Updates

Unlocked

President Trump is staying true to his "America First" agenda.
His mission to use our nation&rsquo;s vast, untapped mineral resources to simultaneously address the nation&rsquo;s gargantuan $37.5 trillion national debt will free us from our widespread reliance on Chinese rare earths and other resources.
Earlier this year, the president has already issued executive orders to access our nation's vast <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-measures-to-increase-american-mineral-production/">mineral deposits</a> in a push to establish America&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/a-plan-for-establishing-a-united-states-sovereign-wealth-fund/">first Sovereign Wealth Fund</a>. Such a fund would open up America's federal lands containing $150 trillion in untapped mineral wealth to the public.
Also, the president established the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-beautiful-again-commission/">Make America Beautiful Again Commission</a> to coordinate conservation, recreation, and economic growth strategies, with a strong emphasis on deregulation and private-sector involvement.
In addition, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBB) was passed by Congress and signed into law on July 4. It&rsquo;s important because it advances the American Birthright opportunities even further for investors.
In this bill, environmental-related provisions will expedite reviews for investment projects and rescind funds under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (actually the Green New Scam in disguise) for green energy programs that were diverted to progressive activist groups.
In the area of natural resources, the OBBB will replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that was depleted by Joe Biden for political purposes. The moratorium on new coal leasing permits will end. Oil and gas leasing in Alaska will be approved. Onshore oil and gas lease sales will be expanded, and timber harvesting will be increased.
<h2 class="subhead">The Latest Move</h2>
Now, the Trump administration is making another move in a new phase of the American Birthright mission.
On September 10, the U.S. Department of the Interior under Doug Burgum declared its intent to rescind the 2024 Public Lands Rule. This is a Biden-era rule which placed conservation on equal footing with uses such as natural gas drilling, mining, and timber.
The Interior Department argues the rescission will restore a "balanced multiple-use" framework and eliminate regulatory uncertainty for industries like energy and mining. There will be a 60-day public comment period which ends on November 10. After that, we&rsquo;ll closely monitor where this proposed rescission goes at that point.
Energy and mining groups believe this move will increase access to resources and support domestic energy needs. The Biden administration had treated conservation as &ldquo;no use,&rdquo; meaning the land was to be left idle rather than authorizing legitimate uses of the land like energy development.
Remember - the Biden years were a disaster for miners; Biden sank several expansive, high-profile domestic mine projects by either sidelining or stopping proposals. He ceded control of our supply chains. We've been in a trade war with China since Trump's first term, and yet we are no less dependent on foreign minerals despite everything that has happened since.
To protect the &ldquo;environment,&rdquo; Biden and his radical green agenda scam destroyed our middle class. They shipped our key industries overseas. Then bottled-up America&rsquo;s most valuable resources. America, a fully developed country famous for its "Gold Rushes", can hardly out-mine a much smaller, poorer nation.
Now, Trump wants to unlock the mineral wealth in federal lands, gut the bureaucracy, and unleash this mineral wealth. And companies are responding.
Thacker Pass, home to the largest known measured and indicated lithium resource in North America, announced a $250 million strategic investment earlier in the year. Historic Bunker Hill mine also saw $40 million in a fresh investment to restart and produce zinc and lead concentrates. This is just the beginning.
Mining efforts in lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and other materials will be pursued avidly. Those sectors will outperform almost every other sector in the stock market. Industrial metals will be in increased demand related to the expansion of U.S. manufacturing. Precious metals will be in demand as a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty and as a non-digital store of wealth.
The bad news is that we find ourselves in a new global race for minerals &ndash; one that the prior administration left us hamstrung in.
The good news is that Trump's presidency has just begun, and we're already seeing signs of a new American "Gold Rush" when it comes to critical minerals.
There are years of positive policy movement from this administration to look forward to: an incredible window for investors to get rich off the coming metals and mining boom.
It&rsquo;s also good for the country. Because not only does opening up these lands to exploration benefit drilling and mining companies, but it also results in high-paying jobs, increased GDP, industrial capacity and output as well as reduces the debt by adding extra revenue to the federal government.
It&rsquo;s an exciting time for America as the government is finally using the asset side of its balance sheet to benefit America and provide citizens with their birthright advantages.
What does this mean for you as an investor? It means more investing in American companies that will benefit from Trump reducing regulations on development and moving to reshore industry. That is, own hard assets like energy and resources, plus of course, precious metals. But it also opens up profit opportunities in other sectors of the market as well.
Savvy investors can take advantage of these opportunities to create wealth in their own portfolios. It&rsquo;s a birthright of American citizens to prosper from natural resources on federal lands. This latest move by Interior will help with deregulation efforts to jump start mining and drilling projects. We&rsquo;ll keep you posted on further developments in the coming weeks.

rgf-commentary-hero-img-09-18-25

Soaring resource costs&hellip; crashing stock prices&hellip; chaos on Wall Street&hellip;
Today&rsquo;s markets may seem more unpredictable than ever.
But drawing on his experience with the Central Intelligence Agency, Jim Rickards has developed a system for pinpointing the best times to enter and exit a trade.
It reveals the exact cross-section where you have enough good information to be smart AND still have time to effectively act.&nbsp;
And while the U.S. government has been using this system to predict geopolitical events for decades, Jim is the first to apply it to the investment markets.
He calls it the &ldquo;Kissinger Cross&rdquo; strategy&hellip; and it&rsquo;s only available in The Situation Report with Jim Rickards.
Jim and his team use it to detect big moves in gold, energy, currencies and commodities before they happen. Then it&rsquo;s just a matter of pairing that knowledge with the right trades &mdash; for chances to quickly multiply your money.
So don&rsquo;t be a victim of Wall Street&rsquo;s sudden ups and downs.
With The Situation Report with Jim Rickards, you can harness the power of the &ldquo;Kissinger Cross&rdquo; strategy &mdash; for a chance at big profits from gold, energy, currencies and commodities.

mobile masthead RGF

RGF Rebrand Masthead

RGF Portfolio

Urgent Anytime Profit-Taking Alerts, Bi-Weekly SitRep Notes, Monthly Model Portfolio Updates

Harness trade signals from Jim’s proprietary “Kissinger Cross” strategy to profit from gold, energy, currencies and commodities during the market chaos.

Big Ideas

The Situation Report with Jim Rickards

UPDATE: The Latest American Birthright Move

As we warned readers last week, the latest stage in the war against Iran waged by the U.S. and Israel erupted late on the night of February 27 (our time) with a massive wave of bomber, missile and drone attacks on Iran.
The USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups are deploying warfare jets to conduct strikes on Iranian targets.
U.S. B-2 bombers were included in the strike package and dropped bunker buster bombs to destroy Iranian missiles stored underground.
The impact was enormous.
It included attacks on the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian air defense systems and factories that produce Iranian drones, missiles and mines.
By Saturday night (our time), even bigger news broke.
Ayatollah Khamenei was dead.
Khamenei had been the Supreme Leader of Iran for 37 years.
His favorite chants were &ldquo;Death to America&rdquo; and &ldquo;Death to Israel&rdquo;.
Today, America and Israel are still standing, but he&rsquo;s dead.
<h2 class="subhead">The U.S. Strategy &amp; Trump&rsquo;s Goal</h2>
Killing Khamenei was part of what&rsquo;s called a decapitation strike.
The idea is not to kill a large number of troops, but to kill the leadership.
Not only was Khamenei killed, but the attacks also killed his family members, the Iranian defense minister, the leadership of the IRGC and many others.
In all, over 40 top Iranian political and military leaders were killed in the opening hours of the attack.
The decapitation strike that wiped out Iranian leadership was conducted in broad daylight on Saturday morning (Iranian time).
That&rsquo;s unusual; such strikes are usually carried out at night.
But U.S. and Israeli intelligence gathered information that the leaders were meeting in three separate locations at the same time.
That&rsquo;s how such a large group of leaders were killed so quickly.
Trump&rsquo;s goal is to wipe out the existing leadership and invite the Iranian people to form a new government.
An Iranian government-in-exile has already been created and is waiting to take control if that&rsquo;s what the Iranian people want.
<h2 class="subhead">The Iranian Response</h2>
Israel is the main target of the Iranian response.
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system has shot down most of the Iranian missiles and drones but not all.
Some civilian areas have been hit and a number of civilians have been killed. (U.S. servicemen have been killed as well)
Iran has also counterattacked with missile and drone strikes on a number of Gulf hubs &mdash; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have all been hit.
Some of these are legitimate military targets; in particular, Bahrain is the main port for the U.S. Navy&rsquo;s Fifth Fleet.
Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East.
But other targets (including Dubai) have no major U.S. military facilities. Attacks on Dubai seem more calculated to cause terror and disrupt telecommunications and transportation.
One constraint on the U.S. conduct of the war is that we are running low on munitions.
Our cruise missiles, anti-missile batteries and drones are highly effective, but we do not have unlimited supplies, and our industrial output capacity was greatly diminished under the Biden administration.
Many of these weapons systems were destroyed and depleted in the war in Ukraine, which is a lost cause and was a waste of U.S. resources.
U.S. targeting in Iran will have to be extremely efficient to achieve U.S. goals of destroying Iran&rsquo;s nuclear enrichment program before running low on offensive and defensive weapons systems.
<h2 class="subhead">The Market Response So Far</h2>
Although the entire situation is fluid and uncertain, here&rsquo;s what we can say with some assurance&hellip;
This war will not be over in days; it will take weeks or longer to finish the decapitation process and to destroy Iran&rsquo;s factories.
Markets seem to be taking things in stride (so far).
Gold is up around 2%, exceeding $5,350 per ounce.
Oil is up about 7.5% to $78.00 per barrel for Brent crude.
So far, there are no signs of market panic. But that could change as this all plays out.
We&rsquo;ll be watching gold, silver, oil and stocks closely in the days ahead.
Iran claims the Strait of Hormuz has been closed. That&rsquo;s false.
It is true that some vessels are steering clear and others have moored temporarily in the Gulf based on warnings from owners and insurance companies.
But the Strait is open and some vessels are proceeding. Closing the Strait of Hormuz even temporarily will not be as disruptive as many expect because there is actually a glut of oil on the market.
<h2 class="subhead">Winners and Losers</h2>
The U.S. will be fine from an energy perspective &ndash; we are a net exporter of oil and natural gas and now have easy access to Venezuelan oil if needed.
This biggest loser is China since they are the main buyer of Iranian oil, which is now cut off.
A net winner is Russia, which will benefit from higher oil prices and can now step in as a supplier to China.
<a id="video"></a>
The biggest uncertainty is whether the Iranian people will embrace the chance for a new government or whether the religious Council of Experts will simply appoint a new ayatollah and continue on as before.
If so, the new ayatollah&rsquo;s life may not be any safer than the last one. Time will tell.
[wistia id="15l18feyao"]
<a href="https://d2z65klgtz99km.cloudfront.net/SMSINS/strike-in-iran.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Video not playing? Click here</a>

awn-update-hero-img-03-02-26

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.
Jim will use this theory to help you build safe investment positions in stocks, bonds, cash, art, land, precious metals and other hard assets.&nbsp;
You can get Jim&rsquo;s research every month &mdash; with weekly email updates &mdash; in Jim Rickards' Strategic Intelligence.

mobile_masthead_AWN

AWN Masthead

Strategic Intelligence PRO gives you a step up in elevating your investment education to take advantage of unique companies in the marketplace.

Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence

Get a monthly look into what’s really driving the global markets… and learn simple investments that will help you thrive during the coming chaos.

Jim Rickards' Strategic Intelligence

SPOTLIGHT: Decapitation Strike in Iran

Gambling has been around throughout recorded history. But until recently, the bets were confined to binary outcomes (red/black, win/lose or political races) and were confined to big issues like elections and sports championships. Large pools of bettors participated in the same bets, oddsmakers set odds or spreads in such a way as to guarantee themselves a profit, and the bettors would win or lose.
Lotteries are another popular form of gambling where the entire prize goes to a few winning numbers, net of whatever skim the lottery sponsor wants to take (usually 50% in state lotteries; far less in others). Table games in casinos, like roulette and craps, are also extremely popular
Polling is a more recent art, but it also plays a prominent role today in politics and popular opinion on policy issues. Pollsters are using more sophisticated techniques than in the past, including text messaging and online approaches to overcome the fact that people often refuse to answer their phones.
<h2 class="subhead">Today, You Can Bet on Anything</h2>
Recently, two new phenomena have exploded on the scene to upset the familiar worlds of betting and polling.
The first is online betting where a user with a cell phone can bet continually on almost anything. You&rsquo;re not limited to the winner and loser of a game or the point spread.
In baseball, you can bet on the score at the end of each inning. You can bet on the outcome of each pitch on whether it&rsquo;s a ball, a strike, a hit or a home run. In football, you can bet on yardage gained or lost on each play. If you can imagine an outcome, someone will find a way to let you bet on it. FanDuel and DraftKings are leaders in this market segment.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6ihgLOKJ0Mry3tIcsWhQXV/ec3e75eeb436b0ea8e2c13d549b565e7/tac-commentary-hero-img-02-25-26.jpg" alt="image 1" width="540px" />
The second is the rise of prediction markets. This is also a form of gambling, but you&rsquo;re betting on high level political and economic outcomes. Will Trump attack Iran before March 15th? Will Democrats re-take control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 mid-term elections? Will UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer lose office before June 1st? You can bet on these and many other political and economic outcomes with ease on online prediction market venues like Polymarket, Kalshi and PredictIt.
<h2 class="subhead">Gambling or Playing Futures?</h2>
There are host of regulatory concerns around these betting platforms. The first and most obvious is whether such gambling is even legal. In almost all cases, the answer is yes (subject to licensing requirements and background checks for sponsors). The second is whether these bets are futures contracts subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In this area, the CFTC is playing a very cagey game.
On the one hand, CFTC claims that political bets on Polymarket and Kalshi, etc. are not gambling but they are futures contracts. The rationale is that when you bet on a prediction market you&rsquo;re not betting against the house (gambling) but against other market participants (futures). At the same time, the CFTC is promising a very light form of regulation of prediction markets. So, the CFTC is making a play for increased regulatory authority while promising light regulation in return. This approach cuts state gambling regulators out of the picture and seems to have the support of the Trump White House.
Our concern is not how this regulatory battle works out. Regardless of the outcome, these betting markets are here to stay. Instead, we&rsquo;ll focus on how they actually work and look at some embedded flaws that make published results less authoritative than investors may understand. Polls, gambling odds, and prediction markets all provide valuable information. But understanding the flaws and limitations is essential to avoid being misled.
<h2 class="subhead">Framing, Bias and Skews</h2>
The main problems with polls are bias and skews. A pollster can get an answer desired simply by phrasing the question in a certain way, a process called &ldquo;framing.&rdquo; The same basic question will produce materially different responses depending on how it is framed.
Asking &ldquo;Do your support ICE agents removing law abiding immigrants from their homes?&rdquo; will produce a high negative answer. Asking &ldquo;Do you support ICE agents removing criminal illegals from law abiding communities?&rdquo; will produce a high positive answer. In fact, the two questions amount to the same thing and should produce the same response, but they don&rsquo;t because of how the questions are framed.
A bigger problem is polling involves skews. This can take several forms. The first is a small sample size. It takes about 1,300 respondents to produce a reasonably accurate poll. If you see a sample size of 800, you are much more likely to get a result with a 5% margin of error, which is practically worthless in a world where many key elections are decided by 1% margins or less.
Another type of skew is the composition of the sample. If a district has 40% Democrats, 40% Republicans and 20% Independents, then the sample should have a similar make-up.
But a pollster can select a sample of 50% Democrats, 30% Republicans and 20% Independents. That sample will clearly skew Democrat and make the result unreliable (even though it will be widely publicized by biased legacy media). And you can skew a sample even more by including 30% Blacks where the Blacks are only 10% of sample population. That has a major impact because Blacks vote 90% for Democrats.
The simple solution is to read the fine print on the reports of the pollsters. Look for small sample sizes and political and racial skews in the composition relative to the actual population. When you see these markers, discount the poll results accordingly.
<h2 class="subhead">The Public Vs. Experts</h2>
Prediction market results are also not quite the reliable data their promoters would have you believe.
Prediction markets rely on a phenomenon known as the wisdom of crowds. The idea is that a large number of everyday citizens with no particular expertise will produce a better answer to a question than a single expert using precise measuring tools.
The classic example is a contest to &ldquo;Guess the weight of a cow&rdquo; at a country fair. Evidence is clear that if you take 1,000 random guesses from everyone at the fair and produce an average number, that number will be closer to the actual weight than an expert veterinarian or cowherd could produce. Of course, some guesses will be ridiculously high or low but those will tend to cancel out in the averaging process, and the average will be quite accurate.
This wisdom of crowds model is what gives prediction markets their reputation of high accuracy. But there are a number of flaws that the market promoters don&rsquo;t tell you.
The first is that there is an inverse relationship between the accuracy of a crowd guess and the technical expertise to make the guess in the first place. Anyone can guess the weight of a cow &ndash; no special training required. And that average guess is quite accurate.
But as you move toward more technical questions; (What should the angle of launch of lunar rocket be in order to arrive in close proximity to the moon by the time it gets to the lunar orbit path?), the crowd falls down because they have no idea how to approach the problem. Only experts need apply. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t stop anyone from betting. But buyer beware.
The other flaw also involves skews. When you&rsquo;re evaluating output from a prediction market, you need to consider who&rsquo;s in the betting pool. If there&rsquo;s a high minimum bet or a high fee required to join the platform, then the participants will skew toward higher-income individuals. That will skew the results toward the views of higher-income individuals since the betting pool excludes the working class.
This particular bias was on full display in the run-up to the Brexit referendum in June 2016. Prediction markets said there was a 72% chance the referendum would vote to &ldquo;remain.&rdquo; My prediction at the time was that &ldquo;leave&rdquo; would win. I was right. But I based that partly on the fact that the participants in the betting were largely London bankers and lawyers with a big, vested interest in &ldquo;remain&rdquo;. Everyday British subjects like taxi drivers, chambermaids and bartenders were underrepresented in that pool.
Finally, when you see polling data or prediction market output reported in percentage terms, it&rsquo;s important to know they mean entirely different things. When a poll shows a candidate with 55% support, that means exactly what it says (subject to adjustments for skew and sample size discussed above). It means that candidate should get about 55% of the vote and win the election with ease.
When you see a candidate with, say, 75% support in a prediction market, it does not mean that candidate will get 75% of the vote. It means there&rsquo;s a 75% probability that the candidate will get 51% of the vote or higher.
Put differently, prediction market odds are not about winning the percentage shown. They&rsquo;re about the likelihood of a binary outcome &ndash; win or lose. There&rsquo;s still valuable information there (again, subject to skews) but it means something different than many people assume.
That&rsquo;s why outcomes in prediction markets are much more volatile than polls. A candidate who slips from 52% to 48% in the polls might see her prediction market odds drop from 75% to 25% overnight. Again, buyer beware.

tac-commentary-hero-img-02-25-26

Insider trading is illegal. But that doesn&rsquo;t stop connected insiders from using their first-hand knowledge to take advantage of the market.
It can feel like you&rsquo;re always just behind the curve, only acting on news after it breaks.
But Jim Rickards' Insider Intel offers another way.
It helps you take advantage of stocks that insiders are quietly piling into.
We&rsquo;re not talking about following the paper trail that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires when company executives and institutions make big trades.
Instead, Jim and his team scan the markets for subtle signs of &ldquo;off the books&rdquo; trading &mdash; using the proprietary I-3 Indicator.
Once it&rsquo;s zeroed in on suspicious activity, Jim&rsquo;s team examines the macroeconomic and fundamental clues that could explain the signals.
If everything checks out, they&rsquo;ll tell you the best way for you to cash in on the expected move.

mobile masthead TAC

TAC Masthead Rebrand

Our proprietary I-3 Indicator shows you how to cash in on the same moves that Wall Street’s insiders are quietly making.

Jim Rickards' Insider Intel

The Rise of Predictions Markets: Buyer Beware!

Miscellaneous

With Minneapolis in full-scale insurrection against federal government operations there and Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and Chicago about to go the same way, it&rsquo;s time to consider the danger to your wealth and well-being arising from this new civil war.
It&rsquo;s easy to sit at home and watch the street battles and tragic deaths play out on the TV or internet. You can take a view about which side you&rsquo;re on, but either way you&rsquo;re not in any immediate danger. Perhaps Alex Pretti and Ren&eacute;e Good thought the same thing just before they were shot and killed at point blank range by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
After all, Pretti and Good were educated middle-class residents and the shootings took place in middle-class neighborhoods. This was not some riot with burning and looting in South Los Angeles. They took place in a neighborhood probably not far different from where you live. ICE operations and violent resistance are coming to your town.
<h2 class="subhead">Are You Ready?</h2>
There are two critical aspects to the risk assessment of danger to you and your family. The first issue is to understand the posture of your local and state government toward federal enforcement against criminal illegal aliens. The second is to understand the nature of the resistance to ICE. Let&rsquo;s look at these two facets of the problem.
ICE is not acting randomly and they are not overreaching. ICE operations are well-planned months in advance and are conducted by mostly seasoned operatives under the direction of experienced senior officers. They are not scooping up illegal aliens en masse. Instead, they are targeting &ldquo;the worst of the worst&rdquo;. This means rapists, child molesters, murderers, drug smugglers, and those who have engaged in violent forms of extortion, among other violent crimes.
Some of the targets are loose on the streets but have been identified. Many are behind bars in state prisons. Others have court dates where ICE may be waiting to detain them following their hearings. In all cases, ICE know their targets and limit operations accordingly.
If local and state officials cooperate with ICE, there is rarely a problem. ICE is allowed to remove illegals from state jails and deport them around the world. ICE is allowed to wait outside of courtrooms, sports venues, DMV centers, and other gathering places where the illegals may have reason to go.
Local officials often inform ICE when a criminal illegal is in their custody. In all cases, the detentions and later deportations happen without a hitch. The criminals are on their way to an El Salvador maximum security prison or perhaps to Somalia (good luck with that). It means one less monster to assault and kill Americans.
<h2 class="subhead">It&rsquo;s Different in the Sanctuary States</h2>
Matters play out entirely differently in the 13 sanctuary states and numerous sanctuary cities around the country. Those states and cities refuse to cooperate with ICE. They never notify ICE when illegal criminals are in their criminal justice systems. They refuse to allow ICE to sweep the prisons or wait in courthouses to detain the illegal criminal aliens. But the resistance goes much deeper than that.
Everyday Americans have an outdated view of how the anti-ICE resistance works. They take a naive, even nostalgic view of the protestors as peaceful humanitarians. Perhaps they remember peaceful demonstrations for civil rights in the 1960s or against the Vietnam War in the 1970s. It&rsquo;s just a new generation doing what many Americans did fifty years ago. Perhaps some are waiting for Joan Baez to show up and sing a few protest songs (Baez is 85-years old and still performing).
<h2 class="subhead">The Modern-Day Resistance</h2>
The resistance is highly organized and well-trained. There&rsquo;s nothing ad hoc about it. They have spotters, cutouts (innocent-looking fronts that are resistance assets), and sophisticated communications channels. They use dead drops (placing messages in a pre-arranged spot to be picked up later so that the sender and receiver are not seen together). They also use encrypted Signal groups of 1,000 members or less to exchange instructions and intelligence in ways difficult for officials to intercept or decrypt.
The roles of the individual resistance members are highly specialized. Some are mobile units chasing ICE units and identifying the place of operations. Others check license plates and run them against databases (leaked by sympathetic government officials) to identify ICE vehicles. Once the ICE vehicles are spotted, they are swarmed by resistance supporters who block their progress and threaten the occupants.
Resistance vehicles are often weaponized against ICE. This is why Ren&eacute;e Good was killed when she drove towards an ICE operator with her SUV. All this activity is coordinated through 24/7 resistance command centers that act as dispatchers to send operatives to disrupt ICE activity.
Improvised roadblocks are set up using wooden pallets, discarded furniture, and old appliances. Drivers are forced to stop and show identification. During this process, license plates are identified and documents presented can be scanned and photographed. If you&rsquo;re an innocent local, you&rsquo;ll be allowed to proceed. If you&rsquo;re ICE or a known ICE sympathizer, expect to be harassed or perhaps beaten with the lights and trim of your car being smashed at the same time.
Some resistance members specialize in doxxing. This is the process of identifying ICE officials by name and then quickly using online resources to find their home address, second homes, spouses, children, other family members and their home addresses, schools, vehicles, churches and other personal information. That data is then made public with the knowledge that violent resistance members could kill or kidnap family members or burn down their homes. Those ICE officials will never know a moment&rsquo;s peace wondering if their families are safe. That&rsquo;s the whole idea.
The most ubiquitous piece of resistance gear is the police-type whistles, which are handed out like candy. Once a resistance member spots an ICE officer or vehicle, they immediately blow the whistle as a signal to any nearby sympathizers. Soon, hundreds of whistles are being blown as anti-ICE locals descend on the ICE asset identified by the first whistler. Whistles sound primitive, but they are loud, fast, and effective when it comes to convergence tactics.
Other anti-ICE citizens operate in less visible but still important ways. They can provide a safe house to resistors to retreat in cases of tear gas, pepper spray or rubber bullets being used. They can offer watch services from their own homes using binoculars and Signal messages.
The resistance is also widely dispersed. There is no single center of gravity that can be taken out by the government. Instead, there are many cells and nodes that may communicate with each other but otherwise perform their operations autonomously. You cannot cut off the head of the snake when there is no snake. The resistance is more like a million red fire ants swarming their targets from every direction.
There&rsquo;s nothing spontaneous or peaceful about this anti-ICE resistance. It is aggressive at best and deadly at worst. Dozens of National Guard, local police and ICE operators have been killed in recent years in mass shootings and lone wolf attacks.
This is not peaceful protest. This is not passive resistance. Resistance techniques would be recognized by U.S. Special Forces operatives as the kind of enemy operations they face in Iraq or Gaza, but it&rsquo;s happening right here at home.
The threat to you and your family&rsquo;s health and wealth is clear. Study your local situation. If you&rsquo;re in a sanctuary city or state, pay attention to possible ICE operations. If any operation is planned or underway, secure your property and get out of town until the op is over. It&rsquo;s simply too dangerous to hang around.

aw2-commentary-hero-img-02-19-26

Jim Rickards' flagship Strategic Intelligence publication has been keeping readers ahead of the curve with their financial decisions for years. Now, Jim has created a way to elevate your investment education to take advantage of unique companies in the marketplace.&nbsp;
The goal of Jim Rickards&rsquo; Strategic Intelligence PRO&nbsp;is simple &mdash; to help further your education and provide an alternative investment strategy to profit during these uncertain times.
With Strategic Intelligence PRO, you have access to a strategy employed to fast track your gains and profiting off companies whose stock is going down, not up.
Readers have realized gains like 131% in just two weeks when an Industrial ETF&nbsp; plummeted&hellip; 93% in less than six weeks when tech stocks fell out of favor&hellip; and 101% in three weeks when a manufacturing fund took a nosedive.&nbsp;
Jim also collaborates with senior investment analyst Dan Amoss in providing opportunities in the gold sector that most investors don&rsquo;t see coming.&nbsp;
Strategic Intelligence provides you with peace of mind in protecting your wealth during turbulent times. Using the Jim Rickards&rsquo; Strategic Intelligence PRO&nbsp;supplement takes your investment strategy to the next level as the best way to secure your financial future.

mobile masthead AWB

AWB Masthead

Take your bear market investments to the next level with enhanced research, strategies and recommendations.

Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence PRO

Jim Rickards' Strategic Intelligence PRO

Surviving The ICE Resistance

The race to the Moon is ON.
Over the weekend, Elon Musk announced he's going to the Moon to build a city there.
He thinks a &ldquo;self-growing&rdquo; city could be achieved in less than 10 years.&nbsp;
Why?
Because Jeff Bezos is winning.
Jeff Bezos is only two more successful flights away from national security certification for his New Glenn rocket.&nbsp;
Plus, Jeff already has a $3.4 billion NASA contract to land astronauts on the Moon for the Artemis V mission.&nbsp;
On top of that, last October, NASA reopened the Artemis III contract &ndash; the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo &ndash; because SpaceX fell behind schedule.
Elon is a very competitive guy who doesn&rsquo;t like to lose, and I don&rsquo;t think he wants to let Jeff get there first!
This is like the Current Wars all over again, when it was Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison. Back then, it was the race to build the US power grid, with Tesla championing AC and Edison pushing DC.&nbsp;
This time it's Musk vs. Bezos, and the prize isn't electrifying America &ndash; it's who gets to the Moon first with the most.
When two multi-hundred-billionaires race to build lunar infrastructure, timelines accelerate. What used to be "someday" becomes "in the next few years."&nbsp;
Last December, President Trump signed an executive order that made it a priority to get Americans to the Moon by 2028.
Elon wants to make sure we stay there this time.
The companies building the hardware &ndash; the kind I saw at SpaceCom last month &ndash; are about to see demand explode.
<h3>Space&rsquo;s Next Phase Just Got Official</h3>
While Musk and Bezos race for the Moon, other big things are happening.
Last week, the FCC&rsquo;s Space Bureau officially accepted SpaceX's application for orbital data centers.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/fmDtKYpM3Wv7AtDbt4n9d/7e2c1baaafc7c533ba8403f2e21edc45/ALN-Alert-02-11-26_1_.png" alt="pub" width="540px" />
What seemed like a crazy, futuristic idea is now an actual application working through the federal regulatory process.
At SpaceCom last month, I saw many companies working on developing space infrastructure.&nbsp;
Blue Origin's space mining platforms. Gravitics' space station modules. BWXT's nuclear power systems.&nbsp;
They're building the support systems for what comes next.
And It's Not Just SpaceX.
AST Spacemobile (ASTS) filed for multiple constellation shells with the FCC. The current, approved satellite deployment is looking like it&rsquo;s just a Phase 1 network. ASTS appears to be planning multiple orbital configurations for different use cases.&nbsp;
Apple is testing iPhone 17 compatibility with what just happen to be ASTS frequencies. The biggest phone maker on Earth is prepping next-generation hardware for direct satellite connectivity, on many of the same frequencies allotted to ASTS. It&rsquo;s in the FCC filings.&nbsp;
Is Apple just being thorough in its testing of a future product before it&rsquo;s released, or are they working on something bigger?
Apple is notoriously tight-lipped&hellip;what&rsquo;s Apple&rsquo;s plan?
I'm sure we'll learn more about what's happening at ASTS soon. While the company hasn&rsquo;t given us an earnings date yet, it&rsquo;ll likely be next month.&nbsp;
Between now and then, we&rsquo;re still likely to hear news from the company, like the launch date of its BlueBird 7 satellite from Kennedy Space Center.
<h3>What's Coming In Your Next Issue</h3>
I went to SpaceCom focused on satellite-to-phone technology.
I came back realizing we're watching something much bigger unfold.
A great migration is starting &ndash; we&rsquo;re moving Earth's power-hungry industries to space, and now we have a new Moon Race.
We see it happening in the federal paperwork. We see it in billionaires racing for position. We see it in space infrastructure companies signing contracts.
We&rsquo;re watching the companies and their picks-and-shovels being built. Some of them will be enormously profitable investments.&nbsp;
In your next monthly issue, I'm going to show you how to profit from the trillion-dollar space buildout that's happening right now.
I&rsquo;ll talk about who&rsquo;s positioned to win as orbital data centers, lunar bases, and space manufacturing move from concept to construction.
The FCC just made orbital data centers routine federal paperwork.
Elon and Jeff are racing to the Moon.
Wall Street is still asleep.
We're not.
Disclosure: Ray owns shares of AST Spacemobile (ASTS).

ALN-Alert-02-11-26(Featured)

With the simple mantra of &ldquo;Choose Yourself,&rdquo; James has built a massive following &mdash; helping people find new and unusual opportunities to generate inward success.
Now he wants you to achieve the next step: True financial freedom and independence.
He&rsquo;s tapping into the skills he developed as a hedge fund manager and venture capitalist to reveal every secret he&rsquo;s ever learned about building wealth.
And he&rsquo;s not alone.&nbsp;
James is connected to the biggest players in Silicon Valley and Wall Street. So he&rsquo;s hand-picked a team of investment experts and trading superstars to create Altucher&rsquo;s Investment Network &mdash; connecting you directly to their wealth of knowledge.
You&rsquo;ll learn tips for navigating Wall Street&hellip; personal finance strategies.. and tricks to boost retirement income. The team will also tell you specific ways to get ahead of hot investment trends like AI, cryptocurrencies, biotech, cybersecurity and driverless cars.
With Altucher&rsquo;s Investment Network, you&rsquo;ll have the tools to start building a personal financial fortress to live a life of abundance and true financial well-being.

mobile masthead ALN

ALN Masthead

James will tap his powerful network of business leaders and Wall Street insiders to help readers ascend to the next level of the Choose Yourself lifestyle: True financial freedom and independence.

James taps his powerful network of business leaders and Wall Street insiders to help you achieve true financial freedom and independence.

Altucher's Investment Network

 Musk vs. Bezos: The Lunar Showdown Begins

Human history is a long record of climbing higher. We conquered hills, then coastlines, then the skies. Now, the next terrain is unmistakable&hellip;
The new high ground is space.
I saw that firsthand while touring NASA&rsquo;s Kennedy Space Center alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, standing on the pad with Artemis hardware as the administration&rsquo;s broader space doctrine came into sharper focus.
Later that day, that same argument about terrain, advantage and dominance was carried just down the road to Blue Origin&rsquo;s Florida rocket factory, where the administration is making clear that space is an industrial and military domain that must be built, defended and held.
They didn&rsquo;t allow any on-record quotes or questions (this is highly classified information, after all).
But I&rsquo;ll tell you everything I can about what I saw and why this new space race is accelerating faster than most people realize.
<h2 class="subhead nbp">America First, Built Here</h2>
The Blue Origin facility on Merritt Island sits low and wide against Florida&rsquo;s flat horizon, just beyond the gates of NASA&rsquo;s Kennedy Space Center.
It opens into a vast, bright production hall, framed by white steel trusses and long runs of overhead lighting. The ceiling rises several stories above the floor, with gantry cranes spanning the length of the building and wide bays arranged for parallel assembly.
Cranes hang idle overhead, positioned to lift components that weigh more than houses.
And, most importantly, an American flag hangs along the far wall beneath a yellow bridge crane, visible from nearly anywhere in the facility.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5spZUvj9rMUXgzq1pz4zF8/01aec14d8857458442e88656073d987c/mnp-update-02-06-26-img2.jpg" width="480px" />

Pictured: The Blue Origin Factory Floor
This was just one of the stops on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s nationwide "Arsenal of Freedom" tour.
Walking the floor with Hegseth, the focus stayed on what matters&hellip;
How many units can move through at once, how quickly they can be assembled and how reliably that output can be sustained.
The Pentagon continues to make it very clear that they are looking to prioritize companies that can produce, test and deploy capabilities at pace. Commercial space firms like Blue Origin are now part of the core defense industrial base and they are being evaluated accordingly.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/zeyNt4bVWKP4rqOCyeWqs/16e2700f99fa3bb6a8b0ccdad514c4ec/mnp-update-02-06-26-img3.jpg" width="300px" />

Pictured: Buck with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth 
The dominance that the Secretary of War emphasized comes from building rockets, engines and landers at scale and at speed. Sustained access to orbit depends on manufacturing capacity that can support replacement, expansion and long-term operations.
Credit is due to President Donald Trump for pressing to increase defense spending while setting expectations for how that spending is used.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind people making lots and lots of money,&rdquo; Hegseth said during the visit. &ldquo;But if you&rsquo;re going to do so, deliver for the American people and the taxpayers the capabilities you said you would deliver.&rdquo;
Commercial space companies such as Blue Origin are positioned to compete more directly under this approach. And standing inside the facility, you can see this working in real-time.
This is an America-first argument delivered in an American factory, centered on American workers building the systems that underpin national defense.
The visit connected directly to the administration&rsquo;s plans for space-based missile defense, including the proposed Golden Dome architecture. That system relies on persistent sensors and space-based interceptors, which in turn rely on rockets, engines and production lines capable of supporting them over time. Manufacturing capacity becomes strategy at that level.
Blue Origin is being treated as part of the nation&rsquo;s defense infrastructure. Expectations are aligned with that role. Performance, speed and scale are now central to how the company is viewed inside the Pentagon.
&ldquo;We have to dominate the space domain,&rdquo; Hegseth told workers at the factory. &ldquo;That means we&rsquo;ll ensure that we keep building rockets and engines and landers that you make here at scale and at speed.&rdquo;
At the end of the day, space is just a different kind of terrain. And the work happening inside facilities like this one is how that terrain is held.
<h2 class="subhead nbp">Why Space Matters Now</h2>
Last week, we wrote about the Discombobulator and the way modern warfare is increasingly decided by systems rather than single platforms.
Software. Integration. Speed.
The ability to connect sensors, shooters and decision-makers into a single operating picture has become the decisive advantage.
That logic doesn&rsquo;t stop at the edge of the atmosphere&hellip; it extends upward.
Space now sits on top of the same doctrine &mdash; it connects everything beneath it.
Satellite constellations support daily operations and strategic deterrence. Their disruption carries immediate consequences for communications, navigation, intelligence and missile defense.
The reason this matters so much is that space is contested domain.
Over the past decade, Beijing has launched more than a thousand satellites, building dense constellations designed to support surveillance, communications and precision targeting.
That expansion concentrates on the Indo-Pacific, where space-based systems extend China&rsquo;s ability to monitor U.S. and allied forces, coordinate long-range strike capabilities and shape the operational environment before conflict begins. Chinese military doctrine emphasizes information dominance as a prerequisite for success, and space systems sit at the center of that strategy.
Allied military leaders now speak openly about the erosion of norms that once governed behavior in orbit. One senior NATO official recently summarized the shift plainly, saying the rule-based order in space is nearly over. Space has entered the same competitive environment as every other strategic domain.
Global governments now allocate more funding to space defense and security than to civil space programs. A significant portion of that spending remains classified, which just shows how central space capabilities have become to national defense planning.
For the United States, this shift carries direct implications. Space systems underpin missile warning, command and control, precision targeting and strategic communications. Maintaining advantage requires the ability to launch, replace and protect those assets continuously. That capability rests on domestic industry.
America-first defense policy treats space as critical terrain that must be held with American systems built by American companies.
Walking away from the Blue Origin visit, that throughline felt consistent. The Discombobulator, integrated missile defense, networked warfare and space dominance all follow the same logic.
Systems matter more than platforms. Speed matters more than process. Industrial strength determines staying power.
Space sits at the top of that stack, shaping what the United States can see, decide and do. Holding that high ground remains a national priority, and the work to secure it is already underway.
<h2 class="subhead nbp">Why Blue Origin Fits the Long Game</h2>
Blue Origin fits into the long game because its mission aligns with permanence.
The company is organized around building infrastructure that lasts, scales and supports sustained presence beyond Earth. New Glenn, Blue Origin's rocket, is built to move large payloads reliably and their lunar lander, Blue Moon, is designed to support sustained lunar operations.
These programs are meant to create capacity that can be used again and again.
This is how national power is built.
Space systems require the ability to launch, service and replenish assets over long periods. Blue Origin&rsquo;s work supports that requirement by concentrating on the foundational pieces that make continuous operations possible.
A permanent American presence on the Moon (which Jeff Bezos is targeting) serves as a proving ground for deeper space activity and a platform for industrial expansion beyond Earth. Lunar infrastructure extends American reach without depending on fragile supply chains.
Walking through the Blue Origin facility, I saw firsthand that the systems under construction are sized for sustained output. The timelines reflect long-term commitments.
At the end of the day, the long game in space is not won by who arrives first. It is won by who remains.
<h2 class="subhead nbp">NASA&rsquo;s New Role</h2>
What became clear over the course of the visit is that NASA no longer sees itself as the only builder in the room.
The agency is operating as a coordinator now, setting direction and anchoring long-term goals while American companies take on the work of building and scaling the systems that make those goals real.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman spoke about the mission and framed it around how the United States maintains presence in space without starting over every time a political cycle turns or a program sunsets.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/46G4qimNKV4HdDJGBdzxWW/031d393a1f07d93cb5cf93cf64ec7aad/mnp-update-02-06-26-img4.jpg" width="300px" />

Pictured: Jared Isaacman and Buck Sexton outside the Northrop F-5 military jet
You can see that approach in NASA&rsquo;s relationship with Blue Origin.
The Artemis V lunar lander contract is not about planting a flag and going home. Rather, it focuses on landing systems that can be used again and surface operations that can be sustained.
Think infrastructure that assumes the United States plans to stay.
The same thinking applies to the VIPER rover mission, which sends Blue Origin to the Moon&rsquo;s south pole to help map resources that matter for long-duration operations.
NASA is placing long-term bets on American companies that can build, replace and expand systems over time. The agency provides stability and intent, while industry provides production and scale.
That division of labor explains why this moment feels different from past space efforts.
The goal is not a single achievement that fades into history. We&rsquo;re not dealing with systems that vanish when the ribbon is cut.
<h2 class="subhead nbp">Maintaining the High Ground</h2>
What these visits drove home is that space now sits in the same category as sea lanes, airspace and energy grids. It shapes outcomes long before anyone sees a battlefield.
Walking through these facilities, the America-first logic showed up in where the money is going, how expectations are being set and how openly performance is being demanded.
The roles inside that strategy are coming into focus. SpaceX sets the pace with speed and operational cadence. Blue Origin builds depth with systems designed to endure. The Pentagon applies pressure and decides who earns continued access.
What struck me most is how little of this felt theoretical. The timelines feel real, finally.
There were conversations about throughput, replacement and staying power. About what happens if something fails and about how quickly it can be rebuilt.
With American power back in motion, what matters now is holding the high ground when it counts.

mnp-update-02-06-26-img1

Money &amp; Power with Buck Sexton is designed to give everyday Americans &mdash; hardworking moms and pops from across the country &mdash; a real shot at the kind of market opportunities usually reserved for the elite. You'll get direct access to Buck Sexton&rsquo;s insider intelligence, including information flowing straight from high-level Trump cabinet contacts and even Trump himself.
Here we&rsquo;re all about leveling the playing field and putting you at the same table where the real decisions (and the real money) are made.
While Wall Street insiders and political operatives quietly position themselves ahead of the news cycle, you&rsquo;ll be riding shotgun with someone who actually has a seat at the table. Buck isn&rsquo;t guessing&hellip; he&rsquo;s getting tipped off by the people shaping America&rsquo;s future behind closed doors. If you&rsquo;ve ever felt the game was rigged, this is your chance to play it with the cards stacked in your favor.

mobile masthead MNP Update

mnp-masthead

Money & Power with Buck Sexton: This service gives everyday Americans access to insider-level insights… straight from Trump’s inner circle… so you can finally profit like the elites. With Buck as your guide, you’ll get exclusive intelligence, normally reserved for political and financial power players.

Money & Power with Buck Sexton

Access Granted: Your Private Tour of the Final Domain

As we learned on Wednesday, the Fed voted to keep rates unchanged for fed funds. That keeps the target rate at 3.75%.
Today, you&rsquo;ll receive a full recap of what happened with this week&rsquo;s Fed meeting.
We&rsquo;ll explain what happened in terms of how the Fed arrived at this rate decision.
Whether we see markets reverse over the next few months due to an imminent recession&hellip; or unemployment and inflation continue their upward trends&hellip; you&rsquo;ve got a front-row seat to research, strategies and recommendations that can help you weather the storm and profit.
<h2 class="centered subhead" style="text-align: center;">UPDATE: This Week&rsquo;s Fed Meeting, Explained</h2>
On Monday, January 26, we wrote to you that the Fed would cut interest rates by 0.25% at the January 28th meeting to lower the Fed&rsquo;s target rate for fed funds to 3.5%
In fact, the Fed did not cut interest rates. They paused their recent run of rate cuts and kept the fed funds target rate unchanged.
After four years and thirty-two consecutive correct forecasts of Fed actions, we got this one wrong. I&rsquo;ll admit my mistake. The question for the economy is whether Fed Chair Jay Powell will admit his mistake. Probably not. And that&rsquo;s bad news for the U.S. economy.
Here&rsquo;s the text of the relevant part of the Fed&rsquo;s press release issued at 2:00 pm ET on Wednesday:
&ldquo;The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-1/2 to 3-3/4 percent. In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks. The Committee is strongly committed to supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.&rdquo;
The FOMC vote on this policy statement was 10 &ndash; 2 in favor. The two dissents were from Governor Stephen Miran and Governor Christopher Waller. They both wanted to cut rates by 0.25%. Both are Trump appointees.
<h2 class="subhead">The Joke of &ldquo;Independence&rdquo;</h2>
Let&rsquo;s be clear about what happened. The decision to pause rate cuts had nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with politics. Donald Trump wants lower rates. He has practically declared war on the Federal Reserve to get them. Even when the Fed cut rates as they have in recent meetings, Trump complains they did not cut them enough. This meeting was Jay Powell&rsquo;s way of poking a stick in Donald Trump&rsquo;s eye. In this effort, he was happily joined by almost the entire board.
Trump has long publicly criticized Powell, but recent administration actions have gone much further. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that Powell and the Fed are under criminal investigation for lying to Congress. A grand jury has been convened, and Powell was subpoenaed for information and testimony. That has never happened in the history of the Fed since 1913. Suddenly, the prospect of Powell going to jail was not beyond the realm of possibility.
Powell fired back with a rare public statement posted in writing and in video form on social media. Of course, he denied the allegation. But he played the Fed&rsquo;s ultimate trump card, which is that the investigation and criticism amounted to an attack on the Fed&rsquo;s &ldquo;independence.&rdquo;
The idea of independence from political influence is the Holy Grail for central bankers everywhere. They claim that if politicians oversaw interest rates, they would cut rates, print money and cause hyperinflation. Only independent central banks save countries from high inflation and a debased currency.
The outcry was global. Central banks around the world issued statements in support of Powell and central bank independence. All living former Fed Chairs (Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen) issued statements criticizing Trump&rsquo;s attack on Fed independence and supporting Powell&rsquo;s brave resistance to Trump. The cry for Fed independence was universal.
What a joke. The Fed has never been independent of political influence. When the Fed was established in 1913, the Secretary of the Treasury was a member of the board of governors by statute. The Fed board actually met in the Treasury building. There was no independence at all. Instead, there was cooperation between the Federal Reserve and the executive branch.
From 1942 to 1951, the Fed acted strictly in accordance with White House instructions to hold rates low to help finance the costs of World War II and the Korean War. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson physically threatened Fed Chair William McChesney Martin after he raised interest rates. LBJ wanted low rates to finance the dual costs of the Great Society and the War in Vietnam. In 1972, Fed Chair Arthur Burns held rates low to help President Richard Nixon&rsquo;s reelection campaign that year.
What the record shows is that the Fed plays politics as well as any institution in Washington. Independence is a myth the Fed resorts to when they happen not to like the politics of the sitting president, in this case Donald Trump.
As for Fed &ldquo;independence&rdquo; being the antidote to inflation, recall the 50% cumulative inflation from 1978 to 1981. During that stretch, Treasury securities yielded 15%. Mortgage interest rates were 13%. The fed funds rate was 20%. The value of the dollar was cut in half in those five years. The dollar price of gold soared over 2,000%. Nice job, Fed.
More recently, inflation hit 9.1% on an annualized basis in June 2022 during the Biden administration. And let&rsquo;s not forget the financial crisis of 2008 and the repeated failures of QE1, QE2, QE3 and all the other QEs since.
<h2 class="subhead">We&rsquo;ll Bear the Cost of This Ego War</h2>
The history of the Fed is one of phony independence and real incompetence. Fed independence is a chimera. Of course, the Fed would insist on independence. Wouldn&rsquo;t you if you had the only printing press in town?
Trump is right. Rates should come down fast. This won&rsquo;t save the economy. Low rates are not stimulus and are usually associated with recession and depression. The market is taking rates lower whether the Fed lowers its target rate or not. But keeping rates higher than they should be just to score some political points is making things worse than they otherwise need to be.
My view was that the Fed would cut rates to do the right thing for the economy whether Powell liked Trump or not. Instead, the Fed kept rates steady just to spite Trump and stand up for the false ideology of independence.
The economy and all of us will bear the cost of this Trump-Powell ego war. Powell can&rsquo;t be gone soon enough. For the economy, it&rsquo;s already too late.

cdc-update-hero-img-01-29-26

Crisis Trader with Jim Rickards uses proprietary algorithms to peer into corporate balance sheets &mdash; uncovering the ugly secrets of popular companies.
You don&rsquo;t want these names in your portfolio. But you can set yourself up for massive profits when the truth inevitably comes to light.
Jim Rickards and Dan Amoss can show you how. They correctly predicted every move the Federal Reserve made to fight inflation. And now they believe we&rsquo;re on the verge of a historic economic downturn.
Most investors are completely unprepared for the wave of bank failures and corporate bankruptcies that will rock Wall Street.
Luckily, you don&rsquo;t have to be caught unaware.&nbsp;
Jim and Dan will guide you through the worst of what&rsquo;s to come &mdash; revealing opportunities to score big wins from the market&rsquo;s worst stocks.

mobile masthead CDC

CDC Masthead Rebrand

Unearth the ugly secrets buried in the balance sheets of popular stocks — and position yourself for maximum gains when their hidden crises get too big to ignore.

Crisis Trader with Jim Rickards

FOMC RECAP: “Take That, Donald!”

Videos

[wistia id="tz42gmr0c5"]
<h3>Executive Summary</h3>
The central thesis of the discussion is that the market is in the early stages of a massive resource boom. While commodity prices (Gold, Silver, Copper) have risen, mining stocks have not yet fully priced in the earnings potential. Badiali argues that we are shifting from an "economic" market to a "strategic" market, where metals are essential for national defense, infrastructure, and AI development, leading to government-backed demand regardless of price.
1. Gold &amp; Silver: The Earnings Lag
Matt Badiali believes retail investors have not yet entered the mining space, and the current rally is just beginning.
<ul>
<li>The "Earnings Catch-up": While metal prices rose steadily last year, mining companies have not yet reported a full quarter of earnings at these record highs. Badiali predicts Q1 2026 earnings will "blow the doors off" as miners are set up to be profitable at $1,800&ndash;$2,000/oz gold, meaning margins at current prices (~$4,500/oz in the hypothetical transcript scenario) will be massive.</li>
<li>Silver Strategy: Badiali prefers "stealth silver plays"&mdash;base metal producers that have significant silver byproducts.</li>
<li>Price Targets (End of 2026): Rough estimates suggest Gold stabilizing around $5,000 and Silver stabilizing around $100 (with spikes potentially higher).</li>
</ul>
2. Sector Breakdown &amp; Specific Recommendations
<h4>Gold &amp; Silver Miners</h4>
<ul>
<li>Pan American Silver (PAAS): Described as a "blue chip" silver producer. It pays a dividend and is expected to boom once earnings reflect higher silver prices.</li>
<li>Sprott Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ): The preferred trading vehicle for capturing volatility and swing trades in the silver sector.</li>
<li>General Majors:Newmont, Royal Gold, Franco-Nevada, and GDX are mentioned as obvious picks that most generalist investors still don't own.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Base Metals (Copper &amp; Aluminum)</h4>
<ul>
<li>Rio Tinto (RIO): A recommended "generalist" pick. They pay a high dividend (~4%+) and offer exposure to a broad basket of commodities.</li>
<li>Freeport-McMoRan (FCX): A major copper/gold producer. Badiali notes the stock only started moving in November despite rising underlying commodity prices.</li>
<li>Alcoa (AA) - The Aluminum Play: Badiali highlights this as a top "laggard" play.</li>
<ul>
<li>The Thesis: Aluminum is the critical metal for electrical transmission lines (grid updates), not copper, which is too expensive for that use. As the grid expands, Alcoa stands to benefit significantly.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h4>Strategic Minerals (Rare Earths)</h4>
The market for Rare Earths is shifting from investor-driven to government-driven (Defense/Strategic).
<ul>
<li>MP Materials (MP): The primary US player (Mountain Pass mine). High valuation due to scarcity of viable US deposits.</li>
<li>USA Rare Earths (USAR): A company aiming to be the "Exxon of US Rare Earths" (mining + refining). They own 80% of a heavy rare earth deposit.</li>
<ul>
<li>Arbitrage Opportunity: Badiali notes that the remaining 20% of that same deposit is owned by a small OTC company with a market cap under $70M, implying a massive potential valuation disconnect.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h4>Uranium &amp; Nuclear</h4>
<ul>
<li>The Thesis: "The Golden Age of Nuclear." Tech giants and asset managers (like BlackRock's Larry Fink) have realized that wind/solar cannot provide the baseload power required for AI data centers. Nuclear is the only carbon-free baseload solution.</li>
<li>Cameco (CCJ): The "ExxonMobil of Uranium." They own the best projects and are the safest bellwether trade.</li>
<li>Denison Mines (DNN): Mentioned as a company of interest in the sector.</li>
<li>In-Situ Recovery: Badiali is looking at Texas-based deposits that use in-situ recovery (dissolving uranium from sandstone) as an economic mining method.</li>
</ul>
3. The Copper Deficit
Badiali emphasizes a structural deficit in Copper that cannot be fixed by recycling or efficiency.
<ul>
<li>Supply Crisis: The average age of top copper mines is over 60 years. It takes 15+ years to bring a new mine online.</li>
<li>Demand Shock: AI data centers alone are projected to add 30% to copper demand, on top of EV requirements.</li>
<li>Government Intervention: The US government is now picking winners, fast-tracking permits, and acting as a guaranteed buyer for strategic copper projects.</li>
</ul>
4. Geopolitics &amp; Hedging
<ul>
<li>Hedging: Badiali explicitly warns against owning miners that hedge their production. In a bull market, hedging caps the upside. He cites Barrick Gold&rsquo;s historical billion-dollar loss trying to un-hedge during a rally.</li>
<li>China &amp; Security: China has placed embargoes on critical minerals (Antimony, Germanium). The US and EU are forced to secure their own supply chains, driving geopolitical conflicts (e.g., interest in Greenland and Venezuela) which are fundamentally about mineral rights, not just oil or territory.</li>
</ul>
Quick Reference Ticker List
<ul>
<li>GDX (Gold Miners ETF)</li>
<li>PAAS (Pan American Silver)</li>
<li>SILJ (Sprott Junior Silver Miners ETF)</li>
<li>RIO (Rio Tinto)</li>
<li>FCX (Freeport-McMoRan)</li>
<li>AA (Alcoa)</li>
<li>MP (MP Materials)</li>
<li>CCJ (Cameco)</li>
<li>DNN (Denison Mines)</li>
</ul>

Gun-TopTrades-012126(Featured)

With his technical trading prowess, Greg Guenther pulls back the curtain on finding the best trades with breakout momentum.
Just ONE trade could help you quickly pocket thousands when the markets open.
And The Trading Desk is there to help you capitalize on these explosive moves&hellip;
At exactly 8:30 a.m. every day the market is open, Greg sits down with you in a LIVE trading chat session to show you exactly how to pocket incredible short-term gains.&nbsp;
He&rsquo;ll analyze each morning trade in real time, eliminating the hassle of emails or missed alerts.
And what&rsquo;s more, if you miss the morning session, a summary of that day&rsquo;s activity will be sent shortly after right to your inbox.
You&rsquo;ll get all his research and specific instructions the very moment the market presents a profitable opportunity.

mobile masthead GUN

GUN Masthead 1200px 0423

In The Trading Desk trading room you'll receive hard-hitting market commentary coupled with daily actionable investment ideas — all in real time.

The Trading Desk

Top Trades - January 20th With Greg Guenthner and Matt Badiali

Banks don&rsquo;t make money because they&rsquo;re good at customer service.
They make money because they perch between depositors and Treasuries.
Banks sit upstream of yield. Depositors provide the water. Treasuries set the slope. The flow runs through the bank, and most of it never reaches the depositor.
Stablecoin issuers threaten that arrangement.
They take dollars. They buy Treasuries.
Simple.
That means they could hand most of the yield back to users and still be profitable.
If stablecoins are allowed to pay yield, deposits move. If deposits move, banks lose leverage. If banks lose leverage, the system changes.
That dynamic is embedded in the CLARITY Act debate right now.
But it&rsquo;s only a part of it.
Today, let&rsquo;s run through what&rsquo;s happening now based on our full reading of the new draft of the bill.
Good, bad, and ugly.
Then, we&rsquo;ll go into one &ldquo;loophole&rdquo; that will instantly benefit a select few tokens. 
Before we go there, though&hellip;
We won&rsquo;t be having a live call on Monday since it&rsquo;s a federal holiday. So our next live ESC call will be the following week, on January 26. 
<h3>Why the Bill Suddenly &ldquo;Got Complicated&rdquo;</h3>
The CLARITY Act is supposed to define jurisdictions&hellip; not stablecoin rules.&nbsp;
Anything that behaves like a commodity? Straight to CFTC. Anything that moves like a security? SEC.
And the original bill, as it passed through the House, was well-received by the crypto industry.
The new draft, released this week, is not what it once was, expanding its scope.
That&rsquo;s, in part, why Coinbase pushed back this week. According to CEO Brian Armstrong, the revised draft risks:
<ul>
<li>Functionally banning tokenized equities (translation: fails to provide a clear path for them to exist)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Expanding surveillance obligations (translation: anything not fully decentralized gets treated like Coinbase)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Weakening the CFTC&rsquo;s role (SEC holds the power)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>And quietly kneecapping stablecoin yield while pretending not to</li>
</ul>
Let&rsquo;s start with the good news, because there is good news here.
<h3>The Good</h3>
The market structure bill will set the rules by which every crypto asset&mdash;present and future&mdash;will be classified, traded, and governed.
So getting it right is crucial.
First, credit where it&rsquo;s due: this is the first serious attempt to stop treating crypto like a regulatory crime scene.
Builders get protection for writing and publishing code. Running nodes, deploying smart contracts, maintaining open-source infrastructure&mdash;those acts stop being legally radioactive as long as you&rsquo;re not controlling user funds.
That&rsquo;s a big deal for keeping developers and talent in the USA, and it ripples outward to everyone who relies on those systems.
Self-custody is explicitly preserved. Users keep their keys. Investors aren&rsquo;t forced into third-party custody. Builders aren&rsquo;t required to redesign everything around intermediaries just to satisfy outdated assumptions.
There&rsquo;s also a real attempt to clean up the industry&rsquo;s credibility problem. Limits on insider dumping, clearer disclosures, and better bankruptcy recovery rules make it easier for legitimate projects to raise capital and for users to trust platforms.
Banking integration moves forward. Easier on-ramps, clearer rules for banks touching crypto, portfolio margining, tokenized real-world assets. That helps users move money, investors allocate capital, and projects scale without living in regulatory limbo.
And this one&rsquo;s a bit mixed&hellip;
Projects benefit from an &ldquo;ancillary asset&rdquo; framework, which gives decentralized tokens a runway instead of forcing them into full SEC registration from day one (like a traditional IPO under the Securities Act of 1933).
That helps teams ship, investors evaluate real utility instead of legal gymnastics, and users actually access products without everything getting geofenced. It&rsquo;s an improvement on the Gensler era, but it&rsquo;s not perfect. 
Zoomed out, the bill does seem to still be trying to keep crypto talent and infrastructure in the U.S.
Standards coordination, long-term security thinking, even quantum-resistance talk&mdash;it&rsquo;s an admission that crypto isn&rsquo;t going away.
BUT&hellip;
<h3>The Bad</h3>
Clarity doesn&rsquo;t come free.
Compliance increases across the board. Projects with centralized or semi-centralized elements face more disclosures.
Semi-centralized DeFi platforms deal with heavier KYC and AML. These are projects that retain practical centralized elements&mdash;like team-held upgrade keys, centralized oracles, or controllable front-ends/interfaces&mdash;despite operating on-chain smart contracts. This creates unnecessary friction (and will do very little to actually protect consumers).
(The positive? There&rsquo;s a mad rush in DeFi to limit those pain points now and decentralize completely.)
There&rsquo;s a lot of &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll study this later&rdquo; baked in. DeFi risk. Stablecoins. Mixers. That means rulemaking uncertainty during implementation. Builders don&rsquo;t know exactly where the lines land. Investors can&rsquo;t fully price regulatory risk. Users live with shifting rules.
<h3>The Ugly</h3>
This is where things can go sideways.
Stablecoin yield ban. The draft prohibits exchanges and issuers from offering passive yield or "rewards" simply for holding stablecoins (e.g., USDC interest on idle balances). It allows activity-based incentives (e.g., tied to transactions, liquidity provision, or payments) but effectively closes what banks called a "loophole" from prior stablecoin laws.
Heavy restrictions on tokenized equities. New rules provide no clear path to issuing tokenized stocks/securities on-chain.
Regulatory tilt toward SEC. The Senate version shifts more authority to the SEC (heavier disclosures, securities treatment) over the industry-preferred CFTC commodity path. This could allow more Gensler-style &ldquo;regulatory by enforcement&rdquo; to creep back in.
<h3>The &ldquo;Safe 8&rdquo; </h3>
One actionable piece of intel from this bill&hellip;
The bill treats six altcoins exactly like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Same regulatory footing. Same starting assumptions. The security debate ends before it begins.
Why? A grandfather clause hiding in plain sight.
According to the current language (though, remember, it&rsquo;s not final yet)...
Any token that backs a U.S. exchange-traded product by January 1, 2026, is designated a Non-Ancillary Asset.
Translation: it skips the SEC&rsquo;s gauntlet entirely.
That gives us the so-called &ldquo;Safe 8&rdquo;:
BTC ETH XRP SOL LTC HBAR DOGE LINK
This doesn&rsquo;t guarantee these cryptos will all dominate&hellip;
But, if an asset already had a live ETF on a national exchange by the cutoff date, it&rsquo;s sitting in a lifeboat.
That&rsquo;s how the language is right now. It could change. But it&rsquo;s valuable to know as we navigate what&rsquo;s to come.
Although there are a few disappointing things in the new draft, I remain optimistic about the direction.
As usual, we&rsquo;re keeping a close eye on the latest.

ESC-Alert-01-16-26(Featured)

Digital money is the future of finance&hellip; and we&rsquo;re only just figuring out how it will revolutionize buying, selling, borrowing, exchanging and more. You&rsquo;ll want to get in now&hellip; because the market may never be this low again.
Be careful, though. The next stage of innovation won&rsquo;t happen with the everyday cryptocurrencies you see all over mainstream media.&nbsp;
Instead, the ground-breaking stuff is happening with the coins you haven&rsquo;t heard of yet. Each of these early-stage cryptos makes up less than 5% of the overall market.
But James has identified a powerful catalyst that will send these little-known cryptos to spellbinding new heights.&nbsp;
James Altucher&rsquo;s Early-Stage Crypto Investor is at the forefront of this emerging quadrillion-dollar market. It&rsquo;s your chance to get ahead of the inevitable rebound&hellip; locking in huge profits as it does.

mobile masthead ESC

ESC Masthead

A new generation of cryptos is emerging. These next-gen cryptos are not just the hottest sector of the crypto market... but perhaps the most explosive investment opportunities in the world today. By joining James Altucher&rsquo;s Early-Stage Crypto Investor, you&rsquo;ll be able to claim your stake in the lucrative future of this quadrillion-dollar revolution. But don&rsquo;t wait too long. These opportunities won&rsquo;t last forever!

Stake your claim in some of the most explosive investment opportunities in the world today — next-generation cryptocurrencies.

James Altucher's Early-Stage Crypto Investor

 Weekly Crypto Briefing: CLARITY Act — Good, Bad, Ugly

A few years ago, I recommended selling Bitcoin (BTC).
The decision felt obvious.
Ethereum (ETH) processed four times as many transactions.
Bitcoin&rsquo;s utility was unclear. Regulation was a constant headache.
While Bitcoin was the original cryptocurrency, better opportunities existed elsewhere.
But the world has changed. As I explained in our All-Hand Strategy Session on Monday, a military operation in Venezuela just made that crystal clear.
And now new catalysts for a Bitcoin takeoff are lining up&hellip;
<h3>A New Financial System Emerges</h3>
As Venezuela transitions, cryptocurrency could play a significant role.
Mar&iacute;a Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader, is a Bitcoin advocate.
She said Bitcoin should be part of Venezuela's national reserves. She called it a "lifeline" that some Venezuelans used to protect their wealth and to finance their escape.
Under Chavez and Maduro, a year's salary in bolivars in 2014 became worth significantly less than a single U.S. penny today.
Bitcoin could become the new standard.
Unlike traditional currency, it works without banks, can't be devalued overnight by printing more, and moves across borders in seconds.
These features matter for Venezuelans who&rsquo;ve seen their savings evaporate under decades of dictatorship.
Venezuela's new government may encourage cryptocurrency usage to jumpstart the economy without relying too much on the dollar.
But there&rsquo;s another layer to the crypto situation in Venezuela that&rsquo;s causing me to change my view on Bitcoin&hellip;
<h3>The Hidden Bitcoin Connection</h3>
Donald Trump took office on a very pro-cryptocurrency platform.
He signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and vowed to never sell the government's holdings.
Venezuela is an opportunity for him to fill that reserve without spending taxpayer dollars.
For years, Venezuela used Bitcoin to evade sanctions. When you're cut off from the global financial system, you find alternatives.
Experts believe Venezuela accumulated a massive Bitcoin stash. Some estimates put it at $60 billion.
With Venezuela under U.S. control, that Bitcoin could soon belong to the US government.
<h3>Why I'm Recommending Bitcoin Again</h3>
While Bitcoin doesn't have as many daily users as Ethereum, that could soon change.
In countries with broken banking systems, crypto provides an alternative.
Because this is bigger than just Venezuela.
Iran and Cuba could also undergo political change soon, and citizens in both countries are turning to Bitcoin as their local currencies collapse.
Bitcoin, as the original cryptocurrency, carries a legitimacy that newer coins can't yet match.
The anticipation of mass adoption will drive up the price enormously in the coming months.
Investors who position themselves with the right investments, like Bitcoin, can create generational wealth from this transformation.
Bottom line: If you haven&rsquo;t yet acted on my recommendation from Monday to buy Bitcoin, consider getting in now.

ALN-Alert-010926(Featured)

Why I’m Recommending Bitcoin Again After 3 Years

2025 was a special year for gold as prices surged with gains over 60%.
There are important developments almost daily that will sustain the gold bull market for years to come. Let&rsquo;s first look briefly at the gold price action in 2025 and then turn to these breaking developments.
At the beginning of 2025, gold stood at around the $2,600 level and moved steadily higher before surging toward the end of August to reach its all-time highs closing out the year. Of course, this bull market is far from over and material gains in the near future should be expected.
There were three main drivers of the gold price this past year.
Central banks remain net buyers of gold as they have been since 2010. This puts an informal floor under the price of gold while still allowing unlimited upside. Also, geopolitical risks continued in the War in Ukraine and in Venezuela that drove investors to buy gold as a safe haven allocation to their portfolios. Finally, monetary policy may also be driving the upswing in gold prices this year, with investors more bullish after three consecutive rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. I expect another cut in January and more easing of monetary policy as President Trump nominates a new Fed Chair to replace Jerome Powell in May 2026.
<h2 class="subhead">New Developments Going Into 2026</h2>
I made my prediction in the latest Strategic Intelligence issue that I expect gold to reach $5,000 an ounce in 2026. But it&rsquo;s entirely reasonable to suggest gold could reach $10,000 per ounce. What few investors may realize is that each $1,000 increase in the price of gold is easier than the one before. The price gain is the same at each milestone, but the percentage increase is smaller because each increase is working from a higher base. Going from $4,000 to $5,000 per ounce is a 25% gain. But going from $9,000 to $10,000 per ounce is only an 11% gain. This is why the push to $10,000 per ounce will go slowly at first and then quickly.
<h2 class="subhead">Underreported Events to Consider</h2>
That much is widely known. What is less well known is series of underreported events that will turbocharge the price gains ahead going into 2026. Here is a summary of those events:
<ul class="blockquote" style="background-color: #f1f1f1;">
<li>Central banks will continue to be net buyers of gold as they have been since 2010. This keeps a floor under the gold price as it keeps surging to all-time highs.</li>
<li>Mining output has been flat for last six years. This does not mean &ldquo;peak gold&rdquo;, but it shows that gold is getting harder to find and more expensive to mine. Supply constraints + expanding demand = higher prices.</li>
<li>The copper-to-gold price ratio is at an all-time low. This speaks to the relative role of industrial metals versus precious metals. The gold price can rise in recessionary scenarios and depressions. Gains are not limited to periods of inflation and hot economies.</li>
<li>Russia has demonstrated that it can survive Western dollar-based financial sanctions by holding over 25% of its reserves in physical gold. That&rsquo;s a lesson the world and especially the BRICS are internalizing.</li>
<li>Digitally tokenized gold has become a huge new source of demand. Tether is leading the way with its XAUt token that has a current market cap (tied to the price of gold) of $2.2 billion. This means Tether is the ultimate buy-and-hold gold investor and their gold is effectively off the market.</li>
<li>Italy has recently taken steps to asset that Italian gold (2,452 metric tonnes; the third largest gold reserve in the world after the U.S. and Germany) belongs to the Italian people and not to the Bank of Italy. That dispute has cooled down, but its mere existence shows that a global struggle for possession of physical gold is underway.</li>
<li>Television and media personality Tucker Carlson has launched an online gold dealing operation. That&rsquo;s only one among many online dealers, but it shows that gold ownership is reaching a wider audience and we are getting closer to the retail frenzy stage of price appreciation.</li>
<li>The U.S. Treasury is giving serious consideration to revaluing its gold reserves by causing the Federal Reserve to restate the value of its gold certificate given when the Treasury took the Fed&rsquo;s gold in 1934. The current value of the certificate is $42.22 per ounce. If revalued to $4,200 per ounce, this would not change the world price of gold (it&rsquo;s just an accounting entry), but it would add about $1 trillion to the Treasury&rsquo;s account at the Fed and it would show that the U.S. respects gold as a legitimate monetary asset.</li>
</ul>
Other material developments in the gold markets are occurring almost daily. We expect this to continue into 2026 and beyond.
Remember - If you have not invested in gold yet or if your allocation is small, it&rsquo;s not too late to invest. The biggest gains are still ahead and will happen sooner than later. The time to invest is now.
Happy New Year. I wish you a prosperous 2026.

awn-update-hero-img-01-01-26

Gold’s Past and Future

Paradigm Press LLC, provides independent economic commentary, analysis and education through print and online publications, videos, online seminars, conference calls and more.

We provide independent economic commentary, analysis and education through print and online publications, videos, online seminars, conference calls and more.

UPDATE: The Latest American Birthright Move

Want More The Situation Report with Jim Rickards?