Happy Sunday, GoldBuzzers!

While everyone else was doing their Christmas shopping this week, gold and silver were busy making history. Pour yourself something warm - today's edition covers some of the most significant moves we've seen all year.

Ok, let’s dive in!

Gold ended the week near $4,340/oz after November inflation came in ice cold at 2.7% (significantly below the expected 3.1%), giving the Fed cover for more rate cuts. Markets are betting on a 25% chance of a January cut, with near certainty by April. Geopolitical chaos (Venezuelan oil drama, Putin's Ukraine flex) is adding rocket fuel, pushing gold up 68% this year - its best run since 1979.

But here's the kicker: The Fed officially ended Quantitative Tightening on December 1st, and now they're starting to purchase Treasury Bills at $40 billion per month through at least April.

Powell swears it's "not QE" – just "reserve management" - but come on, they're literally expanding the balance sheet again. Analysts say this ample financial liquidity worldwide will only get boosted by rate cuts, essentially restarting the money printer in everything but name.

Meanwhile, silver's gone pedal to the metal, no brakes whatsoever. The white metal exploded past $67/oz to fresh all-time highs, up an absolutely insane 131% this year, making gold's gains look pedestrian. Supply squeezes are so tight that London vaults are basically running on fumes through 2026.

The gold/silver ratio compressed to 65:1 as industrial buyers scramble for physical metal. Solar panels, EVs, and AI data centers are devouring supply while ETF inflows smash records. India just opened the floodgates for pension funds to pile in.

Bottom line? While the suits debate whether it's "QE" or "not QE," the debasement trade is just warming up. With the Fed back to expanding its balance sheet and every central bank printing like their lives depend on it, it’s vital to understand that gold and silver aren't your grandpa's metals anymore - they're your hedge against whatever chaos 2026 delivers.

Even to mainstream investors, its clear that Silver has crushed it in 2025. Up over 130% year-to-date, blasting through all-time highs to around $67 per ounce. Yet amid this historic rally, one corner of the precious metals market remains strangely undervalued: junior mining companies.

Why Juniors Offer Explosive Upside

The key factor that makes juniors so compelling is operating leverage.

Unlike physical bullion or ETFs that track spot prices dollar-for-dollar, miners have fixed costs. When metal prices rise, revenues soar while production expenses (labor, energy, equipment) stay relatively stable. A $10 increase in silver doesn't just add $10 to a miner's bottom line - it can translate to exponentially higher profits per share.

Historical cycles tell the story. During bull markets, well-positioned juniors often deliver 5x–10x returns compared to the metals themselves.

Silver Juniors: The Sweet Spot Right Now

Silver's dual role as both monetary and industrial metal has fueled its outperformance this year. Demand from solar panels, EVs, electronics, and AI data centers keeps climbing. Meanwhile, supply constraints - record COMEX deliveries, draining vaults, persistent market deficits - have created a genuine squeeze.

And yet? Many junior silver miners are still valued as if silver were trading at $25–$30 per ounce, not double that. Eric Sprott has been pounding the table on this disconnect for months. At $100+ silver, these stocks could multiply 10-fold.

Why Are Juniors Being Ignored?

Risk. Simple as that.

Many juniors are pre-production companies, dependent on drilling success, permitting, and financing. Plenty will fail. That's why diversification is essential - through ETFs like SILJ (Amplify Junior Silver Miners) or carefully selected baskets of individual names.

But in bull markets, the winners can be transformational. Companies with high-grade discoveries or undervalued resources get re-rated fast once rising metal prices validate their economics.

The Rotation Is Starting

Watch what's happening in the market right now. Large producers like Hecla and First Majestic have been leading - a classic signal that fresh generalist capital is entering the sector. Historically, money flows to the big names first, then cascades into riskier, higher-leverage juniors as investors hunt for amplified gains.

Ratios like SILJ/GDXJ are pressing against multi-year downtrends, suggesting a regime shift toward beta plays. Silver juniors have lagged their gold counterparts for years - but that rotation appears to be turning.

Gold Juniors: Similar Story, Steadier Pace

For gold-focused juniors, the thesis is similar but more measured. Profits from rising prices flow first to seniors, then juniors as investors seek amplified exposure. Undervalued deposits in safe jurisdictions remain priced for much lower metals - offering asymmetric upside.

The Bottom Line

This isn't without risk. Volatility is baked in - miners can drop sharply on pullbacks in the metals or broader risk - off moves. Geopolitical risks, energy costs, and regulatory hurdles persist.

But with physical shortages accelerating and industrial demand relentless, the setup strongly favors patient investors.

In this precious metals bull market, Juniors represent the "rocket fuel" that many analysts are calling criminally overlooked. From charts signaling breakouts to institutional money loading up - the message is clear: physical metal first for preservation, then miners for multiplication.

In this environment, junior miners could deliver the most dynamic returns of the entire cycle.

A few recent stories you might have missed.

Goldman Sachs just quietly bumped their gold target to $4,900 by end of 2026 - a subtle tweak but significant nonetheless. TheStreet

Analysts at JPMorgan and Bank of America are calling for $5,000 gold in 2026 as central banks keep hoarding the yellow metal like it's going out of style. JPMorgan

Coeur Mining stock popped 7% on Thursday as silver continues its triple-digit percentage rally for 2025. TechStock²

Poland's central bank has gone full goldpocalypse mode, scooping up 96 tonnes so far in 2025 while China, Brazil, and others join the party. BullionVault

Treasure hunters in Pennsylvania thought they'd found $500 million in Civil War gold using ground-penetrating radar, then the FBI swooped in for a mysterious dig - and now there's a legal battle over 2,378 pages of classified documents about what really happened on that hill. Popular Mechanics

Chinese geologists just discovered what might be this century's biggest gold find in Hunan Province - over 1,000 metric tons worth €78 billion, with rock cores so rich they literally shimmer with visible gold. Journals of India

That’s all for this Sunday, folks! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Before you go, please take a moment to rate today’s GoldBuzz and tell us how we did.

Rick Adams
Founder, GoldBuzz
rick@goldbuzz.com