Tonight is one of those rare occasions when just discussing the price action in gold, silver, and even platinum can not do justice to what the world is witnessing.
While financial media attempts to ignore what has been occurring in the precious metals markets (like Peter Schiff being unofficially banned from CNBC) and excuses made for why the metals are skyrocketing, there is a warning behind this move that hasn’t been seen by these old eyes since 1979.
So what happened in 1979 that was so terrifying that created the surge in gold and silver then?
The popular historical “narrative” that has been taught and embedded in the thoughts of everyone who was not around for that era is that the Jimmy Carter inflation was the cause that people lost faith in the dollar and pursued hard assets to avoid risk.
The truth?
Jimmy Carter did not start the inflation, Richard Nixon did and it simply expanded and contracted in ferocity as the economy surged and collapsed in mini-cycles throughout the decade.
But what else in 1979 happened that scared the world into hoarding precious metals?
- Iranian religious revolution which ousted the Shah and saw the start of the American hostage crisis
- Russia invaded Afghanistan
- China and Vietnam went to war
- The Nicaraguan Revolution led by the FSLN (Sandinistas)
- Rumors of a nuclear weapons test by South Africa conducted with Israel (Vela Incident)
- Cambodia-Vietnam war
- Saddam Huessein seizes power in Iraq
- Egypt and Israel enact the Camp David Accords
- El Salvador Civil War begins
- West Germany devalues the Deutschmark for the new European Monetary System which impacted the value of the US dollar
- October 1979 Volcker Rate Shock
- Grand Mosque Terrorist Attack in Mecca
And I could go on and on with smaller events but my readers get the picture.
So all one has to do is take a look at current events of that era, a weak US President, and the turmoil surrounding the inflationary environment of that era to understand why hard assets were sought after with great fervor.
Fast forward to the price action in the last quarter of 2025 and into the first 14 days of 2026. Gold is screaming that something bad, perhaps a flock of black swans has started or is about to occur:
While gold did not behave as insanely as silver, since October it is sending a powerful message that the world’s wealthiest investors and central banks are seeking hard assets for security and safety.
But what about the white metal, the long shunned, poorly performing precious metal silver?
A clean double with today’s price action and a violent move from just below $46 to $92 in less than one quarter.
While everyone has become numb to the price action and message behind these moves perhaps paying attention to the big picture is in order.
Because 2026 certainly appears to becoming another year of living dangerously.