Politics

[rookhawk]

Perspective.

I had a modest emergency fund sitting around producing no interest, so I threw it into Gold and Silver 65 days ago. Gold up 14.67% (more when the bell opens in 8 mins), Silver up 76.92%.

I just find those kinds of run-ups to be absolutely astounding. I was too young to remember that day-to-day behaviors of the market in the early 80s when the Hunt brothers tried to corner silver, but it sure does feel similar.

What I can't figure out is what conditions are core influencers so I can determine when those conditions fade. If its actual silver in the supply, COMEX usually delivered only 1% and the other was just paper futures bouncing around, now its like 30%. I'm hearing Gold in London is 9-12 months on backorder for physical delivery.

If that's the cause, that's not going away soon. If its another cause, I could be misreading this situation.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Metal hoarders I know that bought in bulk at the low are dumping 1/3 now and buying undervalued items or assets with the cash knowing every day they hold that cash it is worth less.

Then will sell another 1/3 at another doubling of current prices.

Then hold 1/3

 

[V.Veritas]

Let me start by saying I’ve never voted Liberal in my life, and I never voted for Mr. Carney.
Having said that:

1. He was hardly in a ‘leadership’ position in the Brookfield entities (of which there are many). Those of you who know the corporate world and titles will know that “Vice-Chair” is a pretty meaningless title, designed to confer status rather than power.

2. He is not great, but he is a vast improvement over his predecessor, whose name I cannot write without risking losing my dinner. And he was democratically elected in a fair and free election.

3. Among current world leaders, he apparently never visited Epstein’s island!

I very seldom comment on this thread because I dislike polemics.
But we do have at least one opinion in common. Mark C is significantly more inteligent than Justin T. and that makes him significantly more dangerous for Canada as you will notice in time.

He is a trully globalist. Davos type globalist. He says so every chance he got, but people refuse to believe him (denial). He despises Canada as an independent state and he's pushing the globalist agenda of make it the 1st post national state (in other words destroy and dilute it's national identity until it blends seamlessly in the new global organization (it is what EU does with the national identity of the countries that joined it).

He was the one advising Justin T during the trucker's convoy peaceful demonstration to freeze their bank accounts and crush the protest.

He was the one who bought Crystina Freeland out by offering her the juicey appointment to the Ucraine money laundering machine. How much is it so far? 22 billions? Canadians are struggling with the cost of living and we spend money like that?

He was elected to represent the Liberal Party in Canada's election the same way Kamala was elected in US to represent the Democratic party and I'll leveat like that.

You are 100% correct about the Vice-Chair position. That was a finacial reward (and prestigious as you said) for previous rendered services to his main employer.
It is the same employer he is working for even know.

John Perkins explains it best in his latest book "The new confessions of an economic hitman". It's not about Canada. It is about the process by wich Mark Carney, a small and significal cogwheel in a global empire become the Governor of the Bank of England and lately PM of Canada.

More info available on-line (that makes idirect reference to the New Green Scam).

Mark Carney served as Governor of the Bank of England from 1 July 2013 to 15 March 2020, becoming the first non-British person to hold the role since the Bank’s founding in 1694. Appointed by then-Chancellor George Osborne in November 2012, Carney was widely praised at the time as the "outstanding central banker of his generation." He oversaw the UK’s economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, managed the Bank’s response to Brexit, and implemented forward guidance on interest rates, quantitative easing, and new lending schemes. His tenure also saw increased transparency, including the publication of MPC meeting transcripts with an eight-year delay. Carney stepped down in 2020, succeeded by Andrew Bailey. He remains influential globally as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and chair of Brookfield Asset Management.

This is another clip worth reading. I'll add the full link below.

"Carney is now operating in a world that is increasingly turning against the values he represents and holds: a technocrat who disavows ideology; a transnational figure who feels citizenship in one state doesn’t preclude service to another; an expert who imagines himself to be engaged in science, not politics; an appointed official who feels he should be insulated from the passions of public opinion. As a Davos man in a world where the values of Davos are increasingly sneered at or attacked by electorates, Mark Carney is now set to have his own personal Brexit."

A marked man: Carney’s BoE departure

Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, has found himself in a world where his values are increasingly under fire. The Canadian banker is now set to depart his role in 2019

www.worldfinance.com

 

[RLD]

Canada makes defense plans against eventual US invasion.
It is all theoretical, and academic, of course. Not that they mean serious....

But the contingency plan includes hit and run tactics, and civil insurgency.
Now this makes me lough - they count on civilians, after they duly confiscated their modern firearms, ar15s, and pistols?

I wonder, it this will reverse the Canadian legislative actions on gun control somewhat in the future?

Canada military models response to US invasion: report

The Canadian military has developed a model response to a US invasion, the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday, as President Donald Trump again muses online about a takeover of Canada.

www.france24.com

This is nothing new. Canada has always had, and has always maintained a defense plan in case of American invasion. I served in the mid 80's and the one we had then was more than 20 years old.

Unfortunately Carney has no interest in changing directions on the current firearms regime.

 

[deewayne2003]

Perspective.

I had a modest emergency fund sitting around producing no interest, so I threw it into Gold and Silver 65 days ago. Gold up 14.67% (more when the bell opens in 8 mins), Silver up 76.92%.

I just find those kinds of run-ups to be absolutely astounding. I was too young to remember that day-to-day behaviors of the market in the early 80s when the Hunt brothers tried to corner silver, but it sure does feel similar.

What I can't figure out is what conditions are core influencers so I can determine when those conditions fade. If its actual silver in the supply, COMEX usually delivered only 1% and the other was just paper futures bouncing around, now its like 30%. I'm hearing Gold in London is 9-12 months on backorder for physical delivery.

If that's the cause, that's not going away soon. If its another cause, I could be misreading this situation.

I think it’s “paper silver” margins not being able to keep up with real world demand for actual physical silver needed in manufacturing.

Consider that the US mint upped the price for Eagles from $90ish to $160+ each in just the last week.

There are issues with people jumping on the band wagon for fear of missing out and grabbing whatever they can to keep up with the Jones's; same as 2008 when it hit $48 - I sold off all my old worn “junk” 90% US dimes and quarters and they were purchased by a man who cashed in his 401K at the bottom to buy them….. I remember at the time figuring that he would have to hold until $72toz to break even with just the tax penalty of his 401K withdrawal.

APMEX recently installed a $500 minimum purchase on silver recently, while back in 2008($48toz)they were more than happy to sell 1oz rounds at melt +$5 & $15 shipping to the uneducated.

Coin shops are buying and turning around and selling fast as they can but those same shops are saying refineries are not buying sterling and only taking bullion at $10+ BACK of melt.

With the ratio of silver to gold value being its lowest in 17+ years I’m tempted to swamp some silver for gold hoping the ratio will widen again in the future.

 

[Altitude sickness]

That’s a good move. Take silver profits and move them to Gold. When silver eventually levels off. Gold will keep going for a while longer.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have read that there is a fear of the dollar losing its reserve status due to Trumps tariff wars and general handling of the economy which leads to movement of assets from USD/treasury bonds into gold instead since there are no clear alternative as reserve currency to the dollar at the moment.

EDIT: Altitude sickness movie probably sums it up.

Very scary stuff! Usually I leave my investments handling to the experts but I am watching the markets and currencies VERY VERY closely today. I would rather leave my money where it can at least try to keep people working ... but ... maybe I need to explore other options. I'm afraid we may be looking at another 2008-09 meltdown. Republican party strikes again.

 

[mdwest]

This is nothing new. Canada has always had, and has always maintained a defense plan in case of American invasion. I served in the mid 80's and the one we had then was more than 20 years old.

Unfortunately Carney has no interest in changing directions on the current firearms regime.

100% true...

All countries do this (or should)... we have war plans (both offensive and defensive) on the shelf for every possible, to include completely improbable scenario that anyone could ever conceive..

While Ive never personally seen it, I would bet my last $100 theres a dusty war plan for the US defending against the invasion of Canada, supported by Chinese forces somewhere on a hard drive in some basement in DC... as well as a plan for defending against Canada invading alone, Canada invading with support from the Russians, a plan for China taking Canada and then invading from the north, a plan for Russia taking Canada and then invading from the north, etc..etc..

Its what militaries do (the good ones)... they plan... they war game... and they record everything.. even what most would see as crazy shit.. so that in the event that crazy somehow comes to pass.. we at least have a starting point to go from..

 

[Altitude sickness]

Very scary stuff! Usually I leave my investments handling to the experts but I am watching the markets and currencies VERY VERY closely today. I would rather leave my money where it can at least try to keep people working ... but ... maybe I need to explore other options. I'm afraid we may be looking at another 2008-09 meltdown. Republican party strikes again.

Barney Frank was a Democrat. He forced Freddie and Fanny to give home mortgages to people that would never be able to pay them back. During the Clinton years. The results were not seen or fully felt until Bush took over.

That’s why I’m a little squeamish with Trump talks about banning hedge funds from buying up multi family homes. Most times the government sticks their nose in private industry. It doesn’t pan out well.

 

[RLD]

100% true...

All countries do this (or should)... we have war plans (both offensive and defensive) on the shelf for every possible, to include completely improbable scenario that anyone could ever conceive..

While Ive never personally seen it, I would bet my last $100 theres a dusty war plan for the US defending against the invasion of Canada, supported by Chinese forces somewhere on a hard drive in some basement in DC... as well as a plan for defending against Canada invading alone, Canada invading with support from the Russians, a plan for China taking Canada and then invading from the north, a plan for Russia taking Canada and then invading from the north, etc..etc..

Its what militaries do (the good ones)... they plan... they war game... and they record everything.. even what most would see as crazy shit.. so that in the event that crazy somehow comes to pass.. we at least have a starting point to go from..

My favourite example of that mindset was when the U.S. military created "Zombie" contingency plans as an exercise. IIRC there was talk that some of them were actually anti-insurrection plans but called the oppo forces "Zombies" to avoid the political pushback had real group or cause name been used.

I also respect how creative the U.S. military braintrust has been in doing these sorts of exercises. They have reached out to a number of well known (and many lessor known) thriller authors and asked them to participate to make sure fresh ideas get brought into the analysis, not just ideas from inside the military/industrial culture.

 

[Vinootz]

Personally I have thought Kelly was a Clown ever since he got caught buying multiple guns that his wife was trying to get banned; further he and his wife owned the exact model G19 she was shot with years before the incident happened.

FYI - The gun store owner recognized him and refused to sell him those guns.

One too many knuckleheads in Congress.

 

[mdwest]

My favourite example of that mindset was when the U.S. military created "Zombie" contingency plans as an exercise. IIRC there was talk that some of them were actually anti-insurrection plans but called the oppo forces "Zombies" to avoid the political pushback had real group or cause name been used.

I also respect how creative the U.S. military braintrust has been in doing these sorts of exercises. They have reached out to a number of well known (and many lessor known) thriller authors and asked them to participate to make sure fresh ideas get brought into the analysis, not just ideas from inside the military/industrial culture.

My firm is very deeply involved in the USAF's large scale (theater level and above) wargaming activities and has been for more than a decade..

the amount of money, time, and effort put into wargaming is astronomical (and IMO, well spent).. they bring in the no shit experts on whatever scenario is playing out (both civilian and military), incorporate the latest technologies, and truly look at EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine (everything from the impact of unpredicted weather patterns, to foreign SOF on air operations, to the other side simply getting "lucky" and having something work that by all accounts shouldnt work, etc..etc..).. Its amazing how much energy is expended and how meticulous those guys can be over the smallest of details... but.. to their credit, they are one of the major reasons (I believe) our forces are so good at what they do.... they have "gamed" every possible scenario and have an idea about how to handle things as the planned and the unplanned plays itself out in the chaos of actual war.. and they do it at every level.. from the infantry squad to the company, BN, BDE, Division, Corps, Army, etc level across all services..

Im very proud of both the guys on my team, and the guys on the military side that do this work.. they are among the finest professionals I have worked with anywhere (military or otherwise) at any time in my career..

 

[Betterinthebush]

This is a picture of me hanging out, wasting time when I could have been buying silver at $2.00/oz. and gold for $40.00/oz.

I didn’t catch on to buying gold and silver until my mother’s father introduced me to real money when I was 12.

I could have made faster gains in the stock market, but my immigrant Hungarian roots on both sides of my family instinctively prohibited it. I have, however, always maintained a diversified livestock portfolio.

 

[RLD]

Halligan hits the road after getting absolutely excoriated by a Trump appointed Judge. He just hammered her brutally.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-judge-orders-trump-ally-halligan-stop-using-us-attorney-title-2026-01-20/

“Ms. Halligan’s response, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,”

Now the question is who will replace her? The office is in desperate need of some competent leadership.

 

[Scott CWO]

So a few weeks ago I predicted Gold @ $5000 by maybe mid-year or late year 2026. How was I off by so much?

Can anyone explain what is going on with Gold and Silver that can fully explain the run-up? The best explanation I've heard is sovereign purchasing, plus desperately low physical supplies in London, plus China banning silver export.

Anyone have better insights? I'm trying to plan when I get off the bus and take my winnings.

In a word, Trump..

I don’t see the run up stopping during this Greenland situation.

 

[Altitude sickness]

After hearing Trumps comments at the Globalist Summit in Davos. Precious metal prices will keep climbing.

 

[steve white]

My wife is fond of telling me that she thinks all good leadership surrounds itself with people smarter than the leader himself, and that Trump appears to have done just that. She touts Rubio as an example, while I would tout Bessent. My only dissonant concern is, if Trump is surrounded by such genius, why doesn't he avail himself of it more often? Why does he doubtless begin with their expertise only to end up discarding it in favor of his own?
I support much of what he has accomplished, but virtually none of it will matter if he loses us the dollar reserve currency status. THAT would end life as we know it. And it begs the question, who would the world choose for the reserve currency honor? Europe should think about how tied to that question is the future of western civilization? Perilous times, indeed.
If China is testing a digital framework as a replacement for the dollar, where will that leave gold, anyway? You cannot eat it.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

... if Trump is surrounded by such genius, why doesn't he avail himself of it more often?

Outstanding question Steve. It brings to mind Proverbs 12:15.

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."

From what I have read he went off script - as usual - at Davos today, and parts of it were condescending to various allies and other parts had people scratching their heads. Some walked out before he was finished.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Barney Frank was a Democrat. He forced Freddie and Fanny to give home mortgages to people that would never be able to pay them back. During the Clinton years. The results were not seen or fully felt until Bush took over.

That’s why I’m a little squeamish with Trump talks about banning hedge funds from buying up multi family homes. Most times the government sticks their nose in private industry. It doesn’t pan out well.

Maybe but the slide into disaster didn't occur until the end of George W's second term. I remember watching a documentary where the French finance minister was recalling the leadup economic summit with Greenspan: "We could all see the tsunami coming but all we could do was sit around and talk about what bathing suit to wear." Greenspan's answer was it's just economic Darwinism: "Some banks will fail but the world will be better off in the end." All those millions of people who lost their homes weren't convinced happy days were ahead. Fortunately, we up here in the Far North were slightly (just slightly) less impacted because our evil socialist government regulates the chartered banks (only sixteen in Canada then but five pretty much controlled the industry). Our banks were not allowed to repackage mortgages and sell them overseas.

 

[RLD]

My wife is fond of telling me that she thinks all good leadership surrounds itself with people smarter than the leader himself, and that Trump appears to have done just that. She touts Rubio as an example, while I would tout Bessent. My only dissonant concern is, if Trump is surrounded by such genius, why doesn't he avail himself of it more often? Why does he doubtless begin with their expertise only to end up discarding it in favor of his own?
I support much of what he has accomplished, but virtually none of it will matter if he loses us the dollar reserve currency status. THAT would end life as we know it. And it begs the question, who would the world choose for the reserve currency honor? Europe should think about how tied to that question is the future of western civilization? Perilous times, indeed.
If China is testing a digital framework as a replacement for the dollar, where will that leave gold, anyway? You cannot eat it.

I used to quite like Rubio and I think you are right about Bessent.

However, I think that this term, Trump has made a conscious choice to surround himself generally with loyalists and fellow traveller-ideologues rather than experienced administrators and subject matter experts.

I also wonder where Rubio fits in the whole picture right now. Many of the usual functions of the Sec of State seem to be getting done by Trump's special envoys rather than Marco. He often looks a bit sidelined to me.

So while there is some "genius" around Trump, I don't think there is as much of it as there was in his first term, and there is certainly less "backbone" or people willing to defy his will and/or speak truth to power to try and get him to change course.