Anna Helhoski

Hey, Elizabeth.

Hey, Sean.

And yeah, like Sean mentioned, gold has hit a record high.

But I'm also thinking about hitting estate sales this weekend and seeing what Grandma Silver's going for, because that's also higher than ever.

They've both hit unprecedented levels recently.

And it's going to have implications for the economy.

So today, our investing colleague, Sam Taub, is here to talk about why investors are flocking to precious metals when uncertainty hits, what drives swings, and how politics and the global economy move prices.

And we're also going to talk about when it's worth having some physical metals in your portfolio.

Sam, welcome back to Smart Money.

So first off, let's do some level setting.

You always hear that gold and silver are safe hands, but what does that actually mean?

And why do investors steer toward them during times of uncertainty?

Yeah, and the prices do seem to change.

Gold surged over $5,000 per ounce this week.

What's driving this remarkable run over the last six months?

What about silver?

Because its swings have been even more dramatic, even more volatile.

What's influencing silver prices?

So we talked about geopolitical uncertainty.

Let's talk a little bit more about specifics.