With precious metals gaining momentum at the end of the year, Main Street investors raised their forecast of gold and silver for the new year. Data has shown that gold ended the year unchanged, while silver is up almost 3%. Spot gold started at around $1,828 an ounce last year and ended just above $1,822 an ounce, while spot silver opened at $23.28 an ounce and ended at $23.93 an ounce.

In a survey conducted quite recently, 37.5% chose gold as the best performing asset for 2023, while 36.8% chose silver. The third most favored asset was copper, with 8% of votes, followed by oil and Bitcoin, which has 4.7% votes each. Platinum and lithium have 3.7% votes. Palladium was the least popular choice, garnering just 0.9% of the vote.

Wall Street investors are also optimistic about gold and silver as it is well positioned for growth since the US is entering economic recession. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said he believes the Fed will move another 50 basis points in February, pushing the rate to peak at 5% in 2023. But once the Fed reaches 5%, rates will certainly be cut, Gundlach warned.

ANZ strategist Daniel Hynes also believes market sentiment is shifting in favor of gold.

"With the Fed pause likely to be followed by a reversal, gold has already started to appreciate," added Wells Fargo head of real asset strategy John Laforge. The company sees gold hitting $1,900 to $2,000 in 2023.

Many analysts are even more optimistic about silver in the new year. Laforge, for instance, said that with the price returning to $23, there is a chance that a further rise will be seen in the market.

Everett Millman, a precious metals expert at Gainesville Coins, explains that silver has great potential at current price levels because investors have neglected it. "It is more likely that silver will outperform gold. Its recent behavior is encouraging, and the available supply of investment products is quite limited," he said.