Phat Unplugged

Duly noted, though in the case of some of my pet arguments evidence is not an easy thing to find. In the matter of my Christian apologetic, this is to be expected. jar and I have gone endlessly round and round on Christian apologetic for decades. jar was rarely humorous and was always attempting to frame the argument rather than serve and volley it.
Concerning you, you always assume that my responses are determined by my blood sugar or by damage from diabetes, which may be somewhat accurate yet is in my opinion a bit condescending. Its like constantly telling someone who stutters that they stutter. To be more specific, you are forever pointing out that *you have told me* time and time again about the fallacy of my arguments concerning financial apologetics and about how you have corrected my misinformation which (you claim) I get through parroting youtubers who peddle such information.
While you are correct as to my sources, your error is assuming they are but cons. I have found that business people make it their job to predict and plan for future possible events that will affect their bottom line. The public-at-large relies on traditional media and global politics to calm them rather than to necessarily inform them. As you know, I do not trust the wisdom of politicians nor their staffs at doing anything right whereas I am more likely to trust businessmen due to the information that they get from their respective sources.I do ask myself some questions, however. (which is why I resent being told how to think) I can do it on my own. At times, I see the vast narrative which I digest as being one giant infomercial. Business people try to persuade their audience to believe and act a certain way. To invest in certain things and not in others. For most of you, your bullshit detectors automatically resist such persuasions and you entrust your finances to paid experts. God knows I am no financial expert as my chronic gambling has shown. Where you and I differ is that you warn me that I am easily persuaded and that my blood sugar swings can and do often alter my perspective and my critical thinking. I try and persuade you that I have good intuition whereas you challenge that and tell me to get help.Ringo was my favorite, however. I miss that guy! I actually looked forward to his inevitable response to each of my assertions, because he not only had a good comeback but he was humorous to boot! Perhaps he died suddenly and we will never know for sure. I cannot believe that he simply chose to walk away from us.
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Again, duly noted. Its not so much that I disagree with you as it is that you have no respect for my intuition since it isn't clearly backed by evidence. I will try harder to find some.

She is not an expert.Im curious about what Elizabeth Warren says about gold and silver. I searched and found nothing. While it could be argued that Republicans are more likely to be buyers of gold and/or silver, the jury is still out on what qualifies Democrats as financial experts. Granted, Elizabeth Warren is admirable and I like her platform and ideology, though I cannot for the life of me understand why you and other Democrats don't see the value of hard assets over fiat dollar-based assets. It seems that you have been taught that Gold (and other precious metals) is simply a rock in the ground given value by people and, arguably, the same point is made for the US Dollar.My point is that fiat assets (Currencies, stocks, bonds, derivatives ETFs) are backed by nothing except the people's faith while Gold, though also supported by the faith of the people has a 5000-year track record.Fiat currencies have a 55-year run. People are not stupid enough to trust fiat assets in the long term. (I know I know...Taq and others will point out the track record of US Treasuries.) Yes, they are safe for now, but for how long? I am no expert but neither are you so we rely on other things. You rely on educated people and I rely on intuition. Perhaps we are both wrong. Maybe what makes your position respectable is that it has a track record of safety and growth since Bretton Woods. You also may argue that Republicans (or conservatives in general) run on a track record of fear and security while you guys run on faith in Democracy as the ONLY wise alternative. That may have been true in 1945 and even as recently as the first Gulf War but it has declined a lot since then. Our enemies *competitors* have grown more powerful and are no longer afraid of the United States. Though they cannot beat us militarily they are on a path to destabilize us economically. Israel is no help either.

Curious about some of the stuff you read, I subscribed to that free newsletter where you got your information about Laura Ingraham.So I read Exploiting Fear Is What Trump, Vance And Their Fascist Mob Do which was an editorial. I will admit that exploiting fear (and greed) instead of hope is one of the issues that will define this upcoming election. Though not as liberal as the newsletter seems to be, I am not going to support fear if it causes division and hopelessness among the people. Not everyone on the street can afford gold or even silver, and most of them own no stocks either. You and the EvC bunch along with my sister have convinced me to support hope and unity rather than fear and division, though I am not naive about possible threats to the U.S. way of life. Money does not simply grow on trees.

I am in one of those "moods" before I go back to sleep. While I was reading Percys IQ link, I also checked out his website from The Dail Mail.I notice that even the "scientists" sell fear occasionally (or perhaps I was subconsciously looking for it )
Earth will be blasted by a geo storm that could cause blackouts- here's what to brace forThe article notes that the storm will reach Earth by October 5th. It is the second most powerful solar flare in 5 years. As Tangle would joke, "Doom, doom! We are all doomed!"

Gold HAS to work. It HAS to serve as a store of value or the value will be lost in the masses and redistributed. The gold itself is not the currency. The gold serves only to back the currency (stock, T-bill, whatever) so that he who has the gold can make the rules. Otherwise we have unfettered globalism. [/rant]

Dont you see how you are wording that? $3.00 *worth*??!! Worth is value. The dollars worth is what is being called into question. Explain to me why a dollar in 1945 is equivalent to as much as $100.00 today? The *worth* of a dollar isnt even stable relative to itself.Granted the critics will say that the dollar is stable and superior relative to other currencies...but that isnt the issue. The issue is precisely what accounts for value, worth and stability? You guys are arguing that the value of anything is ultimately determined by fiat. I call bullshit. Hard assets determine the value of fiat. Fiat never actually determines the value of hard assets.

I dunno where chatGPT gets its data but you are way off.
As of this morning, Gold is at 2,675.30. That's $1000.00 more than you say. And the forecast is for that to continue going up.This from Yahoo Finance.
Middle East Crisis: Is the US Dollar Ultimate Beneficiary or Gold?
The article suggests that Gold is the real winner.

quote:

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The gold spot price has gained around 49% in the last 52 weeks. However, the Dollar Index has seen a loss of around 6% in the same period.(...)After COVID-led strong inflation, central banks adapted to tightening policy, which attracted investors to yields and bonds. However, the Russia-Ukraine war and then the Middle East crisis hit the market. Investors fled safe-haven assets, and gold remained the top asset during risk-averse times.

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Now, the Fed has aggressively cut rates and hinted at another 50 bps cut in the coming two meetings. The ECB, BoE, and SNB have already started reducing borrowing costs. Moreover, central banks have been buying gold. Hence, gold’s demand has risen sharply.

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The coming week is important for gold as Israel has aggressively responded to Lebanon and Iran along with Hamas. Escalation may result in further risk-off sentiment.
Bottom line

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Gold has been the top priority for investors in a risk-averse environment. Moreover, the US dollar has struggled to find ground since August 2024 due to the Fed’s easing policy until mid-2025. Hence, the gold’s uptrend remains intact given the escalated Israel’s conflict in the Middle East.

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You already know that Gold is a safe haven asset, and the market volatility should continue upward with a few profit-taking corrections along the way. One question that I ask is why Central Banks have been so bullish on Gold even as the US Debt spirals upward even faster than gold's rise. Of course you will see less sensationalistic data than I present, largely to calm the public rather than spook them.Note: The Fib is a Fibonacci technical analysis term. The method is beyond my understanding, but it is the support argument used by this Yahoo columnist. Saqib Iqbal Ahmed is a technical analyst...one of many worldwide.I could say that your argument presents another point of view. Nobody knows how global markets will ultimately behave, but people like you want investors who support the dollar. (Never mind how strong it appears! ) Taq has presented a case for the dollar's continued hegemony while other technical analysts have other views. One of my favorite technical analysts is a man named Chris Vermeulen. FYI I am not wealthy. I understand that any of these technical analysts are earning a living like the rest of us. I am a contrarian to the US Dollar "Club", and I believe that the US is heading towards a major correction financially and in general.

Critics would say I am a Doom and Gloomer, but I actually would like my lifestyle (and yours) to continue for twenty more years. I believe that it won't.A few years ago I read a book by Hedge Fund billionaire Ray Dalio which we discussed in the Book Nook. Message 1 The topic sputtered after Theo did one of his infamous reserach rebuttals into Dalio. Message 300 I have since read many biits of news which seem to validate Dalios book rather than disprove it.
Granted Dalio worships money. My basic argument is that we wont grow our way out of debt nor will we reduce it. Once the world loses trust in the US (and its dollar) the dominoes will fall quite rapidly. We may have ten years at best. I can only tell you one thing with any confidance. The gold will never become worthless. The dollar might.

Ask the Central Banks why they even bother holding it.
Barbarous Relic indeed! humans will once the Threat of a currency reset occurs. Gold does not ever replace fiat. Gold transcends it. Try that with a digital blockchain!!