At the end of November, we came across a very interesting interview by Tucker Carlson, that included many important points and warnings for gold investors, especially Americans. Carlson and his guest, Chris Olson of Battalion Metals, covered many gold-related topics, but what really grabbed our attention was their detailed discussion of the many dangers and traps that lie in the Gold IRA industry, a drum we have been beating loudly in the recent issues of our Digger.

Global markets are defying conventional wisdom and historical patterns, as asset classes from equities to commodities are rallying in unison. This represents a rare and very telling signal of deeper economic imbalances. Beneath the surface of this “everything rally” lies growing investor fatigue with fiat currencies and a flight toward real assets.

At a time where economic uncertainty looms large - thanks to geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures, amongst others – investors have turned to tangible assets like physical gold and silver for stability. However, with the increase in popularity also comes an increase in unscrupulous characters offering questionable bars and coins, and counterfeiting has become a greater concern more than ever. Enter Primorum™, a new, groundbreaking premium bullion product line offered by BFI Bullion in strategic cooperation with other industry leaders.

In mid-September, Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Officer Mike Wilson surprised a lot of investors and market observers by announcing a shift in the bank’s strategic thinking. Radically reassessing the traditional “rule of thumb” of asset allocation, the CIO now recommends a 60/20/20 portfolio strategy that includes 20% in gold. He highlighted that this offers a more resilient inflation hedge at a time when US equities are offering historically low upside over Treasuries and investors are demanding higher yields for long-term bonds.

Gold has been on a meteoric rise for quite some time now – over 90% gains in 5 years – and thanks to these gains, it has gone from being an “old man’s investment” to the “hot ticket”. This surge in popularity, however, just as with any product that enjoys significant market demand or high value, has also attracted the attention of bad actors of all sorts and counterfeiters in particular. Fake bars and coins are nothing new, of course, but what is new are the methods being used and the quality of the fakes, which is now much higher than what we used to see in the past. Trying to keep pace with the counterfeiters is not an easy task for any company operating in the metals industry, but as we’ll explain in this article, at BFI Bullion, we have good reasons to remain confident in our ability to remain a step ahead.

In March, the European Commission introduced a major new initiative, claiming it as game-changing for the bloc’s growth and global competitiveness. President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the “Savings and Investment Union” (SIU), a plan that’s aimed at harnessing fresh capital—primarily from private sources—to fund strategic investments across Europe. The EU has been struggling for long time with inadequate public funding that fails to cover its chronically excess spending, as was highlighted in a report by Mario Draghi in September 2024. The bloc is estimated to need an annual investment of 750-800 billion euros by 2030 to modernize its economy, to pay for all its ambitious plans and initiatives, and to maintain its foundational socioeconomic model. The former chief of the European Central Bank warned that the current path the EU is on is one of “managed and gradual decline” that is “condemning itself to a slow agony”, and unless something changes, the Union is very likely to suffer long term economic stagnation, as well as serious challenges in terms of geopolitical relevance, security and independence.