Things Are Heating Up

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I'm not sure what to say. The YM closed at its highest level since October 11, and the ES made a new all-time contract high on extremely low volume after JPMorgan kicked off the earnings session. At the same time, the Israeli conflict is spreading, with Jordan calling for an arms embargo. It's absolutely crazy. As I said almost a year ago, the Middle East will be the first war the U.S. gets involved in. The Biden administration is sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel, along with 100 American troops to operate it. Meanwhile, Turkey’s leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to send NATO troops into Israel to intervene on behalf of the Palestinians.

North Korea has stepped up its threats against South Korea, and it's being reported that Ukraine has killed several North Koreans in a missile strike in Ukraine, while Putin continues to advance. At the same time, China is threatening the Philippines and Taiwan. Look, I am no Wall Street or military analyst, but if you don't think this is being orchestrated by China, you're not paying attention, or you just don't want to think about it. War is here, it's already started, and the polarizing effects will continue to change the world we live in.

I said many years ago that the U.S. could no longer be the global sheriff, and that we need to secure our own lands. Now we have Russia and China in the Arctic and flying around Alaska. The globe is a sea of conflicts for you to see (check out this link: Global Conflict Tracker). This is not Y2K, my friends. This is the face of communism, and like it or not, they are pushing their agenda around the world while our weak political system is getting outgunned.

Despite its weak economy, China continues to hand out billions in infrastructure projects to poor countries around the world, and Russia is all over Africa. What are we doing? Nothing. We've been behind the curve for so long, it's hard to imagine that this will get better anytime soon.

The Chinese and Russian state planners have mapped this out, and the U.S. is blindly following. We're destabilizing ourselves while pushing the U.S. military beyond its limits and trying to replace the dollar. And the elephant in the room? The 11+ million immigrants that the current administration has allowed into the U.S. represent the largest security threat in our history.

Crazy. I mentioned my friend Bubble (a nickname I gave him) a few years back. I thought he was nuts when he told me he sold his stocks and started stacking gold and silver. He also bought some handguns, lots of ammo, and dried food rations. There is no denying that over the last few years, metals have done well, but a lot of that is due to the risk premium.

As of September 2024, the S&P 500 has risen approximately 520-550% from its March 2009 credit crisis lows. The index was around 676 points in March 2009 and has surpassed 5300 points in September 2024. In that same period, gold has increased approximately 100-120%. Back in March 2009, gold was around $900 per ounce, and by September 2024, it has typically traded above $2000.

While the jury is still out for Bubble, the current conclusion is that if he had stayed with his stocks, his gain would be 5x in stocks compared to his gains in gold and silver.

Speaking of bubbles, Nvidia’s stock value has ballooned by an incredible $400 billion in just five days, pushing its market cap to an unbelievable $3.26 trillion. The $400 billion increase surpasses Costco's entire market cap of $250 billion and $254 billion in revenue from last year. According to Reuters, in 2024 alone, Nvidia's stock jumped by 170%, and since early 2023, its growth is up 800%. The numbers are nothing short of astonishing. While Costco generated $7.4 billion in net income last year, Nvidia boasted a whopping $30 billion in profit from $61 billion in revenue.

This is what's been holding the markets up over the last few days!