Posts by ironstag8

dustyheron5 said:I’ve been looking at this—stock prices are seeing a slight dip despite poor results. They actually produced 7.7 million ounces of silver but only sold 5.5 million. 😂

It’s either stuck in the smelters—or they did this on purpose 😉 because they're betting on a spike in the silver spot price. (I'll be interested to see if that actually plays out.)

They'll probably end up following E. Sprott's lead 😉

lonehawk5 said:..so I've started buying... both gold and silver😁
Surely I'm not about to flip to the dark side, right?😍

Silver at $32.60
Gold at $734

The metals are bright and shiny, after all, so they can't exactly be the "dark side." ☕

analogharbor44 said:In a situation like that, I’m grabbing my piece and getting what I need, no biggie!

Look, if you walk into a shop with a shotgun, the owner is probably just going to hand you your change—it's not like they're going to call the cops immediately, especially since lead is basically just scrap metal anyway.

analogharbor44 said:Did bankers back in Thomas Jefferson's day really have CDSs and derivatives?

I wouldn't even try comparing things from 200 years ago to what we're dealing with today. Sure, human stupidity and greed stay exactly the same, but that's about it. Paper money isn't going anywhere, period. It might eventually get swapped out for digital currency, but then what? You'll just be sitting there waiting another 100 years for that system to crash too!

Look, inventing a newer, shinier pair of shears or a more efficient way to slaughter sheep doesn't change the fundamental reality: the sheep still gets sheared and the sheep still gets slaughtered.

Why shouldn't you draw those parallels? Human nature hasn't evolved one bit—and neither has the core machinery of the financial system. That goes for 200 years ago, 500 years ago, or even 1,000... it's all the same pattern.
Do you honestly think that just because we live in "modern" times, human idiocy and corruption have somehow vanished? Does being "modern" mean diseases, wars, or scams are suddenly impossible? Does it mean all the chaos and misery humans have endured throughout history can't happen in this era? Not a chance.

The point here isn't about how long you wait—it's about whether you're actually prepared for the moment the current system finally buckles. Maybe you believe this whole setup can limp along for another century without any major tremors, and hey, that's fine if that's your take. Time will eventually tell who was right.

lonehawk5 said:Ha-ha😛

You're getting ahead of yourself.
I have a feeling it's gonna take a hell of a lot longer for this kind of money—you know, actual paper cash—to completely vanish from circulation.😁

I’m not assuming paper money will just disappear overnight; rather, this current version will eventually collapse and be replaced by something else—just like it has happened countless times before. And during that decay process, plenty of people are going to get screwed over. Most people act like sheep, content to be sheared and slaughtered indefinitely.
This entire financial setup—which certainly isn't some new invention—is fundamentally broken at its core and is essentially destined to fail by design (and no, that isn't an accident; there is a whole crew profiting from the chaos).
Throughout history, many have seen through this, yet the vast majority of people in any society seem to fall into the same traps set by various bubbles and "institutions" or big banks... all driven by greed, selfishness, and corruption.
The greatest achievement of these architects of destiny is that they’ve convinced the sheep that this is perfectly normal—that these are just inevitable cycles we can't fight. People believe the system is fine, and they trust the very shepherds who are shearing and slaughtering them.

Thomas Jefferson
Quincy:

if the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their money, first via inflation and then via deflation, the banks and corporations that emerge around them will strip the people of their property until their children wake up homeless on the very continent their fathers conquered.

Quincy:

the banking system is a stain on all our constitutions, which, if left unaddressed, will lead to their total destruction... and I truly believe that banking institutions pose a greater threat than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money today to be paid by future generations... is nothing more than swindling the future on a massive scale.

lonehawk5 said:They don't give a damn.
The cash in those accounts is right there for the taking, and honestly, it’s way too easy to wash it into something else (I've got my sources on this😁)...

Sure, they're visible—as long as you have enough power to run a monitor.

And they're easy to swap, provided there's actually someone left willing to take them.

The thing is, both the electricity and those buyers are going to become increasingly scarce.

Patrick Moore3 said:Fair enough 🙂
Financing that consumption is exactly why we're stuck. Those debts have to be paid back now... While money flows toward debt repayment instead of the actual economy, we'll just be spinning in this endless loop.

It's garbage. Politicians were basically buying GDP growth on credit... It helped them win elections while they kept spending, but now that GDP has to be paid back with interest!

But how? That money doesn't actually exist; it has to be printed. This entire fine system is built upon a foundation of debt, and frankly, that is a pretty shaky foundation to build anything on.

Melissa Sanchez17 said:Controlled inflation might actually work—but that’s assuming a huge chunk of people don't get absolutely fleeced in the process. The catch? You'd need politicians to actually pull it off, which takes a ridiculous amount of time and a whole lot of discipline—most importantly, finally stopping spending more than you actually have 😉. If I recall correctly, hardly any nation has ever managed to pull that off; most just spiral into massive inflation or full-blown hyperinflation until the entire monetary system collapses. What we're seeing right now—on a global scale, I mean, the endless CTRL+P $ , CTRL+P € , CTRL+P everything else strategy—really smells like we're heading toward that second option.

To me, that sounds a lot like controlled dosing, except the addict is the one deciding how much they take.

Sandra Sullivan said:Pretty interesting read.

But he totally misses the alternative: a complete systemic collapse, a massive depression, and the cherry on top—probably World War III.

Honestly, inflation feels like the less painful option.

And why bother mentioning an alternative? What kind of alternative did Ancient Rome have right before everything went south? Their only "alternative" was watching some barbarian tribe march right through the gates—which, incidentally, happened alongside rampant inflation (you know, the constant debasing of silver and gold content in their coinage) and the systematic destruction of their financial infrastructure. The only real solution for a system like this is to let it fall apart. Inflation isn't a fix, and it certainly won't save us.

Anthony Evans78 said:If I were as articulate as this guy, I’d probably say something like 🙂

"I hope you didn't bet the farm on this, Dawg. These people are going to print money so aggressively it'll wake the dead. They're going to print like absolute maniacs—nonstop, relentless, until their eyes bleed.

The money supply will expand through swaps, bank bailouts, corporate mergers, fixed Treasury yields, and genuine negative interest rates. They'll pump it out through unsecured bank loans, payroll tax cuts, and eventually, they might just drop literal piles of fiat cash from helicopters. They won't give a damn what anyone thinks. And here is the reason.
Because this is the end of the line, my friend. There is no accountability after this point. There won't even be a history of it. No one will be left to track exchange rates, or document the corruption and chaos, and nobody will be left to worry about deficits, GDP, or the national debt of any country under the sun. The. End. Does anyone complain about how Rome debased its currency at the very end? Not a soul. But the people pulling the strings back then took what they could, grabbed a vineyard, and sat back to wait for the Middle Ages to roll in 700 years later.
That is the nature of a singularity. Once you pass through it, everything loses its meaning. Nothing we consider vital right now will matter once we cross that event horizon. No one will remember, no one will write it down, and no one will ever be held to a standard again. Ever. So yeah, they'll print like the unhinged terrorists they are. They have nothing left to lose and potentially something to gain—maybe a single dollar, maybe an extra day, or a slim chance to escape with a piece of the loot. Whatever advantage they can squeeze out for themselves and their elite cronies, they will go all in. Watch for IT, Dawg. It's happening for real this time, just like Donkey Kong. and When The dust is settled in a generation Henac it's going to have become another unbelievable episode among The ages of men."

Look, Colleague Silver—when you lay it out like that, you sound absolutely unhinged. I mean, we all know the historical truth: dramatic, cataclysmic collapses simply don't happen. No empire, no socio-financial order, no nation-state has ever truly fallen. Wars? They've never occurred. Every single fiat currency in history remains perfectly healthy and robust, and—as proven countless times over the centuries—piling up massive deficits is actually the ultimate roadmap to prosperity and bliss.
And if you want my strongest argument for why today's little "crisis" is nothing more than a standard cyclical hiccup with zero impact on daily life, it's quite simple: this is the 21st century. In this modern era, such things are technically impossible. This financial Titanic can't sink. It just physically cannot.

rapidorca8 said:Can someone explain why the dollar is tanking right now and where this is even heading? Like, is this just some election-driven manipulation?

I don't see things getting any better over in Europe.

I thought I was being smart buying some EURUSD at 6.16, but now everything is just sliding. I was really hoping it’d hit at least 6.5.

Thanks.

Look, your focus should really be on gold rather than the dollar—but even so, take a look at this chart and see if you can't draw your own conclusions about the direction and the "why" behind it.

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Harold Martin10 said:It’s because of certain claims—stuff like 'gold can't be overvalued,' or 'gold prices have been manipulated for 2,000 years and will stop in five years,' and so on.

From what I can tell, shadow isn't even claiming that gold and silver aren't solid investments right now; he’s simply debunking the flawed logic some gold and silver enthusiasts use to try and talk people into buying up precious metals.

For instance, the idea that the global financial system is on the brink of total collapse and there's zero chance fiat currency survives—but somehow, we won't see any gold confiscations or a Third World War, instead everyone will just collectively wake up and say, 'Hey, this cash is basically worthless paper, let's start trading in gold,' suddenly making all these gold bugs 100x wealthier overnight. I mean, where exactly are you getting that crystal ball from? 🙂

history.
History tends to loop back on itself—mostly because people rarely bother to actually learn anything from it. ☕

neondriver5 said:If they were to buy in at these current prices—which have basically just been flatlining or dipping for the last six months to a year, sitting around $1,600—after having sold it off when it was $200? That would be the idiocy of the century. For a central bank to make that move now would be absurd.

I get it. A small-time speculator can pick up some gold at these levels and bet on a short-term rally. But for a central bank to step in and gamble that, after ten straight years of climbing, the price might finally take a dip? Really??

It's pure idiocy. It’s like something out of a slapstick comedy where everyone loses their minds. ☕
And let's not forget how unpredictable global markets can be.
The real idiocy here is that we don't hold any gold, that we sold off our reserves, and that while everyday Americans see their wealth leaking out through the cracks, the Government couldn't care less.

Following the news yesterday that they’re slashing their US debt holdings by one-sixth, the Federal Reserve announced today that they intend to buy gold worth roughly $1 billion in an effort to bump their bullion reserves from 12% up to 15%.
Given where gold is trading right now, this strategy should push the country's official stash from 98 tonnes up to about 120 tonnes.

Reports came out earlier this week showing that China's gold imports via Hong Kong reached 102 tonnes in April—that's a massive 60% increase compared to this time last year.

I was reading that our folks over at the Federal Reserve have pumped up the reserves to 14 billion euros. It's highly unlikely that those idiots (the leadership there...) would even consider buying gold.

Patrick Moore3 said:Didn't miss anything... You just picked a moment when buying silver in USD was a steal, so obviously that looks profitable.
I'm talking about a different window—a time when silver was overpriced. Anyone who bought then? They've been underwater for 30+ years compared to someone who grabbed paper back then.
It’s all about timing... even paper can be a solid play depending on when you jump in. 😉

Fair enough... It's rough, yeah, but this isn't the first crisis and it won't be the last...
Then again, maybe now is actually the perfect time to play the game. 😍

A lot of people are gonna get hit—those who see it coming and those who don't... just some more than others...

Good luck with your investments, ironstag8. All the best... 👋

I hear what you're saying, especially if you're looking at this strictly through the lens of paper assets. But I’m viewing it through a different prism altogether. You have to admit, though—even from your perspective—holding paper almost guarantees a loss in any scenario, whereas holding physical precious metals (PM) just results in fluctuations of profit or loss measured against paper. Physical PM held 500, 100, 40, or even 10 years ago still holds its value today, while paper from those same eras has dwindled down to essentially nothing or something negligible.

Patrick Moore3 said:Didn't miss anything... You just picked a moment when buying silver in USD was a steal, so obviously that looks profitable.
I'm talking about a different window—a time when silver was overpriced. Anyone who bought then? They've been underwater for 30+ years compared to someone who grabbed paper back then.
It’s all about timing... even paper can be a solid play depending on when you jump in. 😉

Fair enough... It's rough, yeah, but this isn't the first crisis and it won't be the last...
Then again, maybe now is actually the perfect time to play the game. 😍

A lot of people are gonna get hit—those who see it coming and those who don't... just some more than others...

Good luck with your investments, ironstag8. All the best... 👋

You aren't wrong, but there is a massive distinction between one crisis and the next. What happened with PM in the early '80s is incomparable to the crisis we are facing today. I’ll lean on historical analogies again here, because clearly, too many people forget history unless they are forced to repeat it.
The Roman Empire faced crises until the "big one" arrived and wiped them out. Byzantium had its share of turmoil before the final collapse. Even the Spanish Empire saw instability before its eventual downfall... there are countless smaller and larger examples, but the common thread of ruin can always be found in the collapse of the financial system (much like what we see today with money printing and the abandonment of PM), which inevitably leads to total systemic failure.
The exact same thing is happening now with the dollar-based financial system. Back then, the solution to the BlackRock era crisis was essentially "BlackRock II," which really just bought more time. That "solution" was basically just taking the brakes off—removing the PM requirement—and by the early '80s, that paper car without brakes just sped away, seemingly leaving PM in its dust. But we all know where a car without brakes ends up: either hitting a tree or flying off a cliff. Even if it runs out of gas before the crash, it’ll eventually stall out and be overtaken by a well-maintained vehicle (physical PM).

So, to wrap this up: yes, crises happen, but every once in a while, a massive crisis arrives that dwarfs the minor ones. In those moments, from a financial standpoint, physical PM is the only thing worth holding.

Patrick Moore3 said:Didn't miss anything... You just picked a moment when buying silver in USD was a steal, so obviously that looks profitable.
I'm talking about a different window—a time when silver was overpriced. Anyone who bought then? They've been underwater for 30+ years compared to someone who grabbed paper back then.
It’s all about timing... even paper can be a solid play depending on when you jump in. 😉

Fair enough... It's rough, yeah, but this isn't the first crisis and it won't be the last...
Then again, maybe now is actually the perfect time to play the game. 😍

A lot of people are gonna get hit—those who see it coming and those who don't... just some more than others...

Good luck with your investments, ironstag8. All the best... 👋

Getting screwed is a certainty. Honestly, this isn't the time to be gambling around with your capital; it feels a bit like standing on the edge of a geyser and peering into the vent. You can take a peek a dozen times, but you never know exactly when that pressurized water is going to blast you right out of the hole.
I’ve said it before: speculation just isn't my game. My only real goal is preserving what I’ve already built. Whether an ounce of gold or silver hits $100,000 is frankly irrelevant to me. Even in this fiat-driven world, I’m making enough to live comfortably, regardless of whether the entire financial system collapses fifty years from now. The question is *when*, not *if*.

Good luck to you as well during these chaotic times. 😉 I just haven't quite figured out the best way to mock, look down upon, or insult you yet 🤔
I'll let you know once I've come up with something.

Gerald Ramos56 said:It’s not that I’m particularly obsessed with what you personally believe. It’s more about the patterns I see—the endless rationalization, the blind faith, and that specific kind of condescension people show toward anyone who doesn't think exactly like them (usually once they realize mocking or insulting someone isn't actually getting them anywhere).

I believe there's a philosophy PDF tucked away somewhere on this forum—you might want to ask some of the more seasoned members how to track it down.

Gerald Ramos56 said:It’s not that I’m particularly obsessed with what you personally believe. It’s more about the patterns I see—the endless rationalization, the blind faith, and that specific kind of condescension people show toward anyone who doesn't think exactly like them (usually once they realize mocking or insulting someone isn't actually getting them anywhere).

Honestly, at this point, it seems more likely that blind faith is actually an unwavering trust in paper currency, centralized systems, and political leaders—rather than my actual stance on gold and silver.

Gerald Ramos56 said:It’s not that I’m particularly obsessed with what you personally believe. It’s more about the patterns I see—the endless rationalization, the blind faith, and that specific kind of condescension people show toward anyone who doesn't think exactly like them (usually once they realize mocking or insulting someone isn't actually getting them anywhere).

Hmm, I actually enjoy engaging with people who disagree with me. If I had truly insulted someone, I suspect I would have been flagged by a moderator already. As for the term "sheep"—if that's what you're implying—it wasn't meant as a slur; it was intended to describe a certain prevailing mindset. Sheep crave the herd and follow leaders blindly, which usually results in them being sheared or slaughtered—a pattern that, if you look closely at history (not just in monetary terms), repeats itself across the masses time and again.

Patrick Moore3 said:My bad... didn't realize you already asked about that one! About that photo? Honestly, I think the smart move was the guy who bought silver in '64, dumped it for $50/oz in 1980, 😉 then waited three years to buy that same silver back at $5/oz and held it until today... 😁

Same goes for whoever bought silver at $50/oz back in the 80s (worth $141/oz today, maybe even $10,000 based on some crazy shadow price 😁)... They probably learned their lesson and won't touch base metals ever again. 😁



Just gotta be realistic. Everything is a commodity, even cash. You just need to know when to swap one asset for another. Some people nail it, some don't. Getting tunnel vision, ignoring everyone else, and looking for excuses from higher powers? Doesn't get anyone anywhere.
I enjoy reading your stuff on these boards and I'd love to see you make bank trading metals... but if you just stay stubborn and keep buying without thinking, you could wreck your savings just like those folks back in the early 80s.

You've hit the nail on the head. If you haven't noticed by now, you're winning with silver and gold while losing with paper assets. Now, if you want to speculate, go ahead. Buy, sell, play with fire... do whatever you like. It’s not my priority, nor do I have any grand ambition to become a billionaire. I make enough to live a perfectly decent life and continue building my precious metal stash. If you can't see that we are living through incredibly volatile times for managing money, then please, let the unfolding reality convince you rather than me.

And hey, thanks for worrying about my wallet, but I honestly believe it's the people who refuse to see the absolute mess we're currently in who are going to get burned.

Gerald Ramos56 said:The bottom line is, you're just plain wrong.
The real question is how many other misconceptions you're still clinging to.

Alright, fine—if you say so. It seems like splitting hairs is your favorite pastime.
But honestly, why are my personal beliefs even on the table? What on earth do they have to do with gold or silver?

Gerald Ramos56 said:The idea of transmuting lead into gold isn't just some theoretical pipe dream; it’s actually been proven to work in practice.

...but it's also practically useless for anything meaningful. ☕
Nice try though, skydiver.

Exactly. We’re talking about those untouchable elites—those shadowy figures who operate behind the curtain without any accountability whatsoever. It’s essentially a collection of sociopaths, most of whom are practically on their deathbeds, yet they still indulge in these delusions of grandeur—playing at being secret societies, pulling strings of control, and orchestrating the distribution of wealth and influence. They hand over actual authority to these "sheep" who genuinely believe they’ve made it to the big leagues—people who think this whole setup is some grand, impenetrable mystery that's far too sophisticated for the average American to grasp. Honestly? It’s actually quite transparent if you take a second to look closely at how the gears are turning. While the masses are busy following the script they've been handed—convinced they're actually in charge—the true architects just sit back and watch. And as we can clearly see, there is certainly no shortage of people willing to play the part.

Paul Peterson4 said:Yeah, the whole silver story is pretty fascinating. They say a modern car uses roughly an ounce of silver, and high-end models can take two or three. Then you've got all the electronics, medical gear, and whatnot. If the math holds up, and we keep burning through it at this rate, we could run out of mineable silver in maybe 20 years once everything reachable is dug up. Of course, recycling is always an option.

Following that logic, the value of silver could easily multiply. The real threat would be if it becomes too expensive for industrial use—basically, if someone invents a synthetic substitute that’s cheap enough to actually work.

There's also a massive amount of chatter about how silver prices are being manipulated right now to keep them artificially low. It's highly likely that a huge chunk of those ETFs claiming to offer "silver exposure" are basically just gambling on price movements without actually holding any physical metal.

Some of the hardcore physical collectors are predicting prices will go straight to the moon, which is probably over-the-top optimistic. Still, it wouldn't hurt to pick up some coins and tuck them away—right now, the price is still pretty low, especially when you look at it compared to gold.

A synthetic material? You might as well join the army of alchemists who have spent all of history trying to conjure gold out of thin air.

Paul Peterson4 said:Yeah, the whole silver story is pretty fascinating. They say a modern car uses roughly an ounce of silver, and high-end models can take two or three. Then you've got all the electronics, medical gear, and whatnot. If the math holds up, and we keep burning through it at this rate, we could run out of mineable silver in maybe 20 years once everything reachable is dug up. Of course, recycling is always an option.

Following that logic, the value of silver could easily multiply. The real threat would be if it becomes too expensive for industrial use—basically, if someone invents a synthetic substitute that’s cheap enough to actually work.

There's also a massive amount of chatter about how silver prices are being manipulated right now to keep them artificially low. It's highly likely that a huge chunk of those ETFs claiming to offer "silver exposure" are basically just gambling on price movements without actually holding any physical metal.

Some of the hardcore physical collectors are predicting prices will go straight to the moon, which is probably over-the-top optimistic. Still, it wouldn't hurt to pick up some coins and tuck them away—right now, the price is still pretty low, especially when you look at it compared to gold.

It isn't allegedly or probably—it simply is. ☕