SILVER Price 'HAS to Rise a LOT' - Previous Highs 'Will Be Surpassed': Clive Thompson

China's export controls and deliberate silver stockpiling, combined with an existing structural mined supply deficit, are tightening global silver availability and set the stage for periodic blow‑off spikes followed by prolonged volatile pullbacks as industrial buyers hoard supply.

Gold behaves as a lagging hedge: sustained rises in M2 and government debt—often accelerated by sovereign bond stress and central‑bank backstops—tend to spur delayed institutional reallocations into gold, and with current allocations well below historical norms this dynamic could push gold toward new highs within the year, albeit with volatility.

Prefer producing, cash‑flowing miners and dollar‑cost‑average exposure because non‑producers carry dilution risk, while AISC‑driven operating leverage gives profitable miners outsized per‑ounce gains on modest metal rallies but also sharp downside on price falls.

Physical bullion availability is tightening and, relative to listed miners or ETFs, is more likely to find a buyer in extreme stress; therefore acquiring allocated bullion ahead of a crisis is advised as part of a liquidity‑focused reserve strategy while recognizing miners provide different (operational) exposure.