Decades of stuff happening.
A couple of weeks is what you're seeing because ultimately the ruble
at by extension is now being back with natural resources.
China is seeing this as well and it is definitely a threat that dollar
hegemony, which we knew was a tenuous position at best.
Well, let's start with the big picture and and something that we've
discussed since we've known each other.
I know, and countless occasions.
And that's the idea that the u.s.
Dollar is the world's Reserve currency and has been since right before
the end of World War Two.
And because the US had the gold 22 thousand metric tons.
We had two functioning economy and those two things and nobody else in
the world had.
And so you needed a currency that people could confidently trade in as
the world built back from World War Two and that was the US dollar.
That game gives still to this day.
The US was, you know, secretary Connolly, you know, the guy that was
in the front seat with President, Kennedy in Dallas and 63 his term.
We call it the exorbitant privilege meant.
We could print as many dollars as we as we wanted.
And a lot of times, you know, to fund our military, to fund our social
programs and everything, you know, we now run up 30 trillion dollars
in debt, but those dollars haven't stayed here in the US to create
massive price inflation on a kind of see in some of that.
Now, mainly we've shipped those
Is dollars overseas because the world rebuilt, right?
And you know, we've shipped our manufacturing overseas to create, you
know, demand for dollars as well.
We buy stuff from China and send them dollars return or India or
Brazil or whatever.
Well, it would out we've it is always been known and we again, like I
said, we've discussed this for a decade that there are advantages to
having that level of demand for your currency and so it would be
logical that maybe China or other countries.
Maybe I don't know if they can be the sole Reserve currency, but they
can also, they can certainly take steps to shore up confidence in
their own currency to create that layer of demand that the u.s. dollars.
Enjoy for the last eight decades.
Okay.
So now with that said, let's think about Russia and China and the
dynastic view that they have of things.
You know, we've known Russia has been concerned about Ukraine, since
2014.
I mean it.
And even the run-up to all of this, you know, the u.s. admits.
Now they have the Russia was moving forces, artillery tanks,
everything toward cord Ukraine beginning in October.
So it's not like, you know, they just Putin, just woke up a month ago
and said, hey, let's go bomb Ukraine and see what happens.
They've had a plan here.
And as part of that, they obviously thought through all of the
potential ramifications of what
they're doing militarily and they would not have just
It lobbing bombs and rolling people into Ukraine.
And just figured well.
We'll see what happens next.
They anticipated what the West response would be.
I mean, that's why they haven't.
They know the West will attack if they attack Poland, for example, or
any of the NATO countries, so they haven't.
Okay, so they know that.
They also had to know that the u.s.
The EU would take all these Financial moves against them because
really, what else can the US?
And the EU do?
Like cutting them off of Swift.
Placing all these other sanctions.
Using their foreign currency reserves, all the things that the US has
done.
So they had to know that was at least a possibility of not a
likelihood to this military stuff.
And so Russia then has acted again in their own self-interest with the
next move on the chessboard when they announced a couple of weeks ago,
I guess was about a week ago that beginning of the first quarter
April. The first they would only accept rubles for their natural resources
that they that they trade in private.
Barely in Europe, their natural gas, their crude oil, all their other
stuff. Now, they also said, hey, we'll take gold.
We might even take Bitcoin but to begin with they said we'll only take rubles.
Well, what did that do?
I mean, the ruble just absolutely crashed against the dollar back on
the weekend of March, the 5th and 6th when the u.s.
Announced these, you know, that they were expelling Russia from swept,
cutting them off and seizing, the three hundred billion dollars in
foreign held foreign currency reserves, Ruble crash.
Well guess,
What the rubles?
Almost all the way back to where it was in late February.
Now, because the market is adjusting these European countries are
adjusting their having discussions today, as we speak between the
German Finance Minister and Russia about.
Okay.
How can we do this?
How can we get our hands on some rubles so that we can buy continue
buying a natural gas because we've only got 25 percent of the normal
reserves that we would have.
I mean, it's I don't want to call it brilliant because it makes it
sound like I'm on Russia's side.
But it's a logical move on their part, any objective Observer could
see why they're doing it.
And what they've done now is the u.s.
Tries to decimate their currency on their economy.
Through these sanctions on Russia, just came back and said and not so
fast.
We're going to make you buy our currency.
If you want any of our natural resources that bids the value of the
ruble back up.
It is a very fascinating chess game to watch.
Play out really on a day-to-day basis.
But like I said, when I began this,
Long monologue, the big picture part of it.
That Decades of stuff happening.
A couple of weeks is what you're seeing because ultimately the ruble
at by extension is now being back with natural resources.
China is seeing this as well.
And it is definitely a threat that dollar hegemony, which we knew was
a tenuous position at best.
And so it's like I said, very interesting to observe all this and very
important for people that are invested in the precious metals to be
taking note.
And watching this play out.
Well, you touched me.
I mean, that's one of the questions I get a lot and I'm sure you have
as well.
You know, why are Eagles at $40 each?
Well, that's why, I mean, the there just aren't any and that's what
the market is paying for those right now.
And it may continue that way and it is certainly telling that the mint
can't lay their hands on enough blank.
So where do they get them?
They're blanks.
They get all the Andy would know this.
You know, the guys that run the Dealer's know is that Sunshine meant.
I mean it's um,
Buddy makes those things for the u.s.
Mint and they obviously can't get their hands on.
Look, the there are two things in play here.
One is the this price that is set through the trading of derivatives,
which has real no real connection to the actual physical metal itself.
Oh, they they try to, you know, they want to make sure the price is
somewhat close to it.
But we've seen massive disconnects from time to time you go back to
March of 2020 where the comex
Rice went to 12, but you couldn't buy physical metal, anything less
than 24.
So that, you know, it's not outrageous.
That thing disconnects.
They've got to keep it somewhat close to make it seem legitimate.
That's that's one thing that is, you know, is always in play there.
But Dana, the, the physical Market itself, kind of hangs in this
uneasy balance off of that price.
Now, there are those that
I doubt I questioned conflicts of interest, they may have, but there
are those out there and say, oh no, there's billions of ounces of
silver in the world, you know, and they count, you know, Grandma's
candlesticks, as part of that above-ground silver Supply and I don't
doubt that at some point.
Grandma is candlesticks are, are for sale, but they're not for sale at
25, right?
And so the whole Market kind of hangs in the balance kind of
hand-to-mouth in the
The globe.
If even if you count Russia and China, produces about 880, maybe 900
in a good year.
Million ounces of silver a year and you get some recycled amounts that
come in just to keep it simple.
Let's call it 100 million ounces.
Well the world consumes industrially just at present about 600 million
ounces a year which leaves the left over the
400 million for investment demand.
Okay.
So what happens, when investment demand soars and all of a sudden big
companies, big industrial users of silver decide way to say.
We better get our hands on some there appear to be shortages.
And so they and they up their demand investment, demand goes up and
then you got potential Supply disruptions.
I mean Russia produces.
I don't know 80 million ounces a year, some 40 million ounces a year.
I think maybe is what it is.
All of a sudden got some supplied and all of a sudden that whole
equation.
Gets thrown out of whack.
You got way more demand than you have actual Supply.
And that is, what is one of the more, let's say a compelling Dynamics
in the silver market and your begin.
Again.
That's what you're seeing this.
The first hints of in this stuff, with the u.s.
Men. It's going to be a fascinating remained of the year.
Because again, I don't see a lot of relief coming to the markets in
regards of, you know, how it relates to Silver.
Again. You've seen that play out.
You mentioned nickel.
Zinc is gone.
Crazy copper is butting up against its all-time highs, aluminum is
going like mad.
All these other base metals are experienced much of the same issues.
Silver just hasn't broken out in price, the way those others have yet.
Boy. The first thing I would change politically I would I would liquidate
the Congress.
I would demand new elections for every single seat immediately.
How's that?
That's the first thing I would change.
I would dissolve Congress and schedule where nobody, that had a seat
could run again.
Okay, so we have to completely put in new people.
That's the first thing I would do.
If I was the father of the new country.
I would also demand some type of re hinging of the currency to keep us
from getting in this position again, whether it's backed by gold as it
used to be through 1971 and that demanded, then some some fiscal.
Austerity, that would be the next thing and then I, you know, I'd have
to, I'd have to address a few other things that are of interest to me
from there.
But I think the first thing I would do is I would, I would dissolve
Congress in immediately called new national elections, where the
incumbents that were in Congress were not allowed to run again.