Remember when your weird uncle at Thanksgiving kept rambling about buying gold? Well, turns out Uncle Larry might’ve been onto something. Gold and silver just smashed through record highs like they’re auditioning for a Fast & Furious movie, and honestly, it’s been quite the show.
Here’s the tea: Gold blasted past $4,450 an ounce for the first time ever on Monday, up a casual 67% this year. That’s not a typo – we’re talking about the best performance since 1979, back when disco was still a thing and people thought the internet was just a fad.
But gold’s little sibling silver? That metal said “hold my beer” and absolutely sent it, climbing 2% to hit $69 an ounce. Silver’s up a mind-boggling 130% this year, also marking its best year since Carter was president. Even copper decided to crash the party, hitting $12,000 a ton – because apparently, all the cool metals are doing it.
So What’s Behind This Metal Mania?
It’s basically a perfect storm of “everything is chaos” vibes. First up: everyone’s betting the Fed will keep cutting interest rates in 2026. When rates go down, boring stuff like bonds and savings accounts become less attractive, so investors start eyeing shiny objects instead.
As Art Hogan from B. Riley Wealth Management puts it, “The easier the Fed is, the more it debases the US currency.” Translation: when the dollar gets weaker, hard assets like gold become the cool kids everyone wants to hang out with.
Then there’s the whole geopolitical drama. The US ramped up pressure on Venezuelan oil over the weekend, which had investors running to their safe-haven comfort blankets faster than you can say “supply chain disruption.”
The AI Connection (Because Of Course There Is One)
Here’s where it gets interesting: copper and silver aren’t just riding gold’s coattails. They’re also getting a boost from the AI boom because, surprise, data centers need a lot of metal to function. Who knew that teaching computers to write poetry would require so much copper?
Both metals are facing supply crunches, which is economics 101 – less supply plus more demand equals higher prices. It’s like trying to get concert tickets for Taylor Swift, but with industrial metals.
What’s Next?
Wall Street’s crystal ball gazers are pretty bullish on metals heading into 2026. Some are throwing around $5,000 targets for gold, which sounds insane until you remember we just watched it hit $4,450.
Central banks keep buying gold like it’s going out of style, and that trend isn’t slowing down. Plus, there’s this whole “debasement trade” thing happening – basically, investors are betting that governments will keep printing money, making hard assets more attractive.
The bottom line? Whether you’re a seasoned investor or someone who still thinks a bull market involves actual bulls, the metals rally is worth watching. Just maybe don’t put your entire 401k into gold bars based on a blog post. That’s what financial advisors are for.
*Not financial advice, obviously. Do your own research and maybe talk to someone who actually has letters after their name.*