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It&rsquo;s the most dangerous time for investors since the 1930s&hellip; and new threats to your wealth appear every week.
That&rsquo;s why we created Rickards Uncensored &mdash; a weekly Zoom broadcast that takes you deeper into Jim Rickards&rsquo; research and analysis than is possible in any other format.
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Members of this elite team predicted the 2008 housing bubble&hellip; the gold price spikes in 2010 and 2019&hellip;&nbsp; American Airlines&rsquo; bankruptcy in 2011&hellip; Donald Trump&rsquo;s election victory in 2016&hellip; the pandemic-fueled market crash in 2020&hellip; the bond collapse in 2021&hellip; and more.
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$200 billion can buy a lot of Bitcoin.
That's the amount of cash Microsoft is sitting on &ndash; money that could have made history this week.
The crypto world watched with bated breath as Microsoft shareholders faced a decision that would ripple through Wall Street: whether to turn some of that mountain of cash into Bitcoin.
For Bitcoin believers, it would have been the ultimate validation.&nbsp;
Microsoft, maker of Windows and Xbox - the company that powers nearly every office computer in America - buying Bitcoin.
The proposal was simple: force Microsoft's board to consider moving part of its corporate piggy bank into cryptocurrency.
Most big companies play it safe, parking their extra cash in government bonds and other "boring" investments.
But times are changing.
A growing number of companies are choosing a different path&hellip; turning to Bitcoin to help protect their cash from inflation.
So it is no surprise that Microsoft&rsquo;s shareholders attempted to push the company to consider this approach as well.&nbsp;
Now, Microsoft&rsquo;s board did not quite see things the same way.&nbsp;
Before the vote, they recommended against the proposal, saying they needed their investments to be "stable and predictable."&nbsp;
In the end, the vote did not get enough support to force Microsoft&rsquo;s board to consider buying Bitcoin, but the story doesn't end here.
<h3>The Corporate Crypto Revolution</h3>
Across corporate America, a quiet revolution is taking place.&nbsp;
Companies are increasingly turning to Bitcoin as a way to protect their wealth.&nbsp;
MicroStrategy, a business software company, now holds over $40 billion in Bitcoin. Their stock price has soared more than 500% this year alone.
And they're not alone.&nbsp;
Video platform Rumble recently announced plans to buy $20 million in Bitcoin.&nbsp;
Genius Group, an AI education company, is planning to put $120 million into Bitcoin.&nbsp;
Even healthcare companies like Acurx Pharmaceuticals and Hoth Therapeutics are joining the trend.
The movement is spreading globally too.&nbsp;
India's Jetking Infotrain just became the country's first public company to hold Bitcoin. Japan's Metaplanet is raising $62 million to expand its Bitcoin holdings.
And more votes are coming.&nbsp;
Amazon shareholders will soon decide whether to convert 5% of the company's assets into Bitcoin. The proposal suggests this move could protect shareholder value in times of high inflation.
While Microsoft shareholders may have said "not yet" to Bitcoin, the broader trend is clear.&nbsp;
More companies are viewing Bitcoin as a serious option for their treasuries. This shift isn't happening overnight &ndash; it's more like a slow but steady march toward acceptance.
For investors watching from the sidelines, this corporate adoption wave could signal a historic opportunity.&nbsp;
As more companies follow suit, Bitcoin's role as a mainstream financial asset grows stronger.&nbsp;
While the journey may take time, those who position themselves early could be witnessing the birth of a new era in corporate finance.
The Microsoft vote isn't the end of the story &ndash; it's just the beginning.&nbsp;
With each new company that adds Bitcoin to its treasury, the digital currency moves one step closer to becoming a standard part of corporate strategy.&nbsp;
And for those paying attention, that could mean the difference between watching from the sidelines and being part of financial history.

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Microsoft's $200 Billion Bitcoin Moment

What is Oreshnik? It&rsquo;s a Russian word with two meanings. The first reference is to the hazel tree or the hazelnut from that tree. The second reference is to a revolutionary new missile system that Russia has fired at Ukraine.
The meanings are not unconnected. The ability of the Oreshnik missile to spread out into twenty or more warheads each with its own path is said to resemble the spread of leaves and branches of the hazel tree. Instead of bearing fruit in the form of hazelnuts, the Oreshnik brings utter destruction to targets in its path. That result has radically changed the nature of warfare.
<h2 class="subhead">How We Got To This Point</h2>
Before describing the Oreshnik missile in more detail, it helps to recall the recent history involving the U.S., Russia and Ukraine that led to the current dangerous state of affairs.
In 2008, George W. Bush announced that Ukraine and Georgia should join NATO. Within months, Russia invaded Georgia, making it clear that a red line had been crossed. In November 2013, the U.S. and UK launched a &ldquo;color revolution&rdquo; in Ukraine, used Ukrainian neo-Nazis to kill over 100 innocent protestors, overthrew a duly-elected president of Ukraine and installed an anti-Russian puppet regime. Weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine&rsquo;s Crimean Peninsula and annexed that territory to the Russian Federation.
In 2015, Russia and the U.S. and certain NATO allies negotiated the Minsk Agreements to bring peace to Ukraine. But the West negotiated in bad faith and later revealed they had no intention of living up to the Agreements. The period 2016-2022 was marked by a continual state of war between Ukrainian neo-Nazis (backed by the U.S.) and the Russian-speaking populations in the Donbas region of Ukraine. In 2019, Donald Trump was impeached for merely suggesting that U.S. aid to the Ukrainian neo-Nazis should be delayed.
Finally, in 2022, Russia invaded the Donbas to support the Russian speakers who were under siege from Kyiv. The war in Ukraine ever since has been marked by continual escalation whereby the U.S. and NATO supplied more advanced weapons which have all failed, and Russia responded with its own highly advanced weapons, which have succeeded brilliantly.
The result is that Russia has annexed four provinces of Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) and is advancing across the entire battlefront. Russia may soon annex two further provinces &ndash; Odesa and Sumy. Russia is also annihilating the Ukrainians who invaded the Kursk region of Russia last summer.
<h2 class="subhead">The Shock Heard Around The World</h2>
None of these adverse developments have halted U.S. and NATO escalation. The latest provocation involves the launching of U.S. ATACMS missiles as well as UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles and French SCALP cruise missiles at targets several hundred miles deep inside Russia. It was easy to predict that Russia would respond in its own way.
In fact, Russia&rsquo;s response shocked the world. On November 21, Russia fired a new weapon at the Yuzhmash defense plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that was unlike any weapon ever seen. It was a missile that was initially mistaken for an ICBM, a weapon reserved for strategic use with nuclear warheads. The missile was soon identified by the Russian Defense Ministry as a new Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) called Oreshnik. The Oreshnik appears to be an updated version of the RS-24 and RS-26 Rubezh IRBMs developed in the 2010s.
<img src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3H62DpMkisppyU8kjmRuws/a5d58eb4ca0d798c5aadcbb8a21abb93/rgf-img1-12-04-24.png" alt="image 1" width="540px" />
Destruction By Escalation Defined
Russia&rsquo;s Oreshnik missile was launched in response to Biden&rsquo;s approval of ATACMS missile attacks deep inside Russia. Biden also gave the green light to attacks aimed at Russia using UK Storm Shadow and French SCALP cruise missiles. Biden&rsquo;s escalation is consistent with his seeming desire to cause World War III. The Oreshnik travels at Mach 10+, delivers multiple warheads and can reach London from Russia in 20 minutes. There is no defense.
The capabilities of the Oreshnik are astounding. It travels at Mach 10, about 7,000 miles per hour, 92 miles per minute or 2 miles per second. It can strike London in 20 minutes from its launch facility in Sary Shagan, Russia. Its warhead carries as many as six multiple independently targetable vehicles (MIRVs). Each MIRV carries as many as ten smaller MIRVs. (The exact number of large and small MIRVs inside the warhead bus is unknown).
This means a single missile can strike as many as sixty targets. Each small MIRV can take the form of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), so that even after releasing the MIRVs, the warheads continue at hypersonic speed.
The Oreshnik fired at Dnipro was not armed with nuclear warheads, but it could easily be adapted to do that. Indeed, the warheads are estimated not to contain any explosive material at all. That may be why no fireballs were seen when the warheads struck.
Instead, the Oreshnik HGVs rely on kinetic force and extreme heat to produce the destructive power that would otherwise be done by explosives. While the exact dynamics of the kinetic impact are not fully confirmed, it appears that warhead simply generates a seismic shock equal to the detonation of 5 metric tonnes (about 11,000 pounds) of TNT. This shock hits with a temperature of 4,000 degrees Celsius (7,332 degrees Fahrenheit).
The combination of force and temperature liquifies the soil around the point of impact and creates a kind of &ldquo;soil tsunami&rdquo; with underground shock waves emerging as surface seismic waves (a Rayleigh wave) that destroys everything in its vicinity (the elastic deformation zone).
The warheads went deep into the earth upon impact. The destruction was no less complete than a massive surface explosion. One eyewitness said, &ldquo;Yuzhmash is gone. It hit so hard that everyone just threw up their hands. It was like God sent us his arrows. People went to the plant to find out what happened &ndash; but it simply wasn&rsquo;t there. There were no workshops, only dust remained.&rdquo;
None of the underground command bunkers in Kyiv are safe from the Oreshnik.
<h2 class="subhead">A Paradigm Shift in Offensive Warfare</h2>
We have also just witnessed another step up the escalation ladder to nuclear war first posited by the theorist Herman Kahn in the 1960s.
Later on November 21, President Putin of Russia gave a lengthy statement in a televised address from the Kremlin. Putin reportedly used a desk and chair once used by Stalin to announce important victories in World War II, a fact not lost on everyday Russians. Putin said that the war in Ukraine has now become a &ldquo;global conflict.&rdquo;
U.S. and NATO missile attacks on Russia continued into late November. On November 29 a Russian missile counterattack struck a Ukrainian missile launch center staffed by U.S. and other NATO technicians. The Russian missile was not an Oreshnik, but Russia has a large arsenal of other hypersonic missiles capable of precision strikes and massive damage. The launch center was destroyed, and it is highly likely (but not yet confirmed) that U.S. military personal possibly posing as non-uniformed mercenary &ldquo;contractors&rdquo; were killed.
The escalation continues. For Biden, nuclear war is the endgame.
Why should these technical developments in missile technology matter to investors? Because these developments are not incremental. They are revolutionary. The Oreshnik missile represents a paradigm shift in offensive warfare. The West has nothing comparable and no defense against it.
The tactical use of nuclear weapons has always been a red line since the U.S. first conducted nuclear war against Japan in August 1945. Of course, the use of strategic nuclear weapons signals the end of civilization, but even tactical nuclear weapons were considered unacceptable.
The Oreshnik blurs that red line. It has the accuracy and much of the destructive force of a tactical nuclear weapon without the radiation and collateral damage. The Oreshnik missile is so fast and so powerful that it may have made tactical nuclear weapons obsolete. Why use nukes when you can get massive, targeted destruction in minutes without radioactive fallout?
<h2 class="subhead">Markets Beware</h2>
That being the case, the Oreshniks will be used. Putin has already threatened to use Oreshniks against &ldquo;decision making centers&rdquo; in Kyiv. That&rsquo;s a reference to the underground bunkers used by the political and military leadership of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine could be over even faster than the most objective analysts expect.
Russia has also publicly identified U.S. and NATO command centers in Poland that are used to program and guide the intermediate-range and cruise missiles being launched into Russia. Putin has said those bases could be attacked if the missile attacks on Russia continued.
Of course, Poland is a NATO member and such an attack by Russia could trigger Article V of the NATO treaty, which requires all members to come to the aid of any member under attack. This sequence is the short path to World War III. Joe Biden seems determined to test these limits.
Investors need to be prepared for a world where the U.S. is no longer the leader in military technology. Russia will decide when its geopolitical goals are met, and the U.S. is in no position to dictate those terms to Russia. This new reality will be reflected in foreign exchange markets, stock market volatility, and even markets for U.S. Treasury securities. Importantly, the political paradigm shift will be reflected in the price of gold.

Soaring resource costs&hellip; crashing stock prices&hellip; chaos on Wall Street&hellip;
Today&rsquo;s markets may seem more unpredictable than ever.
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It reveals the exact cross-section where you have enough good information to be smart AND still have time to effectively act.&nbsp;
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A Change in the Global Order of Military Superiority

Remember when people thought the AI boom might be cooling off?
Well, Nvidia just proved them wrong... again.
Last Wednesday, the world's most valuable company announced another mind-blowing quarter, with revenue nearly doubling from the same time last year to reach $35 billion.
If you're keeping score at home, that's a 94% increase year-over-year.
But here's where it gets really interesting: Nvidia says they're still struggling to make enough chips to meet demand.
The company's data center business, which makes the specialized chips that power AI systems like ChatGPT, grew by an astounding 112%.
While this sounds great on paper, for Nvidia, these results have become business as usual.
Since announcing earnings on Wednesday, Nvidia&rsquo;s stock is down about 7.5%
This follows a similar pattern we saw back in August when Nvidia last announced earnings.&nbsp;
Initially, the stock dropped about 18% in the following week.&nbsp;
However, the stock has recovered those losses and rallied an additional 8.7%.&nbsp;
If you were lucky enough to pick up shares of Nvidia&rsquo;s stock one week after the last earnings, you&rsquo;d be sitting on gains of 28%
I believe a similar trend may play out again in the coming quarter.
<h3>The AI Race Heats Up</h3>
Nvidia&rsquo;s results were generally bullish for its next-generation chip, called Blackwell.
The chip isn't even officially out yet, but Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says demand is already outstripping their ability to produce them.
And there's a good reason for all this demand.
Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that Meta is training AI models larger than anything he's seen.
Not to be outdone, Elon Musk's xAI is building what he calls the "Colossus" &ndash; a supercomputer in Memphis using 100,000 Nvidia chips.
They've just raised $6 billion to help pay for it, and Musk is already talking about doubling its size.
Meanwhile, Amazon just poured another $4 billion into AI company Anthropic, bringing their total investment to $8 billion.
They're betting big that Anthropic's Claude AI model could become a serious competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Speaking of OpenAI, they recently raised $6.6 billion at a whopping $157 billion valuation.
For perspective, that makes them more valuable than companies like Disney or Nike.
But here's what makes this moment truly special&hellip;
<h3>The Birth of a New Kind of Computing</h3>
Nvidia&rsquo;s CEO is calling it "the industrial revolution of AI."
In a ceremony this past weekend at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Huang explained how we're moving from an era where computers followed human instructions to one where they can learn and think on their own.
This isn't just about making better chatbots.
Meta is using AI to translate languages in real time during video calls.
Google is developing AI that can understand and create videos from text descriptions.
And Amazon is working on AI that can run entire warehouses autonomously.
For investors, this creates multiple paths to potential riches.
The obvious play has been Nvidia, whose stock has risen nearly 200% this year.
But there's more to the story&hellip;
<h3>Transforming Every Industry</h3>
The real opportunity might lie in identifying the companies that will use these AI tools to transform their businesses.
Consider this: Every major company in every industry will eventually need to adopt AI to stay competitive.
Those that move first will likely see the biggest gains.
We're still in the early innings of this technological revolution.
The amount of computing power needed for AI is expected to increase by a millionfold over the next decade, according to Nvidia's CEO.
That's not just growth &ndash; that's explosive, transformative change.
For investors who position themselves correctly, this could be the kind of opportunity that creates generational wealth.
Remember, Amazon's early investors saw their investments multiply by over 1,000 times.
And that was just from revolutionizing retail.
The AI revolution promises to transform every industry simultaneously.
The race is on, and the stakes have never been higher.
Smart investors are paying attention &ndash; because this might be the biggest wealth-creation opportunity of our lifetimes.

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AI Profit Alert: The AI Gold Rush Just Got Hotter

With the 2024 election in the rearview mirror and Donald Trump set to take office on January 20, 2025, what will his second term mean for America?
Let&rsquo;s review the good, the bad and the ugly to prepare you for what&rsquo;s coming:
<h2 class="subhead">The Good</h2>
Trump will pursue a twenty-first-century version of what was originally known as the American System. This system relied on the following policies:
<ol>
<li>High tariffs to support manufacturing and high-paying jobs</li>
<li>Infrastructure investment (public and private) to support productivity</li>
<li>A strong army and navy to protect the U.S. but not to fight foreign wars</li>
<li>A central bank with limited powers to provide liquidity to commerce</li>
</ol>
To the extent there was government spending, it was for productive projects such as canal and road building and later to support railroads. To the extent that early central banks existed, they were for secure lending to sound entities (including the U.S. government) and not for purposes such as printing money, fixing interest rates or &ldquo;stimulus.&rdquo;
The entire system could be summarized as sound money, smart investment and a strong military in the service of high-paying American jobs.
The American System prevailed from 1790 to 1962 with occasional periods of agrarian ascendency and some disruptions such as the Civil War. Beginning after World War I, the neo-liberal movement of Austrian economists and libertarians began to promote globalist policies of open borders, open capital accounts and free trade.
Of course, free trade is a myth because of subsidies and non-tariff barriers. Comparative advantage is obsolete because the factors of production are highly mobile. Taiwan had no comparative advantage in semiconductors in 1979, but today they dominate global production. They made that happen through a Taiwanese version of the American System.
In contrast, the neo-liberals were living an ideological fantasy in which globalism was to displace sovereignty. At a minimum, their goal was encasement of sovereigns in a larger orb of multilateral institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, WTO and the United Nations.
Beginning with the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Trade Act of 1974 and successive rounds under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (today the WTO), the U.S. embraced the neo-liberal consensus including drastic tariff cuts. As jobs moved offshore to take advantage of cheap labor, capital followed as direct foreign investment.
The result was the hollowing-out of U.S. manufacturing, wage stagnation, slower growth, greater debt and a succession of failed wars. The open border policy of Biden-Harris is consistent with neo-liberal views on the end of sovereignty but is a death-knell for American jobs and social cohesion.
Trump and his economic team will return the United States to the pre-1962 glory days with the revival of the American System. Foreign companies will be free to sell goods to Americans but only if they are manufactured in the U.S.
This will lead to a wave on inbound investment in the U.S., a reduction in U.S. trade deficits, a stronger dollar (as the world demands dollars to invest here), and higher wages for U.S. workers. Higher wages will raise real incomes, stimulate consumption, decrease income inequality and expand the tax base to help reduce deficits without raising tax rates.
It&rsquo;s a win for American manufacturing and a win for the American people.
<h2 class="subhead">The Bad</h2>
But before we get there, expect a tough economic (and market) environment in the beginning of Trump&rsquo;s term.&nbsp; Administrations matter, personnel matters, policy matters, but there&rsquo;s something bigger than Trump in the White House. It&rsquo;s called the economy. The economy goes its own way. Business cycles have not been erased. The transition from Biden to Trump will bring economic pain as Trump inherits Joe Biden&rsquo;s mess.
There are ample signs that the economy is headed for a recession (or may already be in one) including higher unemployment, lower interest rates (low rates are not "stimulus;" they are associated with recessions and depressions), flattening yield curves, negative swap spreads, collateral shortages in Eurodollar markets, reductions in China&rsquo;s reserve positions (not a sign of "dumping" Treasuries but a sign of a dollar shortage and a need to provide liquidity to banks), declining oil prices (despite output reductions), and others.
The emerging recession will cause a stock market drawdown as earnings are revised downward, consumer confidence crumbles, consumer discretionary spending hits a wall and precautionary savings rise. The world will not bail-out the U.S. economy because China, Japan, Germany and the UK are all slowing economically at the same time or already in contraction.
The U.S. economy (in contrast to economists) does not pay that much attention to elections or new administrations. It&rsquo;s too big and moves to its own complex tempo. Investors may cheer the Trump policies and his reelection, but it will be a very bumpy ride in the first year of Trump 2.0.
<h2 class="subhead">The Ugly</h2>
Don&rsquo;t underestimate &ldquo;The Resistance&rdquo;. Because it&rsquo;s out there and can do a lot of damage in a couple of months before Inauguration Day. What are they up to? Biden and company are trying to Trump-proof the presidency by signing contracts. Let me explain.
Remember the famous Inflation Reduction Act? Despite its name, the act actually increased inflation by being the Green New Scam in disguise. There was about $850 billion for garbage like windmills, solar modules, and green initiatives. A lot of the money went to the Democrat&rsquo;s favorite contractors and electric vehicle makers. That passed in August of 2022, but guess what?
Most of the money hasn&rsquo;t been spent yet.
So, now there is a mad scramble to sign contracts. You actually can&rsquo;t spend the money that fast, but you can sign a contract with a five-year life or three-year life saying you&rsquo;ll spend it over three years. And the idea is signing the contract now so that even when Trump becomes president, even though the money hasn&rsquo;t been spent, it has been appropriated and it&rsquo;s contractually bound.
And that&rsquo;s the key. Bind the spending in contractual form so Trump can&rsquo;t do anything about it. There&rsquo;s a lot of wasteful government spending that&rsquo;s in the pipeline. The Democrats are also going to try to tie up as much federal land as they can to take it out of circulation to stall oil and natural gas production as well as mining.
The Resistance will try to get as much money to Ukraine as they can. They will try to appoint as many judges as they can. The Republicans can gum up the works a little bit, but the Democrats still have the majority in the Senate right now. And the one useful role of Kamala Harris left is being a tie breaking vote in the Senate if needed.
The Resistance could cause havoc in the months leading up to Trump taking office and beyond depending on how much damage they do. It won&rsquo;t be a pretty picture for markets with so many companies impacted by their actions on top of a recession.
<h2 class="subhead">Bottom Line</h2>
After taking office, Trump&rsquo;s agenda will incentivize billions of dollars of investments in U.S. energy and manufacturing jobs. He will make domestic oil drilling and refining a top priority which will provide America with energy independence. This will also benefit companies (and provide more jobs) in the energy sector.
But there will be plenty of minefields for markets to deal with in the first year as the transition takes place.

awn-hero-img-11-21-24 Downward arrow chart crashing, with the words Market Crash and Japanese flag displayed in red behind it. Illustrating economic downturns, financial crisis, or stock market failures

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Jim Rickards&rsquo; Strategic Intelligence is designed to help you prepare and profit from the coming collapse of the dollar.
It&rsquo;s masterminded by Jim Rickards, New York Times bestselling author of the The Road to Ruin, Currency Wars, The Death of Money, The New Case for Gold and more.
He&rsquo;s spent over 40 years in investment banking, international economics, political and national intelligence advisory roles. As adviser on international economics and financial threats to the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community, he served as a facilitator of the first-ever financial war games conducted by the Pentagon.
To safely guide your investments, Jim has developed a revolutionary way of looking at the financial system and stock markets. He calls it &ldquo;complexity theory,&rdquo; which has been used by government intelligence agencies but never applied to the financial world.
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A Bumpy Road Ahead to Trump 2.0

We got some data this week that may help the Fed stay on track for a December rate cut&hellip;
On Wednesday this week, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) print for October was released showing that prices increased 2.6% over the previous year.
This number was slightly higher than the 2.4% increase we saw in September, but it was still on target for what many economists were expecting.
Then on Thursday, a report from the Labor Department came out that showed that the number of people filing new unemployment applications fell for the week ending November 9th.
This is somewhat of a relief after unemployment claims surged in October due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the factory workers&rsquo; strike at Boeing.
So economists are hopeful that job growth will continue to regain steam as we continue through the rest of November.
With labor market conditions easing and inflation coming in on track with expectations, this gives the Fed more incentive to cut interest rates again at their meeting on December 18th.
We&rsquo;ll get more data on inflation and employment before that meeting so we&rsquo;ll see how those numbers shake out, but as of now, rates look like they&rsquo;re still coming down which is good for businesses that need to borrow capital to continue growing.
Not only that but with Trump winning the election we&rsquo;re about to move into a season where we&rsquo;ll likely see less regulation, less taxation, and more pro-business policies.
So businesses are about to grow and flourish, sending the prices of stocks shooting higher.
Now we also have to keep in mind that we may see higher tariffs, which could potentially be inflationary, so we have to think about that too when it comes to what the Fed will do as we move into 2025.
But all in all, I think we&rsquo;re in a very good place when it comes to potential business innovation and growth.
And the market seems to know this too as we&rsquo;re currently sitting at all-time highs on the S&amp;P 500.
So the market outlook looks bright as we approach the end of the year, which means we&rsquo;ll have plenty of opportunities to add innovative companies to our portfolio.

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Weekly Update: Why the Bulls Could Run Wild in 2025

Last night, America chose disruption over the status quo.
By the time Wisconsin's electoral votes put Donald Trump over the top at 4:30 AM, the markets had already spoken: Trump's return to power would kick off a new era of explosive growth and opportunity.
The Dow surged 3% at the opening bell. Bitcoin smashed through $75,000 to reach all-time highs. And Tesla stock rocketed up 15% as investors priced in a new reality where Elon Musk would help shape government policy.
Make no mistake - this wasn't just an election. It was an economic revolution.
<h3>The Red Wave That Changed Everything</h3>
State by state, Trump swept through the battlegrounds that matter most - Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and finally Wisconsin - to secure his return to the White House. And this time, he's bringing an army with him.
Republicans didn't just take the White House - they seized control of the Senate with a stronger majority than Trump's first term and are within striking distance of the House. With more Republicans backing him than ever and a stronger hold on his party, Trump is set to push through bigger changes than before.
The markets are already pricing in the tsunami of change ahead: lower corporate taxes, slashed regulations, and an aggressive America First trade policy that could reshape global commerce.
<h3>Musk Emerges as Washington's New Secret Weapon</h3>
No one did more to secure Trump's victory than Elon Musk.&nbsp;
The world's richest man bet big on Trump, contributing over $130 million and stumping across battleground states.
That investment is already paying off.&nbsp;
Tesla shares skyrocketed on expectations that Trump will accelerate approval for full self-driving vehicles and robotaxis.
SpaceX stands to benefit from increased defense spending and an accelerated timeline to reach Mars.
But Musk's influence extends far beyond his own companies.&nbsp;
Trump has tapped him to lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency" with a mandate to slash $2 trillion in federal spending.&nbsp;
For the first time, the tech industry will have a representative in government with direct influence over policy.
<h3>Tech's New Dawn</h3>
While critics warned that Trump would lead to the destruction of America, Silicon Valley is poised for unprecedented growth.&nbsp;
The Nasdaq's 3% surge today is just the preview of tech's next chapter.
With Vice President JD Vance - a former venture capitalist with deep ties to Silicon Valley - Trump's administration brings a unique understanding of the tech industry to Washington.&nbsp;
Vance previously worked directly with Peter Thiel - another Trump supporter who is also one of the founders of Paypal and Palantir&hellip; and an early investor in Facebook.
Vance's experience with Thiel positions him perfectly to bridge the gap between government and innovation.
Trump's team has promised investment in AI and quantum computing&hellip; signaling a new chapter in America's tech dominance.&nbsp;
Defense contracts are expected to pour billions into cutting-edge research, while looser regulations could help driverless cars hit the road more quickly.&nbsp;
His controversial tariff policies could once again make America a hub for semiconductor manufacturing.&nbsp;
For innovative companies willing to align with Trump's "America First" vision, the opportunities appear limitless.&nbsp;
From space technology to quantum computing, the next four years could see American tech grow more powerful than ever.
<h3>The Crypto Revolution Goes Mainstream</h3>
Perhaps no industry celebrated Trump's victory more enthusiastically than crypto.&nbsp;
Bitcoin's surge past $75,000 is just the beginning.
Trump has vowed to make America the world's "crypto capital," of the world.
His plans include adding Bitcoin as a federal reserve asset and promising to end the SEC's crackdown on digital currencies.&nbsp;
With Republicans comfortably controlling Congress, crypto-friendly laws seem more likely than ever.&nbsp;
Apart from fundraising for Trump, the crypto industry also poured money into congressional campaigns.
In a stunning upset for crypto haters, Bernie Moreno bet Ohio's Senator Sherrod Brown, who had long led the Senate's fight against digital currencies.
<h3>A New Era of Opportunity</h3>
For investors positioned correctly, the next four years could generate generational wealth.&nbsp;
Trump's combination of tax cuts, deregulation, and pro-business policies creates a perfect storm for growth.
The administration's focus on domestic manufacturing, energy independence, and technological innovation opens numerous paths for savvy investors.&nbsp;
From AI and autonomous vehicles to crypto and space exploration, entirely new industries stand ready to explode.
The message is clear: while the media focuses on political drama, smart money is already moving to capitalize on the Trump economy 2.0.&nbsp;
Those who recognize and act on these opportunities early stand to reap extraordinary rewards.
The revolution isn't coming - it's already here. The only question is: are you ready to profit from it?

How Trump's Victory Reshapes the Investment Landscape

For a brief moment on Tuesday, crypto traders held their breath.
Bitcoin was just $175 away from making history.
After months of sideways trading between $55,000 and $70,000, the world's largest cryptocurrency finally appeared ready to break through its previous all-time high of $73,737.
And then... nothing.
Like a mountaineer caught in an avalanche just feet from the summit, Bitcoin tumbled backward, dragged down by a broader tech selloff that saw the Nasdaq plunge more than 2%.
The catalyst? Disappointing earnings from tech giants Meta and Microsoft sent shockwaves through the market. Coinbase, crypto's largest publicly traded exchange, piled on with its own earnings miss after hours.
But there's more to this story than just another volatile day in crypto.
Behind the scenes, a much bigger drama is unfolding &ndash; one that could determine whether Bitcoin heads to $100,000 or tumbles back to $50,000.
<h3>The Trump Factor</h3>
It's no coincidence that Bitcoin's surge toward all-time highs comes as Donald Trump's poll numbers climb.
The former president has emerged as crypto's unlikely champion, promising to make America "the crypto capital of the planet" while vowing to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on day one.
Most recently, Trump floated the idea of eliminating capital gains taxes on U.S.-made cryptocurrencies &ndash; a move that would revolutionize how Americans use digital assets.
"Bitcoin is money," Trump declared in a recent interview. "You shouldn't have to pay capital gains tax if you use it to buy a coffee."
<h3>But Don't Count Harris Out</h3>
While conventional wisdom suggests a Trump victory would send Bitcoin soaring, Vice President Harris might not be the crypto-skeptic many assume.
Money talks, and crypto companies are speaking loudly to both parties.
During this campaign cycle, cryptocurrency supporters have poured more than $200 million into the campaigns of both parties.
Take Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange. They've contributed over $93.5 million into politics this year &ndash; more than any other company in America. And they're not playing favorites.
The Harris campaign is now accepting Bitcoin donations, and crypto groups are spending big on Democratic Senate races.&nbsp;
In Michigan and Arizona alone, crypto backers have spent over $18 million supporting Democratic candidates.
It's a simple strategy: instead of betting everything on one party, crypto companies are building friends on both sides of the aisle.
The approach seems to be working.&nbsp;
Coinbase's Chief Financial Officer recently revealed that Harris already has guidelines drawn up to bring clarity to crypto regulations.&nbsp;
It's the kind of concrete plan that crypto investors have been begging for.
The shift makes political sense.&nbsp;
With nearly one in four American men invested in crypto and millions of first-time buyers anticipated to buy in the coming years, the Democratic party can't ignore cryptocurrency investors for long.
<h3>The Road Ahead</h3>
As we head into election week, Bitcoin stands at a crossroads.
A Trump victory would likely catapult prices through $75,000 &ndash; the recent high on Micro BTC futures.
With no technical resistance above the current all-time high, we'd be in uncharted territory &ndash; quite literally.
If that happens, buckle up.&nbsp;
The pattern is measuring up to $95,000, but markets have a funny way of gravitating toward round numbers. In this case, that's $100,000.
A Harris victory requires a different approach. Watch the technicals carefully.
A Harris win might trigger initial selling pressure, with $70,000 and $65,000 as critical support levels. A break below could send prices back to test the $50,000-$55,000 range.
But here's the twist &ndash; regardless of who wins, crypto's newfound political influence means more favorable regulation is likely coming.
The only real question is speed.
Think of it like a cross-country road trip.&nbsp;
With Trump, we're taking the interstate at 80 mph. With Harris, we're on the scenic route &ndash; but we're still heading to the same destination.
For traders, the message is clear: keep your eyes peeled on election results.
A Trump victory? Strap in and prepare for takeoff.
One thing's certain &ndash; with election day approaching and Bitcoin testing historical highs, the next few weeks promise to be anything but boring.

Bitcoin's Wild Ride: The Climb to $75K and What Comes Next

Let&rsquo;s talk about gold. I call it the once and future money.
The use of gold as money and gold standards in various forms existed from antiquity until gold backing broke down entirely in 1971. Still, central banks and finance ministries hold over 37,000 metric tonnes of gold in reserve. Why? The answer is that gold is still at the base of global monetary systems. It&rsquo;s simply the case that no government wants to admit this because the shortage of gold relative to bank notes would be exposed if they did.
<h2 class="subhead">The Math to Huge Gold Profits</h2>
Gold is coming to the fore of the monetary system again. Central banks are buying gold as fast as they can. Let&rsquo;s look at some pertinent data before turning to the key geo-economic trends that will drive the dollar price of gold much higher in the near future.
The dollar price of gold today is $2,750 per ounce (subject to the usual daily fluctuations). As recently as November 3, 2022, gold was $1,630 per ounce. That&rsquo;s a 69% gain in under two years. Gold was $1,375 per ounce in early June 2019. That means the dollar price of gold has doubled in just over five years.
Most of the gains over that period have occurred in the past year. Gold was still $1,845 per ounce in October 2023. Whether we consider a multi-year trend or a more recent trend, gold has moved steadily higher with dramatic momentum lately.
There&rsquo;s a simple but important bit of math behind these price moves that investors should understand. It is the key to making huge profits in gold in the months ahead.
Investors tend to focus on the dollar price of gold and to analyze the price in round numbers. That makes sense. If gold goes up $100 per ounce and you own 500 ounces, that&rsquo;s a $50,000 profit . Another $100 per ounce gain means another $50,000 profit. That&rsquo;s real money for you.
What investors may not realize at first is that each $100 gain (and $50,000 profit) is easier than the one before. That&rsquo;s because each gain is measured in constant $100 increments, but the measurement begins from a higher base. A constant dollar gain is a smaller percentage of an expanding base so it&rsquo;s easier to achieve in percentage terms.
For example, if the price goes from $2,500 to $2,600 per ounce, that&rsquo;s a 4.0% gain. But if the price goes from $2,900 to $3,000 per ounce (same $100 gain), that&rsquo;s a 3.5% gain. Obviously, a 3.5% gain is easier to pick up than a 4.0% gain, but it&rsquo;s the same $100 gain and $50,000 profit in your pocket.
This dynamic is even more dramatic if we look at $1,000 per ounce price increases. (That means $500,000 in profits if you own 500 ounces). When the price moves from $2,000 per ounce to $3,000 per ounce, that&rsquo;s a 50% gain. But when the price moves from $9,000 per ounce to $10,000 per ounce, that&rsquo;s only an 11.0% gain. Same $1,000 per ounce gain and same $500,000 in profit but a much easier hurdle to move 11% compared to 50%.
<h2 class="subhead">The Momentum Impacts Investor Psychology</h2>
The math is obvious, but the psychology is not. And investor psychology is the engine that will drive gold prices to much higher levels faster than most investors can imagine. The last time gold was taken seriously as a monetary asset was in the mid-1970s. The last time that retail investors had much appetite for gold investing was in the early 1980s. Gold hit $800 per ounce in January 1980. That was the all-time high at the time. Gold was flat to down from 1980 to 1999, hitting $250 per ounce in 1999 at the end of a 20-year bear market.
From there, gold reached a new high of $1,900 per ounce in August 2011, a 670% gain in 12 years. Then gold fell into a second bear market, falling $850 to $1,050 per ounce in December 2015. That was a 45% crash from the 2011 high.
If you treat the 1999 low of $250 per ounce as a baseline, the 2011-2015 crash was actually 51.5%: (850 / 1650 = 51.5%). That calculation is important. Jim Rogers, the greatest commodity trader of all time, told me that no commodity goes to the moon without a 50% correction along the way. Gold had its 50% correction in 2015. Now, it&rsquo;s off to the moon.
The point is that despite two bull markets (1971-1980 and 1999-2011) and two bear markets (1980-1999 and 2011-2015), gold investing never captured the popular imagination in the way that housing did in the early 2000s or that stocks have today.
Individual investors have been in and out of the market and investors from the early 2000s have done quite well. Hedge funds trade momentum but get out at the first speed bump. They don&rsquo;t think of gold any differently that they do soybeans or oil. It&rsquo;s just a trade. The institutional investor footprint in the gold market is almost non-existent. From an investment perspective, gold has been an orphan asset with a few supporters but not many.
That&rsquo;s all about to change radically. Here&rsquo;s why:
<h2 class="subhead">Central Bank Gold Holdings Surging</h2>
The first key to gold&rsquo;s coming surge is the role of central banks. Retail and institutional investors may not be that interested in gold, but central banks definitely are. In recent years, central bank holdings of gold have surged from 33,000 metric tonnes to over 36,000 metric tonnes, a 9.0% gain measured by weight.
This increase has been heavily concentrated in two countries &ndash; Russia and China. Russian gold reserves have risen from 600 metric tonnes in 2008 to 2,335 metric tonnes today, a gain of 1,735 metric tonnes or nearly 300% from the 2008 base. China also had about 600 metric tonnes in 2008 and today has 2,264 metric tonnes, a 275% gain. (There is good reason to conclude that China has undisclosed gold reserves which would make those total and percentage gains ever higher).
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3rtQSvfchyapu577Yq3smU/674170d4c725e3b39787bc730a0a0206/rgf-img1-10-22-24.png" alt="image 1" width="540px" />
Source: TalkMarkets
The Big Ten holders of gold include the usual suspects &ndash; The U.S., Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and Japan. But the list also includes some newcomers such as Russia, China and India.
Other important countries are vying for a place in the global gold club. In the second quarter of 2024 (most recent available data), Poland added 18.7 mt, India added 18.7 mt, Turkey added 14.7 mt, Uzbekistan added 7.5 mt and the Czech Republic added 5.89 mt.
Why the large gold holdings and why the rapid additions to gold reserves if gold is not a monetary asset? The question answers itself. Gold is a monetary asset.
Central bank net buying is equivalent to about 20% of annual gold mining output. That does not indicate a gold shortage, but it does put a firm floor under the dollar price of gold. That creates what we call an asymmetric trade. On the upside, the sky&rsquo;s the limit, but on the downside, the central banks have your back to some extent because they will definitely buy the dips to increase their gold hoards. That&rsquo;s the best type of trade to be in.
So, the stage is set. The simple math of easier percentage gains for constant dollar gains is the dynamic that can set off a buying frenzy and lead to super-spikes in the dollar price of gold. Central bank buying causes a relentless increase in the dollar price of gold and offers limited downside because they will buy the dips. All that is needed to set off the super-spike is an unexpected development that is not already priced in.
<h2 class="subhead">Enter The BRICS</h2>
Now we have it. The BRICS are meeting in Kazan, Russian Federation this week. The BRICS have a rotating presidency and this year Putin is president of the BRICS. The world is waiting for the announcement of a new BRICS currency. That may come in time, but not yet. The new currency may be ten years away.
What will happen instead is that Putin and the BRICS will announce a new blockchain-based digital ledger to record trade payments using existing currencies of the BRICS members. The significance of this system (tentatively named &ldquo;BRICS Clear&rdquo;) is that there are no dollars involved and the secure payment channels are relatively safe from U.S. and EU sanctions.
Russia will sell oil to China for rubles, Brazil will sell aircraft to China for reais, and India will sell technology to China for rupees and so on. (Alternatively, any BRICS member can elect to take the currency of any other BRICS member, all to be recorded on BRICS Clear).
Payments can be settled on a net basis instead of a gross basis. This means, for example, that Russia and China can trade goods and record payments. There will be &ldquo;due to&rdquo; and &ldquo;due from&rdquo; on the ledgers. Those can be netted out with only the net amount changing hands. And this does not have to be done in real time; it can be done monthly or quarterly. This greatly reduces the amount of payments and message traffic. The central bank or commercial banks in each country can provide payments to local sellers in local currency while recording a due from the BRICS Clear ledger on its books.
That system can work well, but it leaves two issues unresolved compared to a single currency system. The first is stability in exchange rates while balances are left unsettled. The second is the overaccumulation of a certain currency by one party that may have limited use for that currency.
<h2 class="subhead">Gold is the Answer</h2>
If you don&rsquo;t want to take exchange rate risk, you can take your counterparty currency balances and buy gold. And if you have too much of a certain currency standing on your accounts, you can reduce the balance by buying gold.
The implications of this have not yet sunk into market pricing. It&rsquo;s tantamount to an informal gold standard without fixed exchange rates. It relies on market forces (mostly denominated in U.S. dollars for now) and does not rely on huge hoards of freely convertible gold in central banks. Still, it works. It positions gold as an anchor in a new international monetary system without the strictures of the classical gold standard.
The picture is now complete. Gold is on an upward path driven by central bank buying. Gold is poised to go much higher because the BRICS will use physical gold as their anchor instead of U.S. dollars. And investor psychology will cause a super-spike once the big dollar gains become a daily occurrence. It&rsquo;s a powder keg and the BRICS have just struck a match. The smartest move for everyday investors is to buy gold now before the fun really begins.

Gold Prices: Prepare for Blast Off

The semiconductor industry just experienced whiplash, and it's giving us a glimpse into the future of AI.
On Tuesday, ASML Holding (ASML), the Dutch company that makes the machines that make chips, accidentally leaked its earnings report. The news wasn't good.
ASML is a crucial player in the semiconductor world. They produce the complex machines that are essential for manufacturing the most advanced chips.
Their customers include semiconductor giants like Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung, and Intel. Without ASML's machines, the AI revolution we're witnessing would not be possible.
So when ASML's new sales orders (or &ldquo;bookings&rdquo; as they&rsquo;re called in accounting) came in at half of what analysts expected, it sent shockwaves through the tech world. The company's stock plummeted 16%, dragging other chip stocks down with it.
Nvidia, the poster child of the AI boom, saw its shares tumble nearly 5%. AMD and Broadcom weren't spared either, dropping 5.3% and 3.5% respectively.
For a moment, it seemed like the AI boom might be losing steam. Was this the beginning of the end for the AI gold rush?
But just as the dust was settling, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) dropped a bombshell this morning&hellip;
<h2 class="subhead nbp">TSM&rsquo;s Blockbuster Quarter</h2>
TSM, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is a key supplier to AI giants like Nvidia. They're the ones who take ASML's machines and use them to produce the chips that power our AI future.
And TSM had a very different story to tell. They reported a blockbuster quarter, with profits surging 54%, blowing past expectations.
The market did a complete 180. TSM's stock soared, pushing its market cap over the trillion-dollar mark.
TSM's CEO, C.C. Wei, didn't mince words. "We believe the AI demand is real," he declared, "and it will continue for many years."
So, what's really going on here?
<h2 class="subhead nbp">Is AI Headed for a Slowdown or a Surge?</h2>
The truth is, the semiconductor industry has always been a rollercoaster. The industry has a long history of experiencing boom and bust cycles.
Building a new chip factory, or "fab" in industry parlance, can take years, sometimes almost a decade. By the time it's up and running, the market may have completely changed.
This mismatch between supply and demand leads to wild swings. One year there's a chip shortage, the next there's a glut.
We saw this play out during the pandemic. A surge in demand for electronics led to a chip shortage that crippled industries from automotive to gaming consoles.
But TSM's stellar results tell us something important: right now, demand for AI chips is red hot.
And it's not just a short-term trend. The tech giants are betting big on AI's long-term future.
Just this week, Amazon announced a massive investment in nuclear energy. They're leading a $500 million funding round for X-Energy Reactor, a company developing small modular nuclear reactors.
This isn't just about powering a few extra data centers. Amazon is planning for more than 5 gigawatts of power projects to come online by 2039.
To put that in perspective, that's enough energy to power roughly 4 million homes. And remember, this is just for Amazon's AI and cloud computing needs.
Google isn't far behind. They recently announced a nuclear energy deal of their own with Kairos Power, another developer of small modular reactors. The first of these reactors is expected to come online by 2030.
And let's not forget Microsoft. They recently agreed to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
These tech behemoths aren't investing in nuclear energy for fun. They're preparing for a future where AI will require unprecedented amounts of power.
Consider this: a single rack of servers filled with advanced AI computing chips can demand over 100 kilowatts of power. That's more than 10 times what a typical server rack needs.
And we're not talking about a handful of these racks. We're talking about massive data centers filled with them, scattered across the globe.
These nuclear projects won't even come online for at least five years. That's a pretty clear signal that they expect AI demand to keep skyrocketing well into the next decade.
So while ASML's soft bookings raised some eyebrows, it's not necessarily a red flag for AI's future.
The tech giants are playing the long game. They're investing in infrastructure that will take years to build, positioning themselves for an AI-powered future.
Of course, we'll get an even clearer picture in the coming weeks. Intel and Nvidia are set to report their earnings soon, which could provide more insight into the state of AI chip demand.
For now, though, the outlook remains optimistic. The AI revolution isn't slowing down &ndash; it's just getting started.
The companies that can successfully navigate this transition &ndash; balancing the need for massive computing power with energy efficiency and sustainability &ndash; will likely be the titans of tomorrow's tech industry.
So while the headlines might swing from doom to boom and back again, keep your eyes on the long-term trend. The future of AI is bright, and it's powered by some serious innovation in both computing and energy.

Taiwan Semi's Trillion-Dollar Message: The AI Boom Is Just Getting Started

Election 2024

Last night, was the vice-presidential debate. The candidates had the opportunity to give their views to the American voters on important topics as we head toward Election Day. Below is a full analysis of the debate.
<h2 class="subhead">The Rundown</h2>
The obvious winner was JD Vance. The loser was Tim Walz, while the CBS moderators Norah O&rsquo;Donnell and Margaret Brennan also managed to embarrass themselves.
Vance appeared relaxed and comfortable in the limelight. Obviously, he had engaged in extensive debate preparation and was crammed full of relevant facts. But he presented himself in a dignified way and was able to make his technical points clearly and without jargon. He was a champion of &ldquo;common sense&rdquo; instead of reliance on so-called experts. This surely registered with a large part of the audience.
<h2 class="subhead">Walz Was Like a Nervous Cat</h2>
Walz was also well-prepped and well-rehearsed. But he was too rehearsed. His demeanor came across as some combination of an angry professor and a nervous cat on a high wire. He practically ignored Vance at times and kept talking about Trump, Trump, Trump in a highly disparaging way. His attacks on Trump recycled tired canards. The viewers were likely asking, &ldquo;Why are you attacking Trump instead of telling us what you would do if elected?&rdquo;
Regular readers know that I focus on body language as much as what the candidates are saying. There&rsquo;s a huge body of research that shows most viewers do the same even if their observations are subconscious. This X-factor was a big part of Vance&rsquo;s victory in the debate.
Walz seemed weak and nervous at key points, especially as the dialogue on climate change wore on. He was animated but in a bad way. He was scowling and yelling at the camera instead of speaking in a calm and composed manner. His eyes were bugging out and the veins in his neck were bulging, both signs of stress.
His face had a mean look even when he was not speaking. His eyes were shifty. Overall, his performance recalled the Howard Dean speech that ended with a prolonged scream (known ever since as the Dean Scream) on January 19, 2004, which finished Dean&rsquo;s political career. Walz&rsquo;s political career may also be about to end after his debate performance.
Walz had earlier lied about the fact that he was in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. He wasn&rsquo;t there. When asked to explain, he offered a convoluted answer that involved more lies about the original lie. He was nervous throughout that non-answer. You could see on his face that he was still lying.
<h2 class="subhead">Vance Showed His Debating Chops</h2>
In contrast, Vance was friendly and composed but also highly disciplined. He looked right at the camera except when he confronted the moderators on some dirty tricks or when he looked right at Walz to make a point. Both moves were highly effective. Vance countered Walz&rsquo;s lines about Trump by draping Kamala Harris around his neck. Vance made the point that Harris has been vice president already for almost four years and could have fixed many of the policies that she now claims she wants to fix if elected.
The moderators were completely biased against Vance, but they embarrassed themselves in adopting that stance. The questions were clearly designed to hit Vance hard on climate change, abortion and the January 6, 2020, riots while giving Walz a softball to hit at the same time. This is where Vance showed his debating chops.
When confronted on climate change, Vance deftly pivoted to creating U.S. jobs and said that moving jobs from high-polluting countries like China back to the U.S. would reduce CO2 emissions since U.S. manufacturing is much cleaner than Chinese manufacturing.
When Vance was confronted about mass deportations of illegal aliens, he said that he had been to the border many times and the border patrol &ldquo;just want to do their jobs&rdquo; in accordance with U.S. law. He came across as sincere, not dogmatic. He also drove a wedge between Harris and Walz by saying that reduced illegal immigration would leave more jobs available for legal American citizens.
<h2 class="subhead">The Moderators Were Flustered</h2>
The highlight of the evening was when moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O&rsquo;Donnell insisted on &ldquo;fact-checking&rdquo; Vance on climate change and other issues. Vance called out Margaret Brennan for doing this since CBS had agreed they would not engage in real time fact-checking and because they never fact-checked Walz on anything. He then buried her on substance. Total cojones.
Brennan then got so flustered she yelled, &ldquo;Your mikes are cut!&rdquo; as they shut down Vance&rsquo;s microphones. Vance kept talking and she yelled &ldquo;no one can hear you&rdquo; but I watched it live and I could hear Vance clearly picked up by Brennan&rsquo;s own mike. The CBS anchors looked like fools, and Vance came across as the hero. That moment alone will go down in TV debate history.
Vance was brilliant on substance. He said the solution to school shootings is to improve security at the schools rather than take away guns from law-abiding citizens. He said the Minnesota law allowing abortions in the ninth month and killing of children who survived an attempted abortion was &ldquo;fundamentally barbaric.&rdquo; Walz offered a lame defense of the Minnesota abortion law. Vance shot back, &ldquo;I asked for an answer, and you gave me a slogan.&rdquo;
Vance made it clear that a Trump administration would support fertility treatments, give pregnant women more options and let each state decide how to handle the issue. (The same evening of the debate Trump said he would veto a national abortion ban. That takes that issue off the table).
Vance explained that Trump&rsquo;s tariffs would end imports from countries that use &ldquo;slave labor.&rdquo; At this point, Walz was nonplussed and looked like a deer in the headlights.
Vance was brilliant on the failings of so-called experts. He said they were wrong about offshoring jobs, wrong about cheap imports and wrong about Big Pharma and Big Tech. Again, Vance urged &ldquo;common sense&rdquo; solutions instead of relying on experts. Most Americans certainly agree.
Also, Vance managed to work in the word &ldquo;weird&rdquo; twice in referring to Walz&rsquo;s policies. That was a nice turnaround from the early stage of the campaign when Walz tried to call Republicans weird.
Walz wasted his chance in the closing statement by using platitudes like &ldquo;joy&rdquo; and not saying much beyond &ldquo;vote for Kamala Harris.&rdquo; Vance made brilliant use of his time by discussing core issues like inflation, housing shortages, fentanyl imports and more and laying them all at the feet of Harris and Walz. That was much more in touch with everyday Americans.
One interesting sidelight is that both Vance and Walz were energetic and fully engaged. This has the unintended side effect of showing just how vapid Kamala Harris is since she could not have survived on that debate stage and still refuses to take reporters&rsquo; questions except with teleprompters in tightly controlled circumstances. Walz&rsquo;s level of engagement did Kamala no favors in comparison.
Bottom line: a convincing win for JD Vance. This should start to show up in polling results in the days ahead.

awn-hero-img-10-02-24 Brown wooden pulpit with microphone for speech or debate concept. Realistic 3d vector illustration set of wood lecture podium mockup for press conference. Presentation tribune or rostrum stand.

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A Vance Victory

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Rickards Uncensored Call (with Byron King 1/5/2024)

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