Conservative influencer and media personality Charlie Kirk has been pronounced dead following a targeted shooting today at Utah Valley University, he was 31.

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🔴When the voice of reason is silenced, the clamor of violence begins

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⚠️ Bitcoin is ~6.8% below its ATH, heading into the most anticipated FOMC meeting of the cycle. Options traders are rapidly buying options to hedge or position for a volatility spike, reflecting the market’s uncertainty and expectation of a major move.

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💦 Since the 2008 financial crisis, central banks’ gold reserves worldwide have been rising, reaching 1.2 billion ounces — the highest level since the 1970s, when the Bretton Woods system collapsed.

The Bretton Woods system was an international monetary and financial order established near the end of World War II, at a 1944 conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. The United States, which controlled about two-thirds of the world’s gold, insisted that the system be based both on gold and the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar was chosen as the global reserve currency, and its value was pegged to gold at $35 per ounce.

The selection of the dollar in 1944 was part of America’s design to establish financial hegemony after the war. It is likely that U.S. policymakers knew from the start they could not maintain gold backing forever due to the budget deficits they themselves were running. Bretton Woods effectively served as a launchpad for U.S. dominance.

In the postwar era, Europe and Japan were devastated and desperately needed dollars to rebuild — to buy raw materials, equipment, and goods from the U.S. America ran huge trade surpluses, which created a global dollar shortage. With the Marshall Plan and U.S. direct investments, dollars flowed into Europe and Japan.

Gradually, European and Japanese industries recovered, exports rose, and America’s trade surpluses began to shrink. Countries like France and Japan started converting their trade surpluses into gold. The U.S. once held about 20,000 tons of gold, but over 25 years it lost more than 11,000 tons.

By the 1960s, the U.S. faced heavy budget deficits (due to the Vietnam War and excessive domestic spending) and printed more dollars. In reality, the dollar’s market value was weaker than the official peg of $35 per ounce. For example, given inflation and rising liquidity, the true market value might have implied $40–$45 per ounce. But countries could still buy gold at the fixed $35 price, so they demanded gold in exchange for their dollars — a profitable trade.

On August 15, 1971, the U.S. unilaterally suspended dollar convertibility into gold, effectively ending Bretton Woods and turning the dollar into a fiat currency. This is known as the Nixon Shock. Nixon presented it as a “temporary measure,” but it became permanent. At the same time, other fixed currencies like the British pound were allowed to float.

Once Nixon severed the dollar’s tie to gold in 1971, a key question emerged: Why should the world continue accepting the dollar? With no backing, why hold dollars? The answer came in the early 1970s when the U.S. struck a deal with Saudi Arabia, then the world’s largest oil exporter. Under the agreement, Saudi Arabia would sell oil exclusively in dollars and reinvest its dollar revenues (the petrodollars) into U.S. banks and Treasury bonds. In return, the U.S. guaranteed Saudi security. This model was later extended to the entire OPEC bloc.

However, petrodollars were not the only reason for dollar dominance. America’s vast consumer market ensured that when countries exported goods to the U.S., they naturally received dollars. Beyond that, the U.S. provided financial and legal security unmatched by other nations, making U.S. Treasuries and dollar holdings safer than most alternative reserves.

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🇨🇴Venezuela is not a symbol of a country at a dead end; it is a symbol of a dead-end ideology.

Mohammed bin Salman, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have collectively invested $3.2 trillion in the U.S. economy. This means that, in terms of financial and accounting management, they possess such a surplus of liquid resources that they use it for foreign direct investment and generating non-operating profit, becoming partners and shareholders in several successful American businesses.

However, it is interesting to note that Venezuela's oil reserves alone are greater than the combined reserves of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, and its population is smaller than the combined population of these three countries.

Legally, it also appears to be more progressive and has a modern republican system. Despite having more oil than Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE combined and a smaller population, Venezuela not only has no surplus funds for foreign investment in the United States but also faces crises in most economic sectors. Due to a lack of resources, it is in desperate need of aid and foreign investment.

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🔹 Experience has shown that in the long run, no investment has been as profitable and successful as DCA (dollar-cost averaging) into hard money assets and improving one’s personal skills—especially in one’s profession. Given governments’ ongoing push to print more money, this trend will continue. The betrayal of “finfluencers” in the online world lies precisely in their attempt to distract you from this undeniable truth.

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#Silver – October 11, 2025

🔹Since the previous analysis, silver has risen by about 70% in USD terms, and its chart now looks very similar to gold’s setup before breaking above the $2,000 level. This long-term scenario remains the expected outlook.

🔹It’s worth adding that silver has historically been considered “hard money” as well, though with several key differences from gold.
Hard money refers to an asset that has a limited supply, is difficult to produce, physically durable, easily divisible, and has been universally accepted for centuries.

🔹Throughout history—especially before the 20th century—the world effectively operated under a bimetallic system:
gold was used for international trade and wealth storage, while silver served as the medium for everyday transactions and smaller exchanges.
Historically, the gold-to-silver ratio averaged around 1:15 (meaning one ounce of gold ≈ fifteen ounces of silver).
Today, that ratio is about 1:85, meaning silver is significantly undervalued relative to gold.
Annual new supply growth is roughly 2.5–3% for silver and ~1.5% for gold, while industrial demand makes up about 10% for gold but over 50% for silver.

🔹In simple terms, silver is also hard money, but it’s more of an “industrial hard money” since it plays a dual role — both as money and as a commodity.
If you’re looking for a classic hard money asset to preserve long-term value, gold is the main choice.
But if you’re seeking an inflation-leveraged version of gold, silver can be a more attractive option — because when fiat currencies weaken, silver usually moves faster.
For instance, during the 2008–2011 crisis, gold rose from $800 to $1,900 (2.4×), while silver surged from $10 to $49 (4.9×).

🔹In short, silver tends to show higher volatility and larger gains in inflationary cycles, but also steeper declines during recessions.
Philosophically, it stands beside gold as sound money — but in terms of price behavior, it acts much more like a commodity.

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⚠️The Relationship Between Economic Freedom and the Income of the Bottom Decile

The chart illustrates the relationship between economic freedom and the income of the poorest 10% of the population. The more economically free a country is, the higher the income of its bottom 10% tends to be.

The gray line on the chart shows that as economic freedom increases, the income growth of the poorest decile rises exponentially.
In other words, economic freedom benefits not only the wealthy but especially the poorest members of society.

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