Fifty-five years ago tomorrow (Saturday), America dumped the “gold standard.”

Stealthily … unofficially — and driven by big money from China and Russia — it looks like the Gold Standard is back.

That matters … to you … and to me.

There’s a global tidal wave of so-called “smart money” washing into the “yellow metal.”

That’s transforming gold — and silver — into “must-own” assets … even for everyday investors like us.

Let me tell you this tale … let me share some insights you won’t get from CNBC or Fox Business … and let me show you how to capitalize.

I’ll even share instant access to our latest — and best — research.

And we want to hear back from you …

Take this trip with me here today …

The Great Gold Heist

For decades in my family, silver was the metal of choice. When my Grandma Anna died at 97 back in 2006 – and we cleaned out her house to sell it — my Dad, sister Kathy Ann and I found scads of Standing Liberty Quarters, Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Ben Franklin Half Dollars and pre-1965 JFK Half Dollars and Washington Quarters.

The common denominator: These coins were all 90% silver — and folks viewed them as collector’s items and “stores of value” — in case those tough, Depression-like times returned.

For my grandma and grandfather, William Sr., a railroad machinist, hoarding silver made sense.

It was easy to obtain — you’d obtain it in everyday transactions.

It was affordable — since you’d accumulate it in change at 25 to 50 cents at a time.

And it was legal — which gold wasn’t, thanks to U.S. Executive Order 6102. That order, signed on April 5, 1933, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, effectively made it illegal for everyday Americans to own gold for investment purposes.

Source: Unknown

Except for a gold-exports embargo in place during World War I, America had been on a gold standard since 1879. The Great Depression — and the bank failures it created — brought that to an end. Americans were scared — so they hoarded gold. Wanting to fight the U.S. economic malaise by ramping up the money supply, FDR wanted to transform the U.S. government into that “hoarder” — by forcing Americans to sell their gold to the government.

The deadline was May 1, 1933. By May 10, the government had taken in $300 million in gold coins and $470 million in gold certificates.

Washington fixed the price of the “yellow metal” at $20.67 per troy ounce at the time of the forced exchange. A year later, the U.S. government boosted the price to $35 an ounce.

(Talk about “financial engineering” … that price increase boosted the value of the Fed’s gold holdings by 69.3%.)

Owning gold remained verboten until New Year’s Eve 1974, when President Gerald Ford repealed the FDR executive order.

That followed the Aug. 15, 1971 closure of the U.S. Treasury gold-window — which ended the direct convertibility of the greenback into gold by foreign governments.

Gold was trading at about $43 at that time.

By the time President Ford made it legal for regular Americans to own gold 40 months later, the metal had soared to about $190, up more than 340%.

Fast-forward exactly 50 years — from that last day of 1974 to the last day of 2024 — and gold was trading at a bit more than $2,629 … an increase of 1,280%.

Now it’s at $4,400 — a gain of 2,216% from that late-1974 investor “coming-out party.”

Ahhh … but what about that fabled U.S. dollar?

In that same span — from the end of the gold ban on New Year’s Eve 1974 to today — the purchasing power of the greenback plunged by 85%.

Here’s a little bit more “inflation math” to consider:

• A hundred-dollar bill back on Dec. 31, 1974 had the same purchasing power as $677.39 today.

• So a dollar bill today buys less than 15% of what it could on New Year’s Eve 1974.

• Overall prices have surged almost sevenfold.

Source: Unknown

Folks get emotional about the end of the gold standard. They really do. (Oliver Stone even included this nice little nugget in his hit flick Wall Street.)

But disconnecting the dollar from gold opened the door to modern monetary policy — giving central bankers and political leaders more maneuvering room in eras of crisis.

But you can argue it also set a trap — fueling America’s addition to debt, pushing the U.S. Public Debt/GDP ratio up above 100% for the first time since the end of World War II.

“Who Are Those Guys?”

Here’s a financial irony for you. As we observe the anniversary of the “Death of the U.S. Gold Standard,” one of the continued biggest drivers of the surge in gold prices is central bank buying.

That’s a shift from what we’ve seen for decades.

Going all the way back to the early 1980s — and the start of my career as a business reporter — central banks around the world have been massive buyers of U.S. Treasuries, since American government debt was viewed as some of the world’s safest investments. Indeed, the three-month T-bill is a proxy for the “risk-free rate” in financial calculations. And the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fills that role in the “capital-asset pricing model” (CAPM), which helps you decide if an investment will pay you enough to make up for the risk you’re taking.

Foreign governments are still buying U.S. debt. But they’re also buying gold — believing the “yellow metal” gives them another layer of “protection” against all the worrisome factors I outlined above.

The world’s central bankers bought 1,045 metric tons of gold in 2024 — making it the third straight year where buying exceeded 1,000 tons. That eased to 863 tons last year and totaled 345 tons in the first half of 2026.

Central banks are buying roughly 850 to 1,000 metric tons of gold per year.

That’s double the annual average I was seeing in the 2010s.

But that’s not the full story (or, as we used to say back during my reporting days, the “real story”).

Spinning it Forward

As I always tell you folks, the financial market is a “what-comes-next” animal. It’s “what comes next” for economic growth … for corporate earnings … for deglobalization … for “who’s shooting at who” … for inflation … you name it.

And the one thing that our financial-market “animal” hates … is uncertainty.

The more doubt you create about “what comes next,” the more risk-averse investors become — at all levels. You and I hate uncertainty — because it adds risk to our dreams of a nicer house, that dream vacation, a safe retirement or college for our kids. And it’s no different for corporate execs, actors and artists, Sharknado-channeling dealmakers, national leaders … and central bankers.

Everyone’s worried. And they expect gold purchases to increase.

A new World Gold Council survey found that 89% of central banks expect global gold reserves to grow over the next year — while a record 45% plan to add to their own holdings.

One incentive: To lower their reliance on the greenback. About 74% of central banks expect the U.S. dollar’s share of global reserves to be lower five years from now. And they expect gold’s share of those reserves to surge.

According to that WGC survey, about 90% of central banks said gold’s performance in a time of crisis is a big incentive to own it. Another 84% cited its role as a long-term store of value and inflation hedge. And 83% said it helps diversify their reserves.

Those are big numbers.

“Gold provides liquidity, it protects against inflation, and it doesn’t carry the risk of any one country’s policy decisions,” writes Joseph Cavatoni, a top WGC strategist and noted gold expert. “That’s the diversification central banks are after right now. And the buying isn’t limited to the usual names either.”

Which brings us to the “Mystery of the Missing Gold Reserves.”

No surprise … the two main protagonists are China and Russia.

Hidden Assets

China remains the world’s largest gold producer, mining approximately 384 metric tons in 2025, while Russia holds the No. 2 spot at about 345 metric tons. Together, the two nations account for a substantial slice of global production — which is roughly 3,843 metric tons (or about 123 million troy ounces).

At $4,400 an ounce, that’s a bit more than $540 billion.

It’s when we shift over to those two countries — and their gold reserves — that my global tale of gold “hoarding” gets interesting. It’s widely believed that both countries are underreporting their purchases. And it’s also believed some gold could be held by state entities — outside the central-bank framework.

China officially reported about 2,300 metric tons of gold reserves in 2025 — ranking it No. 6 among the world’s gold holders (the U.S. is ranked No. 1 ).

But Money Metals analyst Jan Nieuwenhuijs estimated that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) secretly bought 570 metric tons of gold in 2024 (while reporting an increase of only 41 metric tons). Some analysts estimate China bought as much as 250 tons last year, also much more than it reported.

Similar estimates by Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and the Financial Times point to a reserve number north of 5,000 metric tons — or roughly double its “official” number. And I’ve seen estimates as high as 5,500 metric tons.

BMO Capital, which puts China’s gold holdings at 5,200 metric tons, says the Red Dragon could leapfrog the United States as the top global gold holder within five years.

Then there’s Russia.

That country officially holds roughly 2,300 tons of gold. After about $300 billion worth of Russia’s foreign reserves were frozen in 2022, gold increased in allure as a sanction-resistant reserve asset.

But Russia’s opacity makes it a challenging case. Analysts speculate that additional gold is being held by sovereign-wealth structures, government agencies — or even Gokhran (Russia’s state precious-metals repository). And that country’s heft as a gold miner makes it easier to absorb production without outsiders getting an accurate gauge.

If China’s official reserves are 2,300 metric tons — but actual holdings are 5,200 tons — that means we’re talking about 2,900 tons of “hidden gold.”

At $4,400 an ounce, that’s $410 billion of hidden assets.

On the global stage, there are no regulations that require different countries to fully announce their gold purchases or bullion holdings. Organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Gold Council encourage it, but there’s no way to compel full disclosure.

And as this Bloomberg chart shows, secret purchases are the norm.

Fact is, the specific numbers don’t matter.

It’s a magnitude story.

Here’s why this matters to you.

And here’s what you need to do.

How to Buy, What to Buy

There’s an old saying: “Buy with the smart money.”

We see this all the time with U.S. public companies — where massed insider buying precedes big runups in their share prices.

And we’ve certainly seen this same “effect” down in Washington. While “hard proof” of systematic front-running is elusive, there’s a growing body of research that trades by top congressional leaders look to precede favorable legislative, regulatory and corporate developments.

So investing with that “smart money” seems shrewd.

But what if you know what’s coming? What if you can — legally — invest ahead of that smart money?

And, especially, what if that smart money is a sustained tidal wave of cash — of the magnitude we’re talking about with central banks buying gold?

I mean, just think about it:

• You know who the “smart-money players” are.

• You know what they are buying — and why.

• You know how much they’re spending.

• And you know the timetable.

It means you can put your money to work — before they do.

Euthanizing the gold standard 55 years ago tomorrow was a necessary move. It created the modern monetary system. It made it possible for nations and their central banks to manage their economies and respond to financial. Crises. But it also opened the door to big deficits, massive borrowing and debt loads we’ll never pay back.

That’s ignited an era of perpetual uncertainty and volatility. It’s reignited inflation and has supercharged the American affordability crisis.

Self-reliance and “money-doubler” stocks are a necessary strategy.

And gold (and silver) are “must-own” assets.

How much gold and silver should you own? And in what form?

Here are some Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC) resources to help …

In terms of physical metals, check out this report that talks about “Triggers” for metals prices — and forms to buy and own. It’s free to all readers.

As for companies to invest in and stocks to buy, here’s my (free) special report: “The Bullion Bulletin: 50 Gold and Silver Stock Investments.”

I shared an intriguing “inflation-buster” gold play earlier this week.

Lastly, here’s our SPC Premium gold-and-silver dossier — with the two best foundational metals plays you’ll find. I just updated this dossier this summer — so it’s our very latest research.

See you next time;

This week, something happened that reinforces why we’ve been paying close attention to Rocket Lab (RKLB).

It’s the kind of move that doesn’t just impact a single company… it says something bigger about where the entire Space Economy is going.

We’ve put together a full research note breaking down what it means, how it fits into the long-term thesis, and why it matters for investors.

We’re not going to get into the full story here — but if you’ve been following this story, you’ll want to see it.

👉 The full deep dive is live.

A leading space imagery and data company — one we’ve followed closely for some time — has seen its shares fall more than 45% in the past month, creating what we believe is a compelling entry point for opportunistic investors.

Why We’re Interested

This is not a new story for us.

The company has long been on our radar as a potential Model Portfolio candidate — the category we reserve for our highest-conviction, long-term holdings.

Its advantage lies in a powerful combination of:

• A vast and growing repository of Earth observation data

• Proprietary satellite infrastructure

• Increasing demand for real-time geospatial intelligence across industries

From agriculture to defense to climate monitoring, the use cases are expanding and importantly, becoming mission-critical.

Why It’s Not in the Model Portfolio (Yet)

Despite those strengths, timing matters.

The recent decline wasn’t random, as it followed a sharp run-up in space stocks that pushed expectations to unsustainable levels.

After nearly doubling in a matter of weeks earlier this year, the company entered its latest earnings report priced for perfection.

And while the results were objectively strong…

• Revenue came in at $94.15 million, up 42% year-over-year

• A backlog exceeding $900 million grew 71%

• Full-year guidance was raised

…it wasn’t enough to satisfy elevated expectations.

The result: a steep reset in the share price, now trading roughly back to where it was before the rally began.

A Classic Setup

This is exactly the kind of setup we look for in the Special-Situation Portfolio:

• A structurally strong business

• A sharp drawdown driven by sentiment shifts, not fundamentals

• A clear path to re-rating if momentum returns

To be clear, this is still a higher-risk investment.

The company remains unprofitable, and sentiment across the broader space sector can be volatile. If investor enthusiasm cools further, this name could remain under pressure in the short term.

The Bigger Picture

Zooming out, our thesis hasn’t changed.

We continue to believe the Space Economy is in its early innings, with data — not just launch — becoming one of its most valuable layers.

This company sits directly at that intersection.

It’s already proving that space-based data can translate into real-world, actionable insights, and that’s where long-term value will ultimately be built.

What Comes Next

We’re treating this as a rebound story for now.

If the company can regain investor confidence and demonstrate continued execution, we would absolutely revisit moving it into the Model Portfolio.

For now, it earns its place as a tactical opportunity, one in which we’ll monitor closely and update you on as the story develops.

Here’s our latest research note on this new opportunity.

They don’t.

Because what we’re seeing right now isn’t just another metals cycle — it’s the early stages of something much bigger.

A setup driven by:

• Supply constraints years in the making

• Exploding industrial demand

• A global shift away from the U.S. dollar

• And a market structure that can amplify moves in both directions

If you’ve been watching silver over the past year, you’ve already seen a preview.

A surge.
A frenzy.
A collapse.

That wasn’t random.

It was the playbook.

What Most People Miss About Silver

Silver isn’t just a precious metal.

It’s two assets in one:

• A hedge against uncertainty

• And a critical industrial input powering AI, data centers, electrification, and defense

That dual role is exactly why silver can go from ignored → to explosive → to chaotic… fast.

And that’s exactly what happened.

But here’s the key:

That recent collapse? It wasn’t the end of the story. It reset the opportunity.

Why Gold Matters Now More Than Ever

While silver grabs headlines, gold is quietly entering a new phase.

The forces building underneath it are structural:

• Central banks are buying at record levels

• Global debt is spiraling

• The dollar’s dominance is slowly eroding

• And geopolitical risk isn’t going away

This isn’t speculation.

This is a long-term repositioning of the global financial system.

The Real Opportunity Isn’t Just Owning Metals

Here’s where things get interesting.

Most investors approach gold and silver the same way:

• Buy bullion

• Buy ETFs

• Maybe pick a miner

But there’s a completely different model — one that:

• Avoids operational risk

• Generates consistent cash flow

• And benefits directly from rising prices without the usual headaches

It’s a strategy used by some of the most sophisticated investors in the space.

And it’s the core of what we’re doing right now.

The Setup From Here

We’re looking at a three-part environment:

✅ Structural supply shortages
✅ Sustained industrial demand
✅ A world defined by ongoing uncertainty

That combination doesn’t happen often.

And when it does, it creates long-duration opportunities — not just quick trades.

What Comes Next

In the full report, you’ll see:

• Why silver’s volatility is actually an advantage (if you know how to use it)

• The macro forces pushing gold higher over the next 3–7 years

• And most importantly…

• The two specific companies positioned to benefit from both metals — without the usual risks of mining

These aren’t the obvious names.

But they’re the ones built for this kind of environment.

By most measures, it was a wildly successful IPO.

But beneath the surface, something more interesting was happening.

As capital rushed into the new headline name, several smaller space stocks quietly sold off. One company on our internal watch list dropped nearly 9% on the day and is was down more than 26% over the past month.

At first glance, that kind of move might raise red flags.

But in this case, it may be doing the opposite.

This is a business we first started watching back in November 2025, when shares were trading just above $12. What stood out then and still does now is its dual-use model across both defense and commercial markets, with applications ranging from national security to agriculture, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring.

It also owns something few companies can replicate: a deep, proprietary archive of Earth data stretching back over a decade. Despite no material change in the underlying story, the stock briefly surged above $50 during SpaceX’s IPO excitement… before giving much of it back in a sharp rotation.

That kind of price action raises a key question:

Is this weakness a warning sign—or the kind of temporary mispricing long-term investors wait for?

We’re watching closely for a specific entry point before making any move. Because if this plays out the way we think it might, this recent dip could end up looking more like an opportunity than a setback.

Full breakdown—including the name, valuation setup, and exact levels we’re watching available to paid subscribers.

Now Available: The story published on Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC) examines how soaring energy costs are becoming a flashpoint well beyond household utility bills—and why artificial intelligence (AI) sits at the center of the tension.

Using Maryland as a ground‑level case study, it connects rising consumer bills, local opposition to new transmission lines and data‑center development, and the rapid growth of hyperscalers across the Mid‑Atlantic.

The update explains how AI has shifted from a computing bottleneck to an electricity bottleneck, why regional power grids are straining to keep up, and how this emerging “AI Energy Demand Shockwave” is reshaping infrastructure, politics, and investment opportunity.

Follow along to never miss an update.

Want more specific silver investing insight? Check out The Silver Stock Investor from Peter Krauth.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some links on Stock Picker’s Corner are affiliate links. If you subscribe to The Gold Advisor through these links, Stock Picker’s Corner may earn a commission.

For a company staring down a 2028 patent cliff on Keytruda (a $30+ billion-a-year mega-blockbuster) and facing more than $180 billion in industrywide drug sales at risk by 2030, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

And Merck is reacting the way legacy giants often do right before a major inflection point: spinoff-style restructurings, big-ticket acquisitions, pipeline bets, and strategic cost cuts.

The company is splitting its core pharma unit in two — oncology on one side, everything else on the other — a move that looks a lot like the early stages of a breakup. Add in multibillion‑dollar deals in immunology and ADC cancer drugs, and you’ve got the setup for a potential turnaround… or a warning sign.

We’ve been tracking Merck for two years as a “special situation” play, and this latest shift pushed us to take a fresh look.

👉 Is Merck finally entering the Buy Zone?
👉 Is this restructuring the start of something bigger — even a future spinoff?
👉 Or is the company just rearranging the furniture before a rough landing?

We break down all six catalysts — plus what comes next — in this full writeup.

It’s a market most investors have ignored for years. But that’s changing fast.

Here’s an example …

Madison Square Garden Sports just took a major step that could finally unlock the value buried inside the Knicks and Rangers. It’s the clearest signal yet that this space is opening up—and that special‑situation opportunities are emerging.

We just broke down the full story (and what it could mean next) here.

America and Iran are squaring off again—and history tells us these moments reshape everything: oil, markets, national security, and global power.

In the latest Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC) report, there are 10 shockwaves you need to understand now, plus a surprising stock that rises when uncertainty does.

→Catch the full analysis here.

The selloff followed a surprise shift at the Federal Reserve and the initial reaction was simple. Higher rates, stronger dollar, weaker metals. End of story.

Except it usually is not.

When markets move this fast, prices often react to headlines before they reflect fundamentals. That is especially true in commodities, where supply constraints, industrial demand, and long investment cycles do not change overnight.

In this issue of Beyond the Headlines, we look at what actually happened beneath the surface and why this pullback may say more about positioning and sentiment than about silver’s long term outlook.

We walk through why the broader commodity supply shortfall remains intact, why industrial demand for silver continues to grow, and why volatility like this often creates mismatches between price and value.

Most importantly, we explain why not all silver stocks respond to selloffs the same way and why structure matters more than spot prices during resets like this.

This is not about calling a bottom.

It is about understanding when fear creates opportunity and knowing where to look when it does.

That’s a mistake.

What’s emerging instead is something closer to industrial policy with an investment mandate — one where Washington is taking equity stakes, extending financing, and shaping supply chains tied directly to national security, AI, and electrification.

This week delivered two developments that make that shift unmistakable.

First, the U.S. government moved to take a direct ownership stake in a rare earths company as part of a broader effort to rebuild domestic supply chains and reduce dependence on China.

Second, a long‑overlooked U.S. mining project quietly crossed a milestone that materially changes its risk profile.

Taken together, they tell a much bigger story:

The U.S. isn’t just encouraging critical mineral projects anymore.
It’s actively reshaping who survives, who gets funded, and who matters.

We unpack both developments — and what they mean for investors — in today’s issue of Beyond the Headlines.

It includes:

• how Washington is deploying capital instead of subsidies,

• why recent headlines about price floors don’t change the bigger strategy, and

• why one pre‑revenue miner now sits at the intersection of gold, defense‑grade minerals, and federal backing.

👉 Read the full breakdown here.

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. was a scarcity play hiding in plain sight, anchored by assets like the New York Knicks and New York Rangers that have been appreciating far faster than the stock. Add record league revenues, new ownership rules, and the coming 2027 tax law catalyst, and the setup became obvious.

Value was trapped, and pressure was building to unlock it.

Shares are now up 26% since we first started talking about MSGS, but the opportunity in investing in sports franchises and leagues is far from over.

For Madison Square Garden Sports, you can see our latest research here.

You can follow the free updates, or step inside the paid research.

That limited supply is what’s driven franchise valuations to record levels.
In 2025 alone:

• The Boston Celtics sold for $6.5 billion

• The Los Angeles Lakers hit a record $10 billion valuation

• A 10% stake in the New York Giants valued the team at $10.5 billion

But here’s the part most investors miss:

You don’t need to be a billionaire—or write private‑equity‑sized checks—to gain exposure to this scarcity premium.

One of the most compelling examples sits inside Major League Baseball:

Atlanta Braves Holdings

A publicly traded franchise.

A rarity in the modern sports world.

And one of the clearest ways for everyday investors to participate in the financial upside of professional sports.

But scarcity alone doesn’t tell you how to approach BATRK as an investment.
There’s strategy behind it.

And that’s what I break down in my full analysis.

I cover:

• Why BATRK is a special‑situation opportunity

• The catalysts that could unlock shareholder value

• The risk/reward trade-offs

• Portfolio sizing considerations

• The key price zones investors should have on their radar

👇 Get access to the full BATRK report here.

Earlier this week, we broke down how “Operation Absolute Resolve” — the U.S. Delta Force mission to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro — is reshaping some of the biggest investing storylines we track at Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC).

Today, we’re zooming in on energy. Why? Because America’s push into Venezuela could ripple through global markets and change the energy game here at home.

To unpack this, we sat down with Matt Warder — former Wall Street analyst and now the mind behind here on Substack. In our conversation, Matt explains:

• Which companies stand to benefit in the near term from the Venezuelan operation

• How a fresh flow of oil could strengthen U.S. refineries and pipelines

• Why diesel prices might drop — and what that means for American motorists

Chief Stock Picker Bill Patalon also shares his own picks tied to what he’s calling the “Diesel Effect.” Together, they spotlight roughly 15 investment ideas you can dig into right now — spanning Big Oil, energy-service firms, tanker operators, U.S. heavyweights, a unique bond play, a turnaround story, and even a FinTech angle.

Think of it as a Baker’s Dozen for the energy market.

👉 [Read the full transcript of the talk and see the stock tickers here.]

We’re working on our game plan for 2026, and we want to make sure we focus on what matters most to you.

So … let us know.

Which topics would you like us to prioritize? What storylines, stocks, market sectors, and asset classes matter most to you?

Just click on one of the options below.

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