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Precious Metals Prices 

The gold price soared again this week, reaching massive highs of close to $4,380.00 late in the day on Thursday. It has seen a slight correction on Friday and is trading intra-day near $4,250.00. 

The silver market had one of the most abnormal weeks it has had in many decades, more on that later. This market turmoil led silver to hit all-time-highs around $54.37 on Thursday before correcting down to around $51.68 intraday Friday. 

The platinum price showed very similar price trajectories to bullion this week. It hit a high on Thursday around $1,730 and is currently trading at $1,620. 

Palladium hit a weekly high on Thursday north of $1,629 and has also corrected on Friday to around $1,500. 

Market Update: What Happened to the Silver Market?

The London silver market erupted into chaos this week as spot prices surged above $53 per ounce, the highest level in decades and only the second time in history silver has breached $50. The last time was during the Hunt Brothers’ infamous attempt to corner the market in 1980. This time, however, the driver is systemic rather than speculative: global paper claims on silver are colliding with an acute shortage of deliverable metal, exposing structural weaknesses across the bullion and derivatives markets. 

London, the world’s central hub for physical silver trading, is facing extraordinary stress. Inventories have fallen to critically low levels, and the cost to borrow silver has soared to levels rarely seen in any modern commodity market. Traders describe a market where “nobody’s got silver,” and where borrowing rates of 20 to 30 percent are considered fortunate. It is the fifth time in 2025 that silver borrowing costs have exceeded 5 percent, a 500 percent increase from the near-zero rates that defined the past decade. 

On Friday, October 10^th, spot silver in London was commanding premiums as high as $3 over New York futures, a gap not seen since the 1980s, and the cost to borrow silver overnight has surpassed 100 percent on an annualized basis. This environment has produced sustained backwardation in silver: a rare market condition in which the spot price exceeds the futures price. Under normal circumstances, futures prices trade above spot to reflect storage, financing, and insurance costs, a structure known as “contango”. Backwardation reverses that relationship, signaling intense demand for immediate delivery and limited available supply. In precious metals, such inversions are almost always indicators of physical scarcity and are typically short-lived, but as of the middle of the day on Friday, October 17^th, the market is still in backwardation. The persistence of backwardation across multiple futures maturities this week suggests a deeper and more structural disruption in silver’s supply chain. 

At the heart of the issue lies a liquidity crisis. When demand for immediate physical delivery overwhelms available supply, traditional arbitrage mechanisms, buying physical and selling futures, break down. There simply isn’t enough metal to deliver. As borrowing and leasing costs skyrocket, holders hoard what they have, further draining liquidity and amplifying scarcity. The result is a feedback loop of rising spot prices, tightening supply, and widening spreads between physical and paper markets. 

This squeeze highlights the fragility of systems that rely heavily on paper silver, derivatives, lease agreements, and unallocated accounts, while assuming physical supply will always be sufficient. The combination of record-high prices, extreme lease rates, and persistent backwardation marks one of the most strained moments in modern silver market history. Whether the situation normalizes through increased supply or escalates into broader financial contagion remains uncertain, but this week’s events have made one thing clear: the global silver market is confronting the limits of its own leverage. 

Precious Metals Prices 

The gold price continued its upward tear this week, surpassing the $4,000 mark and hitting all-time highs at almost $4,060. Thursday brought a slight correction in the spot price bringing it to ~$3,975 at the end of the day. 

The silver price has also seen massive increases in the past few weeks. It broke $50 intraday Thursday before correcting down to around $49.00 at the end of the day. 

The price of platinum followed bullion’s upward trajectory early in the week hitting highs above $1,685 before correcting late on Thursday to ~$1,625. 

Palladium prices have skyrocketed lately hitting intraday highs this week nearing $1,500. As of the end of the day Thursday, it is trading close to $1,413. 

Market Update 

In the last several weeks, bullion prices have posted sharp gains across the board, with gold notably pushing past $4,000 per ounce for the first time, driving renewed attention to safe-haven assets. Silver, platinum, and palladium have also rallied in tandem, benefiting from spillover demand and broadening investor interest beyond gold. Platinum in particular has attracted interest on relative valuation, contributing to upward momentum across the bullion complex. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have echoed that the U.S. economy faces a delicate balance between sticky inflation and a cooling labor market. In recent remarks, Powell cautioned that near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside, noting that there is no risk-free path for monetary policy. He has pointed out that job openings and hiring have softened, while inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2 percent target. Powell also flagged that equity valuations appear fairly highly valued and noted that financial conditions are a factor in policy deliberations, though he stopped short of characterizing the current environment as one of elevated financial stability risks. Meanwhile, Vice Chair Philip Jefferson reiterated concerns about labor market stress and rising inflation pressures in separate remarks, citing that employment now faces downside risk even as inflation remains above target. 

Investor posture has noticeably shifted in response to the bullion rally and ongoing tension in equity markets. Equities had been extended, with major U.S. indices reaching fresh highs, but more recently have shown signs of vulnerability. On October 7, the S&P 500 snapped a seven-day winning streak, with modest losses across benchmarks as safe-haven flows gained traction. The confluence of broad bullion strength, cautious commentary from the Fed, and elevated equity valuations has increased investor nervousness. Many participants appear to be recalibrating exposures, tilting toward assets seen as inflation hedges or capital preservation vehicles. 

In summary, the past weeks have been marked by vigorous gains in bullion as markets confront the dual challenges of persistent inflation and signs of labor market weakening. Powell’s recent remarks underline the narrow policy space facing the Fed, and investor sentiment is increasingly cautious as equity markets show signs of strain amid shifting flows.