Reenact the shadow of the 1980 collapse? The parabolic rise in gold and silver suddenly came to a halt, and strategists urgently called for "profit taking".

Gold and silver plummeted after touching record highs, bringing the parabolic rise of precious metals to a sudden halt. On Monday, gold futures fell by 4.5%, trading slightly above $4,340 per troy ounce; silver futures briefly reached $80 per ounce before dropping by 8.7%, marking the largest single-day decline since 2021. After the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) raised margin requirements for silver futures, traders were generally in a state of tension before the Monday opening - their highly leveraged positions faced double pressure: either adding significant margins to maintain their positions or being forced to close out at a loss. Meanwhile, China, the world's third largest silver-producing country, is expected to restrict silver exports starting in January next year, intensifying market concerns amid competition to secure supplies for the AI industry. Over the weekend, Elon Musk commented on the skyrocketing silver prices on the X platform: "This is not good, many industrial processes require silver." The nonprofit industry organization Silver Institute stated that nearly 60% of silver is used in the industrial sector. Silver is the best conductor among all metals, and is a key component in CECEP Solar Energy solar panels, data center server motherboards, and electric vehicles. "It's crucial for the electronics and computing industry," said Michael DiRienzo, chairman and CEO of the Silver Institute, "almost everything with a switch will use it." DiRienzo pointed out that the global silver market has seen a structural deficit for the fifth consecutive year. In October, silver was listed on the U.S. critical minerals list, leading to concerns in the market about potential tariffs and trade restrictions. Precious metals have performed well this year, with gold rising by 67% year-to-date due to strong central bank gold purchases and a weakening U.S. dollar; the smaller market of silver has been a star performer, with nearly a 150% increase due to supply shortages driven by industrial demand, while copper and platinum have also reached record highs. However, an analyst who has a long-term positive view on precious metals continues to warn that the current upward trend may reverse: the last time such a rapid rise occurred was in 1979, and prices plummeted in 1980. Mike McGlone, Senior Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, stated earlier this month: "When prices are stretched to this extent, be cautious." "For someone like me who has always been bullish on gold, the most important two words are: take profits."