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Ripple Effect

The Middle East’s 11-Year Cycle

Addison WigginAddison Wiggin

March 2, 2026 • 1 minute, 32 second read


Middle EastSunspots

The Middle East’s 11-Year Cycle

Markets go through many Grey Swan cycles – moves that are rare, but forecastable.

Events unfolding in the Middle East fit a pattern… an 11-year cycle tied to sunspot activity:

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Spikes in the sun’s solar activity tend to occur with rising tensions in the Middle East. (Source: Brian Roemmelle via X)

Solar activity was charted by Soviet scientist Alexander Chizhevsky, who researched sunspots dating back to 500 A.D.

Chizhevsky’s research showed that sunspot activity was the leading cause of the 1917 Revolution, not the work of Lenin, Trotsky, and crew.

The ungrateful Soviets threw him in the gulag for his efforts.

Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, then Libya and Syria, fit Chizhevsky’s solar flare-up pulse. This time around, Iran gets the sub’s glare.

The assets we’ve been recommending are well-positioned for a sustained conflict: Gold is back over $5,400; oil, reacting to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, added to this month’s anticipatory gains, is up another 8% this morning to $73.

~ Addison

P.S. Thank you if you joined us on Friday for a special Grey Swan Live! from inside the Rarcoa Vault in Chicago. The reserved Silver Eagle set we had reserved was quite popular.

Owner Wayde Mills gave us a display and tour of coins never on view for the public. And showed us behind the scenes how rare coins as an asset class offers a unique way to protect your wealth  – and they carry the added value of rarity, mint, condition and historical significance.

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Wayde Milas gave us nearly two hours of time to explore some of the great coins of history, some new products that Rarcoa is developing, and a special opportunity for Grey Swan members: a 2025 Eagle Privy Silver Eagle graded NGC MS70 — from the first group of 50,000 pristine minted coins — which he offered to Grey Swan members at a wholesale discount.


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