Operation Save America

My parents tell me they’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon: full church parking lots on Sundays.

In fact, 2025 ChurchTrac data reveals that weekly church attendance in the U.S. has seen a slight uptick — particularly since the pandemic — with the sharpest increase among Millennials.

Whether you consider yourself an atheist or a devout religious observer, here’s why even a slight uptick could be a very positive sign…

A groundbreaking 2015 study by economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton first shed light on a troubling trend in America: rising death rates among middle-aged whites.

They attributed this increase to fatalities caused by drug overdoses, alcohol-related illnesses and suicides — what they called “deaths of despair.”

A 2023 study adds a new dimension to the discussion, suggesting that weakening social ties play a role in these mortality trends.

Researchers found an intriguing correlation between religious service attendance and deaths of despair:

• U.S. states with higher religious participation had fewer such deaths. But as attendance declined, mortality rates climbed.

To establish a causal link, the authors examined the repeal of blue laws, which banned Sunday commerce to encourage churchgoing.

Following these repeals, religious attendance typically plummeted — and deaths of despair rose sharply in subsequent years, with the most significant increase in suicides.

Perhaps most revealing? Private prayer showed no correlation with fewer deaths of despair.

This strongly suggests the protective effect stems not from private religious belief itself, but from the social connections fostered by organized religion.

While other secular groups can also build social capital, faith-based networks appear to offer markedly strong protection against deaths of despair.

Whether or not my parents’ observation about church parking lots holds true, there is something undeniably valuable in a sense of community and connection.

It might just be worth stepping through the doors of your local house of worship to experience that for yourself.

Stock exchanges, by the way, are closed in observance of Good Friday — no market notes today. I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

FBI Director Kash Patel is taking a hardline stance against Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, making it a top priority to root out Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence near sensitive military and infrastructure sites.

Patel’s approach reflects a growing sense of urgency among lawmakers and the Trump administration who argue that CCP-linked land ownership poses a direct threat to America’s national security.

Concerns about Chinese land acquisitions — especially farmland near military bases — have grown in recent years.

The issue gained national attention, for instance, after a Chinese company purchased land near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota in 2022.

While China owns about 1% of foreign-held U.S. land (about 384,000 acres as of 2021), the strategic implications of these purchases have spurred action at both federal and state levels.

Your Rundown for Wednesday, April 16, 2025...

Team Trump’s Strategy to Protect U.S. Soil

Congress has responded with a series of bills aimed at curbing foreign, especially Chinese, ownership of U.S. farmland.

The Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act, the Not One More Inch or Acre Act and the Protect Our Bases Act all seek to restrict or review land purchases by entities linked to China, particularly near military installations or other sensitive sites.

At the state level, Florida’s SB 264 law, which went into effect in 2023, prohibits individuals and entities from “foreign countries of concern” — including China — from acquiring agricultural land in Florida.

Despite ongoing legal challenges, the law is being enforced and is seen as a model for other states considering similar restrictions.

But Patel’s push goes beyond supporting legislation. He is actively involving the FBI in the effort to counter CCP land acquisitions. Under his leadership, the FBI is:

• Aggressively monitoring and investigating Chinese land purchases, especially those near military and critical infrastructure sites.

• Coordinating with other federal agencies to identify and disrupt CCP-linked transactions, and providing intelligence to state and local authorities.

• Advocating for stronger laws to give the FBI more authority to pursue criminal allegations related to foreign land ownership. Patel has called on Congress to provide the legal tools necessary for the bureau to act decisively against CCP actors.

Patel has further warned that adversaries like China are adapting their tactics, shifting focus to less-guarded areas like the northern border and exploiting legal loopholes in land ownership laws.

In testimony before Congress, Patel made it clear the FBI is ready to act if given the proper legal authority. “If we had federal statutes to enact criminal allegations and pursue those relating to these matters, we would do so,” he says.

Patel’s leadership at the FBI marks a pivotal moment in the fight against Chinese influence on American soil by targeting CCP-linked farmland acquisitions and advocating for stricter oversight.

The combination of federal bills, state laws and Patel’s FBI activism demonstrates a coordinated effort to address this growing threat.

Market Rundown for Wednesday, April 16, 2025

S&P 500 futures are down 0.75% to 5,390.

Oil is up 0.80% to $61.84 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 2.55% to $3,323 per ounce.

And Bitcoin is taking a breather at $84,000.

Paradigm’s macro authority Jim Rickards is a long-time advocate for gold as a cornerstone of financial stability.

Jim has consistently emphasized the importance of gold in a world where fiat currencies face increasing pressure.

And his gold forecast is nothing short of eye-opening.

But before we get there, Jim’s prediction is not mere speculation but the result of detailed modeling and historical precedents.

First, Jim explains that during financial crises, gold prices often follow a predictable pattern…

• Initially, the price of gold drops alongside stocks as investors liquidate assets to cover margin calls or meet liquidity needs.

“You sell what you can,” Jim notes, highlighting the panic-driven behavior that dominates markets during such times.

However, this initial sell-off is typically followed by a sharp rebound as “strong hands” step in to buy gold at discounted prices.

It’s important to point out that even if stocks moderate this week, providing relief (even temporarily) from recent stock-market downturns, Jim’s fundamental thesis supporting gold’s rise remains instructive and unchanged.

And as you’ll see below, Jim has evidence of this cycle playing out as we speak…

Your Rundown for Monday, April 14, 2025…

The Case for $27,000 Gold

“What if confidence in command currencies collapses due to some combination of excessive money creation, extreme levels of dollar debt, a new financial crisis, war or natural disaster?” Jim posits.

If confidence in fiat currencies collapses, central banks may have no choice, he says, but to return to a gold standard.

In such a scenario, the “implied non-deflationary price of gold” would need to be recalibrated to maintain equilibrium between gold reserves and the money supply.

To wit, M1 is the most liquid part of the U.S. money supply, meaning it’s the easiest to convert into cash.

It includes physical cash (bills and coins), bank reserves held in vaults and deposits like checking accounts.

Currently, the U.S. M1 money supply totals $17.9 trillion.

As for gold, “the U.S. Treasury reserves [total] 8,100 metric tonnes (261.5 million troy ounces),” says Jim.

If the government were to return to a gold standard today, according to Federal Reserve rules from 1913–1946, the legal requirement would be that 40% of M1 money supply be backed by gold.

Applying this 40% ratio, $7.2 trillion worth of gold would be necessary. “Applying the $7.2 trillion valuation to 261.5 million troy ounces yields a gold price of $27,533 per ounce,” Jim notes.

Although no forecast is guaranteed, Jim believes this scenario is well within the realm of possibility given current macroeconomic trends. “This isn’t a guess,” he adds.

Beyond the Fed’s 20th Century model, Jim highlights real-world factors driving gold prices higher.

• On the supply side, global gold production has been declining steadily since 2017, with miners struggling to find high-quality ore deposits. This stagnation in supply creates upward pressure on prices when demand increases.

• On the demand side, central banks have been significant buyers of gold, with purchases surging by 1,000% between 2010–2022. This trend shows no signs of slowing down; central banks acquired 800 metric tonnes of gold in 2023 alone. Jim notes that much of this demand stems from concerns about the stability of fiat currencies as well as geopolitical risks.

For individual investors, Jim’s advice is straightforward: act now. Gold’s price trajectory follows an exponential pattern where percentage gains become easier as the base price rises.

For instance, moving from $2,000 to $3,000 per ounce represents a 50% gain, but moving from $14,000 to $15,000 per ounce is only a 7% increase.

“Those $1,000 pops get even easier as we approach my calculated gold price of $27,533,” he explains.

The implication is clear: gold buyers today stand to benefit most as they accumulate more gold at lower prices and enjoy higher percentage returns during the early stages of a rally.

Jim’s analysis paints a compelling picture for gold’s future. For investors, the message is clear: moments of market panic often present opportunities to buy gold before its price resumes its upward trajectory.

Whether driven by geopolitical crises or fundamental supply-demand dynamics, gold remains an essential asset for preserving wealth during uncertain times.

As Jim succinctly puts it: “Get your gold while you can.”

Market Rundown for Monday, April 14, 2025

S&P 500 futures are up 1.45% to 4,570.

Oil is up 1.50% to $62.40 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is down 0.40% to $3,230.50 per ounce.

And Bitcoin is up 1.25% to $85,000.

First today, a reader note on our ongoing coverage of the fallout from the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles…

“Interesting,” writes Joel G., “you bring up the Palisades wildfires.

“I was in the thick of it, and stayed put near a reservoir that was, thankfully, full and allowed helicopters and bulldozers to establish a firebreak. Just a block or two away, I could see those areas getting burned to the ground.

“I got a call from a friend [living] in another part of California who asked me a good question: Would rebuilding take a long time?

“After Trump’s visit to Los Angeles, waiving all federal permits during a televised meeting with the mayor and others, there was much optimism. So far, the mayor has not kept her promise to expedite permits.

“Having worked with the L.A. Mayor’s Office many years ago, I would estimate 2-3 decades to return to business as usual.

“In all fairness to the overpaid DEI hire at the DWP, it would likely take divine intervention to get anything done in fewer than 18 months.

“Plus, it’s almost impossible to force out a DEI/DWP hire. Take your pick: $700,000 for security versus $7 million to pay off a lawsuit.

“Los Angeles has a long history of political corruption, both Republicans and Democrats, going back over a century. But they put up with it, knowing it will eventually be their turn to feed at the money trough.”

Many thanks to our correspondent today for his eyewitness — albeit bleak — firsthand account.

Moving on, Australia has made it clear it won’t team up with China to push back against U.S. tariffs, further reinforcing our trading pro Enrique Abeyta’s tariff thesis.

Your Rundown for Friday, April 11, 2025...

Australia Rejects China's Trade-Alliance Offer

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles didn’t mince words yesterday when he said Australia won’t be “holding hands” with China in any global trade battles.

China, of course, isn’t thrilled. Its ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, called on Canberra to join forces with Beijing to defend global trade.

But Australia flat-out rejected the idea, showing it has no interest in being caught in the middle of a power struggle between the U.S. and China.

Although China is Australia’s No. 1 trading partner — buying nearly a third of Australia’s exports — the risk of depending too much on Beijing is becoming impossible to ignore.

Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to an eyewatering 145% has sent a loud and clear message: The U.S. isn’t backing down from holding China accountable for economic aggression.

Australia is now focused on diversifying trade relationships and building stronger ties with partners including India, Indonesia, the EU and the Middle East.

Even so, Trump’s tariffs haven’t spared Australia entirely. The U.S. imposed a 10% tariff on Australian imports — lower than what other countries face but still frustrating for Australian leaders.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the move illogical but chose not to retaliate, likely because maintaining strong ties with the U.S., a key security ally, is more important in the long run.

But for those who back Trump’s approach, these tariffs are seen as a necessary sacrifice to challenge China’s dominance and level the playing field.

By rejecting China’s offer and focusing on new trade partnerships, Australia is charting a course that aligns with Trump’s vision: breaking Beijing’s influence.

Market Rundown for Friday, April 11, 2025

The S&P 500 is down 3.46% to 5,268.05.

Oil’s up 0.37 % to $60.29 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 2.13% to $3,245.30 per ounce.

And Bitcoin’s up 3.06% to $82,025.62.

The trade war — as you might have heard — just escalated with the Trump administration’s 104% tariff on Chinese goods going into effect at 12:01 this morning.

According to our macro expert Jim Rickards, when it comes to China: “You're going to get punitive tariffs, not reciprocal tariffs, but punitive tariffs.

“Not only is the U.S. not going to look out for China’s security, we’re probably going to confront them in various ways.” (More on that in a moment.)

But, it’s worth noting, what’s happening in the first 100 days of Trump’s second administration is simply a continuation of Trump’s first term. To wit, here’s the cover of The Wall Street Journal (April 13, 2018)...

It’s also worth mentioning that Biden did not undo Trump’s trade tariffs; in fact, Team Biden expanded tariffs, for example, on Chinese EVs and semiconductors.

My point today? Trade wars can drag on for decades…

Your Rundown for Wednesday, April 9, 2025...

When Trade Wars Turn into Financial Warfare

“If a country raises tariffs on another country,” Jim explains, “you might say that the trade war continues as long as the higher tariffs are in place.

“But trade wars easily morph into currency wars,” he notes. “If a country is the target of tariffs, they can retaliate [by] cheapening their currency.

“The cheaper local currency offsets the costs of higher tariffs and keeps the prices of exported goods unchanged in terms of the importing nation’s currency.

“Other ways of fighting trade wars include non-tariff barriers such as local subsidies, tax breaks and prohibitions,” Jim says.

“For example, Australia has no tariffs on U.S. imports, but it has an outright ban on imports of U.S. beef. That’s a non-tariff barrier that’s worse than a tariff.

“Trade wars can also morph into financial sanctions,” he says, “which are a form of financial warfare — or even morph into a shooting war, such as the Royal Navy blockade of goods for Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.

“One of the longest trade wars was during the Great Depression and beyond… That trade war wasn’t really over until the early 1950s with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

“You could count that as a 25-year trade war (1925–1950) fought with currencies, tariffs, embargos and bullets,” Jim says.

“Trade wars involve many factors other than tariffs,” he summarizes, “and can last a long time.”

As for the “rattled” U.S. stock market? Jim warns: “Millions of investors are making fear-driven moves right now that could devastate their family’s wealth in the long run.

“I have warned readers for months that markets were in a bubble,” he adds. “The fact that stocks were overvalued was easy to see.

“The difficult part was knowing when the bubble would pop… Trump’s retaliatory tariff announcement was the pin.

“But there are advantages to market downturns.

“I recommend having cash set aside for times like these,” says Jim. “Investors with cash are able to bargain hunt for stocks at favorable entry prices when the dust settles.”

Stay tuned for creative ways to capitalize on market volatility in the days and weeks ahead.

But before signing off today, we encourage you to explore our trading pro Enrique Abeyta’s insightful China thesis.

This analysis promises to deepen your understanding of the U.S.-China trade war, while offering valuable perspectives on Trump’s overarching strategy and endgame.

Market Rundown for Wednesday, April 9, 2025

S&P 500 futures are down 1.55% to 4,980.

Oil’s sliding bigly: down over 5%, just under $60 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 3% to $3,081 per ounce.

And, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is down 0.45% to $76,265.

I’m Byron King, senior geologist for Jim Rickards.

I’ve been working with Jim on various publications for many years and have crisscrossed the globe in search of the world’s best mining investment opportunities. You could say I have gained Jim’s trust by being out in the field and reporting back on the latest intel in the precious metals and energy markets.

That’s why I’m reporting on something Donald Trump did recently that most investors missed.

Trump signed an executive order that fast-tracks the federal permitting process to mine our mineral-rich Federal lands. And that’s a big deal. Why?

Because for many decades, America has been sitting on a $150 trillion fortune. But it’s been locked up by bureaucrats and anti-development regulation.

Now, though, and for the first time in several generations, the government is going to monetize America’s real, physical wealth. Not just with things like our nation’s gold reserves. But with all the priceless metals and resources hidden under the surface on our Federal lands.

Investors like you who tap into these minerals right now could become wealthier than you ever imagined. In fact, this secret store of wealth is so valuable, it could turn every legal U.S. citizen into a millionaire. This is your American birthright in action!

Thanks in large part to President Trump.

How did we get to this point? Let’s look at a map…

Along Came Trump

Now, I don’t work for President Trump, and he doesn’t call me on the phone to discuss policy. But I can think of two key drivers behind his efforts to unleash your American birthright.

First, look at the 2024 presidential electoral map, especially by county. Trump won the American heartland big-time.

2024 presidential electoral map by county. Courtesy Washington Post.

Trump wrapped up his win for president based on solid wins across the industrial Midwest, from Western Pennsylvania through Ohio and Michigan, over to Wisconsin. And while Trump lost overall in states like Illinois and Minnesota based on the urban vote, look at the rest of those jurisdictions. In suburban and rural areas where many current (and former) mines, mills, and factories are located, voters casted ballots for Trump.

Right away, you can see where the working-class vote came out for Trump. People voted for jobs, jobs, and jobs, and that point was central to Trump’s message. So anymore, when he talks about opening up America for renewal – the MAGA message, if not an American birthright – he reflects the desires of his voter base.

Another angle on Trump’s policies goes back to 2020, early in the pandemic. People realized that the U.S. no longer manufactures most of its medical products and supplies. Then (and even now), America imported massive quantities of items from overseas, especially China.

In other words, it dawned on many that the country’s medical supply chain relied on third-party foreign players. From antibiotics to pacemakers, blood thinners to bandages and much more, most U.S. medical products originated from abroad (eg, China and India), and still do in many instances. Or there’s the issue that the items may be manufactured domestically but with precursor chemicals from abroad. Right away, this became a national security issue.

Meanwhile, we’re now in the fourth year of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and one glaring takeaway is that the U.S. lacks a sufficient industrial base to supply and resupply its military. Examples are legion and range from the inability to mass-produce ammunition like artillery shells and missiles, to the glacial pace of output for aircraft, ships, submarines and more, including the latest battlefield development, drones.

Arguably, the U.S. is a superpower only in a legacy sense, meaning that war reserve warehouses are filled with equipment and ammunition produced long ago, in factories that are no longer there; or if they’re still there, they have limited capacity.

Looking ahead, what if the U.S. had to fight a real war? Well, America is no longer that so-called “Arsenal of Democracy” you read about in history books. We have a strategic-level problem on our hands that the Deep State perma-bureaucrats in Washington do not want to publicize and overly highlight. Hey, they don’t care, and their paycheck always comes on time, right?

But the national security issue is real and absolutely concrete. Military power is the first derivative of industrial power, and Trump wants rapidly to rebuild U.S. industry to reenable military strength. Of course, people write long books about these topics, and this is only a newsletter article.

What do all these industrial goals have in common? The country needs minerals and metals in manufacturing, whether it’s for medical or military use. This is a framework through which to understand what we see with Trump and his policies.

The Man from Queens wants to open up America, to permit people to invest and reinvest in basic resources and wealth creation. He wants this land to be more for you and me to share the wealth, not just the special interests.

What Does It Mean to You?

What should you do as an investor? The short answer is to invest in American companies that will benefit from Trump opening up federal lands, reducing regulations on development, and moving to reshore industry. That is, own hard assets like energy and resources, plus of course, precious metals.

Shares in steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs (CLF), an American steelmaking play, offer upside if Trump’s metal tariffs remain in place for the longer term. Or look at a copper player like Freeport McMoRan (FCX), which has domestic and overseas production of red metal, along with a precious metals stream, extracting gold and silver from copper mining.

On the energy side, ExxonMobil (XOM) remains a solid play based on its domestic energy production, along with impressive future growth from its overseas operations, especially its giant discoveries offshore Guyana in South America.

With precious metals in the strict sense, keep Barrick Gold (GOLD) and Newmont Mining (NEM) on the table as strong plays that will only improve in a rising gold market. And Kinross Gold (KGC) also offers excellent upside opportunity as gold prices rise.

Please note, though, that some of these names are not official recommendations in our portfolio, although I keep an eye on all of them. I will keep you updated as needed.

In fact, a few of these names are included in your special report, The American Birthright: How to Claim Your Share of America’s $150 Trillion Mineral Endowment.

If you haven’t reviewed this report yet, I urge you to take a look at five American Birthright plays that could make you a fortune.

And stay tuned for more on American Birthright analysis and opportunities from Jim on his next briefing call live next Tuesday, April 8 at 10 am ET. You’ll get more information about this call in the coming days.

With that, I’ll sign off for now…

Thank you for subscribing and reading.

Election Day has finally arrived.

To keep you ahead of the curve, below is our final pre-election analysis for the 2024 elections based on available data from late on Monday, November 5. It is an update on our detailed analysis from the November issue of Strategic Intelligence distributed on November 1 using new information gathered over the past four days.

In addition to the very latest analysis this morning, I will be conducting a LIVE post-Election Day briefing with my publisher tomorrow at 11 am ET. We will discuss the election results and what to expect going forward. You’ll receive access information later today for that event, so please keep an eye on your inbox for instructions on how to join us. Hope to see you there.

Our core election forecast has not changed. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to be president. Donald J. Trump will win election as president by an electoral vote count of 312-226 in our conservative estimate, and perhaps do as well as 329-209 in a slightly more aggressive estimate where Trump wins Michigan, Virginia and New Hampshire.

My Senate forecast is that Republicans will re-take the Senate with a solid 54-46 majority, up from their current minority status of only 49 Senate seats. My House forecast with 435 seats up for grabs is more speculative (due to scarce polling data), but my best estimate is that the Republicans will hold the House and increase their lead slightly to 225-210, up from the current margin of 220-212 (with 3 vacancies). That will give the Republicans a solid working majority.

This outcome would leave the Republicans in charge of the White House, Senate and the House of Representatives with control of future nominees for Supreme Court Justices – a clean sweep.

The Final Polling

Here’s a quick update on the polls as of late Monday, November 4. This information is subject to all the caveats we have expressed over the past few months including small sample sizes, skews toward Democratic participants, large groups who do not respond to polls and many other statistical deficiencies that increase the margin of error or tilt the result to one party or the other. Still, it’s the best information available; just take it for what it’s worth:

RealClear Politics Poll Averages

The National Average is interesting, but it’s an irrelevant beauty contest because presidents are not elected nationally; they are elected state-by-state through the Electoral College process.

Compared to the RealClear Politics averages on October 30, Harris caught up to Trump in the National Average, increased her lead in Michigan and edged ahead of Trump in Wisconsin. Harris also made the race closer in Pennsylvania and Georgia, although Trump remains in the lead. Trump expanded his leads in Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina.

Trump’s best path to victory consists of holding his 2020 states (including North Carolina) and flipping Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Right now, Trump is on track to do exactly that. If Trump takes those states, he does not have to win in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada, although he may well do so.

It’s Trump’s race to lose. Still, the polls are so close that no one should be shocked if Kamala pulls out a tight victory.

There is also encouraging news for Trump coming from other reliable pollsters in addition to the RealClear Politics average. One of these is the Trafalgar Group, which has one of the best track records in predicting the outcome of elections since 2016. Here are the latest results as of Monday night from Trafalgar Group:

Comparing Trafalgar to RealClear Politics, we see that Trump is leading in all seven battleground states in Trafalgar while Harris leads in Wisconsin and Michigan in RealClear. Trump has much bigger leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina in Trafalgar compared to RealClear. But the race is tighter in Nevada according to Trafalgar. In all events, Trump’s path to victory which requires Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania is solid in both polls.

Another prominent pollster with the best prediction record in 2020 is AtlasIntel. Their final 2024 poll released on November 2 shows Trump leading in all seven battleground states.

Those winning margins for Trump are not only larger than what Trafalgar shows (with the exception of Wisconsin), they are mostly outside the poll’s margin of error, which is a relatively low 2.0%. Again, these results put Trump well on his way to victory.

In particular, Michigan could flip for Trump because the large Arab-American community near Detroit may simply not vote (or vote for third-party candidate Jill Stein) in protest against Biden-Harris policies favoring Israel in the Middle East war.

Harris leads heavily among women, while Trump has an equally large lead with men. Whether this plays a decisive role in the outcome or not depends on turnout. If women turn out in far greater numbers than men, then Trump’s lead among men is diluted and Harris could be on a path to victory. If enough men show up, even on Election Day, then Trump should win.

Late Narratives Won’t Change Many Minds

A few other narratives filled up the news cycle over the past week. One was the GarbageGate affair. It began during Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on October 27 when a relatively unknown comic in a warm-up role told a bad joke about Puerto Rico being “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.” For two days, this dominated the news and was used by Kamala Harris to back up the usual claims of “racism” by Trump and to appeal to Latino voters.

The publicity was huge, but the impact was minimal. Trump maintained his share of the Latino vote, the largest share of any Republican in history.

Then the affair turned 180 degrees when Joe Biden offered up his own assessment. In a video link speech to a Latino network, Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” In a single sentence, Biden called Trump supporters – about half the voters in the country – garbage. The reaction dwarfed anything seen in response to the original bad joke.

Most Americans took offense and were outraged at Biden’s stupidity (although it was consistent with his mumbling and dementia we’ve see on display for years). Trump turned it into a joke by driving a garbage truck and wearing a fluorescent sanitation worker vest to a televised rally. Megan Kelly piled on by fashioning a Halloween dress out of a garbage bag. The fun continued for days with the Republicans turning lemons into lemonade with the help of Joe Biden.

Then matters took a serious turn. The White House tried to cover up Biden’s comments by altering an official transcript to say “supporter’s” instead of “supporters.” The added apostrophe made it appear that Biden was talking about a single supporter’s garbage rather than calling all Trump supporters garbage.

Very few voters bought this explanation. The original comment was on video and Biden’s body language and inflection clearly pointed to “supporters.” Then a whistleblower came forward with evidence that the official transcript had in fact been altered by the White House staff. The matter is now under investigation. Leave it to Joe Biden to turn a political embarrassment into a criminal offense.

In truth, none of the bad joke, the Biden insult, nor the mini scandal in the White House are likely to change many minds. The timing is a good reminder that as many as 80 million Americans had already voted by the end of October and only about 30 million remained to vote on Election Day. For all practical purposes, the election is already over – we just won’t know the winner until late on Election Day or early Wednesday morning.

Late-Breaking Trends

Registration totals show that Republicans have registered considerably more new voters than Democrats. For example, 2020 registration totals in Pennsylvania favored Democrats by 996,466. In 2024, that advantage was down to 410,509. That difference represents a gain of 585,957 Republicans in this election compared to 2020. The Biden margin of victory in 2020 in Pennsylvania was only 80,000 votes. If turnout reflects that change in registrations, Republicans will be well-positioned to win Pennsylvania.

Early voting distributions show more Republicans voting than Democrats. This could be a matter of cannibalizing Election Day voters (in other words, a timing difference and not a difference in total votes), but that seems unlikely. Other evidence showing increased turnout for Republicans would be consistent with increased early voting.

Finally, turnout in rural areas that favor Republicans is quite high, while turnout in urban areas that support Harris is lagging. Harris will win most big cities, but her urban winning margin may not be enough to defeat the Republican rural margin. Harris has her supporters, but their enthusiasm level appears to be low.

Anything else of importance? Oh, yeah. Joe Rogan, a podcaster with the largest audience of any host in the world endorsed Trump late Monday night. Can’t hurt.

And by the way, the traditional midnight vote early this morning in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, who has cast the very first votes for president since 1960? It was a tie, 3 votes each for Trump and Harris. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump 5 votes to zero. A prelude for things to come? We’ll see.

Now you have all the information available, and we have more than enough on which to base our forecast. The rest is up to you. It will be close, so your participation is important.Please vote and keep an eye out for an email later today giving access to my post-Election Day LIVE briefing that is being held tomorrow at 11 am ET. See you then.

Welcome to our latest update on Election 2024. If you joined our service recently, we welcome you to the best in financial analysis and look forward to a long lasting and profitable relationship.

Election Day is only a month away. As Donald Trump gathers momentum in the last month of the campaign, the race is tight and the outcome uncertain.

That said, my model puts weight on the more accurate polls, demographic trends and anecdotal evidence. Based on that model, my forecast remains that Trump will win the election.

The more accurate polls show Trump with substantial leads in most key battleground states (Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada) and extremely close in the remaining battleground states (Michigan, Wisconsin).

If Trump sustains those leads, he will win the Electoral College 287 to 251. If Trump were also to take Michigan, Wisconsin and Virginia, we’re looking at a historic Trump Electoral College landslide of 325 to 213. (For an in-depth look at the current polling numbers, please review our latest monthly issue here).

What has accounted for this recent momentum for the Trump campaign? The real reason why is going to shock you. That’s why I’m conducting a LIVE briefing with my publisher tomorrow morning, October 11 at 10 am ET to discuss the race and the latest in a major story that has the election swinging towards Trump.  Drop everything and be sure to join us by for this special briefing. Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow morning for a link to join.

What does a Trump second term mean for investors?

Trump supports lower taxes, less regulation, higher tariffs on imported goods, a secure border, deportation of illegal immigrants (starting with criminals and terrorists), a strong military but little or no involvement in foreign conflicts. And he wants to “drill, baby, drill.”

Harris wants higher taxes on corporations, higher taxes on capital gains, price controls, open borders, defund the police, end private health insurance, continued aid to Ukraine to keep that war going and expansion of the Green New Scam.

You don’t need to be an economist or political scientist to see that the Trump and Harris policies are complete opposites, and they will have radically different impacts on individual stocks, bonds and portfolio allocations.

Trump’s policies will be very good for U.S. jobs, U.S. wages, the U.S. economy, and by extension U.S. stocks. It will not necessarily be good for the global economy.

I was in a debate recently and somebody mentioned that India and China will suffer under Trump. That’s their problem. Right now, we’re trying to prop up all these foreign economies. If you’re a globalist, that’s just fine, but if you’re America First or you care about your own country, then it’s not fine.

The bottom line is Trump policies are good for U.S. companies and U.S. markets, U.S. workers, and not necessarily good for emerging markets around the world.

Here are some of the sectors that will benefit with a Trump victory in November:

• Oil and natural gas drilling, production and refining
• Mining (gold, silver, copper, lithium)
• Defense (especially in contractors with good R&D programs. We need new technology, not just more of the same weapons)
• Automobile manufacturing focused more on internal combustion engines rather than electric vehicles
• Cryptocurrency plays
• Banking and finance (As the economy grows, the banks profit as intermediaries)

I would also look at sectors that benefit from lower oil and gas prices including trucking and airlines.

After taking office, Trump’s agenda will incentivize billions of dollars of investments in U.S. energy and manufacturing jobs. He will make domestic oil drilling and refining a top priority which will provide America with energy independence. This will also benefit companies (and provide more jobs) in the energy sector.

He will also eliminate the Green New Scam by reducing spending on wasteful projects like Kamala Harris’ EV mandates. This will allow automakers to shine once more by producing more automobiles with traditional internal combustion engines.

Note: Stay tuned next week for a free report from my senior analyst Dan Amoss and myself that will outline some investment ideas (complete with specific tickers) to take advantage of in anticipation of a Trump second term.

But first, please join me for a special briefing tomorrow at 10 am ET sharp where I will update you on the state of the race, including the real reason why momentum points to a Trump victory on Election Day. I’ll send you another email tomorrow morning with a link to join.

Stay tuned for more updates as we head towards the finish line.

Last night, was the vice-presidential debate. The candidates had the opportunity to give their views to the American voters on important topics as we head toward Election Day. Below is a full analysis of the debate.

The Rundown

The obvious winner was JD Vance. The loser was Tim Walz, while the CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan also managed to embarrass themselves.

Vance appeared relaxed and comfortable in the limelight. Obviously, he had engaged in extensive debate preparation and was crammed full of relevant facts. But he presented himself in a dignified way and was able to make his technical points clearly and without jargon. He was a champion of “common sense” instead of reliance on so-called experts. This surely registered with a large part of the audience.

Walz Was Like a Nervous Cat

Walz was also well-prepped and well-rehearsed. But he was too rehearsed. His demeanor came across as some combination of an angry professor and a nervous cat on a high wire. He practically ignored Vance at times and kept talking about Trump, Trump, Trump in a highly disparaging way. His attacks on Trump recycled tired canards. The viewers were likely asking, “Why are you attacking Trump instead of telling us what you would do if elected?”

Regular readers know that I focus on body language as much as what the candidates are saying. There’s a huge body of research that shows most viewers do the same even if their observations are subconscious. This X-factor was a big part of Vance’s victory in the debate.

Walz seemed weak and nervous at key points, especially as the dialogue on climate change wore on. He was animated but in a bad way. He was scowling and yelling at the camera instead of speaking in a calm and composed manner. His eyes were bugging out and the veins in his neck were bulging, both signs of stress.

His face had a mean look even when he was not speaking. His eyes were shifty. Overall, his performance recalled the Howard Dean speech that ended with a prolonged scream (known ever since as the Dean Scream) on January 19, 2004, which finished Dean’s political career. Walz’s political career may also be about to end after his debate performance.

Walz had earlier lied about the fact that he was in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. He wasn’t there. When asked to explain, he offered a convoluted answer that involved more lies about the original lie. He was nervous throughout that non-answer. You could see on his face that he was still lying.

Vance Showed His Debating Chops

In contrast, Vance was friendly and composed but also highly disciplined. He looked right at the camera except when he confronted the moderators on some dirty tricks or when he looked right at Walz to make a point. Both moves were highly effective. Vance countered Walz’s lines about Trump by draping Kamala Harris around his neck. Vance made the point that Harris has been vice president already for almost four years and could have fixed many of the policies that she now claims she wants to fix if elected.

The moderators were completely biased against Vance, but they embarrassed themselves in adopting that stance. The questions were clearly designed to hit Vance hard on climate change, abortion and the January 6, 2020, riots while giving Walz a softball to hit at the same time. This is where Vance showed his debating chops.

When confronted on climate change, Vance deftly pivoted to creating U.S. jobs and said that moving jobs from high-polluting countries like China back to the U.S. would reduce CO₂ emissions since U.S. manufacturing is much cleaner than Chinese manufacturing.

When Vance was confronted about mass deportations of illegal aliens, he said that he had been to the border many times and the border patrol “just want to do their jobs” in accordance with U.S. law. He came across as sincere, not dogmatic. He also drove a wedge between Harris and Walz by saying that reduced illegal immigration would leave more jobs available for legal American citizens.

The Moderators Were Flustered

The highlight of the evening was when moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell insisted on “fact-checking” Vance on climate change and other issues. Vance called out Margaret Brennan for doing this since CBS had agreed they would not engage in real time fact-checking and because they never fact-checked Walz on anything. He then buried her on substance. Total cojones.

Brennan then got so flustered she yelled, “Your mikes are cut!” as they shut down Vance’s microphones. Vance kept talking and she yelled “no one can hear you” but I watched it live and I could hear Vance clearly picked up by Brennan’s own mike. The CBS anchors looked like fools, and Vance came across as the hero. That moment alone will go down in TV debate history.

Vance was brilliant on substance. He said the solution to school shootings is to improve security at the schools rather than take away guns from law-abiding citizens. He said the Minnesota law allowing abortions in the ninth month and killing of children who survived an attempted abortion was “fundamentally barbaric.” Walz offered a lame defense of the Minnesota abortion law. Vance shot back, “I asked for an answer, and you gave me a slogan.”

Vance made it clear that a Trump administration would support fertility treatments, give pregnant women more options and let each state decide how to handle the issue. (The same evening of the debate Trump said he would veto a national abortion ban. That takes that issue off the table).

Vance explained that Trump’s tariffs would end imports from countries that use “slave labor.” At this point, Walz was nonplussed and looked like a deer in the headlights.

Vance was brilliant on the failings of so-called experts. He said they were wrong about offshoring jobs, wrong about cheap imports and wrong about Big Pharma and Big Tech. Again, Vance urged “common sense” solutions instead of relying on experts. Most Americans certainly agree.

Also, Vance managed to work in the word “weird” twice in referring to Walz’s policies. That was a nice turnaround from the early stage of the campaign when Walz tried to call Republicans weird.

Walz wasted his chance in the closing statement by using platitudes like “joy” and not saying much beyond “vote for Kamala Harris.” Vance made brilliant use of his time by discussing core issues like inflation, housing shortages, fentanyl imports and more and laying them all at the feet of Harris and Walz. That was much more in touch with everyday Americans.

One interesting sidelight is that both Vance and Walz were energetic and fully engaged. This has the unintended side effect of showing just how vapid Kamala Harris is since she could not have survived on that debate stage and still refuses to take reporters’ questions except with teleprompters in tightly controlled circumstances. Walz’s level of engagement did Kamala no favors in comparison.

Bottom line: a convincing win for JD Vance. This should start to show up in polling results in the days ahead.

Democrat efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election are very well documented. In key states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin, requirements that mail-in ballots have signatures on the ballot and the envelope that could be compared were ignored. Other mail-in ballots were discarded after supposedly being “counted” so that no paper trail existed.

Ballot harvesting from assisted living facilities and apartment buildings was conducted with no verification that any of the residents actually filled in their ballots. Other supposed mail-in ballots appeared without creases (meaning they had never been mailed) with 95-1 pro-Biden ratios (statistically impossible).

A “water leak” caused an evacuation of a large vote counting center in Atlanta so that poll watchers were ejected while the counting went on without supervision.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife donated hundreds of millions of dollars to assist communities with vote-counting efforts but the money went overwhelmingly to Democratic districts.

It took all of that and more for Biden to eke out a narrow victory. The idea that the courts rejected the voter fraud claims is false. The courts refused to hear the cases based on procedural grounds such as standing, venue, jurisdiction and laches (waiting too long to bring the claim). That’s quite different from reaching the merits of the claims, which was never done.

This Time it Could Be Worse

After pulling out all the stops to narrowly win in 2020, I’m expecting Democrats to dig even deeper into their bag of tricks to steal this election.

And this time will be even worse…

Of course, the mainstream media will continue to lie. At this point, they’re just state propaganda. Not much different than what happens in North Korea or Russia.

The problem for them is that millions of Americans are waking up to that reality. In fact, a recent survey showed that 60% of likely voters believe “the media are truly the enemy of the people.” They’ve lied so much in the last few years that most people don’t believe them anymore.

And yes, big tech will continue to censor conservatives and any stories that might hurt Biden. But thanks to Elon Musk, this time we have X, a platform that actually respects free speech. So now millions of Americans have access to the truth.

Thankfully, the Republicans have improved their game this time around. They have over 500 lawyers on call to deal in real-time with fraud allegations, there is no pandemic excuse to deny poll watchers a chance to do their jobs and they’re getting better at ballot harvesting from their own districts.

This has forced the Democrats to resort to even more desperate techniques to steal the 2024 election.

Wha’ts Up the Dem’s Sleeve?

One plan is to declare Trump an “insurrectionist” on January 6, 2025, so that his Electoral Votes can be disqualified even if he won the most on Election Day. To back up their January 6^th plan, the Department of Homeland Security, (the same people who opened the border) has put the Secret Service in charge of the Electoral College vote count.

This means if Republicans object to certain Electoral Votes on the day they are counted in the Capitol Building (a perfectly legitimate process) the Secret Service can act as goon squads to suppress any objections to “overturn” the election by “election deniers.”

Now you may ask yourself, how is this even possible? Allow me to explain…

Assume Trump wins the election on November 5 (likely in my view). Also, assume the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in that election. The Electoral College votes are certified by the states on December 8 and then sent to Congress for a final count.

The new Congress is sworn in on January 5, 2025. The Electoral College votes are counted on January 6, 2025. The new president is not scheduled to be sworn in until January 20, 2025.

Sometime between being sworn in and counting the Electoral College votes, the new Democrat House of Representatives could pass a resolution stating that Trump is an insurrectionist and is disqualified from becoming president.

The Supreme Court left the door open to such a resolution. At that point, the House could refuse to count any Electoral College votes for Trump. In the final count, Trump would get zero votes and Kamala Harris would have less than the 270 votes needed to become president.

At that point, the selection of a president would be thrown to the floor of the House (as happened in 1800 and 1826) and the House members voting not as individuals but as state delegations would choose the president. Trump would not be eligible in this scenario, but a Republican would be the likely winner because Republicans control more state delegations even as the Democrats have more individual votes.

There seem to be no limits on the lengths to which progressives, radicals and their lawfare enablers will go to destroy their political opponents.

They are terrified that Trump will be reelected. That’s why they will do everything in their power to stop him from being sworn in again next January and create chaos in the streets.

But you aren’t helpless as an investor. That’s why subscribing to Strategic Intelligence is so important. We will help guide you through the minefields of this election season and beyond to both protect and grow your wealth.

That’s why I prepared this special report with an investment that’s guaranteed to go up when everything else goes down. Click here to view it now.