Rick Rule sold physical silver at $80/oz in early 2026 after buying at $20 when it was “hated,” following his core ethos of buying hated assets and selling loved ones, despite potential for silver to reach $110/oz.
Rule views gold as a lifetime savings asset since 2000, maintaining USD liquidity but saving in gold, with his estate likely making the final sell decision as he doesn’t see a reason to exit while faith in fiat currency remains weak.
Real inflation runs at 8-10% while 10-year Treasury yields sit at 4.2%, creating a 3.8% real loss for lenders, signaling the return of bond vigilantes as the long end rises despite Fed control of the short end.
Mining companies and banks use $3,000-$3,500/oz gold price assumptions for pre-feasibility studies, indicating bullish sentiment despite current prices, while silver producers remain profitable at $50/oz, suggesting underestimated net present value of future cash flows.
Rule’s mining stock rating criteria based on market cap to net present value ratio hasn’t changed much despite skyrocketing metal prices, as he runs NPV calculations at $4,200 gold for base, stress, and bonus cases.
Institutional investors are being dragged into gold by its over 100% performance in 2025, despite general lack of gold knowledge, while retail gold investors remain a small percentage of the population as faithful believers.
Oil and gas requires $60/barrel to break even including cost of capital, with chronic underinvestment of $1-2 billion per day cannibalizing the industry, with consequences starting in 2028-2029 for this capital-intensive business.
Venezuela needs $100 billion and years to restore oil production from 800,000 to 3.5 million barrels per day, while Iran faces $40 billion in deferred capital and personnel challenges requiring long-term investment and stability.
China has been accumulating huge quantities of silver for 25 years while ramping up refining facilities and buying from global miners, preparing for a potential silver standard to back the yuan domestically as part of its strategy to move away from the dollar.
China opened gold vaults in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, tying together Shanghai and Hong Kong markets for gold-silver trade settlement to create a Chinese version of the Bretton Woods agreement with Hong Kong as the gold depository.
Chinese government promotes gold ownership to citizens with accounts available from 500 yuan, targeting absorption of potential trillions in savings as Chinese savers typically save 35% of their income.
China could implement a domestic silver standard for the yuan while using gold for international trade settlements, leveraging its exchange control regime that separates domestic and international markets to maintain a tightly controlled 15:1 gold-silver ratio.
China recently changed licensing arrangements for silver and strategic metals like tungsten after using its relationship with JP Morgan to control and suppress silver prices for 25 years while accumulating massive quantities.
China’s CIPS settlement system is undermining the dollar as its use in trade settlement declines, with an estimated $82 trillion in unrecorded dollar transactions potentially coming onto the market.
Geopolitical policies and monetary system issues are driving the dollar down, with the end of the fiat dollar system likely requiring a return to a gold standard and reduced government spending.
Silver’s strength in China may indicate a move towards a gold-silver ratio of around 15, as established by Sir Isaac Newton in 1720, reflecting historical understanding of silver as money in China.
China’s investments in Venezuela are threatened by US actions including the kidnapping of Maduro and seizing oil tankers, straining China-Venezuela relations and accelerating de-dollarization efforts.
Panic selling indicator spiked Friday typically signaling a pivot low and bounce, but fear may extend into Monday as investors process weekend news, potentially creating a washout low instead of immediate recovery.
Retail traders show 2:1 buyer-to-seller ratio in SLV and GLD even as precious metals plummet—a bearish contrarian signal indicating a crowded trade near rally’s end.
Natural gas experienced 54% collapse in 1-2 days after a 159% rally over 6-7 days, demonstrating extreme volatility that makes it exceptionally dangerous for traders.
Microsoft formed a double top with big breakdown, yet retail traders are buying the dip attempting to pick a bottom—a strategy that historically backfires during major technical breakdowns.
Energy stocks (XLE) hitting all-time highs with high dividend yields while crude oil prices decline creates a dangerous divergence signaling potential trouble ahead for the energy sector.
Bitcoin shows breakdown signals toward $50,000 as market attempts to run stops and pierce lows, though bargain hunters are stepping in to buy dips at support levels.
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