Here’s the setup for silver and gold heading into 2026

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By Philip van Doorn

Also: Year-end tax and retirement planning advice and 2026 previews for semiconductor stocks, Tesla and bitcoin

Investors and traders committed to precious metals have had quite a run in December and may be wondering whether 2026 could be another banner year.

Investors and traders who patiently held on to precious metals this year, which saw a sharp pullback in early April, have been rewarded.

Precious metals have had an incredible run during 2025, with silver accelerating in December for a year-to-date gain of 154% early on Dec. 26.

The above chart shows price movement for continuous front-month contracts for silver (SI00), gold (GC00) and copper (HG00) on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with a baseline of 100 at the end of 2024. Silver was up 154% for 2025 as of early Friday, while gold was up 72% and copper was up 42% for the year.

So how are metals positioned for 2026? Keeping in mind what happened in April, investors holding metals need to expect a high level of volatility even if prices continue to rise.

Here are varying opinions of how precious-metals prices will move during 2026:

— Silver is turning into one of the hottest trades of 2025. Why this veteran investor is targeting $300 in a coming ‘mania’ phase.

— The so-called great debasement trade is back on as gold sets fresh record, says this strategist

— Precious metals have been on a heated pre-holiday run. Why this strategist is calling that ‘unhinged.’

— This strategist said gold would top $4,000 by year-end. He was right. Here’s what he foresees in 2026.

As metals rose, the price of oil fell

Several factors have pushed oil prices down this year to close to a five-year low.

Oil prices have weakened during the second half of 2025. Myra P. Saefong broke down all the factors leading into this year’s decline and how the market appears to be shifting to set up a recovery for oil prices in 2026.

More from Myra P. Saefong: Why it’s time for investors to start treating copper like a precious metal

What lies ahead for semiconductor stocks?

Let’s take a look at how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 SPX have performed this year, with dividends reinvested. The full index returned 19.4% for the year through Wednesday.

It might surprise you to see the communications sector in the lead, considering how dominant technology stocks have been this year. But the communications sector actually includes several major tech players, such as Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), which returned 66.6% for 2025 through Wednesday, and Meta Platforms Inc. (META), which was up 14.4% year to date.

Digging further, the S&P 500 semiconductor group has returned 45.5% this year, according to LSEG. That return is weighted by companies’ market capitalization, as are the full S&P 500 and its sectors.

Tomi Kilgore explained how a technical price-movement pattern for the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX appeared to be setting up another rally for chip makers’ stocks.

Nvidia Inc. (NVDA) has a 7.8% weighting in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 by holding all of its stocks, weighted by market capitalization. Nvidia’s stock had returned 40.5% for 2025 through Wednesday; however, when the the stock closed Wednesday at $188.61, it was down 9% from its closing high of $207.04 on Oct. 29.

Britney Nguyen previewed what investors can expect from Nvidia in 2026 as the company tries to stay ahead of its competition for graphics processing units being installed in data centers to power the build-out of generative artificial intelligence.

A Tesla preview for 2026

Tesla’s stock is poised to end 2025 on a bright note.

Tesla Inc.’s (TSLA) stock was down significantly for much of 2025, but it recovered to show a 20.2% gain for the year through Wednesday.

William Gavin presented an AI-themed preview of what investors can expect from Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, in 2026.

Read on: Less traffic, more lounge time, cheaper homes? How robotaxis promise a whole new world.

As virtual currencies became even more popular, the price of bitcoin fell

Investors holding bitcoin may have been confounded to see the virtual currency’s price decline despite increasing support from regulators and politicians.

At noon Eastern time on Friday, bitcoin (BTCUSD) was trading for $86,779, a decline of 7% from the end of 2024 and a decline of 31% from a high of $125,482 on Oct. 6, according to data provided by CoinDesk.

Frances Yue reviewed what happened with bitcoin in 2025, which included new support from regulators and from President Donald Trump. She explained why virtual-currency prices fell and what investors are looking forward to in 2026.

Retirees: Don’t make this year-end mistake

Beth Pinsker writes the Fix My Portfolio column. This week she highlighted an unfortunate phenomenon: Vanguard has estimated that 7% of its customers who needed to take required minimum distributions from retirement accounts in 2024 missed the deadline to do so. With about 400,000 of Vanguard’s retirement-account customers required to take RMDs, that 7% made for quite a set of IRS penalties.

The current IRS rule is that people with retirement accounts must begin taking required minimum distributions at age 73. If you are in any doubt about when to begin taking RMDs, or how to address being late or to plan ahead, you should call the company (or companies) handling your retirement accounts immediately to formulate a plan. There are many ways to handle RMDs.

A retirement-savings opportunity

Some people prepare for retirement by putting as much money as possible into tax-deferred retirement accounts every year. If you have an individual retirement account, your contribution limit for 2026 is $7,500, with an additional $1,100 catch-up contribution allowed if you are 50 or older.

If you have a 401(k) or similar account through your employer, the contribution limit for 2026 is $24,500, with an additional $7,500 catch-up contribution allowed if you are at least 50 years old.

But there is also a “super catch-up” contribution allowed for people ages 60 to 63, along with new limits on how much of the catch-up or super catch-up contributions can be tax-deferred. Beth Pinsker dug into all the new retirement-account contribution limits and tax rules.

If you are self-employed, run your own company or even have a side hustle, you have an opportunity to save much more for retirement. Beth also detailed how you can contribute up to $70,000 annually to your own retirement account.

More retirement-planning help

In the Help Me Retire column, Alessandra Malito answered questions from a reader about spousal Social Security benefits available to divorced couples. Many of the same rules apply to people who remain married. Decisions on when to begin taking spousal Social Security benefits can be complicated, so it is best to know the rules well in advance.

More: Financial advisers want $5K to do my Roth conversions. Will they really help me avoid tax?

‘One big beautiful’ set of year-end tax-saving moves

Tax-law changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act may increase your IRS refund next tax season. It might help you to learn about the changes before the end of 2025.

President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law in July. The legislation includes tax changes that might increase your IRS refunds during the coming tax season. Andrew Keshner explained how the new rules can benefit you and reviewed the moves you can make (or avoid making) before the end of 2025 to boost your tax refund.

More from Andrew Keshner: Soaring car-insurance prices have pushed Americans into risky trade-offs

Do you want to give your house to your child, or sell it to them at a reduced price?

Quentin Fottrell is the Moneyist.

Quentin Fottrell – the Moneyist – answered a fascinating question from a reader who is considering giving her house to her daughter or selling it to her for a below-market price. This is a more complicated scenario than it might seem at first. There may be heavy tax consequences; the mother’s Medicaid eligibility may be affected; and there are other factors to consider, including the low interest rate on the mother’s mortgage loan.

Here is the Moneyist’s explanation of the positives and negatives of all the ways the mother can transfer the house to her daughter.