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7.15.26- Lessons from the Future, and the Past

Gold last traded at $4,060 an ounce. Silver at $57.78 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: There is little doubt that the global financial landscape is changing; and far more quickly than most people realize. At the center of that transformation are digital currencies, digital IDs, and an accelerating loss of financial privacy. Some may see that as progress, but many of us see it differently. It's not about having something to hide; it's about preserving the right to keep our financial affairs private.

At the same time we're being asked to accept unprecedented financial transparency for ourselves, those in positions of power continue to ask us to simply take their word for it. Treasury Secretary Bessent once again insists that all the gold at Fort Knox is present and accounted for, making a physical audit unnecessary. But isn't the entire purpose of an audit to verify that what's being reported is actually there?

If the first two stories leave you questioning where all of this is headed, then the third article is one you won't want to miss. By looking back at the gold market of the 1970s, it reveals why some of history's greatest opportunities emerged during periods of financial uncertainty. The investors who recognize these shifts early are often the ones best positioned to protect their wealth; and to potentially benefit from the next major move in precious metals.

Why Digital ID Is The Hill To Die On: The Authentication Layer -Zero Hedge

Authored by Joshua Stylman via Substack

A friend and I got into it recently. He’s smart, freedom-minded, and totally gets the danger of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). Expiring money, programmable control, carbon budgets - he sees most of the expanding tyranny clearly. And yet he dismisses Digital ID as a distraction. When I try to make the case that digital ID is the gateway to the gulag in the metaverse, he demands I name ONE thing Digital ID gives the government that they can’t already do.

My answer: it enables CBDC.

Of course, governments have already encroached on our privacy and freedoms in ways our forefathers couldn’t have imagined. But even with the creeping surveillance state, the government can’t fully implement programmable currency without authenticated identity on every transaction. They’re components of the same beast. Digital ID is the authentication layer while CBDC is the currency that runs on top of it.

Stop Digital ID and you prevent CBDC from being built at any scale that matters. READ MORE

Fort Knox Standoff: Bessent Says All The Gold Is There, Says America 'Used To Be Backed' By It -Zero Hedge

by Tyler Durden

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has once again assured the public that America's gold reserves remain fully intact, pushing back against years of speculation surrounding the legendary vaults at Fort Knox. In a Fox News interview with Jesse Watters that aired Monday night, Bessent reiterated his standing assurance that every ounce of the nation's bullion is "present and accounted for" - while making no plans to visit the Kentucky depository himself.

"I am happy to say all gold is present and accounted for. The U.S. has the largest pile of gold in the world, over a trillion dollars, at current market value," Bessent told Watters.

His comments come amid renewed calls from lawmakers and gold advocates for a comprehensive, independent audit - the first large-scale public verification since 1974.

But as ZH contributor Phoenix Capital Research notes, Bessent prefaced his comment with something even more interesting...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Fox News business yesterday. During the conversation with Jesse Waters, he made several key statements.

One of them… “we [the $USD] used to be backed by silver, sometimes gold.”

And a few moments later regarding Fort Knox…

“all gold is present and account for… the U.S. has the largest pile of gold in the world, over a $1 trillion at current market value.” READ MORE

Gold Lessons from the 1970s -Daily Reckoning

by Adam Sharp

There have been 3 major long-term bull runs for precious metals in the last 60 years.

The 1970s is the most famous, and for good reason.

Today many investors view the 1970s as one epic bull market for precious metals.

But technically it was two separate bull markets separated by a 2-year bear market.

From 1971 to 1974, gold rose from $35/oz to $195/oz.

Then, from December 1974 to late 1976, it fell 48% to around $100/oz.

Those of you who have studied gold during the 1970s know that after this selloff to $100/oz, gold went on to rally to over $850/oz by 1980.

How many people managed to trade this rollercoaster perfectly? Few. I would guess that most of the people who profited from the entire 1970s move either held strong throughout, or consistently took profits while buying the dips. VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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7.14.26 - India, Russia Begin De-Dollarization

Gold last traded at $4,051 an ounce. Silver at $58.71 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Every new trade agreement that bypasses the U.S. dollar chips away at the currency's global dominance. While no single deal is likely to threaten the dollar, the growing trend of de-dollarization will gradually reduce demand for dollars and increase long-term pressure on the U.S. economy. That's one reason many investors consider diversifying a portion of their portfolios into assets that have historically held value during periods of currency uncertainty.

India, Russia Begin De-Dollarization To Hit $100 Billion Trade Target -Watcher.Guru

by Vinod Dsouza

Russia and India had made a bilateral trade deal in 2025 to reach a $100 billion target by paying in local currencies by 2030. The efforts to reach the finishing line have picked up steam with both countries redrawing the line in trade policies. Russia is also developing new trade mechanisms to make it easier for India to settle cross-border transactions in local currencies. All of these are part of the efforts to accelerate the de-dollarization initiative and keep local currencies at the forefront.

De-dollarization is now a reality in the developing world, and the usage of the US dollar is briefly on the decline. “Russia is developing a mechanism to expand payments and settlements in local currencies with partner countries such as India. It is extremely important to create an independent system with the use of local currencies. Most of the payments between Russia and India are now made in local currencies,” said Zlata Antusheva, Moscow’s trade representative to India.

Antusheva revealed that Russia’s main goal is de-dollarization, while simultaneously focusing on the growth of local currencies. “Our main goal is to de-dollarize and to focus on the development of our own currencies. Of course, after some time, not only at the bilateral level but also at the regional level.” Emerging economies are increasingly focusing on de-dollarization to strengthen their local currencies in the forex markets. READ MORE

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7.13.26 - China: Amassing Gold & Silver, Dumping Dollars

Gold last traded at $3,999 an ounce. Silver at $57.57 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: As countries rapidly move out of U.S. dollars and into physical gold and silver, the warning signs for the dollar are becoming harder to ignore. The same assets central banks are aggressively accumulating are the ones many investors still don't own enough of. Don't wait until you are priced out, now is the time to diversify with physical precious metals.

China Is Buying Massive Amounts Of Gold & Silver And Dumping Dollars -King World News

Alasdair Macleod: Goodbye to Western paper. Moving in plain sight, China has set up a new market in Hong Kong ready to take over from London and New York when the dollar dies.

First, let’s look briefly at what happened to gold in the 1973—1974 OPEC crisis.

Note that gold drifted lower when the oil price was hiked by 66% by OPEC led by Sheik Yamani. Having traded down to $90 in late-November, it then began to rise before Yamani hiked the price even further in early-January 1974 to $11.65. Gold went on to double by the year-end. If this was repeated today, we would see gold nearly doubling to $7,750 in less than four months before going on to over $8,000 in just twelve.

Food for thought, not a forecast.

China Is Buying Massive Amounts Of Gold & Silver And Dumping Dollars

Now to today…

Having shaken out the speculators, the PBOC and China’s commercial banks have taken the opportunity to acquire significant quantities of bullion. In 2026 up to May, China imported 692 tonnes of non-monetary gold, with May’s figure of 163 tonnes the highest monthly total for over a year. We have yet to see June’s total but there’s every reason to believe that this rate of gold imports has continued. VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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7.10.26 - $24 billion a week in interest?

Gold last traded at $4,108 an ounce. Silver at $59.70 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The U.S. government's accelerating borrowing is another reminder that the nation's long-term fiscal challenges continue to grow, creating uncertainty for investors. When debt levels climb and the outlook becomes less predictable, relying too heavily on any single asset class can leave a portfolio exposed. That's why many investors choose to diversify across a range of assets, including those that have historically helped preserve wealth during periods of economic and market uncertainty.

U.S. Treasury has borrowed $155 billion every month of this fiscal year—and is now paying $24 billion a week in interest on its debts -Fortune

by Eleanor Pringle

Despite concerns from debt hawks, the U.S. government is continuing to borrow at pace: For the fiscal year of 2026 so far, the federal deficit has totaled just under $1.4 trillion.

The first nine months of this fiscal year (beginning in October) have now surpassed the borrowing levels of 2025, when deficits totaled just over $1.3 trillion for the same period.

At the time of writing, the total U.S. national debt sits at $39.4 trillion, accumulated under administrations led by both Republicans and Democrats.

As such, the monthly borrowing for 2026 now sits at roughly $155 billion, or $39 billion per week. And, like any borrower, that debt carries an interest cost. The latest monthly budget review from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms that net interest on public debt for the fiscal year has hit $857 billion: roughly $23.8 billion a week.

This is approximately $100 billion more (13%) than the interest paid out in the first nine months of 2025, the CBO adds, owing to a higher total debt burden than last year and higher long-term interest rates. READ MORE

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7.9.26 - Kiyosaki sends blunt stock market warning

Gold last traded at $4,121 an ounce. Silver at $59.96 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Robert Kiyosaki has been making headlines recently with his bullish outlook on silver and the explosive gains he believes lie ahead. Now he's turning his attention to the stock market, warning that the so-called "Everything Bubble" could be nearing its breaking point. Whether or not his timing is perfect, he's far from the only respected voice raising concerns about today's elevated market valuations and mounting economic risks.

Robert Kiyosaki sends blunt stock market warning -The Street

by Hillary Remy

Robert Kiyosaki has been sounding the same alarm for years. He thinks markets are sitting on borrowed time, that debt has hollowed out the financial system, and that ordinary investors are heading for a reckoning they had fair warning about.

Plenty of people have tuned it out.

His latest two words are getting attention again. This time he is pointing to something bigger than a stock market correction.

The “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author says an “Everything Bubble” is about to pop, and he is calling the outcome the worst crash in history.

The phrase “Everything Bubble” describes what happens when cheap credit pushes nearly every major asset higher at the same time: stocks, housing, bonds, and alternative investments all inflating together.

The problem with a synchronized rise is what it means when it stops. One sector crashing is survivable. All of them crashing together is a different situation entirely. READ MORE

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7.8.26 - Economic Unraveling

Gold last traded at $4,077 an ounce. Silver at $58.29 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The real challenge facing our nation isn't that one event will trigger a crisis; it's that we're witnessing a steady unraveling of our economy. From record debt and growing stress in the banking system to a stock market that appears increasingly detached from economic reality, the warning signs are everywhere. Yet instead of addressing these problems, far too little is being done to change course.

Two U.S. banks have already failed in 2026, and regulators warn of more strain ahead -Newsbreak

By Warren Cohen

Two U.S. banks have shut down so far in 2026, and federal regulators are flagging rising credit stress that could put more institutions at risk. Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust in Chicago was closed by Illinois regulators in March, followed by Community Bank & Trust in LaGrange, Georgia, which was seized by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance on May 1. Both closures triggered FDIC receiverships and deposit transfers to acquiring banks. The failures arrive as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve each warn that commercial real estate refinancing pressure and climbing past-due loan rates are straining parts of the banking system.

Bank failures are not routine. The United States went through long stretches in 2022 and 2023 with only a handful of closures, and each new failure draws scrutiny over whether it reflects an isolated problem or a systemic pattern. The two 2026 closures matter because they coincide with explicit warnings from two of the country’s top banking regulators about the same category of risk: commercial real estate loans coming due in a high-rate environment. READ MORE

US Debt Exceeds 100% of GDP for the first time since World War II -Armstrong Economics

by Martin Armstrong

The United States has crossed a milestone that Washington has spent decades pretending would never arrive. Federal debt held by the public has now exceeded 100% of GDP for the first time since the aftermath of the Second World War. According to the latest government data, debt held by the public reached approximately $31.27 trillion while the nation’s annual economic output totaled roughly $31.22 trillion, pushing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 100.2%. The Congressional Budget Office now projects debt held by the public will average 101% of GDP this year and continue climbing to 120% by 2036 if current law remains unchanged.

The media continues to compare today’s numbers with the end of World War II, but that comparison completely misses the point. After 1945, the United States emerged as the world’s dominant industrial power. Soldiers came home, factories shifted from producing tanks to automobiles, the population expanded rapidly, and economic growth far outpaced government borrowing. Debt declined because the nation was producing wealth. Today we are doing precisely the opposite. Washington continues borrowing during periods of economic expansion, not because the country faces an existential war, but because politicians refuse to tell voters that promises have become mathematically impossible to keep.

The numbers expose just how unsustainable the fiscal position has become. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the federal deficit will total roughly $1.9 trillion this fiscal year, equal to 5.8% of GDP. By 2036, annual deficits are projected to exceed $3.1 trillion, or 6.7% of GDP. Federal spending will consume 23.3% of GDP this year, while revenues amount to only 17.5%. Washington is spending approximately $1.33 for every dollar it collects. That gap is no longer the result of recession or emergency stimulus. It has become the permanent operating model of government. READ MORE

Famed economist Mohamed El-Erian says Wall Street is missing a major shift with implications for markets -Newsbreak

By Samuel O'Brient

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke at the Economic Club of New York on June 23. The event wasn't closely watched, but according to Mohamed El-Erian, more investors should be clued into what Bessent said in his remarks.

The famed economist and former co-CIO of PIMCO wrote in a New York Times op-ed that the global economic order may be shifting and that economists and finance pros are underestimating the market implications of recent policy changes.

"By laying out what until now seemed more like haphazard policy measures, Mr. Bessent put down a marker for how the United States plans to operate in a changing global economic system," he wrote. "In the process, he elevated both the scale and the scope of a systemic change that started in earnest during President Trump's first term, was sustained by President Joe Biden and is accelerating today."

El-Erian said there are a few paradigms under which markets operate. They include, "National economic capacity is critical to economic security," "Trade and investment openness must be strictly reciprocated," and "All of this must be aimed at visibly improving the welfare of American households." READ MORE

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7.7.26 - $26k-$75k Price Targets For Gold?

Gold last traded at $4,106 an ounce. Silver at $59.93 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Now that gold has had time to stabilize at current levels, analysts have also had time to reassess the market and refine their outlook for where prices may be headed next. What many are projecting could be very encouraging for those who have already taken the prudent step of diversifying into precious metals. And if these forecasts prove accurate, they may represent only the opening chapter of a much larger move still to come.

Roadmap Exposes Shocking $26,000-$75,000 Price Targets For Gold -King World News

Otavio Costa: America has given me and my family opportunities we could only have dreamed of, and some of the most meaningful moments of my life have happened here.

I’m deeply grateful for that.

I hope my comments on the economy are never taken as a criticism of this country. Quite the opposite.

I believe it’s important to understand where we are today so we can have thoughtful conversations about the future.

One of the defining macro themes of the next decade, in my view, will be whether America can restore the fiscal and monetary discipline that made it the world’s financial leader. READ MORE

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7.6.26 - Vault Run Continues as Gold Inventory Plunges 30%

Gold last traded at $4,161 an ounce. Silver at $62.01 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gold may be off its all-time high, but demand for physical gold certainly isn't. That growing demand continues to highlight the disconnect between the paper gold market - where futures traders largely determine the spot price - and investors who are increasingly choosing to own physical metal. Even more telling, this surge in physical demand comes as gold inventories at COMEX continue to be rapidly depleted, underscoring the tightening supply of available bullion.

Vault Run Continues As Comex Gold Inventory Plunges 30% -King World News

by Alasdair Macleod

A remarkable vault run is continuing as Comex gold inventory has plunged an astonishing 30%.

Trading conditions on Comex suggest that gold and silver bears are about to be squeezed — potentially viciously. If so, then prices measured in fiat currencies have bottomed.

Let’s start with gold. This week, the price has rallied from a low of $4050 on 30th June to $4170 this morning. As is the case in silver the July contract and option series on Comex expired this week, an event which usually leads to a sell-off. That pressure on prices has ended.

As the chart above illustrates, it leaves open interest in the gold contract the lowest it has been since the run-up to the December 2015 low of $1050. This tells us that speculators who sell dollars to buy paper gold are even more absent as they were then, which was the springboard for a decade long $4500 dollar rise. In other words, they will buy gold futures, adding potentially 300,000—400,000 contracts to take it back into oversold territory. VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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7.2.26 - Central banks remain committed to gold

Gold last traded at $4,123 an ounce. Silver at $60.91 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Those who already own physical gold are seeing their strategy validated as central banks continue accumulating the metal even at record prices. When the world's largest financial institutions keep increasing their gold reserves, it's a powerful reminder of gold's enduring role as a store of wealth. If you haven't added physical gold to your portfolio yet, now is the time to consider following the same path toward greater diversification and long-term financial protection.

Central bank gold statistics: Central banks remain committed to gold -Gold.org

by Marissa Salim

Central banks were back in buying mode in May – and with a little more spring in their step. Based on the latest reported data, official gold reserves increased by a net 41t during the month, with purchases once again concentrated among a familiar cast of buyers (Chart 1).

Much of the activity was driven by Poland (18t) and China (10t), with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan also continuing their monthly net gold buying activity. Singapore also rejoined the list of buyers, reporting a net purchase of 4t, its first monthly net purchase since September 2025. Meanwhile, net sellers for the month were Turkey (3t) and Russia (6t) with y-t-d sales of 81t and 34t respectively.

Year-to-date, Poland has accumulated 64t of gold, followed by Uzbekistan and China at 33t and 25t respectively. Kazakhstan, a close fourth, has accumulated 20t y-t-d.

Despite the recent developments, central bankers remained positive on the role of gold in their reserves. As published in our ninth Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2026, 89% of central bankers expect global gold reserves to increase in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, a record high 45% of central bankers expect their own institution’s gold reserves to increase over the next 12 months (Chart 2). VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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