Despite being only four days long due to the MLK holiday Monday, the current week has been another volatile one, and, heading into Friday, there's a good chance the major stock indices will close well below where they ended the week prior.
Through Thursday's closing bell, the Dow is up a meager 24.68 points, the NASDAQ is down 79.37, and the S&P is off 26.66.
Futures are pointing to a red open while the main catalyst that moved stocks in both directions - Greenland and all that's related to it - remains shrouded in mystery. President Trump declared victory on Wednesday, saying something along the lines of an agreement on a framework had been reached. Stock algorithms reacted in a positive manner, sending prices across markets higher, but, as details began to emerge, Thursday's trading was a bit less enthusiastic.
What Trump referred to was a negotiated agreement between his administration and NATO on securing the rights to have bases on the world's largest island. There was no consultation or involvement with either the government of Greenland or Denmark or the inhabitants on the island itself. The U.S. already has a base on Greenland, Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base that has been operational since 1951 under a NATO framework. It's being assumed that the same kind of agreement - or one similar to Britain's bases on Cyprus, in which the bases are sovereign soil of Great Britain - is going to be worked out in coming days, weeks or months.
The opportunity to operate and/or expand military bases on Greenland was never a part of Trump's quest. He claimed to have wanted the whole island to become U.S. property. Simple negotiations with Denmark probably could have secured the deal that's currently being formulated, but that would not have generated the kind of headlines and swashbuckling image that President Trump and his insider traders preferred. As Trump returned to U.S. soil from his forays at the WEF, the world, Greenland, and stocks are back about where they started.
Stock futures are expressing a bit of regret an hour prior to the open. Dow futures are down 156; NASDAQ futures are off 57 points, and S&P futures are lower by about 10 points.
Reporting fourth quarter results after the close Thursday, Intel (INTC) posted a net loss of $600 million, or 12 cents per diluted share. In the year-ago period, Intel reported a net loss of $100 million, or 3 cents per share. The company also issued soft guidance for rhe first quarter of 2026, sending shares down by as much as 17%.
Capital One (COF) announced earnings per share (EPS) of $3.86, short of the $4.12 expected on Wall Street. Revenue in the quarter totaled $15.58 billion, which exceeded the $15.37 billion consensus forecast of analysts. Shares were down about two percent Friday morning prior to the open.
For its full fiscal year, Capital One reported a profit of $2.45 billion, or $4.03 per share on revenue of $53.43 billion. The company recently completed its $35.30 billion all-stock purchase of former rival Discover Financial Services.
Capital One also announced its acquisition of startup Brex for $5.15 billion, in a 50% cash and 50% stock transaction. Brex is an AI-powered financial technology platform that provides corporate credit cards, expense management, and business accounts for other startups.
While stocks may start out lower on Friday, they may get a boost via rumors or headlines during the day, though it appears the markets are running on fumes presently with the majors close to all-time highs but in need of a catalyst. There aren't any big names reporting earnings on Friday, though next week will be loaded. That's also no guarantee. Stocks that have reported this week and demonstrated solid earnings, like 3M (MMM), DR Horton (DHI), Netflix (NFLX), Ally (ALLY), have sold off.
Among the bright spots were Travelers (TRV), which helped boost the Dow higher, Charles Schwab (SCHW), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Proctor Gamble (PG). Stock pickers are becoming more discerning on earnings reports with stocks already juiced.
The big story - and one that still isn't getting the amount of coverage it deserves - is in precious metals. Spot silver, as of a half hour before the stock market open, is 50 cents short of $100/ounce. Gold has had another remarkable week, currently sitting at $4938, though it was as high as $4968 earlier Friday morning. Year-to-date - and mind you, this is less than three full weeks in - gold is up 13%, silver, +40%. If those were stocks, there would be open-to-close coverage of them on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg, but, since they're considered either pet rocks or barbarous relics on Wall Street, crickets.
Keep stacking.
Editor's Note: Since Money Daily HQ is located in the path of the ice storm Mother Nature has planned for the weekend, there's a high expectation that a power outage will occur and could last days. So, in case Sunday's WEEKEND WRAP doesn't appear before 1:00 pm ET, that would be the likely expectations. Stay safe, everybody!
At the Close, Thursday, January 22, 2026:
Dow: 49,384.01, +306.78 (+0.63%)
NASDAQ: 23,436.02, +211.20 (+0.91%)
S&P 500: 6,913.35, +37.73 (+0.55%)
NYSE Composite: 22,797.17, +70.67 (+0.31%)
There are times when one's interests might best be served by just sitting back and enjoying the show the elites, oligarchs, world leaders at the WEF and the mainstream media are presenting. This may be one of those times.
Just before noon on Wednesday, MarketWatch, that CBS scion of financial wisdom, offered the following headline:
Dow heads for best day in roughly two weeks after Trump's Davos speech
Hilariously, by the time the story became available - because MarketWatch is mostly subscribers only - the NASDAQ was heading toward negative territory and the Dow had given back a third of its gains and was headed even lower. U.S. president Trump's messaging to the assemblage at Davos was all pomp, pump, but little in the way of thump, so U.S. stock traders said, "dump." And that's what they did.
The whole issue over Greenland is a sideshow, somewhat like the Vulcan mind-meld operated by the kids in the class with the lowest math grades, a complete circus. Why Trump seems so intent on securing that immense island of mostly mile-thick ice for the United States may be little more than a parlor trick, designed to twist Europe further into a pretzel-knot from which there is no escape. It might be a masterstroke of Trump's 5D chess, but more likely it is a contorted method to feed Europe more nearly-American dollars in a swap for some equally worthless land and send the mission from Euroland back to home base wiht more money to buy U.S. weapons and give them to Ukraine to fight those nasty Russians.
The Greenland gambit isn't about setting up anti-missile defenses or rare earth elements or even securing shipping lanes. It's about money laundering to the lowest of the low, Europe, to be funneled back to U.S. arms manufacturers. In that regard, it's a rip-roaring success. From Wall Street's perspective, it means almost nothing. Anybody able to take away from Trump's meandering mind-numbing message at Davos anything at all must be hallucinating on very powerful drugs because there was no message other than USA, USA, USA, the usual chest-beating by the world's greatest ape in the jungle of politics.
It's all so tiring, though sometimes, it pays to sit back and enjoy the humor of people taking themselves very seriously. If one is able to just ignore the politicians, the bankers, the noisy mainstream media talking heads, and the stock market - an ambitious task, understand - life becomes much more pleasant and appealing. The biggest decisions might be what to have for lunch or what to do over the weekend.
World politics aside, where they should be, normal, actual thinking people don't really care what the greatest assembly of self-absorbed narcissists in the world really thinks about anything. The WEF has been holding these back-slapping parties for some 50-odd years and well, here we are. It's always the same talk about forming relationships, better understanding, dealing with issues. In the end, little changes, and so it will be with this confab. Lots of huff and puff, but no real stuff. Ya gets what ya pays for, as they say in Brooklyn.
Grinning from broadside ear-to-ear, around 1:00 pm ET, the Wall Street Journal posted the headline:
along with a chart showing the three major indices down between 1.5% and 2.5% the past three sessions, up-to-the-minute on Tuesday.
Take that, you MarketWatch smarties.
In the end, though, MarketWatch got the last laugh when stocks jumped just before 2:30 pm ET after Trump announced the "concept of a deal" over Greenland, taking tariffs off the table, live on CNBC, telling Joe Kernan the deal is "forever", as in fairy tales, with Kernan sucking it right up. One can easily imagine that Howard Lutnik and all of Trump's pals made good money up and down all day. International geopolitics has become Peak Clown World. It's even better than the NFL.
Back in the marginal reality that is Wall Street, a bunch of companies reported fourth quarter results.
After the bell Wednesday, Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) missed revenue and EPS estimates and is trading lower by about two percent.
Kinder Morgan (KMI) beat, issued soft guidance and is down less than one percent pre-market. Thursday morning, Proctor & Gamble (PG) reported stronger EPS, but lower gross reveunes, citing soft consumer demand (mind you, in the world's "hottest" country). The stock is trending lower pre-market by one percent. P&G's core gross margin fell for the fifth quarter in a row, partly due to tariffs and investments in different pack sizes to appeal to consumers looking to save money. P&G is trading down from a March 2025 high of 176, at 146/share.
GE Aerospace (GE) is two percent lower after a good quarter, but with slowing revenue growth.
Abbott Labs (ABT) is being slammed in the pre-market, down more than six percent. The company reported earnings in line with expectations, but investors aren't buying its forecasts.
Miner Freeport McMoRan (FCX) is trending flat to lower in the pre-market. The stock is up more than 30% since late November on prospects for gold, silver and other ores. Thursday's move looks like profit-taking.
Another miner, NovaGold (NG), is down 1.5% prior to the opening bell. The company has reported a net loss six years running.
McCormick (MKC) is down more than six percent on EPS of $0.86 vs. analyst expectations of $0.88.
Despite all the red from companies reporting, stock futures are trending higher, supposedly goosed by President Trump announcing the framework of a forever concept deal on Greenland, or something like that. As usual, the headline fed to algos is a positive one, though devoid of detail.
Stock futures are all rising heading into the open. Dow futures: +229; NASDAQ futures, +250; S&P futures, +45.
At 8:30 am ET, the BEA released updated 3rd quarter U.S. GDP, showing the economy expanded at 4.4%. This second estimate follows the initial estimate of 4.3% growth.
The BEA will be releasing the latest PCE Index reading at 10:00 am ET. The last was from September, which showed the index at 2.8% annually. The newest figures will be for November and are expected to show a rise of 0.2% for the month and 2.8% on an annual basis. Inflation remains a threat, which will likely keep the federal funds rate level at next week's FOMC meeting.
Gold and silver got their required weekly beatings a bit earlier than normal (Wednesday instead of Friday), after both traded at fresh highs earlier. Gold traded as high as $4,875 on Wednesday and is currently leveling off around $4,825. Silver was as high as $95.71 and as low as $90.77, now having recovered to a range around $93-94 per ounce. Action in the spot market seems to be indicating shorts unwinding positions and solid fundamentals for both metals.
Looks like the markets are going to attempt to claw back the rest of what they lost on Tuesday.
At the Close, Wednesday, January 21, 2026:
Dow: 49,077.23, +588.64 (+1.21%)
NASDAQ: 23,224.82, +270.50 (+1.18%)
S&P 500: 6,875.62, +78.76 (+1.16%)
NYSE Composite: 22,726.50, +253.29 (+1.13%)
It's difficult to get a grasp on just who President Trump thought he was addressing in his keynote address at the World Economic Forum this morning in Davos, Switzerland, but he spent most of his time with the the usual gaslighting, boasting the U.S. economy and denigrating Europe, most of whose industrial and political leaders were in attendance.
Among the boasts, the platitudes the president poured upon himself, and the interspersed insults, a few were:
"No inflation, "extraordinarily high economic growth."
"In the last three months, core inflation was just 1.6%"
$18 trillion in investment commitments.
"hottest country anywhere in the world."
"places in Europe are unrecognizable."
"Removed 270,000 bureaucrats."
"slashed the deficit by 27%"
"reduced trade deficit by 77%"
"steel plants are being built all over the country."
"Venezuela will make more money in the next six months than they did in the last 20 years."
"All the major oil companies are going in with us."
"Leading the world in AI by a lot."
"We want Europe to be strong."
"On Greenland, I have tremendous respect for the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark."
"We need it for strategic international security, not for rare earth metals."
"It's the United States alone who can protect this giant peice of land."
"Seeking negotiations to acquire Greenland."
"All we want from Denmark is this land on which we will build the greatest golden dome ever built."
He also talked about battleships. (two may be built in the next five years)
For the most part, it was another campaign speech, even though Mr. Trump cannot run for election again, at least not for the presidency.
Getting back to things that actually matter, stocks took a beating on Tuesday, the worst since October. What stood out was that while stocks were getting what they so richly deserve, gold and silver were absolutely electric. Gold, over the course of January 20th, gained from $4,601 to $4,866, a gain of $265 in just one 24-hour period. Over the same time span, silver rose from $89.94 to $94.34.
Tuesday was a day that was a long time coming. It was a day in which stocks were down greatly and precious metals were up by a huge amount. Tuesday's market activity was an indication of what is happening and what is coming. It is repudiation of paper promises and acceptance of hard assets as the true investable collateral.
Despite all the blather coming out of Davos and President Trump, what really matters are Japan's bond market - which is imploding - gold, and silver.
There's far too much financial commentary these days, much of it misleading, most of it designed to sell people things they don't need, like tiny shares of massive publicly-held corporations or worse, insurance, a bane on humanity propagated by the same banking interests who rule the world with fiat currencies and fractional reserve banking. Money Daily will strive to be brief this weekend, if only to relieve some of the indigestible bubble narratives.
Some narrative-building will be undertaken by the Boaster-in-Chief, President Trump, who will be addressing his billionaire buddies in Davos, Switzerland at the annual World Economic Forum. When Trump first campaigned for president and won in 2016, he was kind of an outsider to the Davos crowd. Now, he is one of them, which helps explain the big differences in his policies from then to now.
In the meantime, silver rallied 10% on the week and was quoted above $100 in Shanghai. More below.
Stocks
The week just ended wasn't very healthy for stocks. The major indices were all lower, albeit by less than a half percent with a completely dead session Friday. Only the NYSE Composite and Dow Transports finished the week in positive territory. It's understandable that small caps would fare better in the current environment. Some of them are only ones not already at nosebleed levels. As the economic cycle rolls over, innovative, more nimble outfits may be able to seize upon opportunities to introduce new products or grab market share.
Monday is Martin Luther King Day, so equity markets are closed.
Economic data drops are few this week, including PCE inflation data for October and November to be released on Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is the Fed's favorite inflation gauge, so it will be closely watched. Also on Thursday, the final reading for third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and initial jobless claims for the week ending January 17 are announced before the opening bell. Prior to that, Construction Spending for September and October and Pending home sales for December come out on Wednesday.
Here are some of the companies reporting fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings in the week ahead:
Tuesday: (before open) 3M (MMM), Fastenal (FAST), Fifth Third Bank (FITB), DR Borton (DHI), US Bancorp (USB), Key Bank (KEY); (after close) United Airlines (UAL), Netflix (NFLX), Interactive Brokers (IBKR), Bank of the Ozarks (OZK), Zions Bancorporation (ZION)
Wednesday: (before open) Ally (ALLY), Vitizens Financial (CFG), Yravelers (TRV), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Halliburton (HAL); (after close) Pinnacle Financial (PNFP), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Horizon Bancorp (HBNC)
Friday: (before open) Ericsson (ERIC), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), Comerica (CMA)
Treasury Yield Curve Rates
Date
1 Mo
1.5 mo
2 Mo
3 Mo
4 Mo
6 Mo
1 Yr
12/12/2025
3.76
3.75
3.75
3.63
3.64
3.58
3.54
12/19/2025
3.71
3.71
3.72
3.62
3.64
3.60
3.51
12/26/2025
3.70
3.69
3.72
3.64
3.66
3.58
3.49
01/02/2026
3.72
3.71
3.66
3.65
3.62
3.58
3.47
01/09/2026
3.70
3.68
3.63
3.62
3.62
3.57
3.52
01/16/2026
3.75
3.72
3.68
3.67
3.66
3.60
3.55
Date
2 Yr
3 Yr
5 Yr
7 Yr
10 Yr
20 Yr
30 Yr
12/12/2025
3.52
3.58
3.75
3.95
4.19
4.82
4.85
12/19/2025
3.48
3.53
3.70
3.91
4.16
4.77
4.82
12/26/2025
3.46
3.54
3.68
3.89
4.14
4.76
4.81
01/02/2026
3.47
3.55
3.74
3.95
4.19
4.81
4.86
01/09/2026
3.54
3.59
3.75
3.95
4.18
4.76
4.82
01/16/2026
3.59
3.67
3.82
4.02
4.24
4.79
4.83
Markets are calling the Fed's bluff on lowering rates. Yield on the five-year note is the highest since November 17, 2025 (3.60%), and the 10-year is yielding the most since September 2nd (4.28%) while the 30-year bond remains elevated since a low on 10/16/25 (4.58%), continuing to nudge closer to 5.00%. The direction this week had much to do about the CPI, but more so, the PPI, which showed inflation in the pipeline via producer prices.
If the Fed were inclined to reverse course and actually perform a prudent function for markets by raising the federal funds target rate, bond buyers might show more interest (no pun intended). Adding to the bond market's bouts of indigestion are President Trump's blathering over global issues, his desire to own a large chunk of ice (Greenland) and continued piracy on the high seas. If the U.S. government maintains a policy of running afoul of the rule of law, foreign bond purchasers will make issuers pay a hefty price, demanding higher yields in a shaky environment.
Spreads on 2s-10s remained elevated at +65, while full spectrum moderated slightly, down four basis points to +108, though still at extreme levels, indicating stress in fixed income markets. Conditions for erratic dislocations and dysfunctions in the treasury complex are high, and, unless the militarist rhetoric is tamped down in Washington, D.C., investors are likely to take further flight from bonds toward precious metals and other hard assets.
According to the CME’s Fedwatch tool, there’s a 95% consensus that the FOMC will keep the federal funds target rate stable, at 3.50-3.75% at its next meeting, January 27-28).
WTI crude closed out the week at $59.22, just slightly higher than last week's close of $58.62. The Venezuela effect continues to wane. Oil execs have expressed little interest. Rebuilding the existing production infrastructure is, at best, a five to ten year project. Trump's bold move to capture the country’s resources may turn out to be one of the major strategic blunders of his administration. It's too early to tell, but, so far, it's not going well.
The U.S. national average for gas at the pump dropped another two cents, to $2.76, the lowest price in roughly five years, according to Gasbuddy.com. Given the current state of play, gas prices should continue to decline over the near term and possibly more rapidly, considering Venezuela and the continued global glut. Pax Americana, or the so-called Donroe Doctrine is going to be a long haul. America's resources are already stretched thin and South American countries aren't keen on American interventionism given China has already established significant inroads in places like Peru, Bolivia, to say nothing of tight ties with Brazil via BRICS. The U.S. will get some of what it wants and needs from the Southern Hemisphere, but it has given China a significant head start and whatever extractions the U.S. can make will be expensive.
The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular 10% ethanol gasoline in the U.S. rose four cents, to $2.80, though that figure is close to multi-year lows.
California remained at $4.19 per gallon, the highest in the nation, though that figure is down substantially from six months and a year ago. Washington ($3.77) was lower by a penny over the week, leaving the Golden State alone in the $4+ club. Oregon ($3.28), fell another two cents. Arizona checked in at $2.94, another multi-year low. The lowest prices remain in the Southeast, though Oklahoma, the low-price leaders, was up 12 cents to $2.29, The remaining Southeast states, from North Carolina west to New Mexico, are all below $2.68, except Florida ($2.77).
In the Northeast, prices were steady and consistent. Only Vermont ($3.00) and Pennsylvania ($3.02) are at or above $3.00. New York dropped to $2.96.
In the midwest region, where the price relief has been significant, Michigan took the lead over Illinois as te highest, at $2.96. Wyoming was the lowest ($2.40).
Sub-$3.00 gas was reported in 45 states, three more than last week, leaving only Califronia, Washington, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Vermont at $3.00 or above.
Bitcoin
This week: $95,065.81
Last week: $90,633.20
2 weeks ago: $91,306.05
6 months ago: $118,353.30
One year ago: $102,194.90
Five years ago: $34,293.20
Bitcoin and the larger crypto-universe got a boost this week, with the Senate moving ahead on the CLARITY Act, which would provide a framework for bitcoin, altcoins, tokens, stablecoins, blah, blah, blah, as if what the world wanted to go along with its vacuous, unbacked, invisible electronic currency is a host of regulations, taxes, tracking directives and various other rules and oversight provisions. Notably, Coinbase, one of the largest exchanges, withdrew support for the legislation late in the week after viewing the Senate's revised draft legislation and now the White House is considering pulling its support.
The main issue revolves around the ability of tokens to offer interest-bearing options on stablecoins in particular, allowing competition with regular U.S. banks. While that is a considerable stretch - getting interest on a currency backed by nothing - it is precisely what banks have been doing with U.S. Federal Reserve Notes for the past 112 years. Why the White House may pull its backing for the legislation is simple: there isn't enough leverage to skim from the rubes.
Another snag in the plan for you to "own nothing and be happy" has emerged just in time for the Davos WEF. Just because the majority of people in this world don't fully grasp economics, doesn't necessarily give the oligarchs and banking titans to screw them over constantly. There are solutions. See directly below.
Silver was up $9.99, or 12.49%, for the week. Gold gained $84.81 (+1.88%). The continuing gains come against a backdrop of three consecutive margin hikes in the past month by the CME and heavy negative propaganda about the Bloomberg Commodities Index Rebalancing, which was supposed to force selling in silver and gold and crush the rally in precious metals.
Didn't happen. In fact, silver had one of its best weeks ever and will head higher, probably much higher, as countries scramble to secure mine output from around the world. What's most interesting and probably overlooked by Western analysts (who, BTW, mostly have their heads deeply up their behinds) is the fierce competition in Asia, particularly between China and India, both of which seek copious amounts of silver for not just solar and EV production, but as investment and jewelry. The Lunar New Year (China) is a month off (February 17). The leadup to that event is usually a strong buying season for gold and silver to be given as gifts, adding to the allure of more rapid, explosive gains in precious metals.
For those not familiar with the ins-and-outs of precious metals, Money Daily strongly advises regular viewing of Live from the Vault, which features Andrew Maguire, one of the industry's top analysts and precious metals trader. The current episode is quite insightful regarding silver and also includes Maguire's price predictions for gold and silver in 2026.
Both metals should continue to rally through 2026 and probably beyond, until something serious breaks, like the global economy.
Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):
Item/Price
Low
High
Average
Median
1 oz silver coin:
89.75
109.27
100.43
99.96
1 oz silver bar:
95.00
108.88
102.15
101.25
1 oz gold coin:
4,667.68
4,942.17
4,827.69
4,807.21
1 oz gold bar:
4,767.62
4,915.00
4,812.34
4,805.57
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) exploded higher over the past week, to $100.95, an unprecedented gain of $13.45 from the January 11 price of $87.54 per troy ounce. The weekly movement reflects wider volatility in world markets and growing retail investment demand in smaller, finished products, from grams to 1/2-ounce, 1-ounce, 5-ounce, and 10-ounce coins and bars.
WEEKEND WRAP
Nothing beat silver last year and it's already zoomed to the front of all asset classes in 2026. Over the past year, silver experienced a gain of 180% and is already up 25% in 2026. Considering that the move over the past year was just the beginning of shaking off 55 years of price suppression and 150+ years of purposeful demonetization, price appreciation over the next two to four years may be nothing short of spectacular. With $100 silver already appearing in Shanghai and on eBay, the next move higher - even if silver only gains 40% in 2026 - will be $140. Some of the brightest analysts see a price between $140 and $160 as just the next level higher, as silver becomes relevant as an investment asset, beyond its multiple purposes in industry.
At the Close, Friday, January 16, 2026:
Dow: 49,359.33, -83.11 (-0.17%)
NASDAQ: 23,515.39, -14.63 (-0.06%)
S&P 500: 6,940.01, -4.46 (-0.06%)
NYSE Composite: 22,807.06, -1.75 (-0.01%)
Disclaimer: Information disseminated on this site should not be construed as investment advice. Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily and it's owners, affiliates and/or employees are not investment advisors and do not offer specific investment advice. All investments have risk. You should consult a professional investment advisor or stock broker or use your individual judgement when making investment decisions. By viewing this site, you hold harmless Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily, its owners, affiliates and employees against any and all liability. Copyright 2026, Downtown Magazine Inc., all rights reserved.
It's been an up-and-down week for stocks. Overall, markets are looking to head into the three-day weekend (MLK Day Monday, January 19) not very far from where they began, though with a lsight lean to the downside.
Through Thursday's close, the Dow is off 61 points, the NASDAQ is down 141, and the S&P down 21 and change.
Precious metals have had another solid week, though New York traders are looking to tamp down some of the gains.
Gold was up $109 at the close of trading on Thursday, at $4619.76, but is down slightly, at $4600 just before 9:00 am ET. Similarly, silver finished up $12.78, at $92.73 Thursday, but is being treated to its regular weekly COMEX spanking prior to Friday's U.S. stock market open, at $88.54. Silver has been whipsawed back and forth between competing markets in New York, London, and Shanghai, the latter vaulting past $100/ounce Thursday.
In terms of overall health, global equity markets continue to show considerable froth in the face of uncertain geopolitical and economic stresses.
Before the open Thursday, Taiwan Semi (TSM) reported fourth quarter earnings that beat estimates and the company guided higher, sparking a nice bump to $350 before settling back to close at $341.64. The world's largest chip manufacturer is up nearly seven percent on the week, helping tech gains on Thursday.
Banks, despite spotty results, have shown strength late in the week, but overall, don't appear to be the strongest cards in the deck. Despite weakness this week, January is off to a fair start for stocks, with the Dow leading, up nearly three percent, while the NASDAQ and S&P follow, though only ahead by 1.24% and 1.48%, respectively.
Bitcoin has regained some momentum, up more than nine percent year-to-date, at $95,468.72 Friday morning.
Stock futures are positive, led by NASDAQ, up 125 a half hour before the bell.
WTI crude oil continues to hold gains near $60/barrel. The volatility in oil had much to do with President Trump's saber-rattling at Iran, though as Iran's protests were finally quelled midweek, the rhetoric changed to a more conciliatory tone. Word has it that Russian President Putin advised the Iranian leadership to tone down in terms of punishing protesters - many of which were suspected Mossad and CIA plants - with executions.
Stocks, which remain near all-time highs, have some work to do if they plan on finishing the week higher, especially in the tech sector.
At the Close, Thursday, January 15, 2026:
Dow: 49,442.44, +292.81 (+0.60%)
NASDAQ: 23,530.02, +58.27 (+0.25%)
S&P 500: 6,944.47, +17.87 (+0.26%)
NYSE Composite: 22,808.81, +87.59 (+0.39%)
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