Silver Rises; Silver Wheaton Upgraded, Shares Fall (SLV, SLW)

Silver futures are higher on Monday, as the epic run in the precious metal continues. Currently, COMEX silver is trading up better than 3% at $47.55. The iShares Silver Trust ETF

has added 1.88% to $46.47. More than 140 million SLV shares have already traded hands compared to a daily average of around 40 million. Despite the tremendous rise in spot silver prices, the miners have been lagging considerably. Silver Wheaton

, is a particularly egregious example of this phenomenon. The SLV is up 54% this year. Silver Wheaton, on the other hand, has only gained 6%. Some observers are blaming concerns about the potential nationalization of SLW's mines in Peru as being a possible explanation of the underperformance, while others are pointing to the recent departure of the company's CEO. What is becoming clear, however, is that the stock is not headed in the right direction, despite numerous catalysts. For example, SLW was upgraded at UBS from "Neutral" to "Buy," with a price target of $54.00.