Is the war still going on between Russia and the Ukraine?Are there still any Palestinians alive in Gaza?Who knows? The news cycle has moved on. No time to think about it. No time for study or reflection…The incoming news rushes in like drones, hot and heavy. Newsweek:Republicans Ask Donald Trump To Revoke Zohran Mamdani’s CitizenshipThat would be one way to eliminate the political thre...Read More

Want to own shares of SpaceX or OpenAI?How about owning shares of other real-world innovators shaping the future?As of today, buying shares in these private companies outright isn't possible for most investors.But a recent move from Robinhood could be the first real glimpse into a future where that changes.It's called tokenized trading, and today I'm breaking it down into simple terms - no crypto...Read More

Readers know at least two things about artificial intelligence (AI). The first is that an AI frenzy has been driving the stock market higher for the past three years even with occasional drawdowns along the way. The second is that AI is a revolutionary technology that will change the world and potentially eliminate numerous jobs, including jobs requiring training and technical skills.Both points a...Read More

The sin that dare not speak its name now goes by a fancier title: financial innovation.Yes, I'm talking about usury that nasty little habit of charging interest on loans, once banned by Church councils and now blessed by every central bank in Christendom.But before it became the spiritual backbone of capitalism, usury was considered a crime, not just against man, but against God.In the Old World,...Read More

The US Senate worked through the weekend on the "Big Beautiful Bill." The goal was to pass it quickly to ensure the House will then pass it and send it to President Trump's desk before the July 4th holiday.However, disagreements among Republican Senators over reductions in spending on programs including Medicaid and food stamps as well as language in the bill eliminating "clean energy" tax credits...Read More

Just when it seemed like the storm had passed, Elon and President Trump are at each other’s throats again.And like last time, the fight coincides with the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), which may soon eliminate federal programs which benefit Tesla.As it currently stands, the $7,500 credit on electric vehicles (EVs) is set to expire at the end of September (according to the Senate version of the b...Read More

Happy 1st of July. The year is now half over, and we've had five and one-third months of President Trump 2.0. His opponents wanted him in jail; instead, he's in the White House.Donald Trump mugshot, Fulton County Sheriff's Office. Courtesy New York Times.Are you tired of winning yet?Odds and Ends, and Important Economic NumbersWill we see a Big, Beautiful Bill this week, or not? Beats me, but I su...Read More

Stocks aren’t climbing a wall of worry.Instead, they're standing atop the wall, arms swinging overhead in triumph, while exuberant pikers chisel away souvenir bricks with their tiny hammers.Sounds like fun, but someone's bound to get hurt.The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) hit a new all-time high today, and the S&P 500 (SPY) is within 1% of doing the same.Meanwhile, bombs are dropping. Tariff deadline...Read More

Jim Rickards' latest appearance on Steve Bannon's WarRoom show is a must-watch. Today we'll discuss a few highlights then link to the full interview.Jim talks in depth with Steve about a number of hot-button and controversial topics. The Supreme Court bombshell, Iran, immigration, and even Jim's time working with the CIA.The conversation starts out with Jim and Steve discussing the American intell...Read More

My wife and I just finished season 1 of Landman on Paramount+. The show stars Billy Bob Thornton as a hard-nosed oil executive in West Texas.It's well worth watching, as long as you don't mind graphic content.Despite its cruder moments, the show is entertaining. Plus, it's rare to see the oil business portrayed in a major TV show, let alone in a balanced manner.Source: Cowgirl MagazineThe show sat...Read More

Roughly 3,000 years ago, some tinkering pyromaniac discovered he could make wrought iron using a crude furnace.Thanks to this unknown genius, civilization would never be the same. The Iron Age lasted from 1200 BC to 550 BC.Agriculture, toolmaking, and warfare all leapt forward.Despite the impact of this breakthrough, iron technology evolved slowly. The blast furnace, which allowed iron to be melte...Read More

In the old days, The City didn't sleep because there was so much to do. Nowadays, it doesn't sleep because it's worried about how to pay its bills.Libertarians and economists of the Austrian School variety are wont to say, "Capitalism's profits pay for socialism's follies."But let's get off our high horses for a moment and consider this: New York City housing has become so unaffordable for today's...Read More

In the 1800s, when feuds reached a certain point they were settled by pistol duel.Each man was armed with an identical smoothbore black powder pistol.Common dueling distance was 20-30 feet. Duelists either fired simultaneously, or flipped a coin to determine who shot first.Sometimes the man who fired first would intentionally miss. This was known as deloping . It was a gesture of peace.For example...Read More

Amid the global chaos, something strange is happening with stocks....They're up.In Israel, for example, the stock market has soared to all-time highs. The iShares Israel ETF (EIS) is up a whopping 53% over the past year.This is despite the fact that the country has been devastated by Iranian missile strikes. Its Haifa port has sustained unknown damage, but based on the fact that there's a media bl...Read More

Wars go on and on... until they don't. But first, wars tend to grow, and then they grow out of control. Romans had their god of war, Mars, who was considered a fickle entity. To old Romans, there was no way to predict what Mars wanted from mankind, certainly not on fields of battle. But usually, it was a stiff bill.God of War, Mars. Courtesy Hermitage, St. Petersburg.Another ancient way to frame t...Read More

Power costs are set to surge across the country, and utilities are warning of potential brown-outs.Here in Maryland we just received a letter warning about sticker-shock when our electricity bills arrive this summer.This is incredibly frustrating, because the situation could have easily been avoided.For too long, subversive forces in our country have actively harmed power generation, resource extr...Read More

Artificial intelligence is set to bring about a shift similar in magnitude to the two major industrial revolutions.Here in the U.S., and throughout much of the world, OpenAI remains dominant in the field. Its ChatGPT AI platform has built a commanding lead.But which company is OpenAI the biggest threat to? Most people would say Google, because ChatGPT has become a better alternative for many of us...Read More

The Alaska Petroleum Reserve is a 23 million acre area rich with petroleum and mineral resources.In 2024, Joe Biden tried to make it impossible to drill and mine there.As its name implies, the Petroleum Reserve was created to support America's energy independence and economy.But with the stroke of a pen, Biden attempted to nix all future development.Now, the Trump administration is unlocking this...Read More

There was a time when nations at least pretended to seek moral clarity before marching to war. Today, with the drums pounding louder for a U.S. confrontation with Iran, I'm wondering if anyone in Washington even remembers or ever learned the Catholic Church's "just war" doctrine.Because if they had, they'd know we're nowhere near satisfying it.The Original Red LineThe idea that war can be mora...Read More

At the 2016 Republican Presidential primary debate, Donald J. Trump dressed down Jeb Bush like a misbehaving child.After having already dubbed him as "low-energy Jeb", at this debate Trump attacked the former Florida governor for defending his brother's war in Iraq. He called the invasion a "big, fat mistake".Trump loudly called out the GOP establishment, repeatedly reminding viewers how "they lie...Read More