Palisades Gold Radio

Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Contrarian Investor and Publisher of the Gloom, Boom, & Doom Report Marc Faber to the show. Faber opened the discussion by emphasizing the unprecedented complexity facing economists and investors today, driven by a confluence of dismal fiscal situations in Western democracies, geopolitical tensions, and the central role of central banks in financing massive deficits. He questioned whether Western economies have experienced real growth over the last 20 years or merely nominal expansion fueled by money printing, which has inflated asset prices for the wealthy while eroding the purchasing power and living standards of the middle and lower classes.

Faber argued that this monetary inflation, which began in earnest with quantitative easing, is a path to societal disaster that cannot be stopped without causing pain that democracies will not accept. He asserted that the current multi-decade bull market in assets will inevitably end in a significant crash, and the key question for investors is how to lose the least amount of money when it does. While he acknowledged the US Treasury market remains healthy for now, he cast doubt on official inflation figures, suggesting real cost-of-living increases are much higher.

On gold, Faber reiterated his long-standing advice that individuals should act as their own central banks and consistently accumulate physical gold as a store of value, noting it may decline less than other assets like AI and semiconductor stocks in a crash. He also warned of the risk that governments could outlaw private gold ownership, as they restricted freedoms during COVID. Faber concluded by noting that in real terms, energy and agricultural commodities are historically cheap, but he stressed that in a debt deflation, nearly all asset prices would fall, making capital preservation the paramount concern.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:04 – Key Economic Trends Focus

00:05:31 – Real vs Nominal Growth

00:09:19 – Capitalism and Market Reforms

00:14:40 – Money Printing Unsustainability

00:15:40 – Debt & Economic Growth

00:17:40 – Future Asset Bubble Crash

00:20:48 – US Treasury Market Health

00:22:30 – Inflation Measurement Issues

00:29:06 – Gold as Value Store

00:35:49 – Correction in Asset Prices

00:38:12 – Energy Markets Outlook

00:44:37 – Gloom Boom Doom Report

00:47:33 – Concluding Thoughts

Guest Links:

Website: https://www.gloomboomdoom.com/

X: https://x.com/gloomboomdoom

Dr. Marc Faber was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He went to school in Geneva and Zurich and finished high school with the Matura. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a Ph.D. in Economics magna cum laude.

Between 1970 and 1978, Mr. Faber worked for White Weld & Company Limited in New York, Zurich, and Hong Kong. Since 1973, he has lived in Hong Kong. From 1978 to February 1990, Marc was the Managing Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK) Ltd. In June 1990, he set up his own business, publishing a widely read monthly investment newsletter, “THE GLOOM BOOM & DOOM,” a report highlighting unusual investment opportunities.

Dr. Faber is also the author of several books, including “TOMORROW’S GOLD – Asia’s Age of Discovery,” first published in 2002 and highlighted future investment opportunities. “TOMORROW’S GOLD” was on Amazon’s bestseller list and translated into Japanese, Korean, Thai, and German.

Marc is also a regular contributor to several leading financial publications around the world. In addition, Dr. Faber is a frequent speaker at various investment seminars and is well known for his “contrarian” investment approach.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Don Durrett to the show. Don is an Author, Investor, and the Founder of GoldStockData. Don outlines his multi-stage debt bubble framework driving his bullish gold outlook, arguing the US has passed a point of no return on its fiscal path. He describes seven phases, from the bubble’s formation to the eventual “doom loop” recognition, and believes recent Treasury interventions signal the start of stage five. This deteriorating bond market confidence, he argues, creates an extremely asymmetric opportunity for gold and silver, with gold’s floor around $3,750 and a long-term target of $15,000, while silver could reach between $200 and $500.

Durrett sees the current gold bull market as having started in early 2020, with the real momentum beginning in 2024. He expects a near-term correction in gold back toward the $4,200 level before a powerful second leg higher begins around November or December. This second leg, he emphasizes, is historically the easiest and most profitable phase because it is when mining stocks finally begin to outperform the metals, attracting broader investor interest. He notes that miners only started outperforming gold in July, a development he links directly to the onset of government bond market interventions. The conversation highlights the significant leverage available in precious metals miners due to the sector’s small universe of quality producers.

Durrett explains his speculative, buy-the-dip approach, aiming for multi-bagger returns and managing a portfolio of over 170 stocks with an expectation that 30% will disappoint. He stresses the importance of patience, selling underperforming “dogs” for tax-loss purposes, and not taking profits too early in what he views as a paradigm-shifting, one-time trade. He concludes by directing experienced investors to his data tool, Goldstockdata.com, and newcomers to his book for foundational education on analyzing mining stocks.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:12 – Gold Bull Market History

00:04:19 – First Leg and Correction

00:09:25 – Fundamental Drivers of Gold

00:12:22 – Debt Bubble Stages Explained

00:20:22 – Interventions and Stage Five

00:23:32 – Silver Monetary and Industrial Role

00:28:13 – Silver Gold Ratio Analysis

00:29:30 – Gold Re-Rating Potential

00:34:49 – Golden Legs Up

00:38:00 – Fifteen Thousand Dollar Gold Target

00:44:23 – Portfolio Defense Strategy

00:51:04 – Goldstockdata.com and Book

Guest Links:

Website: https://www.goldstockdata.com

X: https://x.com/DonDurrett

Substack: https://dondurrett.substack.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DonDurrett

Gold Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Invest-Gold-Silver-investors/dp/1427650241/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291065729&sr=1-3

Blog Posts: https://seekingalpha.com/author/don-durrett

Don Durrett received an MBA from California State University Bakersfield in 1990. He has worked in IT-related positions for 20+ years. He has been a gold investor since 1991, with a focus on Junior Mining stocks since 2004. Realizing the value of investing in gold and silver and noticing the lack of available material for first-time investors, Don set out to provide information. First, he wrote a book, How to Invest in Gold & Silver: A Complete Guide with a Focus on Mining Stocks. He followed up the book with a website (www.goldstockdata.com) to provide data, tools, and analysis for gold and silver stock investors. His gold and silver mining stock newsletter is widely regarded as one of the best. He is a frequent guest on financial podcasts and a contributor to SeekingAlpha.com.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Mario Innecco to the show. Mario is a Financial and Macro Economic Analyst, and Host of the ‘Manneco64 YouTube Channel’. Mario Innecco presents a compelling case that we are in the early stages of a secular bull market for commodities, driven by decades of underinvestment and a historic reversal in the bond market. He argues that the 40-year bull market in bonds, which began in 1981, is definitively over, and this shift will fundamentally reallocate capital toward hard assets like gold, silver, and other commodities. The core problem, he explains, is an unprecedented global debt bubble.

Western nations, particularly the United States, are trapped in a debt-based fiat currency system where ever-increasing debt requires more debt issuance to service, creating a vicious cycle now exacerbated by rising interest rates. This situation, he believes, will force governments into financial repression, eroding purchasing power and driving investors toward gold and silver as timeless stores of value that cannot be printed. The discussion highlights Japan as a critical “canary in the coal mine,” with its carry trade and the potential repatriation of capital posing a systemic risk to interconnected global financial markets.

Innecco suggests that the ultimate solution to this monetary instability will be a return to gold as a settlement asset, a move already being pioneered by China and the BRICS nations. He views the pure fiat currency era since 1971 as a historical aberration that is nearing its end. For investors, he sees significant upside not only in physical gold and silver but particularly in undervalued mining stocks, which offer substantial leverage. While gold and silver are expected to lead, he also notes strong potential in other commodities like copper, tungsten, and oil, all supported by supply constraints and the global trend toward resource sovereignty.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:42 – Commodities Secular Bull Market

00:05:08 – Reversal of Financial Trends

00:09:04 – Gold and Silver Drivers

00:12:07 – Debt Based System Issues

00:16:05 – Inflationary Spiral Risks

00:19:28 – Japan Yen Carry Trade

00:26:25 – Gold as Government Solution

00:28:45 – China Gold Settlement Push

00:36:05 – Gold Remains Underowned

00:39:34 – Upside Scenario for Silver

00:42:30 – Miners and Portfolio Allocation

00:46:04 – Bonds and Real Returns

00:48:27 – Broader Commodities Outlook

00:50:58 – Concluding Thoughts

Guest Links:

X: https://x.com/maneco1964

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/maneco64

Mario Innecco is a seasoned financial markets and macroeconomics analyst with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He began his career in private banking in Geneva, Switzerland, before spending two decades in the City of London, specializing in exchange-traded derivatives, government bonds, interest rates, and broader economic trends. During this time, he advised major financial institutions and corporate clients on market strategies and risk management.

A dedicated proponent of the Austrian School of Economics, Mario founded the maneco64 YouTube channel in November 2015, which serves as a platform for alternative economics and contrarian views. Through his videos, blog articles, and social media, he educates a worldwide audience on the intricacies of the fiat monetary system, financial markets, and the enduring value of precious metals like gold and silver.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes Willem Middelkoop to the show. Willem Middelkoop is an author and is the Founder of the Commodity Discovery Fund. Middelkoop asserts that the “big reset” of the global financial system, a thesis he developed over a decade ago, is now unfolding in real time. He points to the accelerating decline of U.S. hegemony, evidenced by the collapsing petrodollar system and waning international support, particularly in the Middle East. This shift from an era of cooperation to confrontation is driving a fundamental change in capital flows, with generalist investors beginning to move away from paper assets like U.S. Treasuries toward hard assets. He notes that foreign ownership of U.S. debt has fallen below thirty percent, a situation he describes as “Weimar Lite,” where the Federal Reserve is increasingly forced to monetize government debt. This environment explains the strong performance of gold, which is being reintroduced into the monetary system without official decree, primarily through record central bank purchases. China alone is buying sixty percent of the world’s annual mine production outside its borders.

While Middelkoop does not foresee a hyperinflationary collapse, as the U.S. retains powerful tools like revaluing its gold holdings, he believes a new financial crisis is likely in the coming years. In such a crisis, he expects central banks to play the “gold card,” driving a significant revaluation. This outlook informs his investment strategy, which focuses on hard assets including real estate, physical gold and silver, Bitcoin, and high-quality equities. Shifting to the mining sector, Middelkoop highlights the exceptional opportunity in gold producers, which are generating record free cash flow yet trade at historically low valuations.

His fund, however, specializes in discovery investing, concentrating on a select portfolio of world-class tier-one and tier-two discoveries. He emphasizes that the key to outsized returns is maintaining a long-term position in a major discovery, allowing value to compound over decades as the deposit is developed into a producing mine. This patient, concentrated approach involves taking significant stakes in companies after the initial discovery hype and supporting them through to production.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:00 – Financial Reset Discussion

00:04:00 – US Losing Superpower Status

00:09:08 – Central Bank Gold Purchases

00:13:00 – Empire Decline and Debt

00:18:45 – Weimar Lite Scenario

00:23:00 – Gold Revaluation Process

00:28:00 – Mining Sector Opportunities

00:35:00 – Discovery Investing Strategy

00:42:00 – Portfolio Construction Advice

00:47:22 – Concluding Thoughts

Guest Links:

Commodity Discover Fund: https://www.cdfund.com

X: https://x.com/@wmiddelkoop

Willem Middelkoop: https://substack.com/@wmiddelkoop

The Big Reset: https://www.cdfund.com/download-the-big-reset.html

Willem Middelkoop is the founder of the Commodity Discovery Fund and also an author. He became a well-known personality through his work as a stock market commentator for the Dutch business television channel RTLZ.

Middelkoop predicted the credit crisis’s onset in his book “Als de dollar valt” (If the dollar falls) in 2007. Subsequent publications were “De permanente oliecrisis” (The permanent oil crisis) – 2008, “Overleef de kredietcrisis” (Surviving the credit crisis) – 2009, “Goud en het geheim van geld” (Gold and the secret of money) – 2012, and The Big Reset – 2013. In total, he sold more than 100,000 copies of his books.

The Commodity Discovery Fund was established in the summer of 2008. It started with three million euros and 22 participants. By the end of 2023, it had grown to about 2,000 participants and €104 million in assets under management.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes Matthew Piepenburg to the show. Matthew Piepenburg is Partner – Von Greyerz Gold Switzerland, Author – Gold Matters. Piepenburg argues that despite 2026 volatility, including war, a historic gold correction, and US government debt surpassing $40 trillion, the secular gold bull market remains in its early chapters. He sees shakeouts and price interventions as features, not an end, and believes conditions today are stronger than the 1970s run, driven by $265 trillion global debt, negative real rates, and currency debasement.

He contends that governments and central banks have narrowed options and increasingly rely on hidden QE, misleading inflation and employment data, and dollar debasement to manage debt, while Main Street suffers a real recession and middle-class erosion, and stock market gains mostly benefit top wealth.

Piepenburg highlights central bank gold accumulation at record levels, especially after dollar weaponization, as a sign gold is replacing Treasuries as global collateral. He notes the shift in physical gold flows from Western exchanges to Eastern central banks and sovereign funds, and the development of Shanghai-Hong Kong physical settlement, challenging paper price discovery. He expects continued eastward shift, not dollar collapse, but a significant repricing.

Matthew discusses possible US gold revaluation, either marking gold certificates to market or letting gold run, as a form of “gold QE” that would further debase the dollar. He sees miners as leveraged opportunity after sentiment lows, and stresses patience and education. For high-net-worth investors, physical gold outside the banking system in Switzerland and Singapore serves as wealth preservation. He closes that gold won’t get one rich quickly but protects from getting poor.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:10 – Volatile Year Market Overview

00:03:48 – Gold Bull Market Status

00:08:20 – Mining Sector Investor Interest

00:18:55 – Global Debt & Demographics

00:28:30 – Inflation & Conflicts

00:35:55 – Central Banks & Gold Holdings

00:45:30 – Gold Revaluation Mechanics

00:54:17 – Gold & Gov’t Debt Doubling

01:01:12 – Preparing for Coming Risks

01:07:34 – Von Greyerz Storage Services

Guest Links:

X: https://twitter.com/GoldSwitzerland

Website: https://goldswitzerland.com/

Articles: https://signalsmatter.com/

Book (Amazon): https://tinyurl.com/pvpfmy8c

Matthew Piepenburg is a Partner of Von Greyerz and the author of the popular book, “Rigged to Fail”. Matt is fluent in French, German, and English. He is a graduate of Brown (BA), Harvard (MA), and the University of Michigan (JD). His widely-respected reports on macro conditions and the changing behavior of risk assets are published regularly at SignalsMatter.com