The Michael Fuljenz Metals Market Report

October 2026 – Week 3 Edition

 Silver Is A Solid Buy Based on Its Strong Fundamentals

The attack on silver makes no sense, as the global silver market has been in deep deficit since 2021, six years running (including the 2026 trend, so far). Before 2021, silver markets were mostly in balance, with slight supply surpluses in most years, topped by a 65-million-ounce surplus in 2016. That’s when silver ranged from $13 to $20 per ounce, but since then, there have been huge silver price deficits each year.

This chronic silver deficit is driven by industrial demand and new supply constraints, requiring inventory drawdowns or silver melt to meet the rising demand. Those are the fundamentals. Traders, of course, have a different motivation and time horizon, usually focusing on the next daily move or short-term trends.

Gold is primarily a monetary metal – the only commodity held by central banks, except paper money – while silver has about a 50-50 split between industrial and monetary demand, with the balance closer to 60-40 (favoring industrial use) in the past decade due to new technologies in electronics and solar power. 

Also, most silver production – estimated to be about 74 percent – comes as a byproduct of mining other metals – such as copper, lead or zinc – so the recent rise in silver’s price early this year did not translate into increased mining, as would happen during most price spikes. So, silver’s supply deficit will likely continue for years to come. As a key silver analyst says, “Even if silver shoots to the moon, the miners are not necessarily going to produce more.”

In our company, we are in close touch with the silver and gold bullion markets as well as the rare-coin market. We are hearing a series of strong statements from long-term investors that they are using this temporary drop in silver prices to increase their holdings. In fact, I personally know of several investors who are diverting millions of dollars into silver, while the price is below what most have considered to be silver’s new floor price - $60 an ounce. In reviewing precious metals data, while industrial silver use has slightly but temporarily declined, silver used for coins and bars increased by about 27 million ounces between 2024 and 2025.

In 2025, the amount of silver that came from melting down above-ground inventories, such as jewelry, silverware and other products, was 197 million ounces. It’s projected that number will increase to 211 million ounces by the end of 2026, according to available data. Despite that increase, demand still exceeds supply.

“Buying on the dip” is a winning strategy, while “believing the dip” or “joining the bandwagon” after silver and gold start to soar leads to smaller profits. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this dip in pricing to call our professional representatives and find out how you can easily add silver and gold to your portfolio.

Gold opened this week at around $4,235 early on Monday, in anticipation of milder inflation numbers released this week. No such luck! That kind of thinking is short-sighted and impatient. Wait for the report first. Better yet, ignore the daily news and focus on the long-term fundamentals. The silver market tends to act like “gold on steroids,” so its percentage rise or fall can be greater than gold’s, in most markets, and that proved to be true this week, with silver opening the week at $60.14 and then falling to nearly $55. By Friday morning in early trading, silver was at $57.87 an ounce and already up more than 80 cents per ounce for the day.