Gold: The Alternative to US Dollar Dominance?

Hey and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. Very excited to be with you on this February 23rd for what, 5, 6 more days for the end of the month. Speaking of the end of the month, by the way, uh, I intend to do, guys, the, the community conversation with you for the whole community. Uh, now the end of the month I think is going to fall in the middle of next week. So that said, I'm gonna just push it till next Saturday, and I'll post something for you about it. But I'm open to your suggestions as far as topic. Remember, it's a community conversation, no geopolitics. So anyway, let me see who is here first. Welcome everybody! Then we'll jump into our very interesting topic today. So I'm going to be talking to you about the decline of the US dollar and the rise in the gold prices. What does it mean? Now, this doesn't happen in a vacuum either. Geopolitics and global finance are intertwined. So, and I'll explain few things to you as we move forward. But first, let me say hi to many of you. Alan Roy, good to see you as always. Karakulak, good to see you. Um, uh, Doris, good to see you. I'm sorry, Po Yansu, good to see you as always. Hamad Sidi, good to see you. Po Yansu, a Muslim Revert. Willie Holman, good to see you. Ching Chong, good to see you. I hope I pronounced it correctly, my apologies. Chanel, good to see you as always. Farid Amal from Quebec, yeah, bienvenue à la communauté ici. Wong KC, good to see you as always. Greatly appreciate your continued support. Casey Wong, as always, very, very appreciative to you. Uh, Coach Hoy Hoy, here he is, very, very, uh, an avid supporter. Coach Hoy Hoy has been with me since the beginning, so I'm very, very grateful to that. Somebody's trying to call me, I will call them later. So anyway, let's jump in into all the Taiwan. Still good to see you, Athene Wu, as always. All right guys, let's get into our topic here. So what I'm going to be talking about today is a very, very, uh, important— and by the way, before I forget, remember to join me. Let me share the link with you. Remember to join me tonight for my conversation with Dr. Wilmer Leon. Trust me when I say this, and this is not about the hype, whatever, it's something you want to hear from this gentleman here. He knows what he's talking about, and he's gonna open up your mind and eyes on really what's going on internally here in the US and how that translates to overseas. So, so I'll be having that conversation with him at about 1900 hours, uh, Central Standard Time, 7 PM, that is. So if you get a chance to join me, that will be great. I'm gonna put the link for you in the chat box just for those who— I know some have asked me to, uh, do it outside the screen here. I can't. The only way I can do it is through the chat box right here. So I'm gonna type it for you. This is a link to the YouTube, uh, where it's gonna be. So all you need to do is click on that in due time, uh, at 7 PM. All right, today's topic, and like I put in the description, whatever you may think The recent rise in gold prices. And why? It's because if you notice throughout the markets, to those who know a little bit about finance, anytime gold goes up, the dollar goes down. And sometimes it is tied also to— what is the third element that is tied to? Let me see your answer in the chat box. And again, you've been around long enough to know. Think about it. Gold prices up, the dollar down. There is another third element that is tied on. Oh, you got it, Kara Kulak, you got it! Oil. And this is why it's important to understand the link of why prices of gold going up and how is that tied to geopolitics. This is the whole reason why I made the decision to share this with you, because you need to know a few things. So anyway, so the gold price is going up supported by a weaker dollar. Okay, and of course the tensions that's going on in West Asia, which you all know geopolitically speaking. This is where you have now average people who know a little bit about finance, but mainly it's going to be the investors, okay, and the financial analysts. Those are— will be the primary individuals who's going to be questioning, asking the question. Where for me as an average citizen, I am not a financial analyst, and I am not an investor, but I do have some investments which I noticed, by the way, just this morning it went down because the dollar went down. So the question you're going to be asking is, can gold be the alternative to the US dollar moving forward? This is what I'm going to be addressing for you today, and there are some key questions we need to ask, and I prepared some questions for you guys here. For example, uh, as you see on the screen, because I have them on my own notes here, you know, can gold be the alternative to the US dollar? You know, that's straightforward question. Yeah, ain't gonna happen tomorrow. Let, let's just be clear about this, especially when I give you the history of the Bretton Woods, how long it took for the US to be the dominant. It's the same thing. But nonetheless, we ought to ask the question. Second one is What mechanisms— the question is not there, by the way, I just realized I didn't put that in— uh, what mechanism needs to be put in place to ensure the viability of gold? Because what I do mean by that— and some of you, by the way, put some, uh, comments about all this— money, we can print it all the time. You can't print gold. It's straightforward. Which makes it— which means what? It means that's the hard asset. Gold is the asset. Money, the fiat, can be printed. It's not. And this is part of our problem in our country, which most Americans have no clue as to why we are, we are accumulating so much debt to the point that I don't even know how it's gonna end. So third question, and this is very crucial. I found an analysis that I'm gonna share with you. But it is question for you to consider. Is the world— listen carefully, and you see it right there in front of you on the screen— is the world risking dependence on the strength of the US economy and the dollar? In other words, is the world running the risk of depending on the US dollar? That's another way of saying this stuff here was more academically worded. I'm breaking it down for you in a simple language. You you and I can understand. The bottom line to it is, is the world running a risk by depending on the US dollar? And the fourth question that I found very, very, very, very interesting is that, will the US go to war to protect the dollar? It's a question we can ignore, and we can assume that it will not take place. So, all right, let's, uh, before I'll do this, I am gonna share some headlines with you. Would you guys want to know a few things around the world. All right, let me see here. Uh, we'll start with the first one, and then I'm going to share some pictures with you guys. Uh, there's a gentleman here, he's a scientist, this gentleman here. Now you're looking at a, at, uh, name by— what's his name? His name is Rashid Al-Yazami. He's a Moroccan scientist. And by the way, uh, I give the, uh, credit of the picture to Moroccan News. That's where I got that picture from. Why is this important? You may consider, well, who cares about that? Well, till you know, of course. Moroccan scientists patented with fast charger for lithium batteries. So what you're looking at is that the Moroccan scientist Rashid El-Yazami has been granted now patent for a fast charging lithium battery, and he just obtained the patent from Japan Patent Office. I don't know why Japan, which just received it 2 days ago. And the patent granted him, the scientist that is, uh, uh, uh, because he was able to charge the lithium battery faster uh, in a nonlinear voltage. For those who understand engineering and all that, you know what it means. Technology used in electronic devices or electric vehicles. So you can just see why this is now going to be— and who's going to be the most beneficial from this? Which country do you think? Can you guys type in, in the chat box? And this is just an opinion, it's not a factual just an opinion. Which country do you think will benefit the most from this? Let me see what you have. Oh, you got it, Ace 1000! You got it, Phil! You got it, Phil! China. It's because they dominate the market. And this is why for us in US, we're gonna ban the access of the Chinese, uh, uh, uh, electric vehicles into the US market. So the same thing we did for Huawei, the phone. So, so China's EV is gonna benefit mainly from it. So, uh, second one, I have this one here. This is an interesting image. Uh, no, I'm sorry, not this one here. That comes after this one here. This might surprise you a little bit. I am not, because I live in the state of Texas. So, uh, here is what happened. A lot of Democrats— listen carefully, this will shock the rest of the country— a lot of Democrats in Texas are supporting now cessation, meaning leaving the United States. We'll have our own country, if I may use the term. So, and this was reported, by the way, right here in the United States by Newsweek. And, and, and I give the credit of the image to Reuters because You gotta give credit because that's the right thing to do. Newsweek magazine quoted the head of the Texas National Movement right here. His name is Daniel Miller, saying that tens of thousands of members within the Democratic Party right here in the state of Texas support the cessation of Texas from the United States. I'll be the first one to vote for it. It's about time, because what the federal government is doing for us? Nothing, just wasting our tax dollars. So, so this to me, it's a— what's the word I'm looking for— it's a telltale sign for what's coming. And if that to happen, Texas will be the first to do so. And I believe it will happen. I don't know in my lifetime, I don't, but it will eventually. It will. And those are, by the way, immigrants, uh, crossing the Rio Grande river, I think, somewhere around in the near Brownsville in the south. I've been there once just to take a look and see what it is. Uh, the last one I'm gonna share with you is this one here, guys. This is very, very important one, and this one has to do with— now, what, uh, what rare earth mineral are you looking at? What is that? Can anybody tell me just from looking at it? Let me see if you guys can guess on that one. It's certainly not gold. It's not yellow enough, right? No, no, no, no, no, it's not gold. No, no, it's not gold. Think about the second thing that is very, very important, especially, uh, I don't want to give a hint to it. Let me just see if you guys can guess. Like a cow fertilizer. No, no, no. I got it. You got it, it's uranium. That's what it is, is the uranium there. And by the way, I give, uh, uh, credit to Shutterstock for that picture there because it was used through another article. It doesn't matter, we're still going to give credit. So here's the thing about that, what you're looking at, only 3 countries— listen carefully— 3 countries have the half of the reserves of this, of the uranium. So, and those are considered the largest uranium producers, even though a lot of people think that the global reserve of uranium are believed to be scarce given the sensitive role it plays in nuclear power generation. And yet, no, there is more than what can meet the eye regarding this. And I found it very interesting because I want to tie it to our conversation, uh, that I'm going to be talking about today. So, well, here's the thing I need you to know. The largest share of uranium— so according to Oil Price, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada have the largest share of uranium with more than 50% of the global reserves of this chemical element. But Australia is among the most prominent countries with more than 1.7 tons of uranium, or 28% of the total global reserves regarding this one. So that's what I found very, very interesting. Uh, there is a list there, I'm gonna share the link with you later on, of the, uh, of the countries that have the largest, uh, uranium reserves. Uh, as, as I mentioned, Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, uh, it goes in order Russia, Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Niger, China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and the rest of the world. So I found it very, very interesting to share that stuff with you. All right, let's move on into our topic here. And what we're gonna be talking about today is the gold. Why is this important for you to know? It is important for you to know And again, I am not talking from the perspective of an investor because I am not— I am not a financial analyst or qualified advisor, financial advisor. That in my area. However, I understand a little bit of this because I have my own investments. So, and I kind of watch where the market is, you know, in addition to my guy who manages my stuff for me in Washington, DC. And I trust the guy, by the way, because the portfolio has been doing good all those years. So anyway, uh, what you're looking at, it's the gold prices as of today. As a matter of fact, it happened yesterday afternoon, but as of today, we'll go with, with today, Friday, uh, inched higher, uh, and, and, and, and the gold is on track to sort of, uh, cross the $2,000 mark, uh, $2,000 an ounce. And it did, because now it is at a $2,000 $25.7 per ounce, which is an increase of 1.7%. And again, I am not going to focus the conversation on the, the, the numbers, whatever. I am going to talk about the implications moving forward and why, why many countries around the world are going faster and faster in de-dollarizing. In other words, dumping or dropping or reducing the dependence on the US dollar. So, and this is when I asked that question earlier: is the world risking its dependency on the US dollar or economy? Well, relying on the US, uh, uh, economy to support global growth poses significant risk in my opinion. And by the way, I read some analysis briefly, they were short I read them just to get a, a, a different perspective, but they're all hinting at a different direction. One of them is saying that the US economy is doing great, which you and I know it's not true. And second thing is that China's economy is going into recession, which you and I know it's not true. So this is why I found this very, very interesting how, uh, and that's why I posed the question, is the world economy or other countries running the risk for that. Well, according to report, listen carefully, and I will put the link for you guys later on. The US economy is witnessing a surplus of jobs, which is a lie. That's not true. I live here, I see what's out there in the market. And it says consumers continue to spend confidently, which is not true. People are struggling in grocery stores because they are defining, they are deciding, what do I buy? Do I buy the necessity, whatever people eat, you know, the, uh, the, the— I don't know, whatever the necessities is. Uh, you ask me, for example, do I go grocery and buy milk? No, I don't, because I don't trust that milk, and I don't drink milk from the grocery stores. If I want milk, I go to the farm that farms, that's where I get it, and processed. So whatever they're— it won't matter because they're saying now consumer can do— can continue to spend confidently, uh, confidently, which is not true, while the stock market rolls higher. Yeah, but who's gonna benefit? Stock market ain't gonna benefit the average Joe, average Jane. So, and this is why I'm saying what the, uh, articles coming out of Bloomberg and, and Washington and New York and all that versus the reality of it. So of course, when you have high interest rate, what does it do to the loans that countries have borrowed money from the IMF? What is the best example we can give right now? Can you give me an example of two countries? That deals with the IMF loan as we speak? If you can think, I'll give you a heads up. Think of, uh, Central Asia and think of Latin America. Two countries. Uh, Taiwan still, you got it. Argentina, that's one. Which one in South— in, uh, Southeast Asia? You got it, Chanel. That is correct. Army with Harmony, you got it. Argentina. Second one, Pakistan. Alba, you got it, Pakistan. And now I just find out yesterday that now IMF is not going to release, uh, money to Pakistan yet. Why? Because they want to pressure. So, so this is where you see that difference as to why the reports coming out of Washington and New York are misleading. So, and, uh, and what he's saying, it says the article, according to it, uh, high interest rate and, and I quote here, high interest rate and strong dollar are a drag on the markets while China and Europe show no signs of taking the lead, which is true to a degree. It's just the idea for them to be saying that the US economy is, uh, showing a surplus and the Chinese economy is going into recession. I found that very ludicrous because it's not true. So, but here is the thing, before I move forward into a brief analysis on this, it behooves us to know at least the history of gold, because you can't assume a lot of people know the history of gold. No, even for me, I had to learn more about it because it's worth learning what's going on with how it's all started. So, and I'll provide you the link, guys, uh, to all, uh, the links that I, uh, because I have to spend last night, uh, researching, uh, certain key information for you to know. This is old, some, some old gold stuff, uh, but I'm gonna share brief history with you about gold. So the history of gold is long connected with money, but gold relinquished this role in developed economies after the outbreak of— can anybody finish the sentence? When did the gold relinquished this role? After the outbreak of what? Let me see again. Test your historical knowledge. And once again, remember guys, It's just for us to learn from each other, no more, no less. Not to put you in a spot, whatever. After the staying power, okay, World War— which one, Ayal? Which one? Uh, you're right on this, but which one? World War, uh, po you got it, World War II, because that's when it happened. So it relinquished its role after World War II, and at the end of the war What was created after it is the Bretton Woods monetary system, which is, by the way, it was a regime of fixed exchange rate that was created. The system of course broke down by design in 1971 when the US unilaterally ended its gold standard, which set the convertibility of gold and the dollar to US to be about $35 per ounce. Okay, this is, uh, uh, just for references, by the way, guys, a gold standard all often refers to the two, the, the two key periods in history. One, that is the classical gold standard, and that of the post-Bretton Woods system when the gold-backed or pegged exchange rate system. So And this is where that difference is. And, and I am not going to go into the details of the classical gold standard. And what, what I need to share with you is for you to understand that this history of gold is very important for you to understand. Why? Is because when we decided to get rid of the gold in 1971, it was for geopolitical reasons. So, so, but the logical question we ought to ask as we talk about gold: where did— where does gold come from? Because gold is dispersed, per se, widely throughout the geologic world. Its discovery occurred to many different groups in many different locals, or locales rather, and nearly everyone who found it was impressed with it back then, and so was the developing culture in which they live. So this is why it's important to understand. So when thinking about the historical progress of technology, for example, we consider the developments of iron and copper working as the greatest contribution to our species' economic and cultural progress, but it was gold that came first. Because gold— why is this? Because gold is the easiest of the metals to work with. So that is why it's important for you to understand. And of course, it goes way back to 2450-2600 BC, uh, in certain areas in Turkey where it was excavated the first time. Then the range of gold from their delicate jewelry got into you know, start to be the coins and so forth. And that's how the whole gold era evolved. And again, I'm just providing you a basic, basic— I'll put the links for you for where I got this information because it's a little bit long, and you can read it at your own time when you have, uh, time to do so. Yeah, I can't move forward, I cannot move forward without talking about Bretton Woods, because we need to understand Bretton Woods. By the way, what year Bretton Woods was established? Can anybody tell me the year? What year Bretton Woods was established? Uh, Karakulak, you got it, 1944. I have a picture from back then. I looked at the archives, believe it or not. It's a public, uh, domain. It's nothing sort of special for me. No, it's, it's in— if you know where to look. A lot of people do not know. And this is part— by the way, guys, just to share this with you, uh, when you hear somebody with a PhD and all that, you, you, you don't get intimidated. A guy with PhD is no different than you as far as intelligence. The only difference is that somebody with a PhD, you can count on them that when they start a project, they see it through to the end. That's all it is. As far as the intelligence, you have it too. So don't ever get intimidated by, oh, Dr. So-and-so. Who cares? You know, I, I— for me personally, most of the time I hardly ever mention my title, doctor, or whatever. I usually use it when I'm in Washington But again, I don't go to Washington anymore, but I don't care for that. Uh, so the archives, as I said, if you look at— if you know where to look for information, you'll find it. So this is an old picture from the archives about Bretton Woods. So we're going to talk about the creation of Bretton Woods, where the new international monetary system was forged by delegates from 44 nations in Bretton Woods. Bretton Woods is a location in Massachusetts That's where it is, in New Hampshire. That's to be exactly. And it was in July 1944, those delegates, uh, all of them, the 44, agreed to establish— listen carefully— to establish the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, and what becomes the World Bank Group. The system of currency convertibility that emerged from Bretton Woods lasted until 1971. And by the way, the image you are looking at, I give credit to Abby Fox, is the photographer who took that picture, and this belongs to the Associated Press. And this is during the, uh, monetary conference. That's what it was. So, uh, so Bretton Woods is important to understand it, very, very, very, very important. Why? It's because how the geopolitical system was set up. And I have, uh, uh, let me share another, uh, no, I have the picture. I found the picture for you. I saved it right there. What you're looking at, this is during the conference. This is the new, the when the conference took place in, in, uh, in 1944. All the 44 countries there. So, so the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference was held in 1944. And there is a lot of details about it. For us, suffice it to say that the importance of understanding all this has to do with how we, the United States, convinced those countries to say, listen, we're gonna have— you guys gonna have to agree to using the dollar for everything. And of course, these countries, because they were victorious after World War II, which you and I know, uh, uh, it wasn't the US that won World War II. You know, it's the truth. It's just the historical record has been manipulated, per se. And this is where, uh, the importance of understanding why. Now you see, uh, where the, the financial system is going and why the sanctions now became— had became the tool because we were controlling the financial system. Not anymore. I mean, it's still to a degree, but if you notice, more, more, more and more countries now are de-dollarizing faster and faster. This is why for me personally, and I speak for myself here, uh, when Argentinian president, when he was a candidate, was calling for dollarization— in other words, using the dollar— I was just shaking my head. But on the other hand, as one who works in Washington, I understand how the dynamics works. I understand how the game is played. I knew right there, I put the two and two together and figured, oh, he's been, he's been groomed for the position. And this is where we are. This is why the idea that now, uh, investors are wondering what is going to be happening. Well, the rise of gold to 4, uh, to, uh, 0.4%. That's how much it was. By the way, the next day it went up even further. The first one I shared with you was 0.7. Now I found another one for 0.45% or $2,044 an ounce. So all this highlights, of course, the decline of, of the dollar. Which was indexed 4th consecutive day. Usually that's a bad sign. You're going to be noticing the same thing for the German economy. And this is why the attention has been diverted from really exactly how the economic conditions, at least for us in my country here, in comparison to other locations. And this is why you see in reports and all the economic outlook is very bright and great, which it's not true. That is not true. That's the whole reason for it. So here's what I want you to know, at least few stats to put things in perspective for you. The dollar index, okay, and I, I'll provide you the links to all these guys, which measures, by the way, the dollar strength against the basket of currencies. When I say currencies, I'm talking about major currencies. Well, that index, what it shows is that the dollar fell by 0.54%, 0.54%, almost about 103.45 points. That's a drop. So, and during the same time frame, which looking about a week or so, a few days You know, what you notice is that the, uh, the dollar lost about 1% because of the global decline of the, uh, uh, the, uh, how much the dollar was, uh, accepted. It went down, but the decline was in bond yield. So the yield of the bond went down by about 1% because where is our money and all that stuff come from? Usually we borrow But how do we— we put bonds. But how long can you do this for? The dollar, in my opinion, ain't gonna sustain itself forever. We can't be living like this forever. We are at a $34 trillion debt. That debt will have to be paid one way or another. You can't just keep passing, kicking the can down the road. That ain't gonna work. So, uh, at the same time when the dollar went down, what did you notice on the global financial market? The euro went up by 1.45%. The sterling, uh, the, the British sterling, that is, or sterling or, or British pound, whatever they call that, uh, went up by 1.25%. Australian dollar went up by 0.56%. So that, that's to me the— even, even you don't hear much about New Zealand dollar, even New Zealand dollar went up by 0.62%. That just shows you, it shows you where things are headed. But this put it in perspective as to why you have more countries sort of a massive amount of gold. And I'm gonna share something with you here regarding the, the gold. It was a great article written by a gentleman by the name Mahmoud Youssef, and I'll provide you the link for it, except that it was written in a foreign language, so I didn't find it here. And of course, I'll, I'll, I'll see if I can get the link for you. I'll translate it, put it in link if it is translatable. Otherwise it's going to be in foreign language. But anyway, I got to give credit to where credit is due. So Mahmoud Youssef described, and I couldn't agree more with him, spot on, the idea of how the global economy is seen now. It's going to be paying close attention to the rise in gold prices. Why? It's because the time frame of it, it just happened the beginning of the year. And what does it mean? Usually the first quarter will give you an idea where things are. So the expectation of interest rate cut in a number of major central banks is because they can't afford it. Why? Inflation. Always remember that, which by the way, we are not disclosing the true numbers of inflation. Uh, the government said, uh, Washington said that the inflation went up by 3.4%. It's only 3.4%. That's a— that's, that's misleading. They didn't say that the 3.4% in addition to what already we have. So most likely our inflation is in a double digit. So, but here is the importance from this article that I gathered, which I, I found it very, very important for you to know. So according to Mahmoud Youssef, he argued, and I, I, I, uh, uh, checked this info and it collaborated with the data, uh, according to the IMF. Yeah, even IMF itself, uh, is, is confirming this because they can't lie about it. The world central banks have the value of $11.9 trillion, okay, in foreign currency reserves at the end of the third quarter of last year, which means towards the end of last year. The reserves in the US currency are about $6.5 trillion. The euro share of that is about $2.1 trillion. Now You look at two things about the gold, and two countries that comes to mind— which ones, by the way? Right away you should know it. Two countries that comes to mind the moment we mention gold. Can you type in, in the chat box which countries are— which those two countries are? China. Oh, oh, oh, uh, uh, HYYB, you got it. China and Russia. Now I did see someone else who put in, uh, China and India. That is also correct to a degree, except there is a difference between Russia and India when it comes down to gold. And that is where I noticed, uh, where that difference Uh, now who is this? This is not a real person, is it? No. Uh, Doc Oualaaloualou, okay, if you will be a little bit respectful, we will allow the conversation. But, but I have to disagree with you because that's not true. The US does not have the largest, uh, gold reserve. So let me just put that to rest. It's a lie. Uh, the whole idea of this, guys, is What is that picture of gold right there? Uh, the whole idea of this is that central banks led by China and Russia— do you know how many, how much, uh, gold they bought? They bought about 800 tons of gold in the first half of the year. First half of the year, at about 14% up from the corresponding half of 2022. So And this is according to the World Gold Council. That was announced. Now that means a lot of increase in gold. So, and this, by the way, uh, because you look at, you look at the top 10 countries, and this is where I'll challenge this person or this troll, whatever that is, who put that, that the US has the largest. That is not true. Here is, here is the I'm going to give you, uh, uh, an idea of— unfortunately, you won't be able to read the language, but I'm going to show it to you because it's only right for you to see with your own eyes, because this is stuff I'm not talking on top of my head. I want you to see it with your own eyes. This is Arabic language for those who understand the language. So, so here are the, the top 10, uh, uh, uh, uh, gold producer countries. China first with 375 tons, Russia 327 tons, Australia 313, Canada, uh, the United States 172, Ghana, Peru, Indonesia, Mexico, and Uzbekistan. So the US is not at the top. So please refrain and stop from saying what is not true, because you can't— I will not allow you to mislead my community here. So, so I'm gonna let this go this time, otherwise I will not allow this kind of misleading comments. All right, uh, let me continue my conversation here. So And this is what I— that I meant to say. Now let's not forget India, because you can ignore India into this. Why? Because of the jewelry. And India's gold, it has also some presence on the global market. So India topped the demand for jewelry, for jewelry, jewelry, but about 155.7 tons in the third quarter of 2023. That is an increase of about, uh, that is an increase from 146.2 tons in comparison to 2022. Okay, and this is what I want you guys to be aware of, because what I want to talk about basically is the link between gold and geopolitics. And this is what I'm gonna get into briefly before I'll take some questions from you. So Uh, the other question you all, you all ought to ask is why in this case Russia is accumulating so much gold. Well, the answer is simple. You know why? Because Russia and China have now officially ceased to use a dollar in any bilateral transactions. So the dollar, the currency, does not even exist for them anymore. So, and this is why I always argued regarding India issue with Russia as far as the oil shipments, because India was paying in rupees. But what will Russia do with the rupees? So the other alternative will be if Russia could ask India to pay in gold, that would be feasible. Uh, I don't know whether they make that arrangements or not. I, I'm not aware of that. So if you guys know, if you can share it with the community, that will be great to do so. So the idea that becomes now is to what degree now the decline of the US dollar is going to shape the global geopolitical trajectory moving forward. One thing I can assure you is that you will see more tensions arise in different parts of the world. I am aware of the one that is brewing right now in Asia. This is why I intend to go to Asia, and I intend to go to certain locations, uh, to, uh, not only see with my own eyes, but I, I would know what to do when I am there to not even confirm. I, I know this because I have my contacts in Washington. It's about ensuring that— is this where it's going? Because if it is, that will be one one, uh, tool the United States will have to use to ensure the dominance of the US dollar, which, by the way, it won't sustain itself forever. Our dominance, financial one that is, is coming to an end. Like I always say, it's not going to happen tomorrow, but it is. Most Americans do not know what lies ahead financially, and this is why, guys, As a friendly advice, this is not a financial advice, a friendly advice because you're the community, I care for you guys. Make sure to start to think in terms of about your hard currency, the cash. If you have money in the bank, take that out, keep some of course, and think of about hard assets. This is one thing about gold, why gold lasted all those years. From way back till today is because it's tangible asset. It's not backed by— because what is our currency backed by? By debt. And no economy will sustain itself forever that way. Because to me, it was the question of which is, to me, why will we pass, this debt to the next generation. It's not their fault. They didn't get into this. They didn't want to send money to, uh, whatever countries that we want to just send money to. You know, even for me, I don't agree with that. I am not in favor of that. Yeah, the US government collect taxes and all that stuff, which by the way, it was never in our Constitution that we have to pay taxes. Most Americans don't even know. They There is nothing in the Constitution, and I believe I have the book right there. Constitution, short, it's not that big. Not big. There is nothing in it that says we have to pay taxes. So, so it's just the idea. Food for thoughts for Americans who are watching this one here. So becomes a question now to tie it to how the financial aspect is tied to geopolitical outcome. And the way you think about this is through Conflicts. Why? Because conflicts allow the opportunity for the circulation of money. How so, you may ask? Well, of course, you go back to World War I and II and so forth, how certain, uh, entities sort of, uh, survived militarily, that is, because they were producing certain types of weapons Production of weapons energized the economy. The same thing with it. I mean, you look at our history from Truman to Trump, just look at that time frame, and it was because the conflict, the creation of conflict, especially after 1952. Why 1952? Because that's when the decision was made that we don't have to win a war, because we never been in a war, real war. We've been in conflict, but the decision was made back then that we don't have to win it, we can just drag it. Dragging it, that's how that money was made. Even you have to do it on, uh, on credit, because that's what we did in Iraq. The whole money we spent in Iraq wasn't from— it was on credit. And where do we borrow money from? Does anybody know? Where did the United States borrow the money from? Which country? Let me see if you guys can type it, and I'll challenge whomever says no, no, no, we never borrowed money. No, we did, because I was aware of it. Uh, Hong Wan, you got it. Good to see you, by the way. China. You got it. Hairless Ape. China. Po, po, China. I think— whoa, you guys got it. We borrowed from China. And this is what I'm saying, from 1952 moving forward, that decision was made. Of course, in 1971, we made sure, let's move the gold out so the dollar would not be backed by, by, uh, or attached to gold altogether. Then we found another alternative for that, or another mechanism by which to cement the dominance of the dollar, and that was— can anybody finish the sentence? What was the other mechanism, especially after 1973? Let me see what you guys can come up with. I know it takes a while. Oil! Barry, you got it! Bear— petrol dollar. Petrodollar. And this is— that is correct, Hamad City Oil. And that was the issue. Now, why we are concerned as to what the Saudis have just reached, the agreement with the Chinese that Saudis will be willing to accept the Chinese yuan for the oil transactions. In Washington, it was a major concern. Why? Because that's the beginning of the end for petrodollar. All the transactions around the world, at least after 1973, were made in US dollar. Now you're seeing things going different trajectory. Russia and China, as I said, they officially— they announced it. As a matter of fact, just to, uh, because I always like to show you where things are, because this way, uh, this way, like I always say, I'm not talking on top of my head here. Uh, here is a— I'm gonna share with you an image. Uh, I just get it yesterday through my Twitter feed. Share picture. Right there. Let me make that big for you guys so you see it right there. Russia and China have completely stopped using the US dollar in commercial transactions. Look at the dates— on February 20th, the 20th, just 3 days when I got this one. So when you think about it this way, the Chinese and Russia are done. Now the Saudis Well, for us, the Saudis, because Saudi Arabia is a major oil producer. But on the other hand, everything goes through the dollar, and this is where our concern. And Saudis have also another asset, which is gold. The Saudi concern is that they have so much gold here in the US. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw about $120 billion worth of gold bars. I saw it.. And I asked, of course they never disclosed to me that belongs to the Saudis. And I did ask them, I said, I'll give you the name of some countries and just blank, uh, if you blank, I know that you— that's the country you're referring to. Because they didn't want to go on the record disclosing that. So I gave them one country first, then I gave them Saudi Arabia second, and they blanked. So I knew it was the Saudis. $120 billion, I saw it. So the Saudis, and now or in a delicate position. Why? Because they are concerned that we might freeze that gold right here in the US. Same thing happened to Germany. We have the, the gold that belongs to Germany. Look what the United Kingdom did to two countries, India and Venezuela. So why aren't they giving them back their gold? Yeah, France, even France. France doesn't produce gold. Doesn't have gold mining and yet is the fourth largest gold reserves. How the heck did he get that gold from? Or where did he get that gold from? So you got the idea. And this is why, this is why it becomes, uh, sort of problematic in, in a way, uh, that's for us the dollar, it is, uh It's just a matter of time, you know. Now, there are those who are screaming that, oh my gosh, the Chinese yuan is going to take over the world. China doesn't want its currency to replace the dollar because they know the problems that comes with it. When you become a global currency like that, there are issue— there are also issues that come with it. China doesn't want that. What China wants, at least to my opinion, and I intend to check on this when I'm in Asia, is that they wanted their bilateral transactions to be conducted in the yuan. Most countries are willing to do that, even in BRICS. In BRICS, except now for India. India is going to have to decide what it wants. India is one of those tough, uh, is in a tough position, I understand, but you can't be wishy-washy. You You either this way or that way. India cannot be playing this forever. At some point, it's going to have to come to an end. You, you, you can be— so India will have to decide what I want. And this is why now there are those calls as to why not Indonesia, bring Indonesia into BRICS, why not Malaysia, bring Malaysia into BRICS, you know. Yeah, we all saw what happened with Argentina. They shot themselves in the foot. It's not the Argentinian people, it's the system that is. Yeah, it's just the problem that, that's when I see things moving forward. And when you have a gold that goes up in value and you have countries that are amassing massive amount, you start to think what could be next, what lies ahead. And this is why for us Fomenting tensions, for example, in, in Asia will be important for the wrong reasons. Why? It's because Asia is the economic hub of the global economy. It's not the West, it's not the EU, even G20 countries, whatever. No, no, which is nothing but a facade anyway. It's nothing, uh, so this is where I see the challenges that lies ahead. But geopolitically, you're going to see more tensions, by the way. So don't be surprised. Don't be surprised. Even with this Ukraine conflict, once the dust settles, something else is going to pop up. I am, I'm concerned about Asia, knowing what I know. It's what's been planned, if I may use the term, for, for that one. So, so the question becomes is, what will the countries that have their gold stolen, what will they do? You know, don't they have the right to— I mean, actually, in my opinion, that countries that hold that gold should do the right thing and return the gold to the rightful owner or owners, whatever that might be. That's to me the common— but again, there is no common sense sometimes in geopolitics. Look, look, look, just what— how countries behave, or my country in, in, in that case. So that is part of where this problem is, and this is where I see the concern, especially in Asia. If I am to take this financial aspect of it and try to put the geopolitical map of Asia and see, will they ever intertwine? You know, you look at the Philippines, you look at Indonesia, you look at Malaysia, Australia, Of course, what's going on in South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, you name it. All this ain't gonna be happening in a vacuum. Why? It's because in Asia, that's the hub, that's the economic hub where things are. Asia's demand of energy is up. So, and, and will it be a time where those transactions are paid for in some other currency beside the dollar? Most likely, because that was the same arguments two individuals made before, and they end up being neutralized. One in Iraq and the other one, which other country can you guys guess, is in Africa. Oh, thank you, Florin, Florin Cosmo, your live videos are great. Thank you so much, thank you very much, man, appreciate it. Which other country in Africa? Yeah, you got it, Jeremy Dodger, Libya. And Libya for two reasons. One of them is because they called at that time for maybe we need to use a different currency or a gold or something else beside the dollar. And second one has to do with Europe depending heavily on the oil from Libya because the oil in Libya is good quality, and that's what was used for jet fuels for Europe. That is the reason for why that is so. So, and this is where I see the big concern, but mainly my big concern is in Asia. Following closely of what's taking place, I can just see why we're already pre-planning the tensions and so forth, because to maintain the, the dollar dominance. But it's gonna come to an end one way or another, so All right guys, I'm gonna take a question or two, but before I'll do this, I am gonna have to say thank you to some members. Some thank you to those who, uh, got me, uh, uh, support the donation for the Asia trip, especially when it comes down to, uh, PayPal. Didn't get a chance last time. I didn't forget it, it, it just, uh Okay, where is my password here? Right there. Uh, wanted to say thank you to Robert Denny. Thank you so much for your donation on PayPal, truly appreciate it. I also want to say thank you to Paul Mugar, uh, Dongi Su, uh, Morris Griffith, Nathaniel Jackson, and Mir Akbar. Mir Akbar was the first person to uh, because he sent me a, a, a comment on Rumble, and, and that's how when I set it up, I, I— so thank you so much all for your, uh, support. I also want to give a shout out to, uh, where is the Buy Me Coffee? Buy Me Coffee here, that's for the, uh, no, that's PayPal. Okay, Buy Me Coffee. I want to just say thank you to all those who bought me coffee for the last 48 hours there. That one day probably I might do the whole thing for just give a shout out to everybody, so why not? So yeah, uh, uh, Drag88N, that's, that's Josiah's great, buys me coffee every day the same way. TC Quan buys me coffee every day. But there are others, you know, that, that just— some of them do it on a daily basis, others do it once a week. So no, no exception there. So I want to give shout out to Jerry Picha, thank you so much, uh, for, uh, buying me coffee. Mustak 616, Mustak Ahmed, thank you so much. Uh, Raycom 123, thank you so much. Uh, SCT, thank you so much. Uh, truly, truly appreciate it. And to all those who, uh, donated for the trip— which, speaking of the trip, I need to, uh, show you where we are because that's the transparency that I promised, because that's how it works with me. Of course, it's, uh, I might even do a breakdown for you guys, for you to see, uh, what the cost is, because it's really— we'll run about almost, almost $8,000 plus when you consider the, uh, not only just the airfare and, and because the airfare, the lodging, and if I am to have the videographer because I am not a videographer, I don't know where to start with that. All I know is I can provide my own analysis and all that. I mean, I can do the phones, but, uh, I'd rather, I'd rather have a professional, someone I know, by the way. So, and, and I'm very grateful that he's willing to, to do this for me, but I have to sort of give him some, some money for it because he's giving time for me to do that. So, so, uh, let me share the screen with you because I need you to see where we are. Dashboard. There it is, guys. So this is where we are right now. So I have a long way to go, uh, I don't know, maybe some Sumerian, someone out there that would be willing to support this, um, I would be very, very grateful for. So, but it is what it is. So for now, we just work with what we have and we just go, go from there. So, so I want to give my thanks to, uh, Tatang Guaman from Bali. Yeah, bought me coffee from Bali and extend the invitation to visit Bali. If, if, if I am, I will do it, of course. TC Juan once again buys me coffee on both locations. Very grateful. Peng Yu, thank you so much. Dragon, thank you so much. Ong, uh, SCT buys me coffee on both. Uh, I0807 Young, thank you so much. Uh, Ting Lim, thank you so much. Truly, truly appreciate it, guys. I am very, I am very grateful, and I want you to know this. I don't take it for granted. So, all right, let me see a question. Uh, once again, remember to join me, uh, tonight at, uh, right there, I'm sharing with you at, uh, for my conversation with Dr. Wilmer Leon. It will be a very interesting a conversation I'm going to have at 1900 hours. All right, let me see a question or two from you guys, and I am going to sign off. And next week we're going to do the community conversation, and, uh, I'll, I'll put some questions for you just to see what you guys would like me to talk about. Or just not me, it's us, it's the community talk. So no geopolitics, I will not cover geopolitics Okay, I'm scrolling all the way up to see here if there's a, a question, and we go to— oh, question from Francis Tango. Good to see you as always. How much do China still have US debt? As far as I know, is $8 billion. That's come, uh, that, uh, has that become less? Not to my knowledge. The last one I checked was about $1.2 trillion. Then it dropped to about 1.1, and Janet Yellen, when she visited, was for the reason to ask China to buy more bonds. So it is, uh, it is over a billion to my knowledge. So unless it drops recently, I'm not, uh, uh, that's the last number. I'll be happy to— I'll take a look at this, I'll check it out. I know where to look for that exactly, and I'll just put a comment in the community So if you get a chance to see it, I will do that. But China, by the way, China is the second US debt holder after— what's the first country? Which is the first country that holds US debt? Can, can you guys type that in? First country, which by the way is going down. It's going down too, and by design, because we, we wanted that. Oh yes, YT, John, John Smith, New Zealand, HYY. You guys got it. Alan, Alan Roy is Japan. You're absolutely correct. You're absolutely correct. Uh, Yang Tu, thank you. You're most welcome. You are most welcome. Okay guys, I'm gonna sign off here. I have to— oh, Franny, good to see you as always. Franny's been an avid supporter of— not this one here, this is Franny right here— avid supporter. And last time I remember you asking Franny about which language to learn, you know, do the Chinese, both Mandarin and Cantonese, and do Arabic language if you could, so for your kids. So, so that is, uh Oh, let me see. Uh, John Smith, New Zealand, you are most welcome, truly appreciate you. Uh, see, you, you wrote $800 billion, is that for— I don't know, maybe that's not tied to the conversation for that one. Anyway, anyway guys, I hope you find this very informative and I look forward to seeing you next time. Once again, remember to join me, for the, uh, the conversation tonight with Dr. Wilmer Leon. As always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.