Top Finance And Economic News Today. Your one stop site for news about USA and global economy, gold, silver, investing, geo politics, mining stocks.
We cover news about and from Jim Rogers, Jim (James) Rickards, Mike Maloney, Peter Schiff, Greg Mannarino, Greg Hunter, SGT Report, Robert Kiyosaki, Martin Armstrong, Bo Polny, Eric King, King World News, Bix Weir, Paul Craig Roberts, Dollar Vigilante and many more.
John Rubino returns… Inflation seems to be spreading. Houses are setting records (If CPI Measured Actual House Prices, Inflation Would Be 3% Right Now), and copper is crushing it. How many things have to be soaring before we’re in an inflationary environment? Still no action on stimulus and all kinds of benefits running out before year-end. Economy is starting to slow as people have to dig into savings to buy basics. Gold still falling. Where’s support? Does seasonality matter this year?
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from Kerry Lutz Podcasts – Financial Survival Network https://ift.tt/3mnR6vn
Osino Resources(sponsor) keeps hitting milestone after milestone, with no end in site. This is exactly what successful investors desire in an emerging junior miner along with being: well financed, well-run and an aggressive driller. To date, their Twin Hills Central project has yielded impressive results and now there’s a significant new discovery at the Clouds Target, which further enhances and validates Osino’s amazing potential.
If as expected, there’s significant mineralization between Clouds and Twin Hills, then the company will become a major success story. Osino’s CEO Heye Daun plans to grow the resource and he expects investors to be pleasantly surprised when it’s released in 2021. Osino is Daun’s third venture, and this one really seems to be the charm. Which is why, as shareholders we are extremely optimistic.
According to Dan Ferris, editor of Extreme Value, intrinsic value has never changed throughout history. How you go about analyzing it is another story and it has changed much over time. Whereas, we used to use book value, asset value and other objective measures, now we look more to future events. The idea of reducing the value to book value or p/e no longer makes sense to Dan. The numbers are all history and they’re the result of actions taken by management in the past. This type of analysis can easily miss the boat. You look at what management did and ask if they can keep doing it or do it even better? Are there hidden assets that could be put to better use? Hidden assets tend to find you. Dan looks for optionality. The ability to grow over time even if it’s a wasting asset. Dan gives an example of finding companies that are rolling up their industry and consolidating it. Insurance and waste management are examples. You never know when a deal will come along that will transform the company. Dan is is industry agnostic and will examine any and all industries. Right now he’s avoiding commercial real estate and retail for obvious reasons. He’s North America focused but could go outside the US should the opportunity arise, but Dan is reluctant. And why should he, he’s found amazing success right here at home.
Today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE and historic moves in currencies and metals warned King World News the world is headed into the worst nightmare imaginable.
(King World News) - King World News just launched the New KWN Weekly Metals Wrap featuring London analyst Alasdair Macleod and also released an audio interview with Dr. Stephen Leeb discussing the gold and silver takedown. To access the audio interviews simply CLICK on the images below:
Dr. Stephen Leeb: Chairman & Chief Investment Officer of Leeb Capital Management - Dr. Leeb is a registered investment adviser and has been managing big cap growth portfolios since 1999. Over the last decade, his independently-verified performance record has been ranked in the top 5 percent among peers according to Informa’s PSN manager database. Dr. Leeb is a New York Time’s Best Selling author, eight books total on investments and financial trends.
Dr. Stephen Leeb: Chairman & Chief Investment Officer of Leeb Capital Management - Dr. Leeb is a registered investment adviser and has been managing big cap growth portfolios since 1999. Over the last decade, his independently-verified performance record has been ranked in the top 5 percent among peers according to Informa’s PSN manager database. Dr. Leeb is a New York Time’s Best Selling author, eight books total on investments and financial trends.
Alasdair Macleod, London Metals Analysts - Alasdair has been working in the financial world since 1970 and been a Member of the London Stock Exchange for nearly five decades. His experience encompasses commodities, gold, silver, equity and bond markets, fund management, corporate finance and investment strategy...
Alasdair Macleod, London Metals Analysts - Alasdair has been working in the financial world since 1970 and been a Member of the London Stock Exchange for nearly five decades. His experience encompasses commodities, gold, silver, equity and bond markets, fund management, corporate finance and investment strategy...
The composition of the US dollar, including what it is backed by, has been replaced many times throughout America’s history. And another replacement is currently underway, warns monetary expert Mike Maloney.
After President Nixon fully severed its ties to gold, our government leaders have increasingly relied on increasing the currency supply to paper over (quite literally) today’s problems at the expense of the dollar’s purchasing power tomorrow.
As Mike explains in his excellent video series Hidden Secrets Of Money, such willful debasement of the currency by furtive and shortsighted politicians is nothing new. Over thousands of years, since the Romans intentionally progressively shrank the silver content of their coins, history is replete with such examples.
And now 2020 has arrived. The Federal Reserve’s response to the pandemic-induced economic slowdown has unleashed more ‘thin air’ creation of new dollars than ever seen at any prior moment in history:
And the leading developed countries of the world are now discussing the need for a Great Reset, in which it’s being proposed that new national cryptocurrencies (perhaps laying the groundwork towards a ‘one world currency’) replace the current existing fiat versions.
Using the lens of monetary history, Mike sees all this as simply a modern spin on the same cycles the world has seen before. Politicians will deform and abuse the currency for their own immediate needs until the system collapses, and a new, more sound alternative emerges from the ashes.
Which is why he remains so confident that gold will strengthen dramatically in the coming macro environment, despite being in a short-lived corrective phase at the moment. In fact, he sees today’s weakness as an excellent accumulation opportunity for both current holders as well as those new to owning precious metals.
And that’s why Mike agrees that now, more than ever, is the time to partner with a financial advisor who understands the risks in play, can craft an appropriate portfolio strategy for you given your needs, and apply sound risk management protection where appropriate:
Anyone interested in scheduling a free consultation and portfolio review with Mike Preston and John Llodra and their team at New Harbor Financial can do so by clicking here.
And if you’re one of the many readers brand new to Peak Prosperity over the past few months, we strongly urge you get your financial situation in order in parallel with your ongoing physical coronavirus preparations.
We recommend you do so in partnership with a professional financial advisor who understands the macro risks to the market that we discuss on this website. If you’ve already got one, great.
But if not, consider talking to the team at New Harbor. We’ve set up this ‘free consultation’ relationship with them to help folks exactly like you.
In this interview, Luminex Resources CEO Marshall Koval and Senior VP Exploration Leo Hathaway provide a company update and explain why their massive Cascas gold-copper target so prospective. Luminex will begin drilling the Cascas project in late 2020 or early 2021. Marshall also shares an update on the company’s 5M+ AuOz Condor project as well as its two joint-venture projects with BHP and Anglo-American. Marshall said that in H1 of 2021 Luminex should be producing drill results on up to four different projects.
Bill: Today, we’re going to be getting an update from Luminex Resources. I’m Bill Powers and this is Mining Stock Education. Thanks for tuning in. The ticker symbol in Toronto is LR. And on the OTC for United States investors, you can find it under the ticker LUMIF. Joining me today is Marshall Koval, he is the CEO, as well as Leo Hathaway, he’s the Senior Vice President of Exploration. Gentlemen, welcome to the show. And Leo, I’d like to kick it over to you first. Could you break down for us, at your Cascas Project, you’ve identified this target. What is the prospectivity here that investors should know?
Leo: We have a gold and a copper target that we’ve been following up in Cascas. And recently, field crews discovered a creek bed with quartz vein stockworks and a lot of surface copper mineralization that was very exciting, looked like an outcropping porphyry copper deposit. So we zeroed in on that with sampling and mapping. We’ve currently defined a porphyry copper zone of a few hundred meters long in creek beds. The reason it’s exciting, I think, is because this is a Jurassic porphyry belt that saw some attention in the 1990s and never really produced any very high-grade deposits. There’s one mining production, Mirador and Ecuador, but recently there’s been one discovery by Solaris that really signified that the belt might be capable of producing higher-grades. Solaris, as you probably saw, intersected 567 meters of 1% copper equivalent in the first drill hole. And Porvenir, being explored by SolGold, is also looking very promising. So when we discovered this deposit, we also see secondary copper mineralization, such as calcite, which is indicative of higher grade in deposits, a copper enrichment event. So all these things coming together really make us pretty excited about exploring this deposit. We’ve focused our field crews on it, and we hope to be drilling early next year.
Bill: So let’s talk about valuation. You mentioned Solaris, I believe it was two drill holes added about $200 million worth of market capitalization. I mentioned your market capitalization is $63 million. So what’s the potential here for adding some market cap value if you’re successful with the drill bit?
Leo: Well, we think there’s great potential for that, given the Solaris experience. And where we’re a different company, of course, we still have to drill the hole. But as I say, what that did indicate is that the belt is capable of producing higher grades than we’ve seen previously, so I think that would be a major value driver, if we drilled a hole like that.
Bill: And the press release said you’re looking at drilling that in Q1 of next year. What are some of the steps that you need too, and milestones you need to get past, in order to put the drill bit in the ground?
Leo: Well, we’d like to define it. We’d like to just make sure when the best bit of the system. I take a pretty simple view of geology, and we’ve got quartz vein stockworks and big green outcrops in creek beds, so we’d be… set the drill up there, but we just want to dig around and take more samples and make sure we’re in the best fit. We don’t really see the need to do any geophysics, since we’ve got it right at surface. So we’ll do field work and just progress with various logistical steps to get the drills there.
Bill: And you’re in the process of building the camp. I believe last time we talked about two months ago, that camp, is it finalized or are you still in the process there?
Leo: We have a camp. We just need to add a little bit to make it into a drill camp, but all of these are simple steps.
Bill: Marshall, you also had a press release since we last spoke on the Condor Project. Could you give us an update on what’s going on at the Condor Project?
Marshall: Yeah, let me add one more thing on Cascas. The gold anomaly, don’t overlook that. It’s a significant gold anomaly adjacent to this copper anomaly. But overall, the whole Cascas copper anomaly that we see, on concessions Cascas 1 and 2, has about a seven kilometer length to it, and about two-kilometer-wide to three-kilometer-wide soil expression. And then, the gold anomaly is a couple of kilometers wide. So we’re going to look at the copper and gold, both, on that project, so I don’t want to undersell the gold.
Over to Condor, we have about 5.2 million ounces within the property at Condor, and that’s split into two areas. There’s about 1.6 million of that is indicated in the balances inferred. And the two areas are the northern epithermal area and then the Santa Barbara gold-copper porphyry, a bit like our Cangrejos Project and Lumina Gold, similar-type mineralization. So what we’ve been doing is we announced this camp zone discovery, where we have roughly 1.1 million ounces of gold equivalent at about 3 grams per ton, gold equivalent.
And we’re in the process now of defining and trying to scope a project, to move forward with a PEA. We’ve done metallurgy on it, quite a bit of metallurgy. We’re looking at the infrastructure layouts, potential mine plans, and just trying to get to the point where we think we have a project that we can move successfully forward with a PEA. It’s got both open pit and underground targets. The camp zone is an underground target, and we’re looking at that at $1,500 gold. And the other areas, Los Cuyes, Soledad and Enma, are open pit targets. And we did some previous work where we looked at $1,250 gold. So, we’re in the process of just getting comfortable internally. And then I hope before the end of the year to take that to the board, to make a decision on moving forward with a PEA.
Bill: Excellent. And with the Lumina Group, just a little bit about the philosophy, the goal is to discover and then define a deposit and then to sell a deposit. At what stage do you typically sell the deposit, at the PEA stage or the feasibility stage?
Marshall: Yeah, that’s a good question, Bill. So if I look back at the Lumina copper story that both Leo and I were involved in from 2004, Northern Peru Copper, we sold at a PFS level. Relincho, we sold while we were working on a PEA. And then, Taca Taca, we completed a PEA and we were doing pre-feas-level work on high-risk areas that we had identified. So really, you can sell these projects pretty much at any phase. But what we like to do, like in the Lumina Gold story is, before we even thought about selling the project, we wanted to understand the scale of it, the magnitude, what potential you could bring into a PEA, and understand the value proposition.
So, we’re moving that direction on Condor. I think if you look at BHP at Tarqui and Anglo American at Pegasus, and then the work that Leo was just talking about at Cascas, you got the opportunity that early next… well, sometime in the first half next year, let’s say, we could have four projects where we have drill results. So driving those drill results and understanding that fits into the business plan.
So if you look at the company, overall Luminex with Condor is moving down the development pathway. And then if you look at the BHP, Anglo, Cascas, and some of the other concessions, those are earlier-stage discovery projects. And those are primarily copper, Cascas obviously has some gold. So that’s how we look at the company, and we’ve set it up that we can spin off any particular assets. Say, BHP has a big hit at Tarqui, make a major discovery there; we know there’s a copper porphyry system. We can spin that out into a standalone company. And that’s how we structured the Lumina Group historically, is we never get to fall too in love with our projects, where we wouldn’t add value for shareholders and provide a good exit. So, that’s the business plan here.
Bill: Is there any information that you’ve received back from Anglo or BHP on those projects that you can share with the market?
Marshall: Well, in our deck, if you go to that, there’s been quite a bit of work. So, two different-type targets. BHP is a smaller, higher-grade discovery that we made, similar to Cascas, where you have plus 1% copper at the surface. And basically, they’ve done geophysics work, a lot of geology work, and it’s drill ready. And I think if we hadn’t had COVID, they would have been drilling quite a while ago. Whereas Anglo’s approach is more at a district scale, and they’ve spent about $10 million with geology geophysics, and they’ve come up with drill targets. In our deck, you’ll see the Medusa target, which they have discovered. And basically, they’ve got eight clustered porphyry deposits.
So any one of these copper shows could be a large target. I mean, we could generate that sort of interest with the drill bit if we’re successful. So we’re really excited to get out there and drill these things, and obviously, BHP and Anglo are as well. And Cascas, for us, and then continuing to work at Condor is where we see the company moving forward. So, once we move through the COVID era a little bit more, we get we’re going to get the drills turning.
Bill: So you’re trading at about your valuation of your last financing about four months ago, around $0.70 Canadian. So there’s an opportunity to buy shares about 30%, 40% cheaper than you could in August. How much money do you have in the bank and how far will that take you into next year?
Marshall: Yeah, we have about $12 million Canadian right now. I think at the end of June, we were up at around $15 million. So we’ve got drills going at Condor and we’re doing the prep work to start drilling at Cascas, so we’ll get pretty far into next year with the funds that we have right now. So the big focus is going to be, get some drill results going. Advancing Condor, hopefully to make a decision to move forward with the PEA, that would probably be done mid-next year, once we have board approval. So, those are the main catalysts and drivers.
And copper, right now, has come back quite a bit. It’s up over $3. I think it’s about $3.15 today. So we’re starting to see some life in the copper markets. I’m real excited about potential discovery with our copper portfolio.
from Kerry Lutz Podcasts – Financial Survival Network https://ift.tt/39hYqVD
First, to all FSN Community Members, Happy Thanksgiving! While we are certainly living through unsettled times, there are many reasons to be thankful and banish despair from our lives. Years later when I look back at this time, it will have proven to be an amazing time of growth on many fronts. Spiritually, emotionally and materially. Human growth and potential are harder to realize during the easy times. As I have repeatedly told my children over the course of their lives, you learn way more from failure than from success. I also want to share with you a recent discovery. I just came across the work of YouTube sensation Wim Hof. I have found his breathing exercises, when combined with my meditation practice, to be of immense benefit. It has revealed to me that in order to find true happiness, we must always focus within and act to lessen the impact of external affairs upon our lives. In other words, who is President should have no effect upon your internal state of joy. That’s a little more philosophical than I usually indulge in, but during these unprecedented times, there’s every reason to hope for and expect better times ahead. But as always, it must begin with a transition from within.
For more than 20 years, Master Trader Nick Santiago has been beating the markets. He’s made some incredible calls along the way and now he’s looking to spread the word. There’s no reason that the average trader should be coming up short. So now we’ve started a daily show to bring you up to date on the latest market developments. Nick will be sharing trades and concepts and discussing current trends.
For more than 20 years, Master Trader Nick Santiago has been beating the markets. He’s made some incredible calls along the way and now he’s looking to spread the word. There’s no reason that the average trader should be coming up short. So now we’ve started a daily show to bring you up to date on the latest market developments. Nick will be sharing trades and concepts and discussing current trends.
Andy Schectman, CEO of Miles-Franklin joined us. We’ve seen a rather rapid decrease in precious metals prices during the past week. But Andy isn’t concerned in the least. It’s just an effort by the bullion banks to squeeze out weak holders. But it’s destined to fail, because the people who actually take delivery from the Comex will not be cowed. They are family offices, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds who understand that the time to buy gold is now. Andy explains that we are approaching contract expiration and that the goal is to stop this group from standing for delivery. It’s all part of an elaborate effort to stop the outflow of metals from the Comex. And it’s doomed to failure. Which is why the price for gold is going up no matter what.
Jamie Keech is a Vancouver-based financier with a background in mining engineering. The pull back in gold prices has been widely expected and anticipated. Gold bull markets don’t go up in a straight-line. Of course it’s painful to see your portfolio value go down quickly. But Jamie says that even at $1800 gold everything in mining stock portfolio is still worth holding on to. When it comes to Bitcoin vs. Gold, Jamie observes that there’s no leverage in BTC. Gold miners give an opportunity for major leveraged returns. While BTC has had a major move, it hasn’t gone up 100 or even 10 times. What we do know is that we don’t know what will happen with Bitcoin during these uncertain times. However, based upon history, we can get a very good idea what will happen to precious metals. And that’s why the case for mining stocks is so compelling.
The United States has had 77 Treasury secretaries in the last 231 years. So far, they’ve all been men. That’s about to change.
President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to head the Treasury Department, a source close to the transition told NPR on Monday
(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Childhood vaccine may help prevent severe COVID-19
People whose immune systems responded strongly to a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine may be less likely to become severely ill if they are infected with the new coronavirus, new data suggest.
Dec. 31 is shaping up to be a bleak day for the U.S. economy. Millions of unemployed Americans will no longer qualify for government aid. Renters will lose their protections for evictions. Student loan debt-holders will lose their relief. And now it looks like the Federal Reserve will be forced to end a bunch of emergency lifeline programs for troubled businesses, cities and states.
The ending of all this aid is coming at a rough time. The economic recovery is stalling and starting to backslide. Layoffs are ticking up again, household spending is slowing and people aren’t venturing out much as coronavirus cases skyrocket in much of the country.
When someone struggles to open a lock with a key that doesn’t quite seem to work, sometimes jiggling the key a bit will help. Now, new research from MIT suggests that coronaviruses, including the one that causes Covid-19, may use a similar method to trick cells into letting the viruses inside. The findings could be useful for determining how dangerous different strains or mutations of coronaviruses may be, and might point to a new approach for developing treatments.
As coronavirus case numbers surge across the country, it’s not just the obvious places you should avoid: political rallies, large weddings, crowded bars, restaurants and night clubs.
More and more, health experts warn that COVID-19 is being transmitted at the intimate get-togethers many of us believed were relatively safe: Dinner parties with close, trusted friends. Game nights with family members who live in different households. Sleepovers and learning pods with just a handful of kids and parents involved.
International air travellers will in future need to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to board Qantas flights, the airline says.
The Australian flag carrier’s boss, Alan Joyce, said the move would be “a necessity” when vaccines are available. “I think that’s going to be a common thing talking to my colleagues in other airlines around the globe,” he said.
The mineral consists of oxygen, sulfur and copper atoms, which form a porous framework. Smaller atoms, like sodium, can move freely through the crystalline structure using the voids and channels in the framework as passages. This unique property could be used as a template for creating more efficient batteries.
Epidemiologists widely agree that there is a correlation between acute and locally elevated concentrations of fine particles and the severity of influenza waves. «We have investigated whether such a link also exists with the virulence of COVID-19 disease,» says Mario Rohrer, researcher at the Institute for Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences of UNIGE and director of Meteodat.
Article suggestions for the Daily Digest can be sent to dd@peakprosperity.com. All suggestions are filtered by the Daily Digest team and preference is given to those that are in alignment with the message of the Crash Course and the “3 Es.”
John Rubino is back… Lockdowns are spreading, and people are back to hoarding toilet paper and bullets. A landmark Danish study finds no significant effect for facemask wearers. Only minimal stimulus seems likely during the transition. (Funny how anything less than a trillion dollars seems minimal these days.) Is another broad-based crash like March coming? How do you prepare for something like that? All this, and more…
What you will hear in this interview is the KEY to bringing down their entire system of fraud, in every single commonwealth country. Christopher James joins me to spill the beans.
www.awarriorcalls.com
www.earthunited.global
from Kerry Lutz Podcasts – Financial Survival Network https://ift.tt/377Dmyu
For more than 20 years, Master Trader Nick Santiago has been beating the markets. He’s made some incredible calls along the way and now he’s looking to spread the word. There’s no reason that the average trader should be coming up short. So now we’ve started a daily show to bring you up to date on the latest market developments. Nick will be sharing trades and concepts and discussing current trends.
This is a special episode of the Miles Franklin “Mugs and Metals” where we interview the interviewers in the metals space. With us today is: Andy Schectman, Dunagun Kaiser, Patrick Vierra, David Morgan, Hunter Riley III, Chris Marcus, Craig Hemke, and Kerry Lutz. Hosting are Elijah K. Johnson and Kaiser Johnson. We unpack the election and its impact on the metals markets. Andy Schectman, Dunagun Kaiser, Patrick Vierra, David Morgan, Hunter Riley III, Chris Marcus, Craig Hemke, and Kerry Lutz.
GR Silver Mining (sponsor) currently has 20 Geologists working round the clock to expand their already impressive resource. Four drills are turning and more are on the way. The Company is proof that the harder you work, the luckier you get. While building a connector road to an underground access tunnel, the team came across some interesting geological samples. Upon closer look, they found extensive mineralization that should substantially add to their NI 43-101 resource. Marcio and the team are more excited than ever, and he believes they’re on the cusp to achieving their 100+ million ounce goal. GR is extremely well-financed, with C$8 million in the bank, so there’s need to go back to the market for additional capital to continue their aggressive drill program. Which is why we’re extremely optimistic and currently acquiring shares.
Today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE and historic moves in currencies and metals just warned about implantable human microchips and the Great Reset.
Alasdair Macleod: Head of Research for Goldmoney, Inc. - Alasdair has been working in the financial world since 1970 and been a Member of the London Stock Exchange for nearly five decades. His experience encompasses equity and bond markets, fund management, corporate finance and investment strategy...
Alasdair Macleod: Head of Research for Goldmoney, Inc. - Alasdair has been working in the financial world since 1970 and been a Member of the London Stock Exchange for nearly five decades. His experience encompasses equity and bond markets, fund management, corporate finance and investment strategy...
Sensemaking is at an all time low. You certainly know people whom you cannot communicate with over certain subjects. Tensions are heightened in no small part because people are sacred and cannot make sense of the world around them. And of course they can’t. The hardest part about all this, especially because we’re wired as social animals, is daring to do things nobody else even seems all that worried about or interested in. But that’s also why this area is so rich with opportunity. Which is why you need to now...
_______________ Why is this full report restricted to Peak Prosperity’s premium subscribers? Two main reasons:One — we reserve our best analysis and most directive guidance for the paying members whose financial support makes operating this site possible. Also, given that some of this material is our "best guess" thinking or can be overly revealing of the details of our personal actions, we're only willing to share that with this private audience. We wouldn't feel comfortable having that level of speculative/private information out in the public realm.And Two — one of the many benefits of premium membership is closer access to the experts on this site.If you’re not yet a premium member but would like to become one and access this full report, as well as *all* of our premium content, click the button below to subscribe:
We are transitioning from the old narrative that has guided our society into a new one. One we don’t yet know the plotline of. And that has folks feeling anxious.
We’re between things. It’s an uncomfortable place.
It’s a power vacuum of sorts, a place of great uncertainty. It’s like an unexplored territory: little is known, and clarity is revealed only in tiny bits as we move forward.
The old story of endless growth on a finite planet is winding down. Whatever replaces it won’t be a continuation of the past. Things are going to have to change, whether we like it or not.
Put more bluntly: the easy times are over, and a period of disruption has begun. And it may be many years — or even decades — before thing truly settle into a new equilibrium (if they do at all).
Because my day job is serving as a guide as we enter this unknown territory, I’m acutely aware of the degree to which people are already worn down, burnt out, and unable to process any more. Folks are already exhausted by the systemic trials and tribulations that have led to entire new level of crazy that has been 2020.
Yet, as I wrote recently, no choice IS a choice. When so much is changing and so much is on the line, remaining frozen with anxiety is as much a determinant of your future prospects as taking swift action – each sets one down different paths promising different outcomes.
Truthfully, there is much that can be done that will contribute to a more resilient future for yourself and for the world. But first we have to know where we are. We have to sketch out the map as best we can, even if the edges remain blanks with little more than “there be monsters” scribed at the borders.
To orient properly, you must be aware of the idea that the Age of Growth is over. We are now entering a Post-Growth era. Our task now is to settle into a very different existence – one with fewer ‘things’ and less ‘stuff’, but also offering more meaning and worthy challenges.
Like any good adventure, a little danger is involved. But nothing quite so dangerous to your soul’s journey as wasting your life on trivial pursuits.
The Interregnum
The gap between reigns when the old king has died but the new successor has yet to be decided is called an interregnum. It can also refer to the gap between first learning of something and then finally understanding its deeper significance:
in·ter·reg·num, noun
a period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes.
– an interval or pause between two periods of office or other things. “the interregnum between the discovery of radioactivity and its detailed understanding”
I love this word because it perfectly matches our current state.
One feature of an interregnum, where power hangs in the balance, is that it’s a very uncertain time. Anxiety rules the day because nobody knows how things might land. It could be good for them personally, or very bad.
This sort of uncertainty is a potent source of anxiety. Which is why an interregnum is the cradle of people’s most deep-seated fears.
The old king is gone. Nobody knows who or what is in charge right now. Is it humanity’s deep technological and prowess? Or is it Mother Nature herself? Does our destiny lie in our own hands? Or have the die already been cast, and we’re simply awaiting to see how they land and learn our fate?
Is there time to sort out a decent solution to our many predicaments and problems? Or have those moments already been wasted?
Nobody knows at this moment. But the uncertainty is hanging thick. Corrosive. Emotional. Explosive.
Demoralization
Now while the above may sound depressing and demoralizing, as I’ve written before, there’s a very important distinction between the two.
Depression is a reaction to current circumstances. It can be treated with talk therapy to resolve an inner conflict, or temporary chemical rebalancing.
Demoralization is how you feel when your cognitive map no longer functions:
Rather than a depressive disorder, demoralization is a type of existential disorder associated with the breakdown of a person’s ‘cognitive map’.It is an overarching psycho-spiritual crisis in which victims feel generally disoriented and unable to locate meaning, purpose or sources of need fulfilment.
The world loses its credibility, and former beliefs and convictions dissolve into doubt, uncertainty and loss of direction.
Frustration, anger and bitterness are usual accompaniments, as well as an underlying sense of being part of a lost cause or losing battle. The label ‘existential depression’ is not appropriate since, unlike most forms of depression, demoralization is a realistic response to the circumstances impinging on the person’s life.
Did you catch that? Demoralization is actually a realistic response under certain conditions.
Those conditions are manifesting themselves now. Which means that the waves of dispiriting statistics we’re seeing are not ‘bad’; they are telling us something important.
People are right to be deeply disturbed by the ways in which the main narrative of their culture no longer maps to reality. Worse, the Endless Growth narrative is killing life on this planet and therefore harming each of us in ways both overt and subtle.
More and more people are detecting that, and that’s a good thing. Because that’s the necessary first step in crafting a new narrative and adopting a different model that hopefully serves us better.
We often say here at Peak Prosperity that if you’re feeling anxiety (or demoralization), it means that there’s a gap between what you know and what you’re doing. Since you can’t unlearn something, your best course of action is to change your behavior.
To take action to better align what you know with what you do.
I totally get the frustration, anger and bitterness on display in politics all across the West right now, but these are almost universally misdirected at the wrong targets. Whether by intent or accident, this is usually the case and heavily supported by a media system that actually promotes divisiveness over unity, and isolation over connection.
Bottom line: If you are demoralized there’s nothing wrong with you. But there is definitely something wrong with the larger situation.
Now we can go a bit deeper. But first, I want to introduce an important term relating to demoralization: Zozobra.
Zozobra
I came across this article very recently and have now read it a few times. It’s right dead-center over the plate.
It perfectly nails the concept of demoralization and I believe offers a necessary framing so that we can begin to name that which, so far, has not been named:
There’s a word for your overwhelming anxiety, and it’s “zozobra”
Nov 3rd, 2020
Ever had the feeling that you can’t make sense of what’s happening? One moment everything seems normal, then suddenly the frame shifts to reveal a world on fire, struggling with pandemic, recession, climate change, and political upheaval.
That’s “zozobra,” the peculiar form of anxiety that comes from being unable to settle into a single point of view, leaving you with questions like: Is it a lovely autumn day, or an alarming moment of converging historical catastrophes?
The word “zozobra” is an ordinary Spanish term for “anxiety” but with connotations that call to mind the wobbling of a ship about to capsize. The term emerged as a key concept among Mexican intellectuals in the early 20th century to describe the sense of having no stable ground and feeling out of place in the world.
This feeling of zozobra is commonly experienced by people who visit or immigrate to a foreign country: the rhythms of life, the way people interact, everything just seems “off” – unfamiliar, disorienting and vaguely alienating.
According to the philosopher Emilio Uranga (1921-1988), the telltale sign of zozobra is wobbling and toggling between perspectives, being unable to relax into a single framework to make sense of things. As Uranga describes it in his 1952 book “Analysis of Mexican Being”:
“Zozobra refers to a mode of being that incessantly oscillates between two possibilities, between two affects, without knowing which one of those to depend on … indiscriminately dismissing one extreme in favor of the other. In this to and fro the soul suffers, it feels torn and wounded.”
What makes zozobra so difficult to address is that its source is intangible. It is a soul-sickness not caused by any personal failing, nor by any of the particular events that we can point to.
Instead, it comes from cracks in the frameworks of meaning that we rely on to make sense of our world — the shared understanding of what is real and who is trustworthy, what risks we face and how to meet them, what basic decency requires of us and what ideals our nation aspires to.
In plain English: when everything is wobbling and up for grabs, you wouldn’t be entirely human if you weren’t experiencing some sort of emotional unease.
When everything seems “off” – unfamiliar, disorienting and vaguely alienating, then you’re in some sort of foreign land. You are out of bounds, off all of your known maps. There’s no sense of place, nowhere to settle down. Zozobra.
Conclusion
If you are feeling any of the above – congratulations! – there’s nothing at all wrong with you. In fact, your senses are operating normally, and your cognition is on the mark.
The best part of understanding that having an adjustment reaction is that it loses its ability to consume you with dread.
It’s not “the truth”, but rather an uncomfortable sensation. Naming it helps. As does understanding that it’s perfectly normal.
There’s nothing that requires treatment. Nothing that requires medication. Nothing at all to be done about any of it.
Except knowing what it is, and then taking action.
Because you alone can’t alter the larger trends of ecological destruction, monetary printing, insane political responses, etc. and so forth, all that truly remains is for you to align your actions with what you know to be true.
And there’s so much to be done. Soils need to be rebuilt. Waste streams reformed into nutrient loops. Energy efficiency to be built into the next generation of – everything.
The lists are as endless as they are exciting. And you can play a role, both at the individual level as well as contributing positively at the collective one.
Yes, there’s a “great reset” coming. Whether it will be controlled and precise or a nature-driven chaotic mess remains to be seen.
But right now, you need to make a choice: You can either actively shape your future or wait to be shaped by it.
I’m all about controlling what I can and leaving the rest behind. Maybe you are, too.
If so, then you’re part of our tribe here at Peak Prosperity. We’re busying preparing for what is increasingly likely to consist of more macro chaos than control.
You know, to avoid being demoralized with an overwhelming sense of zozobra during this interregnum.
In Part 2: Moving Ahead With Purpose, Optimism & Grace we provide further essential grounding for persevering through the coming change, and I share the latest steps that I’m taking in my own personal life to dive head-first into the interregnum with positive and enthusiastic intent.
“We are on the precipice of the greatest retirement crisis in the history of the world. And that makes perfect sense because, first of all, we have the largest elderly population in the history of the world.
Just focusing on the United States: our elderly are woefully unprepared to retire. And in the decades to come we will witness millions of elderly Americans, Baby Boomers and others, slipping into poverty. ‘Too frail to work, too poor to retire’ will become the new normal for many elderly Americans.”
So warns forensic pension analyst Ted Siedle.
And Ted knows what he’s talking about.
He’s a former SEC attorney who has testified on pension abuse before the Senate Banking Committee. And in 2017, he secured the largest SEC whistleblower award in history of $48 million, and in 2018, the largest CFTC award in history at $30 million.
Too many of America’s public pensions are dangerously underfunded due to over-promised payouts vs contributions and poor fund performance. And corporate pension funds are in the hole a collective -$50 billion.
ZIRP has pushed these funds out of conservative investments into highly risky and opaque instruments they have no business being in. And that the rosy case, assuming markets continue their current trajectory.
But given how overvalued they are, even just a period of 0% returns (which respectable analysts like John Hussman are waring will be the return over the next 12 years), let alone a sizable market correction, will unleash a catastrophic cascade of collapses across the pension system.
Which is very worrisome to consider when markets are this overvalued:
Ted strongly advises every investor look at their current exposure to these coming pension failures.
If you’re relying on one for your retirement, what will you do if your monthly payment is cut in half or worse? And even if you aren’t, these failures will send shockwaves across every asset class as these funds reduce their buying and perhaps become forced sellers. How vulnerable is your current portfolio to that?
Which is why now, more than ever, is the time to partner with a financial advisor who understands the risks in play, can craft an appropriate portfolio strategy for you given your needs, and apply sound risk management protection where appropriate:
Anyone interested in scheduling a free consultation and portfolio review with Mike Preston and John Llodra and their team at New Harbor Financial can do so by clicking here.
And if you’re one of the many readers brand new to Peak Prosperity over the past few months, we strongly urge you get your financial situation in order in parallel with your ongoing physical coronavirus preparations.
We recommend you do so in partnership with a professional financial advisor who understands the macro risks to the market that we discuss on this website. If you’ve already got one, great.
But if not, consider talking to the team at New Harbor. We’ve set up this ‘free consultation’ relationship with them to help folks exactly like you.
Eric Hadik returns… Stock markets have been trading on hope and optimism. 40 years ago was a similar tumultuous period. The Iranian Revolution and the Russian invasion of Aghanhistan. It’s the 40 year cycle taking place. The 40 year cycle has repeated itself very closely. We had the March meltdown, the spike recovery, and then new lows. Very similar to 1980. Anohther intermediate peak in coming this month and continuing to swing, which will lead to another leg up peaking in May 2021. But there are down swings coming.
Jeff Socha is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and prominent financial advisor in Austin, TX. He joins us with his market Forecast for the remainder of 2020 and 2021. Volatility is the theme. There’s so much uncertainty that we could go anywhere. Changing political directions mean it’s up in the air. There’s lots of pains in Blue States, small business, restaurants, etc. People are stocking up on swimming pools and RV’s. Services are getting slammed. Employees will have to retrain and reinvent.
As we come to the end of another wild week of trading, here is a look at the GDX Gold Mining Index, what a circus, housing, industrial metals, plan an important look at gold.
Lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increase in high blood pressure among patients admitted to emergency. That’s the finding of a study presented at the 46th Argentine Congress of Cardiology (SAC).
SAC 2020 is a virtual meeting during 19 to 21 November. Faculty from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) will participate in joint scientific sessions with the Argentine Society of Cardiology as part of the ESC Global Activities programme.
The top two U.S. economic policymakers clashed over whether to preserve emergency lending programs designed to shore up the economy — a rare moment of discord as the nation confronts the risk of a renewed downturn spurred by the resurgent coronavirus.
The disagreement erupted late Thursday when outgoing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin released a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell demanding the return of money the government provides the central bank so it can lend to certain markets in times of stress. Minutes later, the Fed issued a statement urging that “the full suite” of measures be maintained into 2021.
In January 2018, President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imported solar panels despite protests from much of the industry, sending jobs in one of the nation’s fastest-growing employment engines tumbling for the following two years.
Now the solar industry is asking President-elect Joe Biden to cut short what was widely seen as Trump’s biggest blow to solar energy during his single term.
If one takes the publications of the World Economic Forum (WEF) as an indication of how the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will change society, the world is facing a massive onslaught against individual liberty and private property. A new kind of collectivism is about to emerge. Like the communism of the past, the new project appeals to the public with the assurance of technological advancement and social inclusion. Additionally, ecological sustainability and the promise of longevity or even immortality are used to entice the public. In reality, however, these promises are deeply dystopian.
On the same day that the World Economic Forum heralded “The Great Reset” as a positive way to build “future resilience to global risks,” the New York Times declared the entire thing to be a “conspiracy theory.”
Yes, really.
The NYT was apparently upset that “The Great Reset” was trending on Twitter and published an article declaring it to be “A baseless conspiracy theory about the coronavirus.”
We learned this week that household debt is rising, according to the New York Federal Reserve. You can thank the booming housing market for that, along with student and auto loans.
However, that same report found that credit card debt is falling. That’s good news, right? Well, yes and no.
State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon says drier and warmer conditions over much of the state could last until spring.
October is usually one of the wettest months in Texas, but many parts of the state received little or no rain during the period. The situation is especially bad in West Texas: In the past six months in Midland, only 1.45 inches of rain have been recorded, breaking a 69-year-old record by an inch, according to figures from the State Climatologist’s office at Texas A&M University.
A new analysis of California’s Monterey Bay evaluates kelp’s potential to reduce ocean acidification, the harmful fallout from climate change on marine ecosystems and the food they produce for human populations.
Ethereal, swaying pillars of brown kelp along California’s coasts grow up through the water column, culminating in a dense surface canopy of thick fronds that provide homes and refuge for numerous marine creatures. There’s speculation that these giant algae may protect coastal ecosystems by helping alleviate acidification caused by too much atmospheric carbon being absorbed by the seas.
Article suggestions for the Daily Digest can be sent to dd@peakprosperity.com. All suggestions are filtered by the Daily Digest team and preference is given to those that are in alignment with the message of the Crash Course and the “3 Es.”