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Weekly Survey of Gold and Silver Prices
Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark
Money Daily has been providing business and financial market news, views, and coverage on a nearly continuous basis since 2006. Complete archives are available at moneydaily.blogspot.com.
PRIOR COVERAGE:
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Sunday, October 25, 2026, 12:40 pm ET
“The government you elect is the government you deserve.” Jefferson saw the problems of a democratically-elected government well before they became apparent in American society. The question in the present time is whether or not Americans actually elect a government that is deserving of its posture atop the political system. The entrenched two-party system virtually guarantees that Americans are not well-represented, the nature of politics ensuring that special interests and large money donors have better access and representation than individual constituents. Thus, with the midterm elections a mere 10 days forward, the prospects of newly-minted congressmen and women actually serving the will of the great unwashed public remains largely in doubt. Decades of apathy, ignoring a corrupt system, has brought about a congress that does little to provide for the general welfare and presidents who go their own ways and rule by edicts of executive orders, which are neither laws nor enforceable, yet the public plays along as best it can, all the time failing to notice how far their republic has strayed from its original intentions. In a matter of days, the congressional rotation will be finalized, new members seated in early January. After the votes are counted and before new representatives and senators are seated, the government will operate as a lame duck legislature. Nothing will change. No new laws will be enacted. America will have shortchanged itself again with two months of wrangling on Capitol Hill over leadership, chairmanships, and agendas. There will be two months of turmoil before full-blown chaos come January. Markets, especially the equity ones, will continue to spin and churn without direction. Two events will determine the future for stocks and the general economy: the FOMC rate policy decision on Wednesday, October 28 and the election results on the evening of November 3rd. Presently, the FOMC decision appears to favor a draw, with the fderal funds target rate stuck at 3.75-4.00% and the CME Fedwatch Tool showing a 90% majority predicting no change. The elections across the country - if polls are to be believed - favors the House flipping to Democrat party control and the Senate in a virtual deadlock once all the votes are counted and verified. The issue for investors is whether these events will produce markets that are more of the same, or whether they will spin to the upside or lower. This kind of uncertainty is what has kept stocks from making decisive moves in either direction over the past few months. Time is running short on the drama in Washington. Many will just be glad that it’s over... for another couple of years. Stocks The main indices split for the week, with concerns over AI buildout and Capex costs driving the S&P and NASDAQ lower, while fear and safety concerns drove investors to dividend-producing stocks on the Dow. Next week could see the reverse, but it bears notice that each of the major indices - the Dow Industrials, S&P, NASDAQ, NYSE Composite, and Dow Transports - closed out the week below their respective 50-day moving averages, such a position either a portent of what's to follow in weeks and months ahead or a general statement of investor indecision. In either case, it's a negative on market sentiment, which seems to be continuing momentum toward a reality shock. Whether such an event actually is realized has much to do with current events rather than profits and earnings. Speaking of earnings, the trend has been mostly distressing. Many companies are reporting beats against EPS estimates while falling short on revenues, a trend that indicates a spending downturn, the main culprit being inflation, i.e., high prices on producer and consumer prices, borne out by the September CPI and PPI readings and the structure in oil futures and gas at the pump. The week ahead is one of the two biggest in terms of volume of companies reporting third quarter results. Here's a partial list of heavy hitters making the rounds in the week ahead, including some Mag7 stocks and Dow components: Monday (before open): Cemex (CX), Verizon (VZ); (after close) Nucor (NUE), Whirlpool (WHR), The Hartford (HIG), Rambus (RMBS), Cadence (CDNS) Tuesday (before open): Coca-Cola (KO), Corning (GLW), PayPal (PYPL), UPS (UPS), SoFi (SOFI), Freeport McMoRan (FCX), Canon (CAJPY); (after close) SK Hynix (SKHY), Visa (V), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Robinhood (HOOD), Seagate (STX), Waste Management (WM) Wednesday (before open): Boston Scientific (BSX), UBS (UBS), ADP (ADP), GE Vernova (GEV), International Paper (IP), Phillips Petroeum (PSX); (after close): Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Carvana (CVNA), FedEx (FDX), T-Mobile (TMUS), Chipolte Mexican Grill (CMG) Thursday, (before open): Caterpillar (CAT), Carrier (CARR), Eli Lilly (LLY), L3 Harris (LHX), Vulcan Materials (VMC); (after close): Amazon (AMZN), Intel (INTC), Reddit (RDDT), Twillo (TWLO), Rivian (RIVN), Starbucks (SBUX), Sandisk (SNDK), Roblox (RBLX) Friday, (before open): Regeneron (REGN), AutoNation (AN), AstraZeneca (AZN), General Dynamics (GD), British Petroleum (BP), ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) On the economic front, the market get recent economic information from the Chicago and Dallas Fed on Monday. Tuesday, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is released along with New Home Sales and a report from the Richmond Fed. The FOMC meeting concludes Wednesday with the policy announcement at 2:00 pm ET. Thursday, the PCE Index for September is released and the first reading on third quarter GDP. Relevant data releases can be found at Trading View. Treasury Yield Curve Rates
Yields dropped off during the week, but ended only slightly lower than the previous Friday, with the 10-year note yielding 5.00% and the 30-year dropping ten basis points to 5.33%, levels of comfort for investors piling out of stocks late in the week. Notes and bonds have bounced around significantly during the past month, driven by war and inflation. The 30-year yield is now 0.30% lower than on October 2nd; the 10-year yield is off 28 basis points. The FOMC meets this week - Tuesday and Wednesday - and unless Chairman Warsh decides to stun the market (and the president), rates will stay on hold at the current 3.75-4.00% level. As for the politics of the interest rate condition, it seems to be close to a 'Mission Accomplished" moment for the Republicans, keeping rates from screaming higher amid economic turmoil and the fog of war. 2s-10s spreads narrowed to +31. The full spectrum, 30-days to 30-years spread dropped nine basis points to a reasonable +122. Spreads:
2s-10s
Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years) Oil/Gas Oil prices spiked higher again as Mideast kinesis continued to escalate. Brent closed out the week above $115/barrel and WTI crude futures at $103.27. The Trump administration's attempts at controlling the price of oil and gas at the pump have met with disaster. A majority of Americans are unhappy about Trump's handling of both the Ukraine and Iran conflicts and the high prices of fuel and food. Average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in the U.S. was $4.27 last week and $4.28 this week, though this brief respite is unlikely to last, given the higher price of crude. Gas at the pump has been - by whatever means - generally lower the past three weeks despite the rising price of crude oil. Fishy, to say the least, and likely politically-motivated, with the lowest prices in Republican strongholds or states they'd like to win (Texas, North Carolina), with price increases in Democrat-controlled states (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana). Gas prices in key states:
California (leader): $6.00 (-0.15) On Sunday, October 25, there are thirty-three (33) states with average prices at or above $4.00, with fifteen (15) below the $4 threshold, not including Hawaii ($5.63) and Alaska ($4.79), with three above $5 (California, Nevada, and Washington) and one, California, right at $6.00. The Southeast has maintained as the lowest region overall over the past 17 weeks, with prices generally below $4.00 ($3.46-3.85) in places like Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi, with the Midwest region second, prices slightly higher, from $3.92 to $4.20. Exceptions include Florida in the Southeast and Michigan and Illinois in the Midwest. Northeast states, north of Delaware and Maryland all the way to Maine, continue to average well above $4.00. Bitcoin
This week: $80,529.22 Crypto still resembles a fantasy video game played by idiots and children, with bitcoin acting as some kind of magical king with special powers. It's all still speculative junk, up 30% from five years out and down 28% from a year ago. Precious Metals Gold:Silver Ratio: 74.25 last week: 73.22; Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:
Gold price 9/25: $4,320.50
Silver price 9/25: $64.71
SPOT: (Kitco)
Silver 9/25: $64.28 Until the midterms are over at the least and the December 9 FOMC policy rate decision is concluded, gold and silver will likely remain under pressure, a condition that could worsen if the Fed decides to hike rates again in the mistaken belief that yields on fixed income vehicles are preferable against the non-interest-bearing precious metals. The fallacy of the argument comes from inflation, which degrades the purchasing power of currencies. In real terms, gold and silver beat inflation at every turn, no matter the temporary price. Presently, central banks, especially China, Russia, and other Eastern entities, are more than pleased with the recent price downturn in gold, allowing them to ramp up their reserves at bargain-basement prices. Silver remains the ugly child, though individual stackers are stocking up, with the gold:silver ratio approaching 75. Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) fell again during the week, dropping to $66.04, a loss of $1.96 per troy ounce from the October 18 price of $68.00. WEEKEND WRAP The latter part of the week witnessed a massive flight to safety, as the tech sector continued to implode and money flowed into treasuries and corporate debt issuance. As the midterms approach and afterwards, there may be just plain flight out of stocks and a huge downturn depending on how the market interprets election results. Even if Republicans - by some uncanny stroke of luck or other means - manage to hold a majority in the House and/or Senate, market reaction could accelerate in a downward direction.
At the Close, Friday, October 23, 2026:
For the Week:
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