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Money Metals News Alert
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January 12th, 2026
– Silver and gold are both blasting higher today, conquering their prior
highs achieved in December.
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The upward momentum across
the entire precious metals complex is startling...
... especially to
mainstream financial advisors who have so negligently refused to give their
clients exposure to this key asset class, thanks to bias and groupthink.
That's financial
malpractice, if you ask us.
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As such, virtually all Americans
continue to sit out the most impressive bull market in the monetary metals seen in
decades, even as funds, central banks, and the retail public in Asia continue to
snap up gold and silver at record rates.
While there are hints this is
changing, most of the mainstream continues belittling gold and silver, predicting
a crash.
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The main driver of these
remarkable price moves lately is physical demand from Asia. Premiums in that part
of the world are sucking in metal via arbitrage and as natural market forces
incentivize the transportation of metal.
Thanks to Money Metals'
robust inventory management system and strong balance sheet, virtually all
products remain in stock at Money Metals.
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This is simply not the case at most
other online dealers, plagued by inventory issues and shipping delays.
Premiums in the market have risen on
most items, but there are still a few tremendous values – even by historical
standards. For example, pre-1965
silver dimes and quarters are available at Money Metals for $1 BELOW SPOT!
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Gold : Silver Ratio (as of
Friday's closing prices) – 55.9 to
1
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Unusual COMEX Trend Could Signal Accelerating
Silver Squeeze
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An interesting development in the
COMEX silver exchange seems to reflect an accelerating silver squeeze.
The stage was set for a silver squeeze
last April when significant amounts of metal moved from London to New York, driven
by tariff worries. The displacement of metal, coupled with surging Indian demand,
set off the
first squeeze in October. That drove the silver price over $50 for the first
time.
Metal flowed back to London, but that
didn???t solve the underlying problem. While shuffling silver between London, New
York, and India took the immediate pressure off the market, it didn???t magically
create new silver, and it didn???t take long for silver
squeeze 2.0 to develop last month. That pushed the price over $80.
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This squeeze isn???t
manifesting just because metal is in the ???wrong place.??? The underlying issue is
that there are true shortages beginning to manifest.
Silver
demand has outstripped supply for four straight years, and the Silver
Institute projects that 2025 will be the fifth. The structural market deficit came
in at 148.9 million ounces in 2024. That drove the four-year market shortfall to
678 million ounces, the equivalent of 10 months of mining supply in 2024.
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This inventory tightness globally
seems to have created an unusual setup in COMEX futures, as investors appear to be
moving March contracts backward to January and February.
Analysts came to this conclusion by
examining the open interest data released by the COMEX.
Open interest represents the total
number of outstanding contracts. In other words, these are contracts that have
been created but not yet closed out or settled by delivery or cash settlement at
expiration.
Examining the January 7 data, we find
that open interest in the January 2026 contract rose by 1,431. Open Interest in
the February 2026 contract also rose by 1,564 contracts.
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That brings the total open
interest contracts for those months to 2,995.
Meanwhile, the March 2026
open interest fell at a nearly identical number – 2,936.
The best explanation for
this surge in open interest for earlier contracts and the sudden drop in March
open interest is that investors are rolling contracts backward.
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In other words, they are exchanging
positions from a longer contract into earlier contracts that are closer to the
expiration date.
Why would they do this?
Simply because they want to take
delivery of the metal now, even though January is not typically an active delivery
month. They don???t want to wait until March.
Keep in mind, there could be other
reasons for these moves; however, this seems to be the most logical interpretation
of the numbers.
Jon Lindau explained the situation in
a report on SilverTrade.com.
???Typically, rolls are
forward (to the next front month) in normal markets, as traders wish to maintain a
position in silver (exposure to the silver price), without taking physical
delivery of the metal.
"Backward rolling
(moving the position from the front month March to nearer months, as seen here)
indicates the exact opposite: backwardation along with immediate scarcity of
physical silver metal as traders wish to take delivery instead of merely remaining
exposed to the futures price of silver.???
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Lindau said two scenarios could be
driving backwardation.
"Longs positioning
aggressively to stand for immediate delivery, which will further drain COMEX
registered stocks and further exacerbate the silver shortage."
"Conversely, if shorts
are involved in the roll, they might be attempting to avoid delivery demands in
March by shifting earlier, but this would still be extremely dangerous for shorts
amid tight supply and increasingly more contracts standing for delivery in
January."
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Again, there could be other reasons
for the recent shift in open interest. However, Occam's Razor teaches us that the
simplest explanation is generally the best. It's at least the best place to start.
It appears we are reaching a point where those with long positions don't want to
wait too far into the future to take possession of physical metal they may want or
need.
As Lindau put it, if this is what's
happening, the COMEX could end up in big trouble.
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This week's Market Update was
authored by Money Metals Contributing Writer Mike Maharrey.
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This copyrighted material may not
be republished without express permission. Offer only available through email
promotion. Offer does not apply to previous orders and may not be combined with
any other offer or program. Special shipping rates or other restrictions may apply
to international orders. The information presented here is for general educational
purposes only. Money Metals Exchange and its staff do not act as personal
investment advisors. Nor do we advocate the purchase or sale of any regulated
security listed on any exchange for any specific individual. While our track
record is excellent, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no
assurance of future profits. You are responsible for your investment decisions,
and they should be made in consultation with your own advisors. By purchasing from
Money Metals, you understand our company is not responsible for any losses caused
by your investment decisions, nor do we have any claim to any market gains you may
enjoy. Money Metals Exchange is not a regulated trading ???exchange??? as defined by
the CFTC and the SEC.
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