Finance News

Story: Silver Prices Crash 30% After Warsh Takes Fed Helm

By Maheen Hernandez

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Silver crashed hard Monday. The precious metal plunged nearly 30% after Kevin Warsh grabbed the Federal Reserve chair, sending shockwaves through commodity markets and leaving…

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Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, officially took over the central bank's top job on Monday morning.

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Market veterans say they haven't seen silver move this fast since the 2008 crisis. "It's like someone pulled the rug out," said Mike Thompson, a commodities trader at Meridian…

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JPMorgan Chase jumped in Tuesday with a research note warning clients about spillover effects.

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Citadel reportedly dumped 15% of its silver positions within hours of Warsh's appointment. Other big players are following suit, according to sources familiar with the trades.

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But retail investors are doing something different. The American Precious Metals Exchange saw silver sales jump 40% over the past week as regular folks try to buy the dip.

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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a spike in margin calls Tuesday as silver futures kept sliding. Some traders got forced out of positions they couldn't afford to maintain.

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International markets aren't happy either. The London Bullion Market Association noted trading volumes dropped sharply since Warsh took over.

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Goldman Sachs already cut its silver forecast. The bank lowered its first-quarter price target by 10%, citing "elevated uncertainty around Federal Reserve policy direction under…

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Everyone's waiting for February 15th now. That's when the Fed holds its next policy meeting, and Warsh will finally have to show his cards. Will he signal aggressive rate hikes?

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission releases its weekly positioning report Friday. Traders want to see how much speculative money fled silver markets during this week's chaos.

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Bank of America tried to inject some optimism Wednesday. Their analysts think the market overreacted to Warsh's appointment and prices should stabilize once his policy intentions…

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The U.S. Mint can't keep up with demand for physical silver coins. Orders jumped to levels not seen since 2020's pandemic-driven buying spree.

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February's Consumer Price Index data comes out next week. If inflation stays hot, Warsh will have more ammunition for aggressive rate hikes. That could send silver even lower.

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The Bank for International Settlements warned Tuesday that silver's collapse mirrors patterns seen before major commodity crises.

The Currency Analytics

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