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[Music] Welcome, viewers, to Thonth in the year 2026. This is an opportunity for investors worldwide, under the battlefield of World War III. This is a war where we might not see large-scale troop engagements, but rather a new form of warfare that will impact global assets. Where does the opportunity lie if we are to seize it for portfolio growth and our survival? Today, we are honored to have with us Professor Thaweesuk. We must thank the professor for gracing us with his presence today. Professor, hello. >> Yes, hello. >> Professor, we are currently in the midst of World War III, aren't we? How different is it from the past, from World War I and II? >> Uh, in terms of its inception, it's not very different, but in terms of the mode of combat, we can see that it's quite different, quite a lot. >> This time, we won't see large-scale troop movements, but we will see the formation of conflict. We are in the period of formation, of creating conflict. And we will have a few points of war around this world. And at this moment, the whole world is still watching the major battlefield directly between the United States and Iran. This is a juncture where we see in the current era, where the severity might be greater due to the significant difference in combat capabilities compared to the past. And the combat technology is quite different. But what is the same is that right now, there is an economic and financial crisis, and a banking system crisis. If we know world history, from another perspective, we are not saying that World War I was caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but from another perspective, Mr. Thanawat, it is that before World War I, there was a bank system shutdown for about 6 months, and a trading system shutdown in the stock markets in both Europe and America. The reason was that European banks, whether in England, France, or Germany, had lent to the Ottoman Empire and lent to the Russian Empire, and there was a default on those bonds. This caused a ripple effect, impacting the banking crisis in England, France, and Germany, who were the lenders. Therefore, the bankers designed it so that a larger conflict would arise to transfer the risk from the banks to the people of each country. >> So, this time, did the origin of the war also stem from the banking sector? >> This time, it stems from two things: the banking sector and the rise of new technology. Currently, it's in a race, what do you call it, a horse race, where they have to measure who can overtake by a nose. And if we look at the big picture analysis, we will see that this year will be the starting point of entering a new industrial era. And entering a new industry is an interesting starting point. Mr. [host's name], it is that the United States and China will go their separate ways. >> Yes. >> In terms of technology, which we will discuss in more detail later. >> Yes. In reality, besides trade wars, tariff wars, and power grabs, what other origins or weapons will they use to fight in the future that are concerning? >> Uh, in terms of using violence, and unseen things like infiltrating countries around the world, and causing economic crises globally. Most countries want their currency to weaken, but we have seen that in the past 2-3 years, there has been a phenomenon of dollar depreciation. >> But if we compare the dollar with the baht and other currencies, we will see that the dollar has clearly depreciated, and it has depreciated even more severely when compared to the price of gold and some commodities like silver and platinum. >> Yes. And will the opportunity continue to weaken, or will we see a shift from the United States? >> Both can happen. It can happen that they become a new superpower again. >> That means they have to win the war with Iran. They will be able to stand strong again, and the rejection of the dollar from elsewhere will decrease. First, they must overcome or manage this economic crisis. This is not an easy round at this moment. >> Yes. In your opinion, between fighting Iran and resolving the US economic problems, which should be the priority? >> It's a matter of solving them concurrently, because right now, the problems within America's banking system are clearly showing its vulnerabilities, right from the beginning of the year. Initially, I thought it would happen around the second or third quarter, but at the start of the year, we've already begun to see it. >> Therefore, it will be a catalyst for Mr. Trump to do something to regain his position as the number one superpower. And that includes strengthening his power in terms of war. >> Yes. The problems in the US banking industry are starting to appear, but are they at a point where they could erupt into a major, widespread problem? >> Hmm, I think the scale of damage is quite high. At this moment, there are two underlying factors behind the problems in the US banking system. First is the US Treasury bonds that banks hold. Normally, when we deposit money in a bank, the bank doesn't know what to do with it, so they deposit it in government bonds, which are considered the safest. However, with the interest rate hikes, which were surprisingly fast in the last hike, taking only 18 months to increase interest rates from 0.25% to 5.25%, which is a very short period. And as we discussed last time, I believe the Federal Reserve might have to lower interest rates at least twice. But they missed the third cut. When they missed the third cut, what happened is that the bond market did not respond. And the lack of response indicates the real problem: the Federal Reserve might not be able to control interest rates, similar to Japan. Currently, the mistake in Japan is that the person controlling interest rates for the BOJ has to follow suit. >> Hmm. And what will happen will affect the economic growth rate of the United States, and Mr. Trump will have to deal with it in many dimensions, right? >> Yes. The dimensions occurring at this moment are much more complex. And the problems will become severe in the second and third quarters from now. We saw that at the end of last week, at the end of January, when the First Chicago Bank and Trust went bankrupt. Although it was a small bank, the damage was only over 260 million. >> But it is already reflecting one thing: that the regional banking system has larger problems waiting. As we discussed earlier, I believe problems will arise around the second or third quarter. But now, the problem is faster than that, it has already surfaced. And besides US Treasury bonds being a problem, there is another thing that smaller banks hold: real estate loans. That is, loans for building offices, malls, and various shopping malls. It turns out that these loans amount to approximately 1.88 trillion. And the regional banks, which are banks owned by smaller operators in each state, have lent about 70% of this 1.88 trillion for these projects. >> Hmm. >> So, we can see the scale. It's almost 10 times larger than the subprime crisis. At that time, it was only tens of billions, and it caused widespread damage of over 800 billion. But now, it's about 70% of 1.88 trillion. At this scale, why do I think this year will be problematic? Because during COVID, loans were issued at interest rates of 2%, 2.5-3%, for 5 years. And this year is the year of what they call a "rollover war," which will be a large rollover. The benchmark interest rate or MBS interest rate has risen to over 6%. Therefore, these have the potential to adjust interest rates up to about 7-8%. This could be a big bomb. But what is even more hidden is that the real estate for which they borrowed, let's say they borrowed 100 million. It turns out that the rental income has dropped to about 40-60%, but on average, it's half. Therefore, the asset value has decreased. And the problem is that the 100 million cannot be rolled over at a value of 100 million; it must be rolled over at half the value, which is 50 million. Where will they get the 50 million to fill the gap? The bank's risk is about 20% of 100 million. But there is a connection: the 30% that we put in as equity. For example, if viewers borrow from a bank to do a project, viewers must put in 30% equity and borrow 70% from the bank. Therefore, if it drops by 50%, the bank risks about 20 out of 100. But the other 30% that we put in as equity, in America, they do this: they borrow from private credit funds. >> Yes. >> From private credit funds in the back office, meaning they borrow and turn it into complex equity, and then borrow from the bank again. If it drops by 50% in value, the money borrowed from private credit funds will become zero immediately and will not be returned. This will connect to private credit funds, which are long-term funds. They are held by state funds, foundation funds, retirement funds, insurance company funds. They allocate portfolios to lend to private credit funds, which we call high-risk lending. >> That too. >> If this time bomb explodes, the damage to the economy would be much more severe than in the past, wouldn't it? >> Uh, the damage will be right here: it will be in the small banks, the state banks, of which there are about 1,488 facing problems. >> But the severely ill ones are about nearly 600. And there will be events like last Friday, the 30th, where they suddenly declared bankruptcy. Now, there is still the issue that the FDIC will guarantee deposits up to $250,000, right? >> Yes. >> Uh, the problem is that the FDIC's fund is only about 0.55% of the estimated initial damage. >> Which is less. >> Which is less. >> Yes. >> But okay, we are not panicking. We might think that the Fed might. >> Supplement it. >> Supplement it. This is looking at it from the perspective that if they want to prevent the system from having problems. So, if the new Fed governor is a hawk, we might say they might use decisive problem-solving. This is something we have to wait and see. But the problem hidden in the events of late last week, the bank failures, which are similar to Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank failing in 2023, where is the problem? Mobile phones. >> Hmm. How so? >> Normally, people rush to withdraw money, right? You see them queuing up. But now, everyone transfers money via mobile banking. >> Yes. >> And the bank's reserves disappear, causing the bank to. >> Go bankrupt within 48 hours. That was the event in 2023, which is similar to the event in the past week. So, what we need to be careful about now is the use of mobile banking and the rush to withdraw and transfer money from regional banks to JP Morgan, to Gensax, or to money market funds. This is something that banks are very concerned about now, whether money will flow out. Because currently, as of Friday the 30th, about 43% of deposits have flowed out of the regional bank deposit system. This is something the Fed must manage, otherwise, it will collapse like dominoes. >> Yes. So, the event that occurred on January 30, 2069. >> Yes. Which, in reality, if panic sets in, it can spread beyond control and exceed the actual situation. >> Yes. >> It will be a panic that might spread to other regions globally as well, right? >> Uh, right now, it should be contained within American banks. But what will cause it to spread globally is the interbank lending rate in the US, or the LIBOR rate. >> It might spike. >> Hmm. >> Currently, the LIBOR rate, compared to the benchmark interest rate announced by the Fed, is about 0.5% higher than the benchmark. This is higher than the market, and the Fed has been trying to inject liquidity into the system since October. They have been injecting liquidity, and the liquidity injected is higher than during the period before the pandemic. Last time, in 2019, liquidity in the system suddenly disappeared, leading to the pandemic and a severe stock market crash. At that time, the stock market, bond market, and commodity market all crashed. And the Fed had to increase its balance sheet by trillions of dollars during that period. So, there are already signs that since October, the Fed has been injecting liquidity into the system continuously to prevent this interest rate from spiking. >> Yes. >> But if this event occurs, and compared to 2008 when panic occurred, this interest rate spiked to about 7%. If it spikes to 7%, it will have an impact on US bond yields, and it will have a severe impact on global bond yields immediately. And most importantly, what will be very volatile is the exchange rate. The exchange rate will be quite volatile if anything happens with bank failures this time, compared to 2008. >> Yes. What is the probability of this happening? Can the US control it? >> I think the government is aware of this. But checking the numbers, I think it should have happened around the third quarter. But it's happening in the first month of the year, and in Chicago, which shouldn't happen. So, we don't know. To use Jamie Dimon's words, there's one cockroach, and are there others we don't see? Preliminary analysis suggests there are about 30-40 more banks facing this problem. For example, in American banks, there has been some minor manipulation. They should have recorded losses on the government bonds they hold. They thought this was still an unrealized loss. >> So, it's an expected loss, but it hasn't had an accounting impact yet, so the bank doesn't fail. But as soon as there's a rush to withdraw, they have to sell those assets, especially US Treasury bonds, which have very high liquidity. This will cause the bank to realize actual losses. >> When you combine US Treasury bonds with the impending rollover war this year, which is a very big year, it leads to failures and rapid takeovers. >> Yes. But the problems in the US are not just this. There are many other issues. >> Yes. Especially the enormous debt. How many ways are there to solve this? >> Uh, currently, the Trump administration is lying to its people, saying they will create a trade war by taxing competing countries. But in reality, it's like they are lying to the people because, in the end, the people are the ones paying. For example, on my last trip to America, I happened to dine in a Thai restaurant by chance. >> They told me that the price of food they import, the raw materials, are so expensive that they can barely sell it and make nothing. In the end, these prices have to be increased. >> Yes. >> And ultimately, the person who buys the goods is the one who. >> Bears the burden. >> Bears this burden. And the increased expenses. It's simple: it's like they increased VAT. >> Yes. >> So, everyone who buys goods in that country has to pay more VAT. But this is a trade tax. If we buy goods there, we have to pay this increased tax. Mr. Trump is very proud that he collected so much tax this year. But that means the cost of living for Americans has increased. This is another way to solve the problem, but due to America's high expenses, and the very high interest expenses this year, because the interest payments last year were a result of the rollover since the subprime crisis, where they kept interest rates at 0-0.25%, and most of it was a rollover last year, 9 trillion dollars. >> And the rate at which the Treasury has to pay interest will be much higher this year than last year. And this has risen to about one-third of the government's annual expenses. If this year requires another increase at new interest rates, it will become a problem of increased fiscal burden. And where will they get the taxes to pay for it? So, the problem is that Mr. Trump has to find other solutions. >> Uh-huh. >> Yes. So, the solutions to solve the debt must extend to war, or could it involve other assets in the world? >> Uh, I think it will be similar to World War I and II. Because, in reality, we think it's about global politics. But the banking system behind governments worldwide is the one that wants this war to happen, so that. >> There is a theory of problem-solving. >> They say you have to create a bigger problem, and the existing problem will become smaller. >> Yes. >> This is one of the theories used in World War I and II. >> But as we have seen recently, since the Russia-Ukraine war, America's credit has diminished. For example, Russia is not fighting Ukraine; Russia is fighting NATO, with NATO soldiers and weapons from the United States sent in. We have seen that in the prolonged conflict of about 4 years, Russia has consistently lost. And Russia has shown its weapon capabilities, with a high degree of operational efficiency in many forms. This has led to a decrease in America's credit. And what has caused the credit to decrease the most is Iran's attack on Israel. In just 12 days, it caused very high damage to Israel, so much so that the United States had to plead for planes to fly in and drop bombs, and then we go to war. Because if it goes further, Israel will have to use a stronger strategy, which is to launch nuclear bombs at Iran. They still don't want to reach that point. But now, America is using the method of sending a fleet to intimidate. >> Hmm. >> The problem is this: if they bring the fleet to intimidate, the problem is not bringing the fleet to intimidate, but what form will it take? >> If they bring it and nothing happens, if they reach an agreement, and so on. This time, Iran is the side that does not want any agreement that puts them at a disadvantage. So, what we will see this week is how Mr. Trump will find a way out. >> Uh. >> Because if they retreat further, it will cause bond yields to spike, and the dollar will weaken, because it will be seen as failing to be a superpower by sending a large fleet. So, to create an event for the world to see, there have been leaks that they contacted and said, "Then let's shoot back and forth, make an agreement, and end it." >> Yes. >> And Iran has already announced that they will not negotiate this. >> Hmm. >> This time, we have seen that in their creation of internal chaos in Iran earlier this year, there was internal unrest, which we saw was the work of external forces creating chaos there. And Iran has already retaliated. This has led to the situation where they will not choose to negotiate. >> Yes. >> So, from this perspective, if both sides are happy and leave, it will have no impact on the bond market. But if it goes worse, there will be fighting. >> Hmm. >> And a submarine sinks, or an aircraft carrier sinks. This is called the most expensive insurance in the world. >> This will cause US interest rates to rise sharply immediately, and the dollar will fall. Because once, before World War I, the Russian Empire, which was great for 300 years, however great it was, imagine the situation in America at that time. It lost the war to Japan, and bond prices, interest rates, spiked immediately. >> And the currency, the Russian ruble, fell sharply due to the loss of the war. So, in this model, it will be similar if anything happens to the United States. Therefore, the only way out is. >> To completely destroy Iran. >> Will we see that, Professor? >> Look at this: Palestine, a small area. >> Hmm. >> And Israel is one of the five most militarily capable in the world. >> It took 2 years, and everything had to start over. >> Yes. >> And Iran, an area almost as large as the United States. >> Yes. >> But if the US retreats, it will be detrimental in all aspects, including its assets. >> They have no choice but to fight. >> The biggest enemy of the United States right now is. >> Time. >> Hmm. >> The longer it drags on, the worse it will be for the United States. >> Yes. We will see that the situation in the country is escalating. Regarding banks, they are suppressing news. Anything that happens, they quickly suppress it. We saw that Friday the 30th was very minor news, hardly anyone talked about it. >> But this is news suppression, and the Treasury has to buy bonds in the weekly auction, and in quite large quantities, because no one wants US Treasury bonds anymore. >> Yes. >> And there will be selling from Japan, China, and many other countries, increasing continuously. This situation, time, will make the United States the loser in all dimensions. >> Yes. Are there any other solutions? Gold, which has been accumulated in large quantities. >> Yes. >> Could it help solve their debt problem? >> There was a case where the White House issued Executive Order 6102. At that time, they announced a gold price adjustment from about $20.83 per ounce to $35 per ounce. >> Yes. >> The whole world was confused, right? Did they devalue the currency? >> Uh. >> Similar to today, when the price of gold has risen by 5,000 plus or minus, we wonder if gold is expensive, or if the currency has depreciated, or if the currency has depreciated without us realizing it. >> Hmm. >> In reality, all currencies in the world have depreciated without us realizing it. And there will be 2-3 more cases to follow. So, in the case of Executive Order 6102, it was a devaluation, but they talked about the price of gold. >> Yes. >> The most important weapon for the United States right now is its 8,500 tons of gold. >> If they reduce it to $10,000 per ounce, it will serve as collateral for US debt instruments for about 10%. >> Yes. >> But if we think like the White House thought, to make the price of gold back the value of the debt at 40%, they would have to adjust it to $40,000 per ounce. >> Per ounce of gold. >> $40,000, which is almost 9-10 times higher than now. >> Oh. How much debt would that cover? >> It would cover about 40% of their debt. >> Ah, but the value of currencies would decrease compared to gold. This will be a big problem because what will follow the rise in gold is that commodity prices will increase. We see that the prices of gas and oil have increased considerably in the past month. And what has increased the most is the price of beef. Fortunately, the price of eggs has decreased. But what will follow commodities and all consumer food prices is interest rates. >> Yes. >> Today, we see that Japan cannot control interest rates. Europe and the United States are also entering a state where they may not be able to control interest rates. And inflation, which everyone has not had the opportunity to assess, usually when we talk about inflation, it means things are more expensive, right? But this inflation will be very bad inflation, which is inflation from the severe depreciation of currency. Because last year, the leading factor was the rise in the prices of gold and platinum. >> Yes. >> Platinum and silver. These are significant indicators that global inflation will be uncontrollable. I always say that the rise in gold should be gradual, which is better inflation. But now, we see a very steep graph, and it exploded during Friday the 30th night, and on Monday morning, it continued to adjust downwards. But on Friday the 30th, there was an event: the case of silver being dumped from around 115. JP Morgan Chase closed its short position in silver at the lowest point. >> Coincidence? >> Coincidence, right? They control the silver market and futures quite significantly. >> Yes. And what is hidden in these silver futures is that US futures prices have dropped to about 78, if I remember correctly, $78 per ounce. But the price of silver in the spot market is. >> We don't just have the spot market; we now have spot futures at over 100 dollars. They are different by about 30%. So, on Monday morning, the price of silver jumped to 85. But JP Morgan closed its short position on Friday the 30th, and closed it at the lowest point. This indicates that there is a network involved in speculating on both gold and silver prices. >> That's why the graph is so steep. But the price of gold, which should be, not speculative, should be around $4,500 to $5,000. In Thai Baht, I think it's around 68,000 to 73,000 Baht. And I pray that it sideways for a while. It has risen so strongly that it's tiring. But the forecast is that by the end of the year, the price of gold will approach 100,000. >> 100,000 Baht per Baht of gold. >> Per Baht of gold. >> Will that correspond to about 7,000 in spot gold? >> It might depend on the currency. It might be around 6,000 something or so, because the dollar will weaken further, which means our Baht will strengthen. >> Therefore, the critical juncture for February is whether the United States will go to war with Iran. >> Uh. >> If it stops, the price of gold will adjust downwards first. >> Yes. >> And then adjust upwards again. >> Yes. >> But if America and Iran go all out, the price of gold and oil will surge, because the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is a source of oil exports, about one-third of the world's total volume. >> Yes. >> When there is a war there, oil exports will disappear, and the price of oil might reach $100 per barrel during that time. And this is why Mr. Trump rushed to deal with Venezuela, because if anything happens in the Middle East, America will have a problem with insufficient oil. The quality of Venezuelan oil is not very good; it produces a lot of asphalt when refined, but it's necessary. >> Yes. What will be the supporting factor for gold to reach about 100,000 Baht per Baht of gold, besides this? >> The depreciation of financial assets, especially US debt instruments. This is the main reason for this event. And then we have to see if the Fed, either the current chairman or the new one, will inject more money into the system. Currently, they are injecting money through financial institutions to prevent interest rates from rising, in terms of bank liquidity. But the problem is, after this, will they inject QE? If they inject QE again, it will be different from the previous QE, because this QE will push the price of gold up further. >> Yes. So, you believe that the sharp correction in gold by $1,000 and gold in our country by about 10,000 Baht per Baht of gold is not the end of the cycle or the end of gold? >> It is due to extreme speculation, with very high margin and leverage. When the price of gold or silver is pushed down to the stop-loss point, it causes a slide. But what is also reflected is the US Dollar Index. If the US Dollar Index falls, the price of gold will rise. So, when the price of gold surged from $4,000 to $5,600, the dollar index fell, and the price of gold rose sharply in the same direction. But what is strange is that on Friday and Monday, the dollar index did not rise, while the price of gold fell by $1,000. This indicates that this was not due to actual buying or selling. >> Hmm. It was due to what is called forced selling by only certain groups. Therefore, the desire to exchange dollars to make the dollar index rise in the same direction as gold did not result in an increase. So, it was just a stop-loss in pushing to the point of forced sale, where there is no liquidity in the system to absorb these assets. This is worrying. But what is worrying is not the price of gold, because in the end, spot gold will lead paper gold or gold futures. Currently, spot is leading because there is actual buying. >> But this liquidity will be reflected back in the US Treasury bond market. >> Yes. >> In the second week of January, there was a day, on Thursday the 2nd, during the US Treasury auction. There was a trading gap in US Treasury bonds, or what is called a "free time," for about 25 seconds. >> Yes. >> There were no bids or offers to buy in the trade. This has never happened with the most liquid asset in the world. Among all assets, US Treasury bonds are considered highly liquid, and there has never been such "dead air" before. This reflects that the actual liquidity, the condition called "tightness," is likely increasing. >> Yes. What will happen to US Treasury bonds in the future? And what are the other opportunities for investors this year, including in bonds? >> Uh, currently, the United States may have to maintain interest rates, but the bond market itself may have to adjust upwards. But the Fed will lose control. Currently, if we invest in US bonds, or in US dollar money market funds, this is not the answer right now. But where is the answer? >> The answer is in Swiss Franc money market funds. >> Hmm. >> Because normally, compared to the dollar and the Swiss Franc, they exchange at about 1.1 or 1.2 dollars per Swiss Franc. >> Yes. >> Currently, it has risen to 1.3. >> Yes. >> At 1.33, those who convert back from Switzerland will benefit. And if we compare it with interest rates, it's only slightly different. But compared to the safety of the currency, Swiss Francs or Swiss money market funds are still more attractive at this moment. >> In the first quarter, right? >> Yes. From now until everything is resolved, and we wait for the United States to increase interest rates significantly. For example, if the banking system has problems. >> Yes. >> If severe problems arise, we will see short-term interest rates spike to about 6 or 7%. >> When short-term interest rates spike to 6 or 7%, US bond yields, especially 30-year bonds, those over 30 years, will adjust downwards quite sharply. >> Yes. >> Those holding 30-year bonds might lose 30-50%. But that means a 30-50% decrease in interest rates of over 7%. And if the Fed uses the same method as in 2008, pushing interest rates down to 0%, the returns will rebound immediately, possibly yielding 80-150% from the rebound in interest rates due to the Fed's reduction. Whether it will reduce or not, we have to see. But this is from the perspective of speculators who speculate on bond prices. >> Yes. Can retail investors participate in such critical junctures? Or how can Thai investors seek opportunities to profit under the risk of ruin? >> Uh, it's very easy to do. Global trading systems can now trade in all markets, and short-term, medium-term, and long-term bonds are all available through ETFs. >> Yes. So, you can trade in the US market, any market. Therefore, investor opportunities are open, unlike during the crises in Greece, Turkey, or Sri Lanka. At that time, it was too small for retail investors to participate. So, now, it's something that people worldwide can participate in. However, we need to understand the game of bond price movements based on interest rates. And we also need to know that when there are bank runs or bank failures, short-term interest rates will spike, and this will cause long-term interest rates to rise significantly, resulting in a severe decline in bond prices. And at that moment, we can then invest in long-term bonds if the Fed shows a tendency to lower interest rates. This will yield higher profits than the stock market. >> Yes. >> We need to read the game clearly and act quickly. >> Yes, yes. If we know the model, we can act on it. >> Yes. Other assets, such as silver, were quite hot last year. What are your thoughts on this year, Professor? >> Yes, regarding silver, I might focus more on speculation than gold. Because gold, at one point, after becoming a "bull trend," has been classified as a tier similar to cash. So, when there are laws and regulations supporting it, I still consider gold to be like cash, and perhaps even stronger than cash. Even though we are taught that it is a commodity, the law has changed, classifying it as a tier. Therefore, gold will be like a reserve asset, which silver is not yet. Platinum or white gold is not yet. I still see it as a real increase, but with speculation mixed in. >> Yes. But gold itself is an asset that many countries are using as a reserve rather than the dollar, right? Is this another factor supporting gold's strength? >> Yes. Currently, central banks worldwide are continuously selling US Treasury bonds. We must say they are not throwing them away carelessly; they are still selling them and converting them into gold instead. This is what central banks worldwide are doing. And in January, due to the rise in gold prices, the value of gold as a reserve asset for central banks has surpassed that of US Treasury bonds. >> Yes. Therefore, gold will continue to be an investment asset this year. >> Uh, it's worth holding for the long term, not focusing on speculation. Because anything can happen. I define this year as a year of unpredictability. It's a year where nothing can be predicted. Therefore, speculation will lead to severe losses because we don't know what might suddenly happen in the United States. If a bank run suddenly occurs, there will be changing factors. Or if Iran and America suddenly start shooting, it will surge. But if they suddenly agree to separate, pack up, and go home, after fishing, and so on, it will fall sharply. Everything can happen unpredictably. Therefore, what we do, and I am not recommending this year as a year for speculation, but rather as a year for asset-backed security. That is, we hold assets to protect against risk. And the best risk protection is gold. But what we see is speculation mixed in. >> Yes. Now, oil prices have also been quiet for a long time. >> Yes. >> Yes. What are your thoughts on this year, with geopolitical unrest in various continents? Will it accelerate oil prices, or not? >> This year, there is a risk of oil prices accelerating. But the question is, to what extent? If there is no war in the Middle East, oil prices would likely rise to $60-70. But if it happens in the Middle East, we will likely see prices rise to $85-100, because it affects one-third of global production, and it cannot be replaced immediately from other sources. >> Yes. So, we will have to wait and see. >> Wait and see. >> The situation before proceeding. But in the past year, 2025, there have been many unexpected events. >> Yes. This year, we may have to travel forward for another 11 months. We may encounter events that we did not expect or thought unlikely, right? How can we prepare to seize investment opportunities or other opportunities in the world? >> We must know about investment assets that I would call "multiglobal assets." That is, know about all types of assets. And we must know their true value. Therefore, what we are seeing now, we should not see it as an economic crisis, but as a transition of the global system. >> Yes. We will set different objectives. If this round is a transition of the global system, then the first thing is, who will emerge as the leader of the new global system? >> Yes. >> Or there will be no single leader, but a collective consensus. This is another perspective, and it will turn out differently. That is, will the old system be surpassed, or will the old system maintain its stability as before? Or will it be a global consensus, meaning everyone has the same opinion, a consensus? Therefore, in this case, it can go in three directions. >> Yes. When it can go in three directions, long-term investment is not the answer in terms of investing in stocks or bonds, because both stocks and bonds have interest rates as a problem. And the rate of non-performing loans.
Banks in each country in the world are adjusting, increasing higher. Therefore, what we will release from this risk is that instead of keeping all our money in the bank alone, we will divide our cash into Money Market Funds. If interest rates rise, Money Market Funds will increase their interest rates first. This is a Money Market Fund located in the country, which is sold by every asset management company or every bank. You can buy it. However, banks have to wait for approval for savings deposit interest rates, which don't increase much. But if we put it into these bonds, these markets, they will increase first. The first point is, if we want to increase the risk a little, we can put it into a Money Market Fund in Swiss currency. The risk here is the exchange rate. But now, the risk is in assets called back securities, which are in the Swiss Franc Money Market Fund. This is another perspective. We don't have to go to the US side because if we go to the US, there is a risk, as you have experienced in the past 2 years. We will see that we get 5% indeed, 4% indeed, but the currency has dropped by more than 10%, which will result in exchange rate losses. This is something we need to understand.
Regarding investing in stocks, this year is a year where we need to talk about new industries in this world because we are entering new industries. For old industries, we can see that they are just zombies; there is no opportunity for growth. Therefore, our old understanding of the stock market, capital market, etc., we need to change that knowledge. For example, we are talking about energy companies. Previously, energy could go all the way, but now energy is challenged by alternative energy sources, not just oil. It's probably not the answer. So, should we invest in electricity? Electricity is not yet the immediate answer because oil still has a share, but the increase in usage volume will also increase. This is a perspective we need to understand. So, should we invest in semiconductors? Companies have risen to trillions of dollars in value. Their market capitalization is trillions of dollars. The world's GDP is only 90 trillion. This has risen to 1/4 of the world's GDP. Will it go that far again? It's not like that. It might have high profits, but it won't surpass world GDP, right?
However, there will be new companies emerging that we may not have heard of or known before. These are companies that are not yet very large but are preparing to become large companies in the future. These adjustments are being made.
"And how can we identify those companies? Like finding Facebook in the past, or Tesla in the past?"
We need to see that the global system's structure will be challenged and will need to be adjusted upwards. First, the competition between China and America will become increasingly intense. However, what happened at the end of 2025 is that Huawei, together with the Chinese government, announced that China has its own technological path. We no longer need to rely on the West. We will create our own path. Therefore, what they announced is not a coincidence; it is a strategy for 2015, a strategy to move towards a new world around 2025, which was last year.
"And when the time came, they announced that this year marks the entry into the new world of technology. So, we need to look at what will drive the new world. We will see that China will be driven by Smart Cities, which they have been doing for about 7-8 years. They started with what is called the 'kingdom of cameras,' and behind those cameras, there are underlying components. So, let's look at who makes the cameras."
"Yes. So, we see that every camera must have a seller. Right? How to make them. I went to scout companies. And took pictures. Oh, there are 2 companies: Hikvision and Huawei. And we see that these cameras have been around for over 10 years. Now they are releasing new cameras with a resolution of up to 8K. So, this means that the existing cameras, which are Full HD, will have to be upgraded to 8K because the dimensions for night vision and other things will change, and it will be clearer. So, we will see that if that's the case, these cameras that we see everywhere in China will have to be changed, and new sales will occur, right?"
"Ah, so we look at these companies that make them. And we look further into the cameras. They can identify up to 200 people, or 200 cars, or 200 motorcycles in one frame, their license plate, their ID card. Real-time in one frame. If one minute has 120 frames, right? If it's Full HD, then in 120 frames, each frame can identify up to 200. So, let's see which company makes AI. Right? They must be making real-time AI for all of China. And we see that Huawei is already using this system for Smart Airports. And in collaboration with Saudi Arabia to build smart cities. Therefore, this must lead to increased and larger sales, right? I'm giving an example of cameras. Or cars. If we talked about it 5 years ago, we would have seen Chinese cars all over Thai roads, believe it or not. At first, I thought it wouldn't be that many, but now, wherever you look, it's all Chinese cars. Right? And the technology is advanced, and new technologies emerge every year, right? And they use the strategy of making cars cheap. The reason for making cars cheap is because technology is growing by leaps and bounds. Therefore, they want people to buy new cars in the next 3-4 years without worrying about the car's value. If it's cheap, it can be considered zero. This will allow technology to circulate continuously because new customers will be added every year from those who are the first group to come in. So, we see the automotive industry, and how many components are in a car, sensors, GPS, communication with the city. We will see that these are linked to Smart Cities and the planning of city systems. So, if we understand the journey of the global system, these opportunities are everywhere. We are not familiar with these companies. Therefore, we say that a company has been around for 70-80 years, that is the third industrial revolution. But we are in the fourth industrial revolution, which is digital to quantum. So, let's look at which companies are doing quantum, what quantum systems do. We will look for quantum companies, most of which we won't know because there are only 4-5 companies, and about 40-something startups. These are all small companies. But we will end up with AI companies. Buying OpenAI might be too much. Are we going to exit? Is it too expensive?"
"It's too expensive already."
"And what about our country? Do we have new global stocks?"
"Our country is quite difficult because they are not transforming. I'm not talking about the government's vision; I'm talking about the business owners' vision. The transformation of companies into technology companies or new industries is quite rare. This is scary. Scary in what way? Scary in the way that China does everything from upstream to downstream, reaching our hands. If one day we don't have it, they will replace us without us realizing it. This is currently happening in many sectors, and the most affected will be retail and the automotive industry, which are being replaced without us realizing it and without being able to find a way out of this situation. Those who are truly transforming right now in Thailand must be the banking industry. They are the most advanced. Besides that, there are the telecommunications groups, two main groups that are transforming, but it's not easy. And we have seen the movement of major players to work on data center industries, smart city industries, and so on. This is a trend that is very rare and very scary if China can enter so quickly."
"So, in Thailand, the groups that are likely to transform into new technologies and new global stocks are the banking and telecommunications groups?"
"These two groups are leading."
"Leading, and they might have to be large ones that are ready, right?"
"I think today the world offers opportunities to both large and small. Small ones, if they can demonstrate their potential, will have the capital to support them. But in Thailand, there is one problem: companies that want to establish themselves as startups are only solving small pain points. They cannot turn them into a global scale. Therefore, new companies, we will see that it is quite difficult for them to reach tens of billions because they only capture small markets. But why can America reach large scales? Let's imagine when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, the download numbers reached 100 million worldwide, and now it's up to 700-800 million downloads worldwide, right? It has become a global scale and accessible to everyone. You just need to download the app. The world is in our hands, which is our mobile phone. Therefore, if we think in a system called global scale, there will be ready capital. But if we think about solving small pain points, the scale will be very small, and it won't be worth the investment. This is the problem I see as to why startups in our country struggle to move forward."
"So, when choosing stocks in 2026, we will not generalize?"
"No, we will not generalize."
"And we will have to choose by individual stock and by country."
"Right. So, can investing in country indices still be done in 2026? The US side, S&P 500, or other indices that have a lot of growth potential?"
"Currently, for indices, I don't want you to generalize. If you buy the S&P 500, there are about 20 companies that are driving the index up, but there are about 480 other companies that are not driving the index up. They might be dragging it down, or even pulling it down. For example, if you go directly into new technology industries, artificial intelligence industries, etc., you can hedge your risk by buying through dollar-cost averaging. Yes. Ah, in that way, we don't know what will happen, so we save monthly and so on. But another industry, which I have put aside, is, for example, the aerospace industry, which is being discussed. When companies in this industry grow, they grow in two ways: by capital or by revenue. If they grow by capital, they must expect revenue to come in, right? But in some industries, they grow by capital, but revenue doesn't follow. Therefore, be careful that one day there will be a correction because revenue cannot keep up, and no one can increase capital for them indefinitely."
"So, on the US side, in which industries should we look for new global stocks, Professor?"
"Nowadays, it's separated. For example, the Artificial Intelligence or AI industry is a separate industry group. The industries we will see from now on and will grow a lot are that this year we will enter what is called the century of humanoids. Today, we don't see humanoids in our daily lives yet. We only see them in clips and other things. But from now on, in the next 15 years, humanoids will enter our daily lives in one form or another. Therefore, industries like robots, humanoids, etc., will be another area that will be a greenfield, which will grow. But we must also be careful about revenue because research costs are quite substantial."
"Yes. So, a moment ago we talked about the new world, and there are likely to be three leaders in the new world. Professor, which leader do you give the most weight to, number 1?"
"I think right now, the competition between America and the East will become increasingly intense, and it is a competition where the United States is at a disadvantage. Let me go back a bit. China and the United States are countries that seem to dislike each other but cannot do without each other. They cannot do without each other because when China opened its doors, there was cheap labor, and large industries in America moved their production bases to China, right? This led to what happened in America: the relocation of bases and increasing unemployment because companies wanted cheap goods to sell in the United States or to reduce costs. It turned out that what has happened over time is that no one thought China would become a factory for everything in the world and export it to America and the rest of the world. It turned out that China exported to America, and Americans couldn't produce. So, Americans had to buy Chinese goods. This made China a wealthy country from sales, contract manufacturing, and establishing its own companies in various forms, until it built its own brands. Now, as it grew larger, from selling only a few hundred million dollars, it has grown to billions. The dollars that China earned from sales and accumulated, they didn't know what to do with them, so they lent them to the United States by buying American bonds. So, it goes in a cycle: Americans keep accumulating debt, and then they buy Chinese goods. After buying Chinese goods, China becomes increasingly wealthy, then lends to America, and then buys its own goods again. So, if America doesn't buy Chinese goods, China won't lend. And if America doesn't buy Chinese goods, factories in China are at risk of bankruptcy. So, we see this picture becoming clearer, right? It seems contradictory, but they cannot do without each other. They cannot do without each other. Yes. Therefore, after Trump's term, including Biden's administration, they started a conflict with China. As a result, this conflict had an impact. When the COVID pandemic occurred, they saw that America couldn't produce anything. If there was a lockdown, Americans would have no goods of their own, right? Therefore, what America must do is move factories back to the country. It's not easy, is it? What they did was beyond imagination. How to make goods in America expensive? Expensive enough to make factories move back to produce and be profitable. What is the first thing to make factories expensive? It's to weaken their own currency. Because those who lose from the weakening dollar are the countries that lend to America. America's debt is reduced because its currency weakens. This is different from our country. If our currency weakens, our debt increases because we borrow. But America borrows from others in dollars, and if the dollar weakens, they gain an advantage because others have to exchange dollars at a higher price. This is different from our country in 1997. So, when they weaken the dollar and impose high taxes, factories will start to reopen in America. But this is a long-term problem. They are looking at the next step: if so, China is moving fast in the future. China is moving fast, so they must be contained by all means. So, they contain it by not sending high-level technology to China. But it turns out that the United States is the one losing. What does China do? China knows that if it remains tied to the United States, it will surely be ruined because if policies change overnight, the Belt and Road Initiative happened. And they managed to trade with countries all over the world: in the Middle East, India, Africa, and South America, to find alternative markets. Therefore, China can now be independent of the United States, but the United States cannot be independent of China because China must buy American bonds. So, China did this by having 1.3333 trillion dollars in American bonds in 2012, which was the highest after the subprime crisis. Now, China has gradually reduced it to about 680 billion dollars. This is the result that has caused the dollar to weaken, and China has been accumulating gold by selling these funds, causing the value of gold to increase and expanding into countries around the world. And they are not doing it on a small scale; they are building cities, building smart metropolises. Now, they are collaborating with, for example, the Emirates, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, trying to incorporate technology into cities to make them smarter. And in some European countries like Switzerland, and they are setting up communication systems for Kenya. This causes their products to spread and sell technology to Pakistan, Iran, and so on, trading continuously. So, China is on its own path. But America cannot move forward. The path is narrowing. The path is narrowing, and they have to incur their own debt because factories are not built overnight, right? This is the big challenge that makes the United States quite difficult at this time."
"So, the future superpower might not be the United States?"
"There is a risk to the financial system. So, as we discussed earlier, how will the United States find a solution? It might be an extreme case. But if it's an extreme case, such as the dollar appreciating against gold to $10,000 or somewhere between that and $40,000, there is a possibility. I must say that I am not saying that the price of gold will reach $40,000, but there have been cases, and I will bring up this case. It's a comparison. A comparison with the time of President Nixon. I will say I set a target of 40,000. Don't misunderstand. This is not the case. Let's agree first. And this is an extreme case. If Mr. Trump or the next president uses this method, or declares war and transfers all damages to foreign countries. Similar to what Britain and France did before World War I and World War II, by shifting their debts to the public and selling them abroad as investments or other things."
"Globally, which country is the most struggling this year? It's likely the United States, right?"
"I would say the United States and European countries. Recently, Europe has had 2-3 interesting things happening. For example, fiscal policies of each European country, whether it's France, Italy, or Spain, they are starting to find no way out. Another thing seen is that some governments are starting to issue war bonds. And most recently, in the last week of January, there were discussions to establish a war bank by raising funds from European countries or NATO to support the war. It's like they have to prepare for something to cause a major war, or not? This is about when the time comes, and they cannot find a solution to the problem."
"And what about Thailand? Are you concerned about the economy?"
"Thailand lacks someone who truly plans the country's strategy. The country used to be led by the private sector in economic matters for the past 30 years. Now, the private sector itself is confused about where to go next, as we are entirely a contract manufacturing country, and domestic consumption is not that large. And we have made wrong business decisions within our own country, which prevents business scale from growing, not growing like China, not growing like America. This is the problem that both the government and the private sector are not moving into the realm of new technologies, new industries. New industries have the advantage of having high profits or margins, like Nvidia's margin of 53%. We don't have such industries. This is the pain point in our country. And if we are to build a data center industry in our country, which requires two things in large quantities: electricity and water. Some years we have a lot of water, some years we have very little. How to balance this for the data center industry? This is a major vision issue for both the private sector and the government, where no one is driving or setting any strategy. And what's worse, we don't have an education system to support it. We see China's 2015 policy, one of which is that for any technology in the world, China must have a department teaching it in universities. And these departments must be ranked in the top 5 in every key future technology field, whether it's stem cells, technology engineers, aerospace, or anything else. We see the latest results: two universities have surpassed Harvard to become number 1 and 2, and Harvard has dropped to number 3. But that is a strategy planned since 2015. Here, we still have teaching where I think the books from my time or your time are still the same. The generation of my children or grandchildren is currently studying, and the books are still the same. This is what prevents people from seeing or creating their own future. That's why talented Thai people go to grow in America, in England, or abroad."
"And what about the opportunities for the private sector, or the battlefield they face?"
"On the current battlefield, we will only have opportunities if a major war occurs. If a major war occurs, there will be problems with food production. Our country has quite a lot of food production, and everyone can do it. This might be an opportunity in the medium or short term if there is a conflict. As we see, Singapore and China have already prepared food reserves for at least 5 or 10 years. And we still have many countries that are not prepared. So, this will be an opportunity because the battlefield will not be like past wars. This is what Thailand needs to prepare for when changes occur. Another very important change is that the world of technology in this era has changed, both in the US and China. What is the current situation, and how will it pave the way for future investment for investors?"
"In the United States, we need to look at new industries. This is another reason why we shouldn't invest in indices because indices have quite a lot of old companies. The leader from now on will be the entry into the era of AI, which will go beyond AGI. AI is Artificial Super Intelligence. So, today, we have had the opportunity to use ChatGPT, we have had the opportunity to use many things. And there are many companies. But we need to know that this is not AI itself, but its infrastructure is AI. And it's not yet perfect. So, we will see that this is what they call the infrastructure of the AI system that needs to be established. And another case is the design of images, where AI creates images. Jensen Huang said that if images can make people perform any action, such as bending down to pick up a glass to drink, then that is the same algorithm as making a robot or android do the same thing. Therefore, it is training AI on various images, and it uses the same algorithm. If one day we see Tesla, Tesla might no longer be a car manufacturing company. Tesla might be a company with an electric car manufacturing division that is developing towards self-driving cars. On the American side, we will see that America is developing quite slowly, which is why Elon Musk set up a factory in China because China has a system for connectivity with satellites and what they call this, to perfectly control these cars and self-driving cars. So, he set up there in China, and this has accelerated the learning of AI, which will benefit Tesla. But what Tesla is going to do next is transfer human thoughts by controlling them with the brain, which might take some time for the Neuralink project. But what is interesting is its Humanoid project, called the Optimus Project. The Optimus Project will be launched in mid-year, and the world might be shaken by how perfectly the Optimus Project can perform. Compared to the Optimus Project, there is Unit company from China, which is a robot that works more in the industrial sector. Normally, factories use robotic arms, right? But this will use robots and will enter our daily lives, and we might see robots walking on the streets, being housekeepers, caregivers. Therefore, the growth opportunity for Humanoids will be quite rapid from now on. And another area that will grow very rapidly is the technology of self-driving cars in stages 4 and 5. Stage 4 is sitting behind the steering wheel but not driving. Both America and China are competing in this, but China is already moving into stage 5, which is a new car model, meaning no steering wheel. So, in stage 5, there is no steering wheel and no driver. There are 2-3 companies that produce them, and they are startups that have already IPOed. These companies are new companies like Pony.ai and ZOK. On the Chinese side, they are listed on the Nasdaq stock market. This will be another aspect that will come during the transition period. And for platforms to reach ASI, let's look at the definition of ASI, which is Artificial Super Intelligence. It will reach a point where it is smarter than all humans on Earth combined. Therefore, humanoids, all AI, will be smarter than all humans on Earth combined. If AGI is smarter than humans, but not yet all humans on Earth combined, this will think much faster. Therefore, chips will have to be developed further. China and America have started to go their separate ways, with China being able to move faster by making what they call Photonic chipsets. These are chips that are not electrons like Nvidia's, but they are light, photonic. They process about 1,000 times faster than electron chipsets and are much more energy-efficient. And this is what we are entering in the early stage, until 2030, it will start to be in our daily lives like ChatGPT.
"2030 is only a few years away."
"No, everything from now on will be very fast. It will be very fast, and by 2030-35, we will enter the early stage of the ASI era, the Artificial Super Intelligent era, which will make the delivery of goods, management platforms, office work, and various controls develop much faster and more accurately, with higher data storage. But on the American scale, it will be small because companies on the American side will think, as they say, only within their own projects. But on the Chinese side, they can combine everything. We need to see this picture first. Huawei is not a public company but a company that works with the government, the central government of China. And Huawei will be the research center. Its nature is like a conductor, and each instrument is a company. And they can bring these companies together and direct them in the same direction. They are the ones who research and work with large telecom companies. In contrast, America is characterized by everyone doing their own thing. I once asked about the transformation of Citibank when I studied in America. I asked them, 'Will Citibank do 10 sub-apps?' Tens will be a super app, and in their ecosystem, there will be about 8,000 apps within it, forming an ecosystem. They said America cannot do it due to legal restrictions. Therefore, Citibank can only plug into various apps. This leads to the development of both countries going in different directions. China focuses on ecosystems, while America focuses on individual growth and joint ventures. What is the problem? For example, if the same company has two departments, it's complicated. And it's difficult to schedule meetings, to do anything together, which makes it even more difficult. This is the reality for working people. For example, Elon Musk has SpaceX. He has a satellite system through SpaceX. However, SpaceX does not have a mobile phone. Huawei uses the Chinese government's satellites and can connect to satellites in its Mate series, from Mate 60 to Mate 80 this year. These phones can connect to satellites anywhere in the world. For example, in Kenya, they don't need to install internet towers or mobile phone towers; they just use satellite connection. The question is, this will be a challenge for telecommunications companies worldwide: if one day infrastructure is no longer needed and we only use satellite connection, will the concession model or work model remain the same? This is another perspective. And another perspective is the operating system. In America, we are already troubled: should we choose Windows or Apple iOS? But from now on, we will be even more troubled because we will have to choose Harmony. So, if we trade with China, within 2 years, before a major war, the Chinese government says that all operating systems in the Chinese government, in the country, must be 100% domestically produced. It is predicted that they will switch to Huawei's Harmony operating system because it is designed as an ecosystem. This will be a problem for countries like ours: will we use Windows or Apple's iOS, or China's Harmony, or perhaps both? This will be a major technological issue that we will face."
"But this major change in the next 3-5 years is full of investment opportunities as well?"
"It's full of opportunities. Both in terms of investment and in terms of acquiring companies that are not yet large companies. And they are very small companies ready to become large companies, like quantum companies. Previously, the company's value was only around $100 million, like Wave or something. But over time, the world has expanded its business, and customers have increased, from $100 million to tens of billions. The upside will be greater and faster. While buying a trillion-dollar company, it's not easy for it to grow, right? These opportunities are abundant. First, the opportunity is that we can create our businesses on these new worlds even more. If we are open to dedicating time to learning and finding these opportunities."
"What market capitalization or size of stocks or businesses should we buy to get good returns and efficiency?"
"The first question is, is it on the path of the future world? Yes. First, if we understand that it is on the path of the future world, for example, we discussed that it will go to quantum. So, let's study how quantum companies operate, how they do business, because it's something new, right? So, when we see that quantum is becoming something new, and companies are small, then they are companies waiting to grow. So, it's better to prepare to invest in quantum companies, or not? This is another point, or the companies we just talked about, like self-driving car companies, or humanoid robot companies, like Tesla or other companies. There will be companies like this that are adjusting and that we have never known before. And this is the direction of the future world. This will be an opportunity, or we can take their products and open businesses in our country. This is even more important. So, there are opportunities for both investors and entrepreneurs in this new world. Yes, yes. And their platforms can be used worldwide. Therefore, our being in our country and adapting their business opportunities to each other, and sharing opportunities, is very important from now on."
"So, it seems that most opportunities are in China?"
"I think China is coming as an ecosystem. But America is coming in pieces. So, it depends on the suitability for each person's design, how they will design it. But for companies that require the most advanced technology in the world, it must be America. In the next 5 years, because they have attracted a lot of top talent from around the world. But for companies that are ecosystems, it's not too bad. Companies with growth potential must be on the Chinese side. The whole world is competing between these two sides."
"And will there be any side that is far ahead, like running at breakneck speed?"
"It's hard to think about surpassing right now because China says it will follow its own path and not compete with the United States. So, America has no competitors right now. As investors, we have to seek opportunities worldwide, right, Professor?"
"Yes. And both countries have similar policies: they are both global scale. They think the entire world market is their customer. That is important. Even though we are facing the risks of change in this new world, it is also full of opportunities. We had the opportunity to talk with you today. Professor, do you have any further warnings that there are other risks that investors and entrepreneurs should be aware of in 2026?"
"I think it's a time, a period, because it won't be just this year. It will be an opportunity to know what the crisis we are facing is. If we know what it is, we will know what its opportunities are. If we understand, I'm not saying it's scary, but since it's the dynamics of the world, and we cannot change the destiny of the world, it's important to understand what is happening. And we should not act like cheerleaders, waiting for it to happen before believing. But as a strategist, let's imagine building a hotel. We envision the hotel on the opening day, right? But most people see the land and say it's a barren, empty plot. What can be done? So, a strategist must see the hotel on the opening day on that empty land. That is a strategist. Therefore, most people who get only small returns and face immense risks are those who buy on the opening day and see it as a beautiful hotel. But those who become rich are those who buy that plot of land and build a beautiful hotel. So, if we see that this is the early stage of the fourth industrial revolution, let's see how the fourth industrial revolution will grow to AGI, ASI, and how the system structure will change from digital to quantum. What is the relationship between SHI, from electronic chips to photonic chips? What are the related platforms? From now to the future, it will be a different form. Will Facebook become a thing of the past? Why did Elon Musk dare to buy Twitter and transform it into XAI? He must have a way of thinking about how to adapt, right? Therefore, those who succeed in investing must be people who see the future, not people who see the future when it's already here and then say, 'Oh, I believe it.' That will be too expensive. So, step 1, we must see this first. We must tell ourselves to see this first. Step 2, we must learn what the crisis is in the current situation, and what are the opportunities in the crisis. Or we can separate ourselves and do something unrelated to both the crisis and the opportunities. We can create opportunities on our own path. This can happen during such times. Therefore, news is just an impact, it's an activity in the world. But if we understand what is happening and what are the dynamics of the world, we will see that opportunities are everywhere. And these opportunities are the biggest in 100 years. We won't have such opportunities often in the next 10 years."
"And what is important is building confidence and aligning our minds to move in the right direction. Do you have any advice, Professor?"
"There are many stimuli on social media and elsewhere, and it's like hypnosis. We should take breaks from watching, not watching, and let time pass. But we should do what we are interested in and check occasionally. But we should use that time to do what we need to do. This will not have much impact on the incoming stories. For example, I recommended buying and holding gold. It dropped a lot in the past 2-3 days, but I'm indifferent because I said from the beginning that if the cost is below 30,000, many people are still at 18,000. So, no matter how much it drops, it won't reach that. You understand? So, if it drops, we buy more. It's not a big deal. But if we look at what's happening, oh no, it's the worst, and there will always be words like 'bubble burst.' So, this bursts, that bursts, this is Black Monday, Black Tuesday. We see these regularly. In fact, it's good news, isn't it? Because we can't buy it in time, and it has already risen so much. It comes down for us to buy again. We just need to adapt. We are not in a difficult situation, so we will see everything."
"This is the map, and it's an opportunity of 100 years, which we must seize this golden opportunity during this period, under the circumstances of World War III, which is not happening due to fighting but due to changes in various factors. Today, I would like to thank you very much, Professor, for honoring us and for painting this investment map for us today. Thank you. Thank you. [Music]"