January highs, but it has underperformed this year’s torrid rally in semiconductors as precious metals trading struggles, perhaps as interest rates fluctuate and commodity bulls focus on oil volatility.
