Silver Rises Over 120% YTD 
The COMEX May gold contract is showing unprecedented activity, with 6,712 new contracts written since first notice day—far above the historical mean of 1,525 and previous record of 4,150. Cumulative deliveries have reached nearly 16,000 contracts, surpassing the record set by the March contract. However, this activity is primarily driven by bank house accounts and JP Morgan customer accounts, with Bank of Montreal being the largest buyer at 658,000 ounces. For silver, the May contract is also setting records with JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs customer accounts driving purchases, while banks overall have sold a net 15.8 million ounces to non-banks—the third-highest net sale by banks for a specific contract in history.
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Gold Jumps on Iran Deal Hopes. The Real Driver Is the Fed
Gold and silver spiked Wednesday after Axios reported the US and Iran are close to a one-page peace deal. Most coverage is calling it a safe-haven trade. It isn’t. A Hormuz reopening lowers oil, cools PCE inflation, and gives the Fed room to cut rates — and compressed real yields are the engine behind every major gold rally. Here’s why the mechanism matters more than the headline.
May 6, 2026
