by Byron King, Daily Reckoning:
Today, we’ll discuss what happened to gold, silver, metals and mining shares last Friday, and how you should play this game from here. (And as I do the last edits on this article on Tuesday morning, silver and gold prices are both up strongly.)
First, I’ll note that yesterday was Groundhog Day. And surely, you’ve seen the movie of that name starring Bill Murray, right? It’s classic Americana.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Punxsutawney, PA celebrates its most famous weather forecaster. Courtesy PCNTV.
G-Day flows from a tradition dating to the 1880s in the dark, hardwood forests of northwest Pennsylvania. A hibernating marmot named Punxsutawney Phil is awakened, rudely yanked from his box, and then queried as to whether or not he sees his shadow. If so, it means we can expect another six weeks of winter. Of course, it’s all mystical and secretive, and we only know what Phil’s handlers and interlocutors tell us.
Of course, you could also just do some math: add 42 days to February 2nd and wind up on March 16th, a few days before March 21st when winter officially ends anyhow.
Even then, it snows in Pennsylvania in April and sometimes May. And Punxsutawney Phil is a play on the weather odds, a safe bet that we’ll have more cold and snow. But Punxsutawney’s annual G-Day event is a long-running municipal self-promotion for a winter fest, with Phil as the centerpiece. And it’s all good, clean fun.
Now, what was NOT good, clean fun was last Friday when metals and mining shares melted down. No real metal was harmed last week, as we’ll see below. But many “paper” claims on wealth definitely went away.
Again, with gold as with Groundhog Day, mystical, secretive interlocutors try to explain it all. But as far as I’m concerned, we should just focus on the metallic basics. So, let’s dig in.
The Great Metal Meltdown
I won’t belabor last Friday, January 30th. Silver, gold, platinum, copper and more tumbled in price; as well as mining shares across the board. Down-down-down.
First things first, especially for the benefit of new subscribers or others who are not familiar with how things work in the arena of mines, metals and markets. That is, don’t panic. Do not freak out, sell out and book big losses. There’s a way out of this.
Yes, Friday was miserable but there’s actually some upside to what occurred, no matter how painful it may seem.
If you’re new to buying metals and mining shares, and you just started your journey in the last month or two, then you may have bought at high levels, and you took a hit on Friday, which hurts. I get it; we all get that at Paradigm Press.
Then again, step back and consider your time horizon. Friday’s closing price for gold and silver still set a monthly record, both for metals and with many share prices. Here’s the chart for January gold, up from $4,300 early in the month to over $4,600 on the last trading day:
Gold price, January 2026. Courtesy Yahoo Finance.
That is, despite the price smackdown during Friday trading, gold still set a monthly record high. And if you go back to early November, gold traded at about $4,000. So, if you’re on just that three-month time frame, you’re up 15%. (And gold is over $4,900 this morning.)
Now, here’s the silver chart going back three months. Silver is up from $48 per ounce in early November to $78 at the end of January, a gain of about 60%. And after Friday’s drop, the monthly close is still at an all-time high; not bad, right? (And silver is trading around $87 this morning.)
Silver price, Nov-Dec-Jan. Courtesy Yahoo Finance.
Okay, yes… obviously gold was over $5,300 about a week ago (and went to near $5,500 at one point); while silver was trading in the $115 range. And then those lofty price levels came down hard on Friday (hold that thought, it was the end of the month; see more below).
In other words, on Friday the market took back what it was giving away so abundantly in the previous three months. How fickle!
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