If you checked the ticker this morning, you probably saw a sea of red. Honestly, it’s a bit of a breather after the absolute madness we've seen since New Year's. Today silver price per ounce is hovering around $91.28, down roughly 1.3% from yesterday's close.
It’s wild to think that just a couple of years ago, people were arguing about whether silver could even stay above $30. Now, here we are in mid-January 2026, and the "white metal" is comfortably sitting in a range that would have seemed like science fiction back in 2024.
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The drop today isn't some catastrophic collapse. It's mostly just traders cashing out. When you hit a record high of $93.00, like we did earlier this week, people get itchy fingers. They want to lock in those gains.
What’s Actually Moving Today Silver Price Per Ounce?
You can't talk about silver without talking about the drama at the Federal Reserve. There’s a lot of noise right now regarding Chair Jerome Powell and the pressure on the Fed's independence. Whenever the "big money" starts worrying that politicians might start messing with interest rate decisions, they run straight to hard assets.
Silver is the ultimate "fear and tech" hybrid.
On one hand, you have geopolitical stress. The recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela and the arrest of Maduro have sent a jolt through the commodities market. It’s a classic safe-haven play. But silver has another engine under the hood: AI and clean energy.
The Industrial Hunger
Basically, the world is addicted to silver for things that aren't jewelry.
- Solar panels: Demand is relentless as the grid goes green.
- Artificial Intelligence: Silver's high conductivity makes it vital for the high-end chips and data centers powering the AI boom.
- Defense: With global tensions rising, military budgets are ballooning, and silver is a key component in precision electronics.
Peter Krauth, a well-known voice in the silver space from Silver Stock Investor, has been hammering on about a "structural deficit" for a while now. He's right. We are consuming more silver than we are digging out of the ground.
Most silver is actually a byproduct of mining other things like copper or zinc. So, even if the price of silver goes to the moon, a copper miner isn't necessarily going to dig faster just to get a tiny bit more silver out of the dirt. This creates a massive supply lag.
The $100 Ounce: Is it Hype or Reality?
Citigroup analysts recently floated a target of $100 silver by March.
That sounds like a lot, but is it? To get from $91 to $100 is only about a 10% move. In the world of silver—which is famously "gold on caffeine"—that can happen in a single week if the headlines are spicy enough.
But there’s a catch.
Silver is notorious for "fake-outs." It’s a relatively small market compared to gold, which means a few big institutional trades can swing the price violently. If the U.S. Dollar suddenly finds its footing or if the Fed decides to get aggressive with rates again, that $100 dream could turn into a $70 reality pretty fast.
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What You Should Actually Do
If you’re looking at today silver price per ounce and wondering if you missed the boat, you have to look at your timeframe.
Short-term? It's choppy. You've got high volatility and a lot of "hot money" moving in and out.
Long-term? The fundamentals are kinda scary—in a good way for holders. The U.S. Geological Survey recently added silver to its critical minerals list. That’s a big deal. It means the government recognizes that without silver, the modern economy (and the military) basically stops working.
Actionable Steps for Today:
- Check the Premiums: If you're buying physical coins or bars, the "spot price" of $91.28 is just the starting point. Dealers are currently charging significant premiums because physical stock is tight. Don't be surprised if you're paying closer to $98-$100 for a physical American Eagle.
- Watch the Gold-to-Silver Ratio: It’s currently sitting around 50:1. Historically, when this ratio drops, silver is outperforming gold. If it starts climbing back toward 80:1, silver might be getting "expensive" relative to its big brother.
- Mind the "Paper" Market: If you're trading ETFs like SLV or PSLV, keep an eye on the NY close. Volatility usually spikes right before the weekend as traders de-risk.
Silver isn't for the faint of heart. It’s a rollercoaster. But as long as the world keeps building solar panels and the Fed keeps the printing presses warm, the path of least resistance still looks like it's pointing up.
Keep an eye on the $89.50 support level. If it holds there, the march toward $100 stays on track. If it breaks, we might be looking at a much longer consolidation phase before the next leg up.