In late January, JWR, a major gold trading platform based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen suddenly collapsed, affecting tens of thousands of retail investors. With losses exceeding 10 billion yuan, or $1.4 billion USD, JWR was unable to meet redemption requests, causing hundreds of investors to demonstrate outside the company’s offices demanding their money back and prompting police intervention to maintain order.

If the past few years have taught investors anything, it is that the old playbook no longer applies. Markets that once moved relatively predictably in response to certain events or broader trends now seem to have decoupled from geopolitical flare-ups, policy shifts, and financial or economic stresses. From the outside, especially from the perspective of an ordinary working person with bills and taxes to pay, stock markets appear divorced from reality. This is particularly problematic at a time when real-world events are spreading uncertainty at a scale we haven’t seen in a very long time.

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.