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

Over the weekend, President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk made quite a stir with just two words posted on his social media platform, X. Responding to a post that, "It's time to leave NATO and the UN," Musk replied, "I agree." The comment immediately made the rounds on social media and also on mainstream and alternative media.Was this the Elon Musk who owns X speaking,...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

They booed the U.S. national anthem the other night at the Rogers Center in Toronto. Canadians are mad about those Trump tariffs that kick into gear today, March 4th.And despite being in Ontario - aka "Massachusetts West" in terms of politics - this was a throng of WWE fans. That is, the arena was filled with people whose tastes run towards professional wrestling. Not exactly a bunch of lefties, e...Read More

Mainstream political pundits are frothing at the mouth over Trump's overtures to Russia.Trump recently shocked the Western world by stating, "I think Putin will keep his word…I've known him for a long time now. We had to go through the Russian hoax together."President Trump also accused President Zelensky of "gambling with World War 3" in front of a live TV audience. The exchanges between Tr...Read More

Throughout recent history, every American President has campaigned on a slogan of change.But the promised change never arrived. Until now.Today the bloated federal government is being deflated by President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).An audit of U.S. gold reserves is in the works. And possibly an audit of the Federal Reserve, too.Meanwhile a rift has split open between the E...Read More

Even casual observers know that gold has been trading near all-time highs lately. The dollar price of gold has been trading around $2,955 per ounce, quite close to the all-time closing high and near the recent intraday high just below $3,000 per ounce. Since November 1, 2022, gold has rallied from $1,650 per ounce to $2,955 per ounce, an 80% gain in 28 months.Since the U.S. dollar is also near int...Read More

I've just returned from a two-week visit to India. The above epigram was offered by several of my guides on different occasions. It captures the essence of India perfectly.Many people are completely put off at the thought of visiting India or are repelled when they get there. They focus on the dirt, air pollution, smells, overcrowding, swarms of beggars and street vendors, cars honking in the citi...Read More

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, isn't known for hyperbole. When he speaks, it's with the weight of decades of market observation, historical analysis, and deep economic thinking. So when he tells Tucker Carlson that the United States is in a kind of civil war, people should listen.This isn't a war of muskets and bayonets but of irreconcilable d...Read More

As investors, it is important to acknowledge our weaknesses.My biggest weakness is that I hate owning overvalued stocks. I look at the S&P 500 today and simply cannot pull the trigger. It's too expensive.As a result, I've left some gains on the table over the past few years, as U.S. stocks soared to the extremes we see today.Take a look at the chart below, which combines seven metrics to show...Read More

President Trump recently issued an executive order instructing the US Mint to stop producing pennies. The reason for this is it costs nearly four cents to produce one penny.That's right: the US government can't even make pennies without losing money! President Trump may have signed the death certificate, but the Federal Reserve is the penny's true killer. Since the Fed's creation, the US dollar ha...Read More

How much gold do you own? The correct answer is: "Not enough."Don't you wish you had some of these? This is a $20 gold coin from 1914, the first year of the Federal Reserve. And back then, just over 110 years ago, gold was $20 per ounce.U.S. $20 gold coin, St. Gaudens, minted 1914. Courtesy U.S. Treasury Dept.Today's gold price is over $2,900, which means that the purchasing power of a dollar over...Read More

The question was framed, according to some historians, by Josef Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. Winston Churchill had suggested that the Pope might be brought in to provide moral backing to the Allies' campaigns against Hitler.Stalin must have wondered how morality would hold up against Panzer tanks."How many divisions does the Pope have?" he allegedly asked.We wish we could be in the room when...Read More

Speculation around the status of America's gold reserves has reached a fever pitch.At CPAC on Saturday President Trump once again shocked the world. He stated that he and Elon were going to Fort Knox to "see if the gold is still there."Then the President took things to another level:Wouldn't it be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold there? So we're gonna open those doors and if there...Read More

By the early 5th century, the Roman Empire was in decline. Much of its territory had been lost, its monetary system was being debased, and the political system had devolved into chaos.In 452 AD a massive barbarian force led by Attila the Hun had pillaged Europe and was now inside the core of the empire.It didn't seem like Roman forces would be able to stop them.Emperor Valentinian III sent the Pop...Read More

In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2009, I was obsessed with the risk of a "double-dip" recession.The outlook was bleak. The banks all seemed to be failing, stocks had crashed, housing was belly-up, and the Fed was printing money like mad.So instead of gobbling up cheap tech shares, I was primarily focused on hoarding my (meager) stash of precious metals and preparing for an...Read More

Dylan Thomas, the great Welsh poet, opened his most famous poem thusly:Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Europe is alone. And it's her fault. She bought everything the Biden-Harris administration offered her: hook, line, and sinker. It's embarrassing that the "adults in the room" in the EU, supposedly so sch...Read More

Note from Adam: Today we have a guest article from Dr. Ron Paul. In it, he discusses President Trump's proposed cuts to military spending. This issue will have major implications for us all, as both citizens and investors. Simply look at Lockheed Martin shares, which are down 27% from last year's highs. The U.S. economy has become dependent on the military-industrial complex for growth, but at the...Read More