2026 chaos has set gold and silver ablaze

Adam

Summary:

Soaring geopolitical and policy turmoil under Donald Trump has pushed investors into safe havens, igniting record gains in gold and silver as fears over deficits, inflation, and Jerome Powell’s investigation mount.

Trump is threatening to take “strong action” against Iran just after capturing the leader of Venezuela. His administration is criminally investigating the chair of the Federal Reserve and is taking a scorched-earth approach on affordability by threatening key profit drivers for banks and institutional investors.

2026 has gotten off to a chaotic start.

You’d think that would be enough to send the stock market into a downward spiral. But equities traders are taking most of that news in stride: Stocks hit an all-time high Monday and have fallen back just a smidge since then.

Instead, investors have expressed their fears by setting the metals market on fire.

Silver rose more than 6% Wednesday, rising above $90 an ounce and is up 29% this year. That’s a stunning gain, especially considering silver prices surged 141% in 2025 for their best performance since 1979.

Gold is up nearly 1% Wednesday, well above $4,600 a troy ounce, and it has gained 22% this year. Like silver, gold also posted its best year since 1979 in 2025, jumping 65%.

Tin, copper, aluminum, lithium and zinc prices are also on the rise in 2026.

Gold is a traditional safe haven against inflation, mounting deficits, geopolitical tensions and general economic concerns. Akin to a “stuff it under the mattress” mentality, investors snap up tangible assets, including gold, when they’re worried.

Metals prices leapt higher after the US strikes on Venezuela and again on Trump’s threats against the Iranian regime after a widespread crackdown on protesters.

Despite a muted response from stocks, metals got another boost after Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced Sunday he is the subject of a criminal investigation, sparking concerns that the Fed could lose its political independence. Although a more political Fed could benefit stocks in the short term by sending interest rates lower, it could hurt the economy in the long term by undermining the central bank’s credibility and potentially reigniting an inflation problem.

Those concerns have also somewhat rebooted the “Sell America” trade, sending US Treasuries and the dollar lower. Concerns about large deficits have also given new rise to the “debasement trade” that has exacerbated those trends. As money pours out of those markets, it makes assets like gold and silver look cheaper.

Metals have more than fear going for them: Old-fashioned supply and demand is also helping. Despite rising tariffs, China has found new markets to export to, sending its trade surplus to a record high, driving demand for metals that go into Chinese-made electronics. AI’s massive expansion has also fueled demand for metals in the data centers that power the growing technology.

Rising metals costs could pose a problem as Americans face growing cost-of-living problems. The components go into a wide range of consumer goods. And oil prices, though still low, have started to rise in tandem with other commodities.

“Bottom line, we have some serious industrial metal inflation going on,” said Peter Boockvar, an independent analyst, in a note to clients. “The next Fed Chair is going to have quite the dilemma on their hands.”

Source: cnn

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