Is The Bottom Now In For Gold & Silver Prices? | Andy Schectman

Host Adam Taggart opens by asking whether gold and silver have finally bottomed after falling through much of the year and reaching new annual lows shortly before Halloween. He notes that gold rebounded sharply after the election, moving back above $4,000, while silver showed similar action. Andy Schectman says a bottom is possible but that further weakness cannot be ruled out. He concedes that his price predictions have been wrong this year, but argues that price is less important than the physical accumulation occurring beneath the futures market.

Schectman points to nearly $82 billion of gold and almost $20 billion of silver delivered through COMEX, record or near-record central-bank buying, and China’s importation of almost 1,100 metric tons during the first eight months of the year. He argues that silver’s underlying value is being obscured by its quoted price. Gold was also designated a critical mineral by executive order, in addition to silver’s critical-mineral classification, and gold became a Tier 1 banking asset under Basel updates. For Schectman, those developments show that governments treat precious metals as strategic assets even while prices fall.

Schectman describes Hong Kong as the Fraser Institute’s highest-ranked economy for economic freedom among 165 jurisdictions, then explains why he sees it as important to gold’s future. Hong Kong’s Project Ensemble supports settlement using tokenized central-bank money and is being expanded so 400-ounce gold bars can be traded and settled digitally between banks. He says this could turn vaulted gold into collateral for lending, financing, and round-the-clock transactions. A yuan-denominated, same-day settlement system is expected in the first quarter of 2027, alongside payment and vaulting links across Asia and the BRICS countries.

Schectman revises an earlier expectation that BRICS countries would create a unified currency. Instead, he says they are building interoperable payment and settlement systems that operate alongside SWIFT, including BRICS Pay and BRICS Bridge. He names systems and vaulting activity in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. His thesis is that gold will settle imbalances between these systems. He argues that the large gold flows from COMEX to China reflect countries accumulating physical metal while quietly constructing an alternative settlement network rather than simply replacing the Western system.

Asked whether Chinese demand has cooled, Schectman says the buying appears to remain intense, although official data arrives with a delay. China imported almost 1,100 metric tons in the first eight months and added roughly 740,000 to 750,000 ounces in September, marking its twenty-third consecutive month of accumulation. Including September, he estimates roughly 1,200 metric tons for the year, equivalent to about 38.58 million ounces and approximately $154.32 billion at a $4,000 gold price. He says imports through the People’s Liberation Army or commercial banks may not be reported, so official totals could understate the real accumulation.

Schectman argues that Western banks and institutions can suppress or control prices through leveraged paper contracts and rehypothecation. He says managed-money traders became heavily short after being long earlier in the year, while commercial banks appear to be on the other side of the trade. COMEX reportedly trades roughly 400 million ounces of silver in a day, although annual global mine production is only about 800 million ounces. He says London’s unallocated claims also assume that few holders will demand delivery. The resulting paper volume allows prices to be pushed through technical levels and discourages speculative traders, even as physical buyers continue taking possession.

Both speakers recommend dollar-cost averaging rather than waiting for certainty about the bottom. Schectman says Miles Franklin can automate monthly purchases through an ACH arrangement. He also describes a “precious metals tax swap”: a customer with a large loss can sell physical metal to the dealer, have possession actually change hands, then buy it back, usually at a total cost of about 2% to 3%. Schectman says the wash-sale rule applies to securities, not physical commodities, and that the arrangement has been reviewed by a national accounting firm. Taggart tells viewers to confirm the treatment with the dealer and their own CPA.

Schectman says gold’s price could rise dramatically if China begins pricing contracts in yuan with same-day settlement and other countries gain direct access to gold through interoperable payment rails. He believes Western price-setting could lose relevance as physical metal is arbitraged toward Hong Kong. In a future where the United States also reveals larger gold holdings or uses Tether and digital rails as a gold-linked instrument, he says $10,000 gold would not be extraordinary. Higher gold could benefit both China and the United States by revaluing official reserves, reducing the real burden of debt, and helping assets represent a greater share of government balance sheets.

Taggart asks whether the election’s Democratic sweep and the success of candidates favoring socialist or expansive social-spending policies could explain gold’s rebound. Schectman says both parties have been fiscally irresponsible, but believes a more socialist economy would be bearish for productivity, infrastructure, the tax base, and the dollar. Taggart connects the result to the Fourth Turning framework, in which people increasingly ask government to solve economic and social problems. Schectman expects President Trump, facing an opposing Congress and only two years remaining, to remove political restraints and pursue executive actions more aggressively. Both say rising government spending would be bullish for gold but harmful to the country’s finances.

Near the end, the conversation turns to cyber risk. Schectman cites hacks involving Binance, Polymarket, and other systems, while Taggart describes agentic AI that can access websites and perform tasks but could cause severe damage if compromised. Schectman says European governments are telling citizens to prepare supplies, U.S. military facilities are preparing for 90 days, and some are reportedly acquiring portable nuclear generators. He quotes Poland’s central-bank governor Adam Glapiński saying gold remains valuable even if someone cuts power to the global financial system and destroys electronic records. The speakers therefore present physical gold as both a monetary asset and emergency insurance.

For the closing offer, Schectman says Miles Franklin has nearly $100,000 in face value of pre-1965 U.S. silver dimes and quarters and is offering them for 25 cents under spot. He calls the pricing an unusual anomaly because the coins are being sold below their melt value. He explains that refiners became backed up, allowing him to buy and hedge the metal content without much perceived downside. Premiums on American Silver Eagles have begun rising again, but premiums across much of the retail market remain unusually soft. Taggart directs viewers to thoughtfulmoney.com/buygold for the offer and questions.