The “smart money” was right about gold… Last time this happened, gold stocks soared 129%… The White House eyes antitrust laws for Big Tech… In the mailbag: Is dignity dead?


Gold stocks just had their best week in six months…

Take a look…

Chart

It’s a chart of the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), which invests in 49 of the world’s largest gold mining firms.

As you can see, after falling 24% since April, shares in GDX rallied 4.4% last week.

We put gold’s turnaround on your radar last month…

Master trader Jeff Clark had just spotted a buy signal for gold – one that has never let him down in his more than 30 years as a trader.

As we told you, the banks, institutions, and merchants who have a vested interest in the underlying price of the commodity – aka the “smart money” – had just turned as bullish on gold as they’ve ever been. And mom-and-pop traders – aka the “dumb money” – had hit record levels of bearishness.

More from Jeff…

The smart money had trimmed their bearish bets on gold to just 2,000 contracts. That’s the smallest short position EVER. Whenever bearish bets dip below 100,000 contracts, the smart money is getting bullish. And traders ought to be looking to add to their gold holdings.

Jeff hasn’t been this excited about a coming gold rally since December 2015…

That’s when the price of gold bottomed at $1,050 an ounce, after falling 45% from its all-time peak of $1,917 an ounce in August 2011.

And as Jeff has been telling his readers, there’s an eerie similarity between what happened back then and what’s going on today in the gold market. Jeff…

Gold was trading at its lowest price in six years. The smart money had cut their net short position to just 5,000 gold futures contracts. That was their lowest short exposure since the Commodities Futures Trading Commission started publicly releasing the data in 1986.

The banks, institutions, and mining companies who short gold futures contracts to hedge their exposure to a declining gold price… were as bullish as ever on the future price of gold. I just knew – without any doubt – that the price of gold was headed higher over the next few months.

Jeff started buying gold and gold stocks in October 2015. He had to wait two nerve-wracking months before the gold market bottomed. But he was glad he stuck it out.

Over the next seven months, gold rallied 30%. And GDX rallied more than 129%.

Those are the kind of gains you can expect when the next gold rally kicks off…

Just be aware that it’s unlikely to be a straight shot higher.

The Fed has its September rate setting meeting on Wednesday. It’s expected to raise short-term interest rates by another quarter point.

Higher interest rates make dollar deposits more attractive relative to gold (which pays no interest). So gold could have a bumpy ride this week. But as Jeff says, he’ll be treating any price falls as a buying opportunity…

Any decline in the gold sector from here will help relieve the short-term overbought conditions and almost certainly form a higher low on the daily charts. Ultimately, that’s bullish. I expect we’ll add even more exposure to the gold sector when the decline takes place.

Meanwhile, the war between the White House and Silicon Valley is heating up…

As we’ve been telling you, “shadow banning,” “de-platforming,” and outright online censorship are growing threats.

It’s something we’ve experienced first-hand here at Legacy Research – the new publishing alliance between Bonner & Partners, Casey Research, Palm Beach Research Group, and Delta Report.

It’s even gotten on the radar of President Trump, who tweeted this last month…

Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/ Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others.

The president isn’t just tweeting about this. Over the weekend, Bloomberg broke the news that the White House was mulling an executive order to look into what’s going on. From that report…

The White House is considering a draft executive order for President Donald Trump that would instruct federal antitrust and law enforcement agencies to open probes into the practices of Google, Facebook and other social media companies.

Bloomberg News obtained a draft of the order, which a White House official said was in its early stages and hasn’t been run past other government agencies. […] The document instructs U.S. antitrust authorities to “thoroughly investigate whether any online platform has acted in violation of the antitrust laws.”

Antitrust laws exist to stop massive corporations from stifling competition…

They’re what the feds used to break up John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil in 1911.

They’re also what forced AT&T to let go of the Bell System – which provided local telephone services in the U.S. and Canada – in 1982.

And it’s hard to argue that Google and Facebook don’t pose threats to competition.

Google drives about 90% of all internet searches. Facebook boasts about one-third of the world’s population as its user base.

These tech giants have tried to fend off an antitrust suit by saying they’re private firms… and that meddling from Congress would go against free market principles.

But as colleague Dan Denning has been telling Bill Bonner Letter readers, this argument won’t be enough to stop further scrutiny. Dan…

You could argue that these companies deserve their market positions. They make products that people find useful. If someone wants to beat them, go for it. That’s how the free market works.

But a monopoly situation is no longer a free market. And politicians on both sides of the aisle smell blood in the water with Big Tech. I guarantee you that these companies will be at the center of the political debate during this year’s midterm elections.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments in future dispatches.

In the meantime, make sure and check out Dan’s Declaration of Digital Rights. It’s a set of proposals we hope will mobilize the American public to wake up about the threat Big Tech poses to their freedoms.

And judging by the responses in the mailbag, it’s been resonating…

You might’ve seen some of the emails your fellow readers sent in on Friday about Dan’s proposal. And they keep coming in…

But before we get to that, some answers to Thursday’s question: Are you getting into pot stocks?

Late last year, Doug Casey’s team emphasized the impending pot stock surge as the Canadian govt. was about to allow recreational pot use. I took advantage of it, and made over 120% of my investment on mostly Canadian pot stocks.

After the peak in January, I sold all of them when they hit my trade stops around 25-30%. In the fall, I jumped back in, but only about 10% of the money I had put late last year. I took the profit when they went up more than 60% in value. Planning to hold onto a small number of these for the next several years.

– Brian L.

I’m in several pot stocks, and up about 80% on one. I was against it, but my friend’s daughter was on opioids. She was having side effects and was still a 10 for pain. She tried CBD oil, and sometimes she has no pain. Her max pain now is a 4 with no side effects, and she’s back in school.

– James R.

I started with an approximately $80,000 investment on the seven and now eight pot stock investments [Crisis Investing and Casey Report editor] Nick Giambruno recommended. My portfolio now sits at $179,000. Thank you.

– Dave J.

Now, here’s some more of the feedback we’ve gotten about Dan’s Declaration of Digital Rights…

Dan, stupendous idea and plan. Thank God somebody has the brains and testosterone to bring this to the fore. I hope you start a fund and millions of Americans contribute small sums to build up a war chest. I am sure we will need it when we go up against the Left and the wimpy moderates who want a powerful central government. Live free or enjoy your chains.

– Chris H.

I am very concerned about the government destroying citizens’ private rights. I will sign any petition and support the revolution.

– Joyce M.

Give me digital dignity or give me death! Noble, but I’m afraid it’s too late. For all the reasons of which Bill Bonner continuously speaks, we already live in a totalitarian empire. And that empire is in the business of keeping the voice of dissidence silent. We might as well try to get the Statue of Liberty renamed the Statue of Dignity.

– Mike B.

DO IT. Please follow through with your goals and do whatever is necessary to put a stop to this.

– Jon B.

Liberty for all! The sad portion to this story is our liberty is in jeopardy. Yes, with the technology we have today, we do seem to have a digital police state.

– Al J.

I would support this type of legislation, but it doesn’t seem likely that these sort of rights (especially privacy) will ever be granted without some type of online digital revolution, similar to America’s Founding Fathers who wrote their desires from an oppressive government.

I hope there are people out there who realize they’re being boxed in by Big Tech and Big Government the more they share, the more they comment, and the more they click, but I know they never will. Instant gratification without any sense of personal dignity is the 21st century American way.

– Charles C.

Yes! I had pretty much given up on the idea that someone of stature would stand up for “we the people” on these issues. Congratulations on the strength of your convictions! Please keep up the good work!

– Patrick T.

I’m in full support of Dan’s efforts to protect the privacy and liberty of the American public. I truly fear our trending towards a police state.

– Mike L.

Would you sign Dan’s petition? Do you think it’ll work? Tell us why at [email protected].

Regards,

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Chris Lowe
September 24, 2018
Lisbon, Portugal

P.S. On Thursday, October 18 at the Legacy Investment Summit, I’ll join Bill Bonner, Doug Casey, media personality Glenn Beck, and Emmy Award winner John Stossel for a roundtable discussion about the themes we cover here in the Cut.

With unfiltered insights you simply won’t get anywhere else, we’ll focus on helping you survive what we’re calling “the assault on ideas.” Space is limited, but there’s still time to book your seat.

For more details… including how you can save $1,000 by attending the Summit… click here.