Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026…4:10 PM ET
[4:00 PM ET closing prices for stocks; 3:45ish for commodities and bonds.]
What a day for Gold and Silver, amidst volatility in some individual stocks following their earnings reports after the close Wednesday.
Because I get a ton of work done very early in the morning, I normally try to take my break to do errands from about 10:00 – 11:00 AM, and when I went out today, Gold and Silver were essentially at new all-time highs, Gold at $5525ish, having hit $5600 very early in the morning, while Silver was at $121 (9:15).
So, I get my stuff done, back home around 11:00, and I looked at the screen and I was like ‘Holy (Toledo)!’ Gold had corrected all the down to $5125, and Silver at 10:40 hit $108. But then the two rallied back strongly and by around 4:00 had made back about half of the big decline.
It was only natural that these two, in particular, would finally have a little intraday crashette. Gold and Silver have been supported by waning confidence in U.S. assets amid rising economic and geopolitical uncertainty, with momentum accelerating after President Trump downplayed the dollar’s drop to four-year lows, signaling tolerance for a weaker currency despite renewed tariff threats and fresh cynicism of the Federal Reserve’s independence.
Geopolitical tensions remained high after Iran warned it would “defend itself and respond like never before” following new threats from Trump, while the European Union confirmed its decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization; this as the U.S. continued to increase its military presence near Iran.
Silver has the ‘industrial demand’ story going for it as well. Profit-taking was to be expected, but I missed some excitement on the screen while shopping for a new printer cartridge, bread and beer.
Meanwhile, after reporting earnings late Wednesday, shares in Microsoft fell 12%, while those of Meta Platforms rose 10%. One set of investors was less than excited by the former’s kind of ‘bleh’ guidance, while the other set of investors was saying, ‘I don’t care what you spend, Mark. We’re with you…for now.’
Lastly, Senate Democrats early this afternoon blocked a spending package needed to keep the government open past a Friday midnight deadline, even as they continue negotiating with President Trump on a deal that could avert a shutdown and lead to new restrictions on his immigration crackdown. The vote was 45-55, 60 votes needed to open debate.
It’s looking likely a compromise will be reached where funding for the Department of Homeland Security is stripped out for further negotiations, but this means a short-term funding measure needs to be approved, and the House is out until Monday.
Apple earnings after the close (they normally report at about 4:30 PM).
Dow Jones +55, +0.1% [49071]
S&P 500 -9, -0.1% [6969]
Nasdaq -172, -0.7% [23685]
Oil (WTI) $65.70…four-month high….
Gold $5389
Silver $116.50
Bitcoin $84,150 [4:00 PM ET]…not a good day…the October high was $125,000.
U.S. 2-yr. 3.55%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.23%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.24%
President Trump said he’d announce his choice to replace Jerome Powell next week.
Check out my Week in Review column, Friday, posted around 4:30 PM ET. Another stem-winder, boys and girls.
*Brooks Koepka is +1 after 12 holes in his first round back on the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines. I want him to do well, at least be well-received.
Brian Trumbore
