Monday's Surprise Winner Outpaced the Soaring Stock Market

After a terrible first three quarters of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) were all up between 2% and 3%, adding to steep declines for September and another pullback for the quarter as a whole. With traits that span both precious and industrial metals, silver is an interesting gauge of macroeconomic optimism at a critical juncture for the financial markets. Silver mining stocks saw similarly large gains.