Here’s the Simple Truth:
- Some people who owned silver and gold sold during the collapse.
- Others held and are in no hurry to sell.
There’s a marvelous lesson on how to Play Life for minimal losses – which is ou r stock-in-trade around here: Have a firm idea of when you will sell any time you buy an asset.
If you had a $100 price for silver (and you were chasing paper) then you might hav e gotten out whole with a good profit. $150, though? Too high.
But as one reader told us (paraphrasing): “Only use I have for my silver to payment or property taxes a little closer to the End of the World.”
God, we have smart readers, huh?
PM Buyers: They’re Back
This is when people who sold at the bottom may feel like shit.
Gold and silver are climbing sharply today as investors step back into precious metals following a steep sell-off, with gold on track for its largest one-day gain since 2008 and silver also rebounding strongly, a classic “buy the dip” response after prices had plunged and left both metals technically oversold; this surge reflects renewed safe-haven demand and bargain hunting amid lingering macroeconomic uncertainty — even after the recent crash, many bulls see attractive entry levels and continue to hold long-term confidence, which is driving fresh buying across markets for gold and silver alike.
Gold heads for biggest daily gain since 2008 as investors step in after steep selloff | Reuters.
If you did sell at the bottom? Look at is as Tuition. If you recognize and embrace it? It’s an education.
Reader Note for the bandwidth impaired:There’s a cartoon just below here: a teacher at a chalkboard pointing to a single word written behind him — NEWS. That’s the lesson most people miss. News isn’t history; it’s curriculum. It’s the raw input fed into millions of human I/O loops at once, shaping what people fear, buy, sell, argue about, and prepare for next. Today’s headlines are tomorrow’s behavior. Markets, politics, social unrest, even personal decisions all trace back to what people were told mattered right now. Miss that, and you end up reacting instead of positioning — which is how average lives (and portfolios) are manufactured.
Hand Me the Chalk
Class begins today with assignments for our many students on the theme of how “news” seeds the future. Events in the now determine what happens next, got it?
At 10 AM (Eastern) we will have a “duck and cover” exercise as the Labor Department sends the JOLTS report. Job Openings, Layoffs, Terminations, and Separations report. (It will be on the test Friday when the federal data follows.)
History Project: A short paper on whether Bill Clinton and the missus were a great pair of public servants or simple contemptible. Use as source: Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify in House Epstein investigation – The Washington Post
Extra Credit paper: Did the “Wobblies” ever really leave Portland? Cite Mayor of Portland, Oregon, Calls for ICE to Leave After Protesters Are Tear-Gassed – The New York Times,
Students in the Comparative Religions program: Be ready to answer 5 reasons why Negotiations with Iran ‘absolutely destined to fail,’ says historian | CNN. This will be a timed quiz.
Chinese history majors, listen up. Be ready to explain how China is “one-upping Reagan” in China reveals futuristic Star Wars-style space carrier able to evade defences & strike enemies from edge of atmosphere.
Sociology group: Take notes on EU overreach or reasonable response being displayed as Paris prosecutors search Elon Musk’s social media platform X offices | AP News.
Pre-Med Track Students: Be prepared for a round table on gerontology and aggression based on Trump urges Republicans to ‘take over’ and ‘nationalize’ voting – ABC News.
And a word from your Teachers: It’s getting hard to do our jobs in a cross-current crazy world:Trump Says He’s Seeking $1 Billion From Harvard University – Bloomberg
For Class Tomorrow: ADP and Econ students are advised to monitor markets for Buy the Rumor or Sell the Rumor in advance indicators.
Around the Ranch: Value of Randomness
Life Application Note:
There will be an article coming (few weeks out) (at https://time-enginering.com) that will explain how I use AI to super-schedule my workdays.
The payoff, as you might expect, has been ginormous. I get (even more) done, in less time, and with more method.
Which has what to do with randomness? Well…
Human I/O Loop
Humans are like any other compute system: We have an input mode. We learn, research, observe, converse and compare inputs with others, and so forth.
Then we do our “compute loops.” We test-fit, analyze, model expected outcomes, and finally hit the analogs of “Do” or “Run” and our decisions are laid down on the substrate of reality at a time-code called “the now.”
Last – but not least, we do this as output. An action-take, a call made, a decision to buy or sell, and so forth.
Here’s the Road to “Average”
Credit this pull quote to “one of them old Greeks” – Socrates:
“…and if I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living,”
In short, if you don’t want to remain average, you have to level-up your thinking and do so every day.
During my “daily introspection break” (which was between washing my hair and doing the pits in the shower today) it struck me that random inputs are extremely valuable.
They come on-ramps and off-ramps for new directions in thought.
AI Helps Immensely
Because I use AI to schedule my life (down to the minute) it was a simple matter to increase the amount of “random good thoughts” to add into the Blender of Life. Starting today, top of my schedule are “10 useful things.”
To be clear, there’s a choice here: Real random inputs (Universe loves to talk through random) or (my pick) themed randomness. Pick a zone to improve, like “work” and roll that way.
Here’s today’s list:
- Most outcomes are driven by constraints, not effort.
- Context switching costs more than sustained work.
- Systems fail at interfaces, not cores.
- Add 30–50% to time estimates for friction.
- Small daily actions compound fastest.
- Comparisons matter more than absolutes.
- Fatigue disguises itself as indecision.
- What’s unmeasured still carries risk.
- Simple tools win when used consistently.
- Urgent but unclear = not ready yet.
I’ll be running with these additional input for a while. Because most people (when comes to new ideas or the application layer of Life, don’t spend much (if any) time consciously selecting best inputs.
The Carrot and the Stick
I like to block these ideas as a “carrot” in my life. Things that taken (over time and with reflection) will conspire to improve my breadth of thinking (and thus, action) over time.
I don’t have a “stick” yet. But, it’s easy enough to see how that could work. You pick a personal fault (like time-wasting or getting-distracted, and do 3-5 specific items that you rotate through. Each becomes a “daily exercise in self-improvement.
Sounds silly to discuss in a column, right? But the space between our ears is like a temple – seat of the soul. GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) plays there, just as it did in a Commodore VIC-20.
How many people do you know who are on the daily improvement path? For me the answer is fewer than a dozen. Which is shockingly low. And fixable.
Tomorrow: Peoplenomics will have its “Break in Case of Iran War” report under glass on the $40/year subscriber side. Benefits always go to our “high-rollers” first.
Write when you find time,
Read the full article here