Gold and silver may have spent much of 2026 consolidating after January’s sharp correction, but veteran precious metals analyst Ed Steer believes the next major move could be much higher.
In a conversation with Money Metals’ Mike Maharrey, Steer explained why tightening physical supplies, growing demand from the East, unsustainable government debt, and shifting global pricing power all point toward significantly higher precious metals prices. He also shared why he believes silver could return to triple-digit prices before the end of the year if market conditions unfold as expected.
Ed Steer says Gold and Silver are nearing a major breakout
Steer began by looking back at the powerful rally that carried gold and silver into late January. He explained that large bullion banks began covering short positions around May or June of the previous year, helping drive prices higher as they bought back contracts. The rally accelerated in December as speculative traders entered the market, eventually becoming nearly parabolic before abruptly ending in late January.
According to Steer, the correction that followed was not the result of changing market fundamentals. Instead, he argued that the largest bullion banks deliberately intervened to halt the rally and continue reducing their short exposure while pushing prices lower.
Despite months of sideways trading and heightened geopolitical uncertainty, Steer believes the current correction is nearing its end. He expects gold and silver to begin recovering during July or August and said silver could return to triple-digit prices before the end of 2026 if commercial traders allow the rally to unfold.
Physical Silver shortages continue to strengthen the bullish case
Maharrey pointed to reports of silver shortages in London, strong physical demand from India, and the movement of metal between London and New York earlier this year. He asked whether these developments exposed growing vulnerabilities within the global bullion market.
Steer believes they did.
He noted that the silver market has now experienced a structural supply deficit for six consecutive years, with annual consumption consistently exceeding global mine production. While many assumed roughly 150 million ounces of freely available silver remained within the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), Steer said recent events demonstrated that readily available inventories were far smaller than expected.
According to Steer, transporting silver between trading hubs only temporarily addresses shortages. The underlying supply-and-demand imbalance remains intact, and he believes the market will eventually experience what he described as a “discontinuous price event” once available physical inventories can no longer satisfy demand.
Why Steer continues buying precious metals
One question Maharrey frequently hears is why investors should own precious metals if prices are heavily manipulated.
Steer’s response was straightforward: even if prices have been artificially suppressed, long-term investors have still been rewarded.
He recalled purchasing silver for about $5 Canadian per ounce in the late 1990s while gold traded near $250 per ounce. Today, gold trades above $5,000 per ounce, while silver has appreciated dramatically over that same period.
Steer also highlighted mining investments he made years ago, including First Majestic Silver and Wheaton Precious Metals, both of which generated substantial long-term gains.
Rather than viewing temporary price weakness as a reason to avoid precious metals, Steer believes corrections create buying opportunities. Citing the old investing principle of buying when “blood is running in the streets,” he said recent weakness has encouraged him to continue adding mining stocks to his own portfolio.
East versus West: A shift in Gold pricing
Maharrey highlighted a fascinating statistic from the World Gold Council’s review of the first half of 2026.
Gold gained 12.9% during Asian trading sessions in the first six months of the year. During North American trading sessions, however, gold actually declined by more than 15%.
Steer said this pattern has persisted for decades. Since COMEX gold futures began trading on January 2, 1975, he believes gold has consistently performed better during Asian trading hours than during London and New York sessions.
He argues this reflects an ongoing struggle between Eastern physical demand and Western paper markets. While the East increasingly drives genuine demand for precious metals, Steer believes futures markets in London and New York continue to dominate short-term pricing.
Could Shanghai become the world’s Gold pricing center?
The conversation then shifted toward the long-term balance of power in global precious metals markets.
Maharrey noted that Hong Kong and Singapore continue expanding vaulting infrastructure while building new mechanisms for pricing physical gold.
Steer believes this represents a much larger transition that has been unfolding for decades. As China, India, Russia, and other Eastern economies have become major producers and consumers of precious metals, he expects pricing authority to gradually shift away from Western futures exchanges.
Unlike COMEX and the LBMA, which Steer describes as primarily paper markets, the Shanghai Gold Exchange operates as a physical market. He believes that if London and New York eventually exhaust their physical inventories, Shanghai could naturally emerge as the world’s primary center for gold and silver price discovery.
Debt and monetary policy continue to favor Gold and Silver
Maharrey also asked Steer about newly appointed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, whose hawkish stance has fueled expectations that interest rates could remain elevated.
Steer questioned whether any Federal Reserve chair can successfully maintain restrictive monetary policy given the scale of government debt. He cited approximately $40 trillion in U.S. debt, excluding unfunded liabilities, and argued governments ultimately face only two realistic options: default or inflation.
With federal deficits approaching $2 trillion annually, Steer believes gold and silver will continue re-monetizing regardless of Federal Reserve policy. In his view, debt levels have become so large that market forces will eventually overwhelm central bank decisions.
The discussion also touched on the passing of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose early support for sound money contrasted sharply with the monetary policies pursued after the United States abandoned the gold standard in 1971.
Ed Steer’s favorite Silver product
To close the interview, Maharrey asked a lighter question by inviting Steer to name his favorite bullion product.
Although Steer said he has handled virtually every major gold and silver product while working in the retail bullion industry and doesn’t have a strong personal favorite, he ultimately selected the Royal Canadian Mint 10-ounce silver bar.
He praised its design and said he believed it would become one of the industry’s standard 10-ounce silver bars shortly after its introduction, a prediction he believes has proven accurate. Steer also complimented Australian bullion products, noting their high quality despite being less readily available where he lives in Canada.
Looking ahead
Throughout the interview, Ed Steer argued that the forces supporting higher gold and silver prices continue to strengthen despite recent volatility. He believes tightening physical supplies, years of structural silver deficits, mounting government debt, and the gradual shift of price discovery from West to East are creating the conditions for a powerful move higher in precious metals.
Whether or not every aspect of Steer’s market thesis ultimately proves correct, his message was clear: he believes today’s precious metals market is laying the groundwork for substantially higher gold and silver prices in the years ahead, making this a pivotal time for investors to pay close attention.