MORT

30-year fixed rate mortgage rate averages 2.81% in the week ending Feb. 18, vs. 2.73% in the prior week and 3.49% a year ago, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage

30-year fixed rate mortgage averages 2.73% in the week ending Feb. 11, unchanged from a week ago, and down from 3.47% a year ago, according to the Freddie Mac Primary

Silver futures opened lower after the CME Group announced that it was raising margins for Comex contracts following a rally to an eight-year high that was inspired by an army of retail investors.

As silver futures surged to the highest level in almost eight years, traders are still trying to solve a mystery: Who penned the Reddit posts that ignited this staggering run-up in prices -- and why were they taken down?

The silver options market, normally a quiet zone compared to gold or oil, has burst to life, roiled the most in years by the Reddit frenzy.

For all the talk of a comeback for big tech shares in January, tracking the cash shows the rotation into riskier names not only continued -- it got stronger.

It seems a match made in heaven: Reddit’s rambunctious army of retail investors eager to take on the financial elites, and the world of silver “bugs,” hard-core metal bulls, many of whom have long argued the price was being suppressed by powerful forces.