The price of silver surged all over the world on January 29, 2026, just as it did on January 17, 1980, known as “Silver Thursday.”
Since September, the silver price has risen; it has become popular among people who try to
hedge against inflation and uncertainty. It reached its peak on Thursday, January 29, 2026,
rising from $53.91 on November 29, 2025, to $118.45 on Thursday, January 29, 2026, per
ounce. This situation is driven by both the increasing popularity of electric vehicles and
President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Silver is a very convenient metal which conducts
electricity better than other equivalent metals, which will be used in the production of electric
vehicles and solar panels. Therefore, the experts predict that this quality of silver might be
one of the reasons that lead to a rise in its price. In addition, historically, people tend to invest
in precious metals during uncertain times. U.S. trade policies, a U.S.-backed military strike in
Venezuela, and the Greenland crisis concerned people and led them to buy haven
investments, precious metals, especially gold and silver. However, increasing prices means
increasing margin requirements in the financial markets. As a result, investors started to short
silver, which led to a decrease in the price.
A similar surge occurred earlier on Thursday, January 17, 1980. The sons of Texas oil
billionaire Haroldson Lafayette Hunt Jr., the Hunt brothers, held enough silver to effectively
corner the market. They had been purchasing such massive quantities of silver that they could
almost single-handedly move prices. As a result, the silver price rose from $19 on November
30 to $43.35 per ounce on January 17, 1980. On that day, similar to the recent situation,
prices dropped sharply due to increased margin requirements, which the brothers could not
meet. Their losses were estimated at around $1.7 billion. To stabilise the market, some banks
and brokers raised funds for them, but this did not spare the brothers from heavy penalties.
Each was fined $10 million after being convicted of attempting to corner the silver market
and was banned from trading in commodities.
Even though the mechanisms behind the silver surge are different, industrial demand and
geopolitical anxiety versus an attempted market corner, we can see the similarities in the
leverage of margin calls. Maybe we could say that Thursday is not a particularly lucky day
for financial markets, and when there is a boom, there will also be a burst.
References:
1) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62vn22523xo
2) https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-price/alltime/ounces/USD/#show-chart
3) https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/index/silver/silver-thursday/#:~:text=%27Silve
r%20Thursday%27%20is%20the%20most,risk%20of%20losing%20billions…
