The Silver Lining Playbook Is Playing Out. Manic Metals Report 01/26/2026

Talk about manic metals! Today is a historic day for all you metal enthusiasts out there. Silver is absolutely rocketing, smashing records with spot prices leaping past $110 per ounce and settling near $108.14 early this morning. That’s a fresh all-time high, with prices up more than 4.5% in just one session—thanks to relentless industrial demand from sectors like solar energy, EVs, AI data centers, and advanced electronics. Years of underinvestment have left mining producers struggling to catch up, and inventories are scraping multi-decade lows.

The banks have lost control of silver, and globally, haven buying is intensifying as U.S. asset uncertainty and geopolitical strife dominate headlines. The impact is felt from Turkey, where silver’s spike is feeding inflation, to the UK, where retail investors are piling into precious metals. Reports indicate that in the U.S., silver refiners are not accepting any more silver at this time because they’re backed up with people trying to melt down their silver to take advantage of these record high prices. Some are calling this a structural supply crisis, and with silver up a staggering 146% in 2025—outpacing every other asset—many think $120 is just around the corner.

Gold, meanwhile, continues its reign as the king of safe-haven assets. According to Kitco News, gold will be the primary hedge and performance driver in 2026, with silver potentially topping out between $135 and $309, citing the Bank of America. Reuters reported that gold soared 64% in 2025 for its biggest annual gain since 1979, shattering multiple records. Prices have already risen about 18% since the start of this year. With new highs above $5,100 per ounce, traders are looking for ways to get in, with the current price around $5,075.40 and the next target set at $5,093 overnight. After nearly a 65% jump in 2025, gold’s rally is fueled by trade war worries and ongoing global tensions. Investors and banks are loading up, pushing prices above $5,000 in early 2026, and the lack of mainstream media coverage suggests there’s still plenty of steam left. With the Fed rate cut chatter growing louder and uncertainty in the air, $5,500 is looking more and more achievable.

Yet some of the rally can be attributed to the massacre by Iran on its own people. According to Time, local health officials estimate that as many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, indicating a dramatic surge in the death toll. The sheer number of people slaughtered by Iranian security services overwhelmed the state’s capacity to dispose of the dead. Stocks of body bags were exhausted, and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers replaced ambulances. The risk now is how Trump may respond. Bloomberg reports that swelling public debt in advanced economies has become another key pillar of gold’s rally. Some long-term investors, convinced that inflation will become the only path to state solvency, have piled into gold as a way to preserve purchasing power. “People have become a lot more worried about the long-term debt trajectory over the past three years,” said John Reade, chief strategist at the World Gold Council. “The place that I have found the debasement and debt arguments come through the most has been with family offices. They’re thinking about generational wealth protection, rather than the short term.”

Still, bullion’s gains have been rapid enough to give some investors pause for thought. A majority of fund managers thought gold was the most crowded trade in a Bank of America Corp. survey conducted before escalations over Greenland earlier this month. Some 45% of respondents thought gold was overvalued, tying with May 2025 as the highest share on record, as reported by Bloomberg.

Copper is also tearing up the charts with record highs around $12,700 per ton—a 7% gain already in 2026. Driven by a stampede of demand from electric vehicles, renewables, and massive infrastructure spending, copper’s rally is nothing short of electrifying. Supply chain snarls are only adding fuel to the furnace, supercharging this breakout run. In 2025, copper muscled its way into the top five performing assets, but don’t think the party’s over yet. With trade war jitters swirling and the world racing to go green, aluminum and tin are surging to three-year highs, while copper looks set to rocket right past that $13,000 per ton milestone.

The platinum group metals are on fire right now! Palladium is absolutely blasting off, rocketing to $2,081 per ounce—an incredible 116% jump year-over-year, powered by relentless demand for auto catalysts and tight supply. Platinum is no slouch either, breaking records at around $2,880 per ounce after a solid 4% rally, and the market’s growing deficit hints that the ride isn’t over. Both metals are riding high on the massive boom in silver and gold, with refiners scrambling and premiums popping as supply gets squeezed. Big moves are unfolding in the industry too—think Metallic Minerals expanding their copper-silver projects and adding platinum and palladium credits to the mix. With the electric vehicle and clean technology surge supercharging demand, platinum’s supply gap could catapult it above $3,000 before you know it. Strap in—these metals are charging ahead!

So, is this market mania or solid fundamentals at work? In 2025, metals dominated as top performers, and 2026 is kicking off with synchronized, relentless commodity strength and a collapsing gold-to-silver ratio. Geopolitical risks are driving investors toward safe havens, while experts warn that silver’s unique combination of supply constraints and booming tech demand could make this rally even wilder. The message: stay calm, ignore the China export panic rumors, and pay attention to the fundamentals. With demand eclipsing supply year after year, the overall outlook across metals remains powerfully bullish.

Make sure that you stay tuned to the Fox Business Network to keep up on all of these moves and stay warm and call to get my daily updates at 888-264-5665 or you can email me at pflynn@pricegroup.com.