Charts Of The Week: Precious Metals Volatility, Bitcoin Beatdown, & Golfinger Capital Favorites Shoot Skyward

In 2026, every morning is something new and exciting for precious metals and mining investors--tons of news releases and intense market volatility had traders glued to their screens last week.

We begin with another volatile week for precious metals; a week that began with a plunge to nearly $4,400/oz during the early Monday morning hours, but finished strong with a rebound back to nearly $5,000/oz:

Gold (Daily)

The support that emerged near the prior resistance level at ~$4,550 was no accident. Last week’s lows also briefly breached the rising 40-day moving average, but did not stay below this key moving average for very long. Overall, this appears to be a typical bull-market correction, with price finding support exactly where it was supposed to.

Last week, we saw the first weekly outflows from gold funds since last November:

Turning to silver, the correction cut deeper into the white metal, with front-month silver futures falling as low as $63.90/oz on Thursday night:

Silver (Daily)

I view the defense of the $70/oz support level on a weekly closing basis as a very encouraging development. However, it is also clear to me that silver likely needs another two to three weeks to hammer out a more robust basing pattern. Nothing would be more bullish than silver trading in a $70–$85 range for the remainder of February. That said, something tells me silver will not follow my preferred script, and we could be in for both a drop back into the $60s and a rally into the $90s.

I want to buy low and sell high. I also prefer to remain unmoved by sharp sell-offs like Thursday’s, and equally nonplussed during powerful rallies like the one we saw on Friday. No fear, no FOMO, and certainly no greed or panic.

Stay calm. Stay cool. Stick to what we know best, and find one good trade at a time.

Turning to the broader market, by Thursday afternoon we were witnessing a meltdown in AI stocks and crypto. The pain was beginning to spread to other market sectors, and the S&P retested important support just below the 6800 level:

S&P 500 (Daily)

The good news is that support proved to be supportive, and Friday evolved into a powerful risk-on rally across equities and cryptocurrencies.

It’s wild to think about it, but at Thursday night’s low Bitcoin had fallen more than 50% from its early October all-time high at ~$126,000. Friday’s risk-on reversal couldn’t have come at a better time for a number of beaten-down stocks, including Michael Saylor’s MSTR:

MSTR (Daily)

It’s not an exaggeration to state that, over the last six months, tens of thousands of speculators have lost vast sums through MSTR common shares and options trading. With videos like this one, Saylor has managed to convince a new generation of speculators that he has the future figured out—and that all they need to do is tune into his sermons while plunging every available dollar into BTC.

It’s interesting how Saylor uses the word “arrogant” in the video above, yet he’s clearly not talking about himself.

I will say that he’s correct in one respect: market volatility is a gift to the faithful, and it does scare away the “tourists.” That much is true. Without volatility, markets wouldn’t be very interesting. However, the reality is that 98% of human beings don’t understand how to effectively take advantage of volatility, and the vast majority are far more likely to be victims of it than to harness it for their benefit.

Last weekend, I was struck by how badly damaged many of the AI-related stock charts looked. Those charts deteriorated meaningfully last week, with Friday’s stick-save rally doing little more than temporarily plugging a finger into a gaping hole on a leaking ship.

NVDA (Daily)

PLTR (Daily)

Friday may have marked the beginning of a two- to three-day short-covering rebound in mega-cap technology stocks and cryptocurrencies. However, I do not trust this rally. I would much rather sell or short the rebound on the afternoon of day three than attempt to participate on the long side in stocks such as MSTR or PLTR.

Many of these stocks reached extremely oversold conditions on Thursday, which suggests they could still see considerable upside early next week.

Turning to the gold miners, Barrick (NYSE: B, TSX: ABX) reported Q4 earnings on Thursday morning. The headline results were strong, but beneath the surface there is growing cause for concern.

Barrick reported record quarterly and full-year results, with net earnings and adjusted EPS up sharply year over year. Q4 adjusted EPS of approximately $1.04 exceeded expectations. Revenues of roughly $6.0 billion were well above forecasts and up approximately 65% year over year. Q4 gold and copper production increased sequentially and met guidance, with gold output of 871,000 ounces. Full-year 2025 gold and copper production was also in line with guidance.

That was the good news.

Full-year gold output fell vs the prior year (~17 % lower), and the 2026 guidance is relatively flat around ~3,000,000 ounces, implying modest growth. Additionally, all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for gold increased (~$1,800 to $1,900/oz) — above guidance and trending upward — eating into margin expansion from higher prices.

The market reacted negatively to the Barrick report because production growth is modest, costs are rising, and there are execution uncertainties on key projects (security concerns at Reko Diq, etc.).

Beyond the short term issues and rising gold production costs (industry-wide phenomenon), I believe Barrick remains one of a handful of top notch gold producers that investors should look to add on weakness. At $54/share it may have been a little overheated in the near term, however, I will be warming up to Barrick on dips into the US$40-$43 long-term support zone.

Barrick Mining (Daily)

I view a US$70 billion market cap for Barrick as being well supported on a sum-of-the-parts basis; in a US$5,000 gold price environment one can make a well-founded argument that Barrick’s North American assets alone (including Pueblo Viejo) could be worth US$70 billion to Newmont (NYSE:NEM).

Turning to the juniors, I am in awe of the rise in some of the Goldfinger Capital (GC) favorites such as San Lorenzo Gold (TSX-V:SLG), Kingfisher Metals (TSX-V:KFR), and Andina Copper (TSX-V:ANDC). In particular, San Lorenzo Gold continues to levitate on an almost daily basis:

San Lorenzo Gold (Daily)

Drilling is ongoing (Arco de Oro Target) at the Salvadora Property in Chile’s Atacama Region, and additional assay results are imminent from the Cerro Blanco Target. I will have an interview with San Lorenzo Gold CEO Al Kroontje up on Monday.

Kingfisher Metals announced a bought deal financing that was quickly upsized to C$25 million.

Kingfisher Metals (Daily)

In Q4 2025, Kingfisher shares suffered a grueling decline due to a combination of tax-loss selling and a perceived financing overhang that kept investors on the sidelines. With the turn of the calendar to 2026, not only has Kingfisher delivered additional strong drill results (here and here), but by early March KFR will be in the strongest financial position in the company’s history, with roughly two years of capital runway.

In my estimation, Kingfisher is arguably the most exciting Canadian drill-play speculation of 2026. A C$100 million market capitalization may seem like a rich valuation for an early-stage explorer, but when one takes the time to fully appreciate the quality of the data and the geological context at HWY 37, that nine-figure valuation no longer feels far-fetched.

Two other GC favorites that delivered drill results last week were Talon Metals (TSX:TLO) and Andina Copper (TSX-V:ANDC).

Talon Metals (Daily)

Since announcing the acquisition of the Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill in December, Talon shares have been in a sideways oscillation. The relatively placid share price action disguises the enormous transformation this company has undergone in a relatively short period of time; an overdue share consolidation has been completed, Talon is now the American nickel/copper/PGEs producer/developer, and the ultra high-grade Vault Zone intercepts keep coming.

Talon reported that new drill hole 25TK0563C, drilled 16 meters to the southwest of drill hole 25TK0563, intercepted 8.26 meters of MSU and Mixed Massive Sulphides (assays pending) at the same stratigraphic horizon as the upper part of drill hole 25TK0563 and at a similar depth to drill hole 25TK0563B, starting at 773.95 meters.

Another new drill hole 25TK0567, located 79 meters below drill hole 12TK0153C within the Tamarack Resource Area intercepted a total of 35 meters of MMS starting at 645.26 meters (assays pending), located 27 meters above the MMS intercepted in drill hole 25TK0565.

The hole 567 drill core looks very good, with a significant percentage of massive sulphides over a 35 meter interval.

Overall, Talon continues to execute on its plan of methodically outlining and expanding the Vault Zone. There have been no disappointments so far, and a steady stream of drill results and news flow is expected throughout the remainder of 2026. Talon Metals has never been in a stronger position than it is today, and the future for this U.S. critical-minerals producer, developer, and explorer has never looked brighter.

Finally, South American copper explorer Andina Copper delivered the first assay results from 2025 drilling at the Cobrasco Copper-Molybdenum Project located in the Choco Department of Colombia. Drill hole CDH003 returned 352 meters grading 0.68% copper, 112 ppm molybdenum, 1.55 g/t silver from 144 meters downhole. This headline interval includes 118 meters at 1.17% Cu, 193 ppm Mo, 2.35 g/t Ag from 246 meters downhole.

I would have liked to see more maps and drill core photos, but to be fair Andina is just getting going at Cobrasco. I’m looking forward to more assay results from holes 4 and 5, in addition to more drill hole cross sections and long section maps from Cobrasco.

CEO Joseph van den Elsen stated:

“These exceptional assay results from our very first drillhole validate Cobrasco as a globally significant Cu-Mo porphyry system and clearly demonstrate potential for large tonnages of high-grade mineralization. Ongoing drilling is expected to further expand the multi-kilometer footprint of mineralization both northward and south along the well-defined structural corridor.

2026 promises to be an exciting time for Andina Copper shareholders, as we are now in a catalyst rich period with strong, exploration driven news flow being generated across all three of our projects. The 2025-26 field season is well underway at Piuquenes and exploration is continuing at pace at Cobrasco, with results from CDH004 expected shortly. Follow-up exploration will also shortly commence at Mantau.”

I have also come to respect the strategic value and geologic potential of ANDC’s Piuquenes Copper Porphyry Project in San Juan, Argentina. I have a feeling that Piuquenes will be competing with Cobrasco for flagship status in 2026.

The market quickly bought Thursday’s post-NR dip and ANDC shares closed at a new high on Friday:

Andina Copper (Daily)

You’d be hard pressed to find a steadier uptrend among early-stage explorers than what ANDC has carved out since November.

You can count on a steady dose of CEO interviews from me next week (including from some of the aforementioned companies), including a return of everyone’s favorite Mr. Geo Alpha on Friday.

Disclosure: Author owns several stocks mentioned in this article including Andina Copper, San Lorenzo, Talon Metals, and Kingfisher Metals. Author may choose to buy or sell at any time without notice.

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