Silver is up 14% year-to-date, compared to gold's 7%. It is the fourth best performing commodity after wheat, soybeans and platinum at 24%, 22% and 14% respectively. Speculative activity among futures' traders has also been kinder for silver, with the number of net longs reaching a 22-month high of 41,275 contracts earlier this month. In contrast, gold net longs fell to 166,000 contracts, the lowest in three weeks.