Silver prices continue soaring as debt fears and geopolitical tensions send precious metals to fresh record highs

As markets reopened Friday after the Christmas holiday, U.S. stocks were little changed, but precious metals saw plenty of action.

Silver prices jumped 9.6% to top $78 per ounce for the first time ever. Gold rose 1.3% to a fresh record of $4,561 per ounce, and platinum surged 10.5% to its own high, while palladium leapt 13%.

So far this year, silver has spiked 169%, platinum has shot up 172%, and palladium has soared 124%—all easily beating gold’s year-to-date gain of 73% as well as Nvidia’s 42% pop and the S&P 500’s 18% advance.

The latest rally came after the U.S. launched strikes on Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Thursday, adding to other geopolitical tensions.

Earlier in the week, the Trump administration continued to pile on more pressure on Venezuela by targeting additional oil tankers, squeezing a key source of revenue for the Maduro regime.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon sent large numbers of special-operations aircraft, troops and gear into the Caribbean, Read Entire Article