I am seeing more and more articles about the imminent demise of the dollar. In my opinion the dollar will still be around for quite a while, so please do not take panic decisions regarding dumping your dollars. This does not mean sit on your hands.

The threat to the dollar is mainly that the countries which use dollars as a reserve currency are divesting of them, more because of the political use of the dollar than anything else. 

Banks are arbitrarily closing accounts, causing dollars to be reallocated. 

Much is going into gold and precious metals and other non dollar assets.

Encourage free markets with limited and fair control in order to maximize production and competition.

Whilst it took many years for the fall of Rome to occur, through a process of entropy, the manifestations we see now in the US bear a significant similarity to those experienced in Roman times.

1. Economic Decline: The Roman Empire in its later years faced economic decline , including a shrinking tax base, inflation and debasement of the currency. They relied heavily on slave labor which became expensive and hard to find, leading to falling agricultural production. 

As people are forced out of business by Covid regulations and laws, the tax base in the US shrinks. The large conglomerates are able, by special exemptions and lobbying as well as the employment of tax experts, to minimize their tax liability. As the real economy slows, the government receives less funding and takes on more borrowing. The future cost of this is not a consideration as long as it can be pushed into the future. In my opinion, the future is now.

2. Trade and commerce: Long distance trade routes continued to operate in the Roman Empire, but as the Western part of the Empire collapsed, routes became unsafe, banditry erupted and as a result trade collapsed. Local trade and self sufficiency became imperative.

If we watch the imposition of laws against us now, we see fifteen minute cities being implemented, restricting movement, the ‘suspension’ removal of local flights, (France), the increasing difficulty in obtaining visas for travel. Does this look similar to the Roman Empire?

3. Urbanization: The fall of Rome led to the decline of the cities. Some were abandoned, some had a significant reduction in population and as a result economic activity.

One need only look at cities, such as Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc. to see the sad disintegration of the cities. Much of the manufacturing capacity of these and other cities has been exported to, say, China. Was this deliberate destruction of the US economy?

4. Self Sufficiency: With the breakdown of central authority and the decline of long distance trade in the Empire, communities turned to local production and self sufficiency. Subsistence agriculture and barter became much more prevalent.

We deal with numerous clients that have either set up or have moved to agricultural holdings, where they have prepared to take electricity supply, water supply and provision of food into their own hands. 

The destruction of agriculture by way of contaminated water, vaccination of animals, use of pesticides, culling of cattle, chickens and pigs is being ramped up. WEF inspired restriction of the use of water is on the agenda too.

Are we being pushed into an agrarian way of life, but the resources are being removed? Does the idea of everyone being herded into fifteen minute cities under total control make sense? 

5. *Feudalism and Manorialism: Became the norm, feudal lords or nobles owned large estates and provided protection to the peasants who worked the land. The economy became insular and localized relying on agriculture for local consumption.

What worked then, I don’t believe is the plan for now. Because they now have almost complete control electronically and that requires 5G connectivity. Their idea is to huddle us together, give us the bare minimum to survive and track every move we make. AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven programs will watch our social activities and communication and the robots we are starting to see will monitor physical activity.

*(A political, economic and social system in medieval and early modern Europe; originally a form of serfdom but later a looser system in which land was administered via the local manor.)

6. Decline in manufacture: As the Roman Empire declined, so did manufacture, the large enterprises shrank or disappeared. The emphasis shifted to local enterprises and small scale production.

Manufactured Covid and its consequent ‘pandemic’ has assured the collapse of manufacture by small and medium business. Large corporations have been favored and have benefited considerably by the actions of governments. 

Our only response should be to boycott the businesses we are being directed to and establish our own supply chains. Banking using the current system is becoming intolerable by design. Alternates are available and continually under threat. 

7. Currency Devaluation: To finance the government of the Roman Empire and its military, the government debased its currency by reducing the precious metals content of the coins. This led to inflation, debasement and loss of confidence in the currency. This further disrupted trade and economic stability.

The US dollar has lost 98% of its purchasing power since inception. Since 1971 when it was removed from the gold standard, there has been no real control over the spending and proliferation of ‘available’ dollars. We know that the more currency printed, the greater the inflation and hence devaluation of the currency, down the road. 

We are at the dead end of the road. I don’t believe there is much road left to kick the can down before we see dire consequences as a result of the negligent policies of those concerned.

Gold and Bitcoin

Bitcoin to Gold relative strength indicates further strength of gold against bitcoin.

Gold and Silver Stocks

Our Gold v HUI indicator is showing a little uncertainty this week, with the indicators flattening as physical gold gains slightly on the stocks over the week.

Gold and Silver

The gold and silver prices on the five minute charts have been all over the place. The monthly and quarterly charts show a steadier downturn, now being slowly converted into a recovery. 

The thirty dollar smash this morning on gold and seventy cent take down of silver look awful on the five minute charts, but are hardly a blip on the monthly and quarterly charts. 

This appears to be directly attributable to the strength of the dollar as a result of the interest rate increase yesterday.

Gold to USD chart

The interest rate hike yesterday spiked the dollar index over 101.00, it has subsequently returned to the 100.7 range, having touched 100.6. The dollar gyrations moved the gold price in a range of ten dollars and silver about twenty cents. The real impact was this morning when the dollar went up to 101.40. See above.

Look at the Gold & Silver Charts

Gold’s low of the week was $1,943.00 and the high was $1,982.00, now trading at around $1,944.00.

• The monthly chart for Gold is a hold, looking neutral.
• The weekly chart remains an ‘out’ but indicators are turning up.
• The daily chart is in a hold.

The low for Silver this week was $24.09 and the high $25.14, trading around $24.12 at present.

• Silver on the monthly chart remains a hold and is looking more positive.
• The weekly chart has given us a buy signal this morning.
• The daily chart has given us a buy, is looking a little overbought, but still a hold.

Our partner has stock of both gold, silver and Goldbacks in our vaults available in Panama.

Please contact us for more information.

On the Stockcharts.com charts, the blue vertical lines are our proprietary system buy signals and the red vertical lines are system sell signals – for information purposes only

Please contact us to arrange the purchase and storage of your gold and silver requirements in a safe, insured, location outside of your jurisdiction.

If you are interested in an overview of Fort Kobbe, you may want to have a look at this video: Mike Brown, Director, Fort Kobbe, International Vaults, A DotCom Magazine Exclusive Interview

This is my interpretation of the market and is not to be taken as financial advice. Before making any buy or sell decisions I recommend that you consult with your professional financial advisor.