Silver's ascent over just the past 12 months alone has been truly extraordinary. This time last year, the white metal was going for just under US$31 an ounce. Today, that same ounce will cost an investor a record high of US$97.60. Yep, silver has more than tripled in the past year.

Silver's status as a precious, investment-grade metal has coupled with growing demand in future-facing technologies such as data centres, semiconductors, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles to push it up to these unprecedented heights. So it's fair to say that many investors would be looking to get a slice of the action.

If that's you, you might want to hear about two ways you can buy silver in 2026.

Three ways to buy silver in 2026

Silver bullion

The traditional way to own silver is still the preferred path for many investors. That would be buying physical silver bullion in the form of bars, ingots or coins. Just like gold, investors can buy silver in its physical form from bullion shops and the like. For true precious metal enthusiasts, having the metal in one's possession is the only way to fully realise the benefits of investing in silver. There's nothing quite like owning your own cache.

However, buying real silver is the costliest way of investing in the precious metal. Firstly, you'll be paying a spread over the metal's market price, plus extra if you are paying for numismatic value. Then there are transportation, storage and insurance costs to consider. Silver is harder to look after than gold, too, given that it is a reactive metal that can tarnish if not stored correctly.

This is why many investors prefer other ways of investing in silver.

There's an ETF for that

Like gold, investors who don't wish to take ownership of silver bullion can opt for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) instead. Silver ETFs work in a similar manner to gold funds. Investors buy units of an ETF on the ASX, with each unit representing an ownership stake in a pile of physical silver that is typically stored in a bank vault somewhere. As each unit of the ETF is tied to silver, its price should rise and fall alongside that of the actual metal.

Silver ETFs don't come cheap, at least compared to most stock-based ETFs or index funds. Saying that, this is usually the cheapest way you can get exposure to the precious metal. However, you will never take physical custody of the silver you are investing in, so that might be a dealbreaker for some investors.

But if you do opt for a silver ETF, your best bet on the ASX is probably going to be the Global X Physical Silver Structured ETF (ASX: ETPMAG). This fund charges a management fee of 0.49% per annum. Another option is the largest silver ETF in the world, the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), if you're open to buying a US-based ETF.

The post Want to buy silver in 2026? Here are 2 ways to do it appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The stock market rebounded sharply on Monday, bouncing back from losses at the end of last week. As of just after 1 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) was up 240 points to 30,223. The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) gained 60 points to 3,774, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC) outpaced them all with a massive 322-point gain to 13,394.

The attention on Wall Street remains squarely on the efforts of the groups of individual investors spearheading the big moves in short-sold stocks, like GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME). Over the weekend, those investors targeted the silver market, and they were largely successful in pushing prices higher. Yet the gains that investors are seeing from these silver-squeeze candidates aren't nearly as large as the moves in GameStop and other stocks were.

A somewhat muted response

Silver had a solid rally on Monday. As of early afternoon, spot silver prices climbed about $1.75 per ounce to roughly $28.75. That was its highest level in six months, but it was considerably below the eight-year high that the white metal had seen overnight before New York markets opened for trading.

Investors also saw solid gains in silver-related stocks. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA: SLV), which holds silver bullion and acts as a market-traded proxy for silver prices, was higher by nearly 9% by early afternoon on Monday. The similar Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSEARCA: PSLV) climbed 8%.

Silver mining stocks were where most of the biggest gains were found. First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE: AG) picked up 22%, while Endeavour Silver Corp (NYSE: EXK) was higher by 19%, and Silvercorp Metals Inc (NYSEAMERICAN: SVM) gained 18%.

Yet even those larger moves among silver stocks didn't match up to the massive gains that GameStop saw last week. Fivefold gains don't appear to be in the cards for these silver-squeeze candidates, at least not immediately.

Are short squeezers losing their focus?

Successful investors often find that it's difficult to duplicate winning performance a second time. It's understandable that a big win on GameStop has emboldened individual investors, but they'll have to keep to the same playbook to avoid making mistakes in the future.

The silver market does have some appeal from a structural standpoint, as trading activity in the silver market dwarfs the actual production of the semi-precious metal. Silver market commentators have warned of supply-deficit conditions for a long time, which would potentially make it more vulnerable to such efforts.

What short squeezers need, though, is a firm target, and that's not readily apparent in the silver market. Concentrating on iShares Silver Trust has its own problems, but with so many silver miners, it's hard to pick a single company on which to focus efforts. Therefore, even investors who want to participate don't know exactly what to do.

Moreover, some individual investors disagree with picking silver as the next GameStop. They note that some major Wall Street institutions stand to benefit from higher silver prices, which seems to go against their stated goals.

See what comes next

It took a while for GameStop to make a big move higher, and it's premature to say that silver's rise will immediately come to an end. The folks pushing the silver squeeze need to get more organized about what they're trying to do and how they'll successfully go about doing it.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post How Monday's stock market silver squeeze fared appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.