The Great Taking

Addison Wiggin / May 15, 2025

A $36 trillion dollar bombshell has just been dropped. You need to prepare now to protect your wealth and save your future.

The Great Taking
A $26 trillion bombshell has just dropped...
Since 1980, the U.S. government has been tinkering with its inflation calculations. Did chicken prices soar? Assume customers switched to steak. Are fuel prices high? Make an adjustment for more comfortable cars than your old Buick Skylark. And on and on and on. They use a technical term known as “hedonic price indexing” to adjust prices you pay.

Under the U.S. Constitution — still technically in effect — Congress declares war. The War Powers Act reinforced that. But this is 2025, and apparently, Article I is just a speed bump on the road to re-election.

The American empire is one of these strange cases of cognitive dissonance: Functionally, the United States has many of the characteristics of an empire, but Americans themselves don’t really want to be in the empire business, and this causes American power to oscillate. There are periods of strength, then there are periods of retreat. And after Trump overreaches, which he doubtless will, there’ll be another bout of retreat. We’ve seen this movie several times.

BREAKING NEWS

Sweden: The Home To Many Winners‬
Sweden: The Home To Many Winners‬

Chris / June 17, 2025

One study by Jenga (2023) found Sweden produced 20 companies that returned over 1,000% in the last decade. That was about 4.5% of the total population of such outperformers, even though Sweden represents only 1.5% of the global capitalization.

Sweden beat out much larger markets such as the UK, South Korea, Taiwan and Canada – all of which had markets at least 2x that of Sweden’s. In terms of number of outperformers, Sweden was 5th, beaten only by giants: US, India, China and Japan.

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar
The Incredible Shrinking Dollar

Addison Wiggin / June 17, 2025

The latest slump over the past year is on track to be as steep as the decline during Covid, when lockdowns largely cut off global trade.

Add in the uncertainty of the Trump regime – which still has more than three years to go – and it’s likely that the dollar will continue to lose ground to a variety of other currencies.

Political Theatrics And Resource Scarcity
Political Theatrics And Resource Scarcity

Addison Wiggin / June 17, 2025

Republicans are more bullish on stocks than at any time in history — 47% more optimistic than Democrats. Liberals are piling into treasuries and gold. Conservatives are buying the stock market’s every dip, no matter how brief. And Congressional members, no matter their affiliation, are buying into defense contractors.

Liberation Day’s post-tariff S&P plunge was followed by a surprisingly strong rebound as the White House quietly paused, then reversed course on several economic grenades. Those who sold in panic missed a 9% run-up.

The Silver Bull Is Finally Here

Addison Wiggin / June 16, 2025

The silver breakout we’re seeing now was telegraphed months ago. Technical traders could have anticipated patterns signaling a major move, and the fundamentals back it up. Add in the geopolitical chaos—trade wars, sanctions, and debt crises—and it’s no surprise that safe-haven demand for precious metals is spiking. Silver’s volatility makes it a wild ride, but that’s exactly why the upside is so explosive.

The U.S. economy is a house of cards built on debt and delusion. The national debt is now $36 trillion, with interest payments alone eating up $1 trillion annually. The Fed can’t raise rates without crashing the system, and they can’t cut rates without igniting more inflation. It’s a trap, and silver is the escape hatch. Gold is an enduring store of value, but silver’s industrial demand gives it an extra kicker. As green energy and tech sectors grow, silver’s necessity only increases.


A One In Three Chance of Triple-Digit Oil

Addison Wiggin / June 16, 2025

Over the past few years, oil prices have spiked on every geopolitical tiff between Israel and Iran.

When the two countries lobbed missiles at each other in early 2024, oil prices spiked, and markets dropped.

But in all of those cases, tensions cooled, and oil prices came back down and markets kept on truckin’.


Euphoria on the Edge

Addison Wiggin / June 16, 2025

The Fed meets this week. Powell will speak on Wednesday. We anticipate he’ll hold rates as they are, and Trump will once again mock him on Truth Social. The insinuation that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent should replace Powell… or at least succeed him early next year… will get bandied about on X.

Four Oligopoly Opportunities from America’s Cheap, Unloved Energy Source
Four Oligopoly Opportunities from America’s Cheap, Unloved Energy Source

Andrew Packer / June 13, 2025

Colorado has pumped oil out of the ground since 1901. And it’s the fifth-largest state in terms of oil production. This long period of production means that the area has been thoroughly surveyed, and that resources are well known.

Politically, however, the state of Colorado is run out of Denver and Boulder. The left-leaning political orientation of those cities tip the state governance towards environmentally sensitive rules and regulations for mining and drilling natural resources.

For instance, what happens if you hit a natural gas pocket as you’re drilling? Don’t think about burning it off – a process known as flaring. While flaring may light up the night sky in otherwise desolate parts of West Texas, there are only a few limited times flaring is allowed in Colorado.

That may sound like a good reason to invest your money in a good, old-fashioned Texas company instead.

Yet that’s one reason why the energy companies that operate out of the DJ Basin are bullish. These regulations create some of the cleanest fossil fuels you’ll find today. But the higher regulations, and uncertainty of future regulations, keep competitors out.

In fact, that leaves the DJ basin with four companies operating today.

Where Markets Go From Here After Israel Strikes Iran
Where Markets Go From Here After Israel Strikes Iran

Addison Wiggin / June 13, 2025

As the saying goes: “history doesn’t repeat itself – but it does rhyme.”

While the situation in the Middle East is fresh in the news, investors are feeling a dose of deja vu fear following Israel’s strike on Iran last night.

The U.S. officially stepped aside. And markets haven’t reacted too strongly. But it’s worth asking the question. What can we expect going forward? Prior similar events provide a clue.

🎭 The Costume Ball Rally
🎭 The Costume Ball Rally

Addison Wiggin / June 13, 2025

The S&P 500 is up more than 20% from its post-Liberation Day lows in April. Oracle delivered a blowout quarter thanks to a feeding frenzy for its AI cloud services, helping investors push the S&P higher yesterday. 

Still something’s not right…

There is, of course, the LA riots, now spreading over 1,000 communities nationwide. And after the market close, Israel’s surprise attack of missiles and drones at nuclear facilities, top political leaders and scientists in Iran.

But that’s not it.

Institutional investors were already making for the exits, quietly. The pros sold $4.2 billion of stock into the rally just last week. The retail crowd, eyes wide and arms full of index funds, continues buying at a record pace.

Inching Towards a Zero-Day War
Inching Towards a Zero-Day War

John Robb / June 12, 2025

The disruption generated by Zero-day wars isn’t sufficient in and of itself to achieve a complete victory over an adversary. They are used to:

Incapacitate an enemy to make it vulnerable to a conventional invasion that will achieve a complete victory.

Decisively delay an enemy’s ability to mobilize in response to maneuvers, actions, or invasions taken against other foes (by the time they do, it’s over).

Force an enemy to overreact (see last month’s report: The Tactics of Mistake) in ways that will critically damage them.

From the creators of The Daily Reckoning, I.O.U.S.A, Empire of Debt and The Daily Missive

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