Down More Than 40% From Its High, Is Now the Time to Buy the iShares Silver Trust?

Entering 2026, silver looked unstoppable. It reached record highs in the early part of the year, but lately it's been a far different story. Investors have been piling into other assets, potentially looking to benefit from rising oil prices instead.

As a result, the price of silver has been falling, and on Wednesday it fell below $70 per ounce, to levels it hasn't been at since late last year. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV), which tracks the price of silver, has also been falling. It's trading around $64, down around 42% from its 52-week high of $109.83.

Is now a good time to invest in silver, or could there be more pain to come for investors?

Image source: Getty Images.

Has the bubble burst for silver?

The problem with silver is that these days, it's been trading more like a meme than a safe-haven investment. And that's why its price can go on such wild swings. While it's normally a much more stable investment, speculation has been playing a much larger role in its valuation of late, making it much riskier to invest in the iShares Silver Trust than usual.

And these days, with oil prices spiking, investors and speculators appear to have moved on from silver stocks to the next hot theme: oil and gas. For example, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF has soared by 33% this year, while the S&P 500 has declined by around 4%. It does appear as though the bubble may be bursting for silver, and investors are pivoting to other opportunities.

Should you invest in the iShares Silver Trust today?

Although the iShares Silver Trust has been in a bit of a free fall of late, it has still more than doubled in value over the past year. While it may bounce back, there's also plenty of room for it to fall back down if there isn't a resurgence in the excitement around silver.

Even if you're a risk-averse investor who may see precious metals as safe-haven investments, you may be better off avoiding silver and the iShares Silver Trust for the foreseeable future. At the very least, you may want to consider just having minimal exposure to silver. There's considerable volatility still around it, and until that changes, it may not be a good option to consider, especially if your goal is to minimize risk.

For now, I'd take a wait-and-see approach with silver. Instead of trying to guess where the precious metal might go, investing in blue chip dividend stocks may be a better move today.

David Jagielski, CPA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.