BlackBerry, American Airlines, GameStop – now the precious metal commodity silver is the spotlight as small investors overturn markets and take on hedge-fund managers.

The price of silver hit an eight-year high of US$30.35 an ounce this morning, spurred on by small retail investors on social media.

READ: ‘Gamestonk’ retail fever cools as silver grabs attention

The tag #silversqueeze is now trending on Twitter

“Due to unprecedented demand on physical silver products, we are unable to accept any additional orders on a large number of products, until global markets open Sunday evening,” wrote the largest retailer of precious metals, APMEX.

Demand for silver is going through the roof as silver futures rose by more than 10 per cent today.

Neil Watson of Markets.com wrote: “The fact that such a large and liquid market for silver can be targeted by retail investors says much about the shift we are witnessing, though, despite appearances this morning, it’s going to be a lot harder to squeeze silver shorts as the market is so much deeper and more liquid.

“We should also note that some bigger smart money may have been front-running this trade to piggyback the rally, further fueling the move up.”

Said billionaire philanthropist and investor George Soros: “When I see a bubble forming, I rush in to buy, adding fuel to the fire.”