4:59 AM EST - Feb. 2, 2026 -- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) operated by the CME Group, has announced increased Margin requirements - again - on precious metals futures contracts after prices suffered their biggest slides in decades.
Gold margins will rise to 8% of the value of the underlying contract from the current 6% for non-heightened risk profile, the exchange said in a statement Friday. The heightened risk profile margins will be increased to 8.8% from the current 6.6%, it said.
Silver margins will climb to 15% from the current 11% for non-heightened risk profile, while the heightened risk profile margins will be hiked to 16.5% from the current 12.1%, according to the statement.
Platinum and palladium futures’ margin also will be boosted.
Hal Turner Analysis
One person with whom I am friendly, but who is NOT and expert in this field, suggested the following to me. I think he might be onto something:
He said "If it is true that silver is so scarce and there stands so many contracts for delivery, then this is how I see the plan:
They want to drive the price of silver as low as possible, then declare “force majeure” on COMEX, and then there will be a cash settlement at the paper price, whereby the physical price of silver is much higher due to high premiums."
Another person with whom I am friends, told me "Buying silver was simply disabled in many trading apps, that´s how they achieved that 37 percent dip in silver price last week."
