What caught my eye this week.
Where were you for the Great Crash of 2026? Cowering behind the sofa? Or toasting your short positions in the back of an Uber on the way to snag a Lambo?
[Lamb-OH, dear. It’s a car, not a quadruped. Eh? Yes I know we usually have roast dinner on a Sunday.]
Not a crash in the stock market. Don’t panic! Equities continue to chug along in a Schrödinger Bubble [1].
No, I’m talking about the Great Silver Crash of Friday, 30 January 2026:
[2]
Down over 30% at one point. That’s almost the entire Covid crash [3] in the stock market in just one day for the ‘other’ precious metal.
Silver surfer
Gold and silver had been on a tear for months, of course – silver had pretty much gone parabolic. (See the second graph in my links below.)
So to see a blow-up is hardly unexpected, even if – as usual – there seems no certain reason why it crashed from a ludicrously overbought position today as opposed to a week ago.
[Yes dear, I know the man on CNBC said he knows [4]. Why’s he on the telly then and not on his private island? And no I didn’t sell grannie’s silver spoons like you told me to.]
Clearly Trump choosing a non-crazy [5] for the next Federal Reserve chair must have been the catalyst for lesser paranoiacs to start dumping their precious metals and bunker down payments.
But you don’t need to be George Soros to suspect a lot of leverage was involved to create carnage on this scale – and that the ferocity suggests a big squeeze.
Maybe the crazy run-up to this plunge was all due to a handful of hedge knights funds jousting with each other? The Benighted of the Seven Kingdoms having at it?
Paging Michael Lewis [6]!
[No, MICHAEL Lewis dear, not John Lewis. Yes, him who wrote the film about Christian Bale.]
Have a great weekend.
From Monevator
Our updated guide to help you find the best broker – Monevator [7]
Don’t tell me your opinion, show me your portfolio – Monevator [8] [Mogul members [9]]
From the archive-ator: All about the annual ISA allowance – Monevator [10]
News
Ground rent to be capped [11] in England and Wales at £250 a year – Guardian [12]
The UK cities where living standards are rising fastest – Centre for Cities [13]
India, EU agree ‘mother of all trade deals’ – AFP via Yahoo Finance [14]
Household water bills to rise by 5.4% in England and Wales – Guardian [15]
Gold topped $5,000 for the first time ever this week, but now it’s falling – BBC [16]
London’s high land prices need ‘market adjustment’, says housing minister [Paywall] – FT [17]
Mortgage shock for borrowers as nearly 1m five-year deals end soon – Standard [18]
Record number in UK living in ‘very deep poverty’, analysis shows- Guardian [19]
Prime London prices to bottom out this year – This is Money [20]
Millions to get £150 off energy bills for a further five years – BBC [21]
Robinhood CEO says tokenised stocks could prevent another GameStop freeze – CoinDesk [22]
Tether will become ‘gold central bank’ in post-dollar world, says CEO – The Block [23]
Indonesian stock exchange CEO resigns after $84bn market rout – CNBC [24]
[25]
Debasement fear – not central bank buying – is driving precious metals – Robin Brooks [26]
Products and services
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More on how leasehold rent (ground rent) will be capped at £250… – Which [27]
…what is changing and when will it happen? – This Is Money [28]
Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments to Charles Stanley Direct through this affiliate link [29]. Terms apply – Charles Stanley [29]
Santander switch offer: £200 + £25 Amazon gift card – Be Clever With Your Cash [30]
The best fixed-rate cash ISAs – This Is Money [31]
Government confirms you can still open and save into a LISA, pending changes – GOV.UK [32]
Get up to £3,000 cashback when you open or switch to an Interactive Investor [33] SIPP. Terms and fees apply, affiliate link – Interactive Investor [33]
Six ways to find great travel insurance without overpaying – Which [34]
How to get cheap filler seats for theatres and other shows – Be Clever With Your Cash [35]
Homes for sale with air source heat pumps or solar panels, in pictures – Guardian [36]
Scammers mini-special
How scammers tried to steal one man’s Coinbase wallet – CNBC [37]
Scammers got this ‘tech-savvy zillennial’ to click on a dodgy link – Guardian [38]
China executes 11 people linked to Myanmar scam operation – Guardian [39]
Comment and opinion
Don’t be overly fearful of all-time highs – Chart Kid Matt [40]
Do you need to earn £71,000 to match a jobless household on benefits? [Podcast] – BBC [41]
The midlife (spending) crisis – A Wealth of Common Sense [42]
Should artists get a basic income like they do in Ireland? – BBC [43]
Leasehold reforms could have unintended consequences – This Is Money [44]
Top tips to protect your pension in turbulent times – Guardian [45]
When it’s worth paying up for funds [US/niche but interesting] – Morningstar [46]
Renters’ Rights Act brings an accidental tax headache for 150,000+ tenants – T.P.A. [47]
Meet the top-secret NS&I agent who tells people they’ve won £1m – This Is Money [48]
Hargreaves Lansdown’s private equity masters come for a bite – Simple Living in Somerset [49]
“We lived in a van in South London to save up to move to Portugal” – Standard [50]
Elon Musk is wrong. People still need to save – Bloomberg via FA Mag [51]
Naughty corner: Active antics
Zoom’s ‘hidden gem’ stake in Anthropic could be worth $2bn – CNBC [52]
Which UK investment trusts own SpaceX shares? – Morningstar [53]
Megacap tech’s relative valuation near 2022 lows – Sherwood [54]
Termites are feasting on the foundations of dollar dominance [Paywall] – FT [55]
Business Breakdowns: Games Workshop [Podcast] – via Apple [56]
Appreciation for depreciation – Permanent Equity [57]
You probably shouldn’t trade based on insider buying – SSRN [58]
Kindle book bargains
The Book of Money by Monzo – £0.99 on Kindle [59]
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy – £0.99 on Kindle [60]
80/20 Daily by Richard Koch – £0.99 on Kindle [61]
Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal – £0.99 on Kindle [62]
Or pick up one of the all-time great investing classics – Monevator shop [63]
Environmental factors
How to apply for solar panel funding schemes – The Independent [64]
Australians finding out what happens to human bodies at 49C – Guardian [65]
Plans to power London landmarks with river Thames heat – BBC [66]
Repurposing AI data centre heat to warm homes – CNBC [67]
How humans are making the world’s wildlife dangerously samey – The Conversation [68]
Let the Chinese electric vehicles in – Noahpinion [69]
Robot overlord roundup
The adolescence of technology – Dario Amodei [70]
Wall Street thinks the next bottleneck in AI is chip equipment – Sherwood [71]
AI is hitting the UK harder than other big economies, study finds – Guardian [72]
Why AI won’t wipe out white collar jobs [Paywall] – The Economist [73]
Machine learning in investing – Larry Swedroe [74]
Moltbot is taking over Silicon Valley – Wired [75]
TSMC risk – Stratechery [76]
Not at the dinner table
This is why you have to care – Ryan Holiday [77]
Danger for ‘middle powers’ as the world inches back to pre-WW2 order – BBC [78]
World files for economic divorce from America – Paul Krugman [79]
Centrist ideas no longer wanted in the Tory party, says Badenoch – Guardian [80]
The ICE shootings are a tipping point – Strength in Numbers [81]
The end of panda diplomacy as Japan returns bears to China – Guardian [82]
Francis Fukuyama: after Davos – Persuasion [83]
The great entertainment – Kyla Scanlon [84]
Brainy mini-special
Neuroplasticity: how the brain can change – The Conversation [85]
UK man given Musk’s Neuralink brain chip says it ‘feels magical’ – Sky [86]
Scientists find helping to raise grandchildren is good for the brain – USA Today [87]
Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia – The Conversation [88]
Off our beat
Where breakthrough ideas actually come from – Next Big Idea Club [89]
Polygamous working: why some people hold down two jobs or more – Guardian [90]
A mental model that could change your life – Darius Foroux [91]
Career advice [92] for young people from top VC Bill Gurley – via Tim Ferriss [93]
How Europe is planning to build its own sovereign tech stack – Sherwood [94]
In defence of pop-ups – Seth Godin [95]
And finally…
“The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. Stick to the good plan.”
– Jack Bogle, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing [96]
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