Silver’s “Air Pocket” – is the High in or Just a Higher Floor?

BY BILL GRIFFO 

December 31, 2025

Hey Income Hunters,

Monday was the kind of day that makes grown traders suddenly discover yoga.

Silver screamed to a fresh high near $83.62 and then fell hard — a drop widely tied to CME margin hikes, thin holiday liquidity and profit-taking.

Then yesterday (Tuesday) showed the depth of the buying: silver rebounded as short covering supported the $75 area and the bulls stepped back in.

So… did Monday set the high …? Or did Tuesday’s bounce absorb forced selling and reset a higher “floor” under silver?

Let’s walk through how you can analyze these questions using technical structure and money flows (no crystal balls required).1) First, label Monday correctly: “Margin-Call Selling” looks different

When exchanges raise margin requirements after a big run, leveraged players must post more collateral immediately.

That often forces non-emotional selling: “sell what you can” to meet margin, not “sell because fundamentals changed.”

That matters because forced selling can be temporary — and it often creates:

        sharp drops

  • oversized intraday ranges
  • fast reversals when liquidation finishes

 

Monday’s tape fit that profile.

2) The key question: Did silver lose structure or just retest it?

Here’s the simple checklist.

A) Did price reclaim a “line in the sand” on Tuesday?

A rebound is nice — but the quality matters:

  • If Tuesday only bounced weakly and failed to regain key levels, that’s often distribution (smart money selling into strength).
  • If Tuesday bounced and held above a prior breakout zone, that’s often a reset higher.

The main focus was on the $75-ish region, which was prior resistance that often becomes support.

B) Look for the “day-time trading tell”: a candlestick with a long lower wick

If Monday/Tuesday produced a candle with a long tail below and a close much higher, that’s the market saying:

“We tried lower… and got rejected.”

That doesn’t guarantee new highs, but it often marks the end of liquidation.

3) “High-in” vs “Higher Floor” —4 technical signalposts

Signal #1: The 3-Level Road Test

Think of price zones like floors in a building:

  1. Floor 1: Prior breakout zone (your ~$75 area)
  2. Floor 2: Next support (a deeper retracement / former consolidation – $72)
  3. Floor 3: “Uh oh” level (break here and trend is damaged – $70)

If silver holds Floor 1 after a panic day, that is normally bullish.

Signal #2: Volume Exhaustion

This is huge:

  • Big red day + declining sell volume into the lows = sellers running out of ammo
  • Bounce day + rising buy volume = institutions stepping in

That combo of signals is often how a new floor gets poured in concrete.

Signal #3: Fibonacci + Moving Average “Confluence”

When a pullback stops near a key retracement and stays above a fast moving average, it suggests buyers are front-running deeper discounts — usually a bullish sign.

4) Money Flow Reality Check: Follow the money, not the mood.

ETF behavior

Silver ETFs fell with the price on Monday (SLV). But what matters next is whether ETF holdings and flows stabilize or turn positive as price bases. (That signals “strong hands” stepping in.)

Futures positioning

If open interest drops sharply during the selloff, that can be liquidation/covering.
If open interest rises during the rebound, it can mean fresh longs are entering (stronger).
(the signpost here for watching is COT cycle and exchange data.)

Industrial bid

Even critics admit silver’s 2025 run has had strong industrial demand tailwinds.
Industrial buyers care more about supply and securing inventory — and they often buy pullbacks like Monday’s.

5) What Tuesday is telling us right now

Based on what we do have publicly:

  • Monday’s drop was widely attributed to margin hikes, thin liquidity and profit-taking (classic “forced selling” fuel).
  • Tuesday’s rebound suggests buyers were waiting, and liquidation may have finished (at least for now).

That leans toward: not “high-in,” but “resetting a higher floor.”
However, the market still has to prove it by:

  • holding the support zone on the next dip
  • rebuilding toward the prior highs without another air-pocket

 6) Portfolio takeaway (keep it grown-up)

If silver is now a volatility machine, long-term investors should think about position sizing and rebalancing bands, not all-in/all-out.

Consider:

  • Keep your core hard-asset exposure (gold/silver) as a currency hedge
  • Use the volatility to rebalance (trim into spikes, add on tested support)
  • Pair hard assets with inflation-protectors we’ve discussed before (TIPS / TIP ETF concepts) — especially if liquidity events keep appearing

For related context, revisit:

Live and Trade With Passion My Friends

Bill

Bill Griffo

Head Income Trader

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William Griffo

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About the Author

William Griffo

William Griffo

Former CBOE floor trader and CIO at Karman Line Capital. Author of ‘The Option Traders Hedge Fund’ with over 30 years of options trading experience.

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