THE FACTS
Near the end of April 2025, silver (per ounce) was at $30. Nine months later, at the end of January 2026, silver had quadrupled in price to $120. That is a 300% increase in less than one year, or a 400% annualized rate of return.
Heady numbers, yes. And some will tell you that it was expected and that the fundamentals justified it.
Did the fundamentals justify what happened next? In less than a week after reaching the vaunted $120 price, silver was down close to $70, a decline of more than 41%.
In April 2026, silver was sitting at $74. After rebounding to $90, silver resumed its downtrend, closing at a new low of $57 in July 2026. Silver is currently at $50.
At its recent low of $49, silver is down 30% year-to-date and down 60% from its high of $120.
See the 5-year silver chart below, courtesy of Kitco…
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Gold price volatility was not quite as extreme as silver, but a similar price pattern exists.
During the period noted above for silver, gold increased from $3000 (April 2025) to $5400 (January 2026), a gain of 80%. Gold had found support at $4000 on several occasions before breaking down to $3870 last week.
Gold is currently priced at $3960, down 26% from its high of $5400.
The 5-year gold price chart below is courtesy of Kitco…
THE PERSPECTIVE ISSUE
The silver price steadily rose from $50 to $74 between Thanksgiving and the end of the year 2025. If you bought at, say, $60, you could have doubled your money within the next month. Not bad.
Then what? Did you sell? If not, you now have a loss of $6 oz. (10%). Are you waiting for a rebound and new highs above $120? Or do you just want to get some of those lost profits back?
Maybe you are a stacker. A stacker might have taken something off the table and waited for the opportunity to buy some more at $70, $60, etc.
Those who fared the best are probably those who purchased silver several years ago at prices between $20 and $30 per oz. Even at current prices, they could have investment returns of 100% or more.
The numbers differ for gold; however, similar analysis applies.
The perspective issue comes down to this: The more bothered you are about prices (actual prices, trends, and volatility) for gold and silver, the more your own perspective might be clouded.
Are you a patient, long-term investor who accumulates gold and silver for protection from disease-ridden fiat currencies? Or did you finally “get religion” after the prices doubled and tripled?