Why did silver suddenly crash -$7?

Goldman Sachs blew past expectations on Thursday, posting a 12% profit jump for Q4 thanks to a rebound in equities trading and asset and wealth management.

Goldman’s total revenue came in at $13.45 billion, while earnings hit $14.01 per share, lifting net income to $4.62 billion. That was nearly $900 million more revenue than expected in key trading and wealth units.

Morgan Stanley also came in strong. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share, topping the $2.44 Wall Street expected.

Revenue rose to $17.89 billion, beating forecasts of $17.77 billion. Net income climbed to $4.40 billion, up from $3.71 billion a year earlier.

The market liked what it saw, as Morgan Stanley’s stock jumped 6% right after the report.

ASML Holding jumped 7.6% in Amsterdam on Thursday, breaking above $500 billion in market value for the first time ever after Taiwan Semiconductor hiked its 2026 capex forecast.

The Dutch chip equipment giant is now only the third European company to cross that line, after LVMH and Novo Nordisk.

The rally pushed ASML to a record high, taking its year-to-date gain to 24%. The company’s valuation hit €453 billion, or about $527 billion.

The surge followed TSMC’s announcement that it plans to spend up to $56 billion on capital projects next year, more than expected, as demand for AI chips keeps exploding.

ASML is now Europe’s most valuable company thanks to its grip on the world’s most advanced lithography machines, which are critical for making chips that go into Apple’s iPhones, Nvidia’s AI accelerators, and everything in between.

But ASML is still a small fish next to the giants across the Atlantic. Nvidia and Alphabet are both worth over $4 trillion.

Silver crashed 7.3% on Thursday, sliding from a new all-time high of $93.7515 after a wild four-day run that added over 20%.

The drop came as Donald Trump signaled possible bilateral trade deals and floated price floors on critical minerals, without ruling out tariffs.

That uncertainty rattled traders, especially after last year’s short squeeze that was fueled by hoarded silver stuck in U.S. warehouses.

The white metal is still up nearly 150% over the past year, beating gold by a wide margin. The rally has been powered by industrial demand, especially from solar panels, and intense speculative buying in China. Some investors also rotated into silver after gold got too pricey.

But everything fell today. Gold slipped 0.7% to $4,591.51, while platinum and palladium dropped over 2%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin held strong at $97,000, rising 3% on the day.

ETF flows showed exactly where the cash is going. On Jan. 14, SoSoValue tracked $844 million in total spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT pulling in $648 million by itself.

Spot Ethereum ETFs got $175 million, Solana saw $23.57 million, and XRP took in $10.63 million.

Equities stayed firm. Dow futures rose 58 points, while S&P 500 futures climbed 0.4% and Nasdaq-100 futures jumped 0.7%.

Tech led the charge after TSMC reported another record quarter, sending its shares up 6%. Micron popped 3%, while Nvidia and AMD both rose more than 1%.