Blog posts of '2026' 'September'

Aggressive interest rate expectations, a strong U.S. dollar, and multi-year highs in Treasury yields have capped silver's upside over the course of this month. So far, silver is down about 4% in September, although it has rebounded from its monthly low of $63.79.

Pullbacks like this are expected and provide an opportunity for investors to act.

Gains are rarely linear in a long-term bull market, especially for an asset with volatile swings like silver.

The long-term case for silver remains intact. Its long-term performance remains robust, up more than 40% year-over-year.

Future interest rate hike expectations may continue to influence prices, yet they do not erase the long-term factors supporting silver’s role as a hard-asset diversifier.

Physical silver can provide diversification away from concentrated exposure to equities, bonds, currencies, or other financial instruments. Depending on an investor’s objectives, silver may also serve as a potential hedge against inflation and a source of liquidity during periods of financial stress. The industrial applications of silver are creating consistent demand, even as silver combats an ongoing supply deficit over the past six years, yet financial demand is not reflecting these conditions.

So while silver’s monthly decline may attract headlines, the wider picture remains positive: a strong one-year advance and a clear breakout from a prolonged consolidation period. 

And major institutions are still forecasting an average price between $70 and $75 for the full year, with some as high as $100 an ounce.

Silver is well below the record high above $115 an oz. established in January, but that doesn't mean those highs are out of reach.

For investors focused on financial resilience, September’s pullback is worth considering as an entry point. 

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The Gold-Silver Ratio (GSR) had a tumultuous start to 2026.

After holding rates steady for over 3 years, the Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate to 3.75% to 4.00% last Wednesday.

Gold initially lost ground, and then edged higher on Friday to end the week flat, buoyed by lower oil prices and a weaker dollar.

When the Fed raises interest rates, gold often sells off first. That initial drop gets headlines, sparks anxiety, and gives plenty of market watchers a reason to declare that higher rates are bad for gold. 

What happens after the initial drop is what serious investors should be watching.

Gold has a long history of regaining strength during rate-hike cycles once the market begins to process the deeper implications of tighter monetary policy. Rising rates may create short-term pressure, but they also tend to expose the same risks that drive long-term demand for hard assets in the first place: inflation that does not disappear on command, rising stress across the financial system, slowing growth, and weakening confidence in paper-based wealth.

Historical analysis of previous tightening cycles has shown a familiar pattern. Gold can weaken ahead of rate hikes and around the initial announcement, then recover in the months that follow as investors step back and recognize what the broader cycle actually means. Once higher rates begin working their way through debt markets, business conditions, consumer activity, and broader investor sentiment, gold often starts looking less like a casualty of rate hikes and more like a rational response to them.

We saw this exact pattern as the Fed continued to tease a rate hike later in 2026, with gold trading in narrow range after a 7% decrease in the first half of 2026.

Recent market action has once again shown gold recovering much of the ground it lost after a Fed hike. Even with higher rates, the metal has remained resilient as investors continue to weigh inflation pressures, geopolitical uncertainty, currency risk, and the growing reality that central banks cannot solve structural problems with a press conference. The market may react to the rate decision immediately, but the real repricing tends to come later.

Strong bull markets do not go straight up. They surge, correct, consolidate, and then push again, especially when the forces driving long-term demand remain firmly in place.

Governments continue to spend aggressively.

Debt burdens remain immense.

Inflation may cool in headline form for a period, but the long-term erosion of purchasing power is still very real for anyone paying attention. Add in geopolitical instability, strained confidence in traditional institutions, and the fragility built into overleveraged financial systems, and the case for owning physical gold remains intact. If anything, rate-hike cycles often bring those issues into sharper focus. And the Fed indicated that further rate hikes might be coming before the end of the year.

If you have been waiting for the right time to add physical gold to your portfolio, this may be one of those moments when the math and the macro picture begin to line up.

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Editor's Note: Rich Checkan published the original article below in July of 2025, but since then, central banks have only continued to increase their positions in gold and decrease their positions in U.S. dollars as reserve currency. In the 2026 World Gold Council Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, respondents overwhelmingly (89%) believe that global central bank gold reserves will increase over the next 12 months. Last year Rich was absolutely on point when he wrote "I was told gold was too expensive at $3,000 per ounce. They were wrong. I fully expect to be told that gold is too expensive at $4,000 per ounce next year. They will be wrong too." He also suggested that retail investors need to follow the lead of central banks and continue to accumulate gold in this market. It's no less true in 2026 than it was in 2025 as gold was rallying... and the case continues to grow stronger year after year. 

Silver dropped 2.3% last week after a significant 16% climb in August.

When prices pull back, hesitation is natural. But if your goal is to hedge against inflation, diversify with hard assets, and position part of your portfolio in a store of value with both monetary and industrial relevance, periods of weakness can be when the math starts to look better — not worse.

That is the case for buying silver at current price levels. The opportunity is not about chasing momentum. It is about recognizing relative value while sentiment is less enthusiastic.

Recent market action has created the kind of setup long-term investors should pay attention to: a meaningful pullback in silver prices, persistent inflation concerns, and a Gold-Silver Ratio that remains well above its long-run equilibrium. 

Although silver has pulled back from earlier highs, it doesn't automatically weaken the longer-term case. In healthy bull markets, sharp moves higher are often followed by equally emotional selloffs before the larger trend resumes. Those pullbacks can create attractive entry points for investors willing to focus on value instead of short-term noise.

At the same time, inflation concerns remain part of the macro backdrop. Higher fuel prices, geopolitical strain, and ongoing speculation around interest-rate policy are all reminders that monetary stability is never something investors should simply assume. When uncertainty rises, many investors revisit hard assets that can help diversify traditional paper-based exposure.

In fact, one of the strongest analytical cases for silver today isn't the spot price. It's silver's relationship to gold.

According to a recent Silver Institute report, a Gold-Silver Ratio (GSR) above the historical equilibrium of 60-to-1 signals that silver may be undervalued relative to gold. In other words, silver is becoming more inexpensive not only in absolute terms, but also in relative-value terms. Today's GSR is about 68-to-1, which has been gradually increasing since the ratio hit a low of about 56-to-1 back when silver and gold hit all time highs at the end of January. 

That is what makes the current environment so compelling. If gold remains supported by macro uncertainty, and the ratio begins to decrease once more, silver will outperform gold from current levels. Until the GSR drops below 50-to-1, it is a clear signal that the precious metals bull market remains intact for the long-term.

Right now silver is offering investors a compelling combination of relative value, inflation hedging potential, and real-world industrial demand.

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If you have questions about how silver may fit into your broader wealth strategy, contact us at 1-800-831-0007 and we will help you align your metal mix with your long-term financial goals.

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A self-directed precious metals IRA can give you access to eligible physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium within a retirement account. 

Gold’s 9.1% gains last month are a reminder that interest rates, inflation, currency movements, and geopolitical developments can change the investment landscape quickly.

Gold’s recent strength has focused attention on a familiar question: Is it too late to buy?

Recent market updates show how quickly gold can respond to changing expectations around employment, inflation, Federal Reserve policy, the U.S. dollar, Treasury yields, and geopolitical risk. Gold moved close to $4,500 an ounce last week before slipping Friday. The move can be attributed in part to Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller’s comments—which cooled expectations for a September rate hike— along with a softer dollar and easing Treasury yields.

Short-term price movements can change quickly. The longer-term case for owning physical gold requires a broader view.

De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank, also decided to reallocate approximately 86 tonnes of gold from North American holdings toward London. The bank cited resilience and preparedness amid increasing geopolitical unrest. The move involved both market transactions and physical transfers, with the central bank emphasizing the importance of tradability and access during a crisis.

That decision does not predict what gold will do next.

It does, however, reinforce an important principle for individual investors: owning gold is only one part of a precious-metals strategy. Investors should also consider the form of the metal, the size of each holding, the custody arrangement, the storage location, the legal jurisdiction, and how readily the holding could be sold or delivered if circumstances change.

At elevated gold prices, a full ounce may represent a larger initial commitment than some investors want to make. Fractional gold can allow long-term investors to begin with smaller purchases and add to their holdings over time.

Fractional gold can offer a practical middle ground: the potential to own physical gold while building a position in smaller increments. For long-term investors, the right approach may be to define an allocation, select appropriate products, compare premiums, and consider how the metal will be stored and accessed.

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Keep What’s Yours.