The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More

The past year was a difficult one overall for the metals, with the main standouts to the upside being a geopolitical risk-driven gain in gold, a China-driven rise in iron ore and a surge in uranium on broadening global support for nuclear power (Figure 1). A jump in global interest rates to near two-decade highs saw recession fears persist all year, and while one still did not actually eru...Read More

This year the post-global health crisis boom was brought to an end by a surge in inflation to forty-year highs, a major rise in global interest rates in an attempt to curb the rising prices and surging geopolitical risk after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While precious metals held up reasonably well as markets turned to them as a risk hedge, by Q2/22 the higher interest rates put an end t...Read More

Chile is the world leader in copper production, at 28.5% of the total in 2020, and this looks set to continue, with the country having the largest global reserves, at 23.0% of total. It is also the global leader for molybdenum, which is often found along with copper, and is a major lithium player, holding 51.1% of global reserves. Read More

Newfoundland has become a gold exploration hotspot over the past few years, with the sector seeing some of its strongest activity ever. While the province remains a small contributor to Canadian gold production, it has a substantial mineral industry well supported by the government, focused on iron ore, copper and nickel, and the surge in exploration suggests that gold output from the...Read More

Nevada is the core of the U.S. gold output, accounting for by far the majority, at 75.4% on average for the past year. The state looks set to remain a dominant player in U.S. gold, as it accounts for 49% of total U.S. reserves, with Alaska slightly ahead with 51% of reserves, but just 8.6% of current production. The U.S. accounts for 6.1% of global gold output, making Nevada one of the largest gol...Read More

The Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia has historically been a major site of Canadian gold production, beginning as early as the mid 1800s. There was a wave of production in the 1990s which cooled as the gold price declined, but larger scale production resumed in 2017, and the area has seen surging exploration interest over the past year, given that the region has some of the largest...Read More

In this report we outline the Quebec gold mining industry, including its major producers, and a survey of many of the junior miners focused on the province. Quebec accounts for 34% of Canadian gold production (second to Ontario, with 44%) and remains a major focus for both producers and junior miners.Read More

Red Lake has been one of the most prolific gold mining districts in Canada and the world, with exploration having started in the 1920s, and production, which began in the 1930s, continuing to the present day. The district is known for the high grade of its gold, its infrastructure, and strong institutional support, given the long history of mining in the area.Read More

Is your Tesla making you a target?We've written in the past about certain dangers associated with Tesla cars and the Tesla Cybertruck that are in addition to the driving hazards common to all automobiles. These include fires caused by the spontaneous combustion of powerful batteries. There have been many cases (usually well-publicized) of a Tesla seemingly burnt to a crisp due to an unaccounted-fo...Read More

On Monday, we offered readers the following forecast of what would happen at the FOMC meeting this week:On Wednesday, the Fed will continue its pause in interest rate cuts. That decision will leave the federal funds target unchanged at 4.50%. The Fed's current rate lowering cycle began with a 0.50% rate cut on September 18, 2024, followed by additional rate cuts of 0.25% each on November 7 and Dec...Read More

Every once in a while, the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" produce a genius of rare quality. That person is Alain de Benoist. De Benoist is clear-eyed about the present and future and worth a listen.A leading figure in the French New Right, de Benoist described to Breizh-info.com the resurgence of Donald Trump’s power as a major geopolitical upheaval, second only in his lifetime to the col...Read More

Since taking the helm at Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, Warren Buffett has compounded capital at about 20% per year.That's almost double the annual return of the S&P 500, which over 6 decades equates to a shocking 120x total outperformance. This is the incredible power of compounding.Buffett built his fortune the old-fashioned way. He bought quality companies on the cheap and sold them for substa...Read More

Tesla shares are now down more than 50% from their all-time high. And as I write this, shares are down about 4% on the day.In the midst of this market chaos, yesterday a friend texted me, saying, "I'm thinking about buying more Tesla here."Historically, big pullbacks in Tesla have turned out to be excellent buying opportunities. But I had to tell him that I don't believe the risk/reward is favorab...Read More

Today, we'll discuss gold, which recently crossed the historic threshold of $3,000 per ounce. There's more price upside over time, I believe, for both the metal itself and definitely for mining companies. That is, even at this new high, and seemingly lofty price, the yellow metal strikes me as dramatically undervalued.But first, before we get into gold let's discuss a high tech darling, beloved by...Read More

Over the course of COVID, the U.S. government spent absurd amounts of money to prevent a total financial collapse.At least $4.6 trillion was pumped into the economy in the form of stimulus checks, forgivable loans, tax breaks, and healthcare spending.For the past five years, we've been coasting off of this stimulus. But now, the effects are finally beginning to wear off.And it's showing up in the...Read More

For decades, we gold bugs have whispered about a grand conspiracy.The theory is that governments and central banks have suppressed the price of gold and silver. The purpose of this manipulation would be to prop up fiat currencies by limiting the gains in precious metals.After all, if gold and silver are flying higher, it makes fiat currencies look bad by comparison.The best evidence of such a sche...Read More

We're talking about betrayals.Disappointment.Faithlessness.Markets Insider:Another red day on Wall Street: Trump’s latest tariff threats bring the market-cap wipeout to $5 trillion.How do investors feel? They expected a big boom. They thought they'd get rich.Disappointment seems to be spreading. Polls of CEOs and consumers show deepening pessimism. AP:Inflation, looming trade war take a toll...Read More

The stock market has topped out and is headed down.The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 45,014 on December 4, 2024, and was at 41,911 by March 10, 2025, down 3,101 points or 6.9% in just over three months.The S&P 500 Index peaked at 6,130 on February 18, 2025, and was at 5,614 on March 10, 2025, down 516 points or 8.4% in less than one month.The NASDAQ Composite Index peaked at 20,174 on...Read More

A while ago, I wrote that Donald Trump embodies both mercantilism abroad and libertarianism at home. My views have evolved. After nearly two months of Trump 47, I'd add another layer to the mix: fascism.Now, before you hurl your phone across the room, let me clarify I'm not parroting the looney left who slap "fascist" on anything they don't like. I'm talking old-school, Il Duce fascism, which is...Read More

Recession signals are becoming hard to ignore.On Monday, JPMorgan economists raised their risk of recession to 40%. Big banks are typically bullish to a fault, so this is noteworthy.Meanwhile, a recent poll revealed that more than half of Americans have less than $500 in savings.And Walmart CEO Doug McMillon just made worrying comments about consumer behavior. From his recent speech at the Economi...Read More

Headlines blamed yesterday's crash on Trump. It's the tariffs!But I have a much simpler explanation: U.S. stocks have never been so overvalued. With stocks trading at nosebleed valuations, almost anything could catalyze a crash.Sure, tariffs played a role, but the underlying problem is the bubble itself. American stocks are priced for perfection, so anything less than that is bound to disappoint.I...Read More

Not long ago, I had lunch with someone who currently has over $100 billion (yes, billion with a "b") outstanding on capital projects.Through his contracts and spending power, this guy buys steel by the tens of thousands of tons. Along the way, he moves aluminum and copper markets. Beyond basic metals, he procures train cars filled with machinery, electrical equipment and much else.Indeed, this man...Read More

In 2000, Sun Microsystems was one of the hottest stocks in the world.Sun seemed to have everything going for it. They were a leader in computer hardware, and offered cutting-edge software solutions. They were an integral part of the fast-growing internet ecosystem.Shares soared from $5 to $64 at the peak in 2000. The company's market cap reached $200 billion, and the price/sales ratio reached 10x...Read More

Of greatest interest to us among Donald Trump's long list was his promise to balance the budget."And in the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget...We are going to balance it."Many are the minor issues, imbecilities and annoyances of modern American government. But a $36 trillion debt is something else. If we don't stop the smoke; we'll see the fl...Read More

Trump's economic team continues to signal that hard times are coming.Scott Bessent, Trump's Treasury Secretary, has made a flurry of recent media appearances. And he's setting expectations low.Bessent recently admitted to CNBC that America has "become addicted to government spending, and there's going to be a detox period".A detox period, you say? Hmmm.More recent commentary from Bessent:Could we...Read More

On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson presided over President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. He was seated on the podium next to Vice President JD Vance, acting in his capacity as president of the U.S. Senate. President Trump stood in front of them facing the cameras and the world. This is the kind of environment he thrives in.On the House floor, in addition to the members...Read More

The Donald wants his prize: Greenland. Unlike his first term, when everyone ignored him, this time everyone's taking him quite seriously. Why is that? Because they understand now that Trump isn't daydreaming about owning the world. They know Greenland is a serious way to secure the North Atlantic.A Warming Arctic, A Growing OpportunityThe Arctic is ice-free for more of the year than ever, which ha...Read More

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to establish a "strategic Bitcoin reserve" for the country.But what he announced on Sunday was quite different…Over the past week Trump has made two major cryptocurrency moves that signal we are entering a new wild west era.#1: A new multi-asset U.S. crypto reserve will be established#2: The SEC has signaled a "hands-off" approach to crypto regulationThe...Read More