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Today has been another volatile session for gold and silver prices, with the former up over 7% as of this writing and the latter up well over 15% versus yesterday's close.

The huge move higher (and lower) in precious metals has resulted in surging interest from consumers based on Google search interest.

Google Trends tracks and indexes search interest on Google's search engine for a given word or phrase over a given time period. Readings of 100 indicate the peak for search interest, readings of 50 would be half of that peak, and so on.

As shown below, the latest surge in gold and silver prices has corresponded with a surge in search interest for both "sell gold" and "sell silver."

For gold, search interest is approaching August 2011 records, whereas the reading for sell silver is now far and away at record highs.  In other words, people have record or near record interest in selling their precious metals.

Amazingly, though, search interest for "buy gold" and "buy silver" has also surged to record highs that are at levels much higher than the "sell" version of the phrase.  As prices have skyrocketed, more people seem to be interested in buying gold and silver than selling them.

We also like to look at "How to" searches. These can proxy first time buyers or sellers, or alternatively, more casual investor interest.  Again, these indices are broadly elevated and hit new records by massive margins recently.  As shown below, searches for "how to buy gold" have skyrocketed as gold prices have gone parabolic, while the "how to sell" versions have also jumped but not by nearly as much.

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