The Devil's Metal: Silver and Risks of Contagion - Silver's 1Q pump-then-dump may prove contagious. The so-called "devil's metal" has lived up to its reputation, reversing a 63% year-to-date gain on Jan. 28 to a 5% decline on March 20. Will its pump-then-dump trickle down to other assets? My bias leans that way, and the chart shows two reasons why: S&P 500 60-day volatility is still buried, down about 7% in 2026, alongside Bitcoin's roughly 20% slide. Declining stock market volatility in 1Q may, in hindsight, resemble 2008. A secure Strait of Hormuz can prompt a relief rally in most risk assets, but the damage may have been done for a down year for beta, with ebbing-tide implications. The graphic features the start of convergence, which I expect to persist -- rising stock-market volatility and falling risk assets, including gold. Full report on the Bloomberg terminal here: https://blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories/tc7027kgifx3 {BI COMD} #silver #stockmarket #bitcoin #gold @markets(Mike McGlone)