Transcription
If the mad world collapses, and we have a a major financial bust, then also what is relatively low will go down.
>> [laughter] >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> I mean, whatever you whatever you consider, at the end, I think that in a major bust, gold and silver and platinum will go down, also. But, they will go down by maybe 30%.
>> Mhm.
>> And many other things will go down to zero. Zero. And many other things will go down 98%. Say all stocks related to the Trump family will go to zero. That is my prediction.
The global economy is entering a period of rising uncertainty as debt levels surge, asset bubbles expand, and governments continue spending at unprecedented levels. While many investors remain focused on technology stocks, cryptocurrencies, and speculative assets, growing concerns about liquidity, inflation, and financial stability are forcing a reassessment of where real wealth protection may be found. Marc Faber, a veteran investor known for his contrarian market views, believes the world is moving toward a far more challenging economic environment than most people expect. He argues that excessive government spending, expanding deficits, and future money printing could create significant pressure across financial markets. While many investors continue chasing momentum in risk assets, he sees precious metals as one of the few areas that can preserve purchasing power over the long term. The outlook remains volatile. Commercial real estate has weakened, residential property markets are showing signs of stress, and cryptocurrencies have experienced major corrections. These developments suggest liquidity is tightening across the economy. If financial conditions continue to deteriorate, investors may face a period when traditional portfolios struggle to generate returns. If you found this analysis helpful, make sure to hit that like button, share it with fellow investors who follow gold and silver, and subscribe so you don't miss the next big update.
>> At the present time, it is possible that liquidity is somewhat tightening because in general people believe and economists will tell you liquidity drives markets. In other words, it drives up Bitcoins and it drives up Micron Technology and whatever. But it is also possible or probably likely that when asset markets decline, that liquidity tightens. I mean, we've seen now two major asset classes that have declined meaningfully in price in the last few years and this is commercial properties. Commercial properties, I just read of a company they sold their property portfolio or holding in Seattle for half, actually less than half of what they paid in 2018. And that has tightened liquidity for some people who were large holder of real estate in a leveraged way. And then we have the decline in cryptocurrencies that has surprised many people because they were all betting on Bitcoin and everything going up. And now these cryptos in some cases are down 70-80% from the peak. So that has tightened liquidity for Generation Z because the cryptos were bought like crazy by young people who didn't want to own any gold, silver, and platinum. They wanted something that moves more than the traditional safe assets such as precious metals and that has tightened liquidity of young people and more recently over the last say 18 months property residential property prices have gone down especially condo prices and a lot of not wealthy people but middle class people were long condos partly to have a second home in Miami or so but also partly as an investment and so I think that liquidity is sort of tightening and it will be interesting to see today as an example the Dow is up strongly but the six most active stocks are all down on the day because they're technology related and the socks index is down about 3% whereas the Dow Jones is up strongly so we have changes in the composition of assets that are meaningful. I like precious metals for the simple reason that I'm not so smart to choose the right thing at the right time every year or every half year. I like precious metals because I think that in the current environment especially if I look at the Trump administration I want to have something relatively safe and that is as right and keep its value in an environment where the government will spend money like water. They're not going to reduce the deficits the deficit will go up and since the interest payments on the debt will therefore also go up more money printing is only a question of time. Personally [clears throat] I hope that gold falls another $500 an ounce because then I would increase my gold position again rather substantially. I have a substantial position already, more than most people would have except the gold bugs like Eric Sprott. He has a most of his assets are in gold or some other people I know. They have most of their assets in gold, but most people that I know in the investment world say among fund managers, most fund managers do not have more than 1% in gold and already a 5% involvement in gold is a lot. I know rich people in Switzerland. They have most of their assets in real estate, in some stock portfolio, in some bond portfolio, private equity, and gold maybe, you know, a few ounces which they inherited from their grandmother which bought them during World War II.
If the mad world collapses and we have a a major financial bust, then also what is relatively low will go down.
>> [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
>> I mean, whatever you whatever you consider, at the end, I think that in a major bust gold and silver and platinum will go down also, but they will go down by maybe 30%
>> Mhm.
>> and many other things will go down to zero. Zero. And many other things will go down 98%. Say all stocks related to the Trump family will go to zero. That is my prediction.
One of the key themes emerging in today's market is the growing disconnect between asset prices and economic reality. For years, easy money and abundant liquidity pushed stocks, real estate, and cryptocurrencies higher. However, as liquidity begins to tighten, weaknesses are becoming visible in several sectors. The concern is not simply that markets may decline, but that many investors remain heavily concentrated in assets that benefited from years of monetary expansion. If economic growth slows while debt continues rising, policy makers may have little choice but to respond with additional monetary stimulus. Such actions could temporarily support markets, but inflationary pressures. A major prediction discussed is that a severe financial bust could pull nearly every asset class lower. Gold, silver, and platinum may also experience temporary declines during a panic. However, unlike many speculative assets that could lose most of their value, precious metals are expected to recover because they serve as stores of wealth rather than purely financial assets. Let's get back to the interview.
>> When I started to work in 1970, gold was $35 an ounce, and now it's 4,500 what not. I mean, it's performed well over the long term, and it's performed very well over the last 12 months, 18 months, and there's no excessive speculation. And the inflows into ETFs have just recently picked up, but then with the correction, they've again sold. I mean, considering the performance of gold, silver, and platinum over the last 18 months, there has been remarkably little speculation. I go out to bars at night, and people play pool, and they they have people that are involved in sports betting and all sorts of investment schemes that are scams or dubious. I tell you, you hardly ever hear of anyone buying or selling gold. Hardly ever. They buy and they're all active in Bitcoins and in Solana and whatnot. But gold and silver and platinum, it's a I tell you of all the people I know, only maybe five are active in precious metals.
>> Interesting.
>> I'm not particularly active because I just hold gold, period. I I don't sell gold. I've sold some of my gold shares because they had huge run-ups and I'm I'm of two minds about gold shares. I think if you want to make money, you can make money, a lot of money in gold shares if you buy them at the right time. But I I think the mining stocks are quite inexpensive relative to everything else. But I personally prefer physical under my mattress. Under my mattress. And I have South African gold mines and I have Canadians.
>> Yeah.
>> And because I was a director of Ivanhoe, I have still a fairly large position in Ivanhoe. It's not one of my favorite stocks right now. And I have a plat- I have a preference for platinum as a commodity because it's very cheap relative to gold and silver. And silver is relatively cheap compared to gold. But wheat, corn, soybean is even lower relative to gold and everything else. And oil, since you talked about energy or we talked about energy before, oil is low compared to gold. I mean, you can establish ratios. 1 oz of gold, how many buildings does it buy? Or how many ounces of gold do you need to buy a building? I mean, a house. And how many ounces of gold do you need to buy a bushel of wheat? And how many ounces of gold you need to buy silver and so forth. And so, you can establish what is relatively low compared to gold. And I can tell you what is relatively low compared to gold is your work. It's a labor cost. And what is relatively low compared to gold are food prices. I mean, wheat, corn, soybeans, sugar, and yes, that and I mean, it depends on the person because he may have large real estate assets, and he may be diversified and so forth. But I would suggest to hold about 25% of his assets in gold. And some of my friends, they own 80% of their money in gold. I think it's very courageous because one feature of gold is that it doesn't really yield. It doesn't provide you with a regular income. I have a bond portfolio as well. And as you say, in the last few years, it hasn't been doing well, but not as badly as say a 30-year bond. When you look at the 30-year bond, its price from the peak in 2020 has almost been cut in half. But you have the dividend. I mean, you have the interest payments every year. So, the total return hasn't been that bad. And in the last 2 years, I just checked, the return hasn't been negative because the 30 years has gone down a little, but you got the 4% interest. I think equities survive any war better than bonds. I mean, if you look at German industry, you look at the 10 largest companies in Germany in 1900, Bayer, BASF, and so forth, and later Mercedes. All of them, they survived World War I and World War II, and exists nowadays as a stockholder, you still have something. If you invested in bank deposits, you have nothing. Nothing at all. Three times nothing. Same in Russia and China. So, I think that in [clears throat] equities, you you'll be better off. But the perfect asset in those conditions are holding gold coins. But I want to point out one thing about holding gold. You know, one of the leading philosophers of the 20th century was Wittgenstein. And he studied actually with with Russell Bertrand Russell in at Oxford. And anyway, Wittgenstein, his family was one of the most affluent families in Europe at the time. And they owned, I think, about 250 tons of gold in Switzerland in a vault. And when Hitler came to power, they found out that the Wittgensteins, they were Austrians, but they had Jewish blood. So, Hitler went to the family and said, "Okay, you want to stay in Austria, you want to keep your steel empire, you hand over the gold to us. You don't hand over the gold to us, we expropriate you of everything and send you to concentration camps or whatnot. You [snorts] not the day you you have to keep quiet about your gold holdings and hide it. But you can hide it in if you have a piece of land like Ted Turner in America, you can dig a hole somewhere and nobody will ever find it. Not in the US, but overseas. But even overseas, you see, in Switzerland, we have a trend towards socialism. The socialists essentially run the city of Zurich. If they come one day with an initiative and say, "Well, we have to expropriate the gold from people because they made unusually large fortunes." And so forth. Who knows? But, I would say this relates to all of your assets. First of all, you can't take your assets to heaven or hell. That is something you have to consider. And as a capitalist, it's always difficult to, in my view, more difficult to distribute your wealth than to earn it. And the other question is about gold. There are companies like von Greyerz.
>> Mhm.
>> They They arrange the storage of gold outside of the banking system, and you can take the gold out in Singapore or I think in Australia and Switzerland and Dubai and so forth. They have depositors in different countries, but outside the banking system. Or, I think that say in Thailand, with all its advantages, the property rights are very well established. I mean, if you have a house, the certificate is watertight. It's unlikely that the government will take it away. But, with real estate, the government can impose very high taxes.
>> Mhm.
>> That is You know, I am, as people know, I'm so anti-government.
>> [laughter] >> I know.
>> I'm worried about the people that are in government and nowadays are not people who worked, and they regard it as sort of a duty to be then looking after government affairs. They are professionals that went to socialist universities, and they all are Marxists.
>> Mhm.
>> And dangerous dangerous for the prosperity of an economy. You know, in the 19th century in America, why did people travel to America from Europe, immigrate? The reason was there were opportunities for ordinary people to make money. Uh jobs were better in America despite of all the robber baron saga and the nonsense that people talk about. The American entrepreneurs, the robber barons, to build the railroads and the refrigeration cars and machines and the trains and canals and so forth. Yeah, they made money, but they allowed the cost of living of people to go down. The price level in 1900 it was lower than in 1800.
>> Mhm.
>> Because they didn't have central bankers and most importantly, in America in the 19th century, there were hardly any economists and strategists that were spreading lies.
Looking further ahead, the long-term case for gold remains tied to the structural problems facing the global financial system. Government deficits continue to expand, interest costs on the national debt are rising, and the probability of future money creation remains high. In such an environment, many investors are beginning to question whether traditional financial assets alone can protect wealth. A notable prediction is that if a major market collapse occurs, precious metals could initially fall by around 30% as investors liquidate positions to raise cash. Yet, compared with assets that could decline 80%, 90%, or even become worthless, gold and silver may prove significantly more resilient. The expectation is not that metals will avoid volatility, but that they will retain value better than many alternatives during a systemic crisis. The broader message is centered on preservation rather than speculation. Throughout history, currencies, governments, and financial systems have changed, but tangible stores of wealth have continued to play an important role. As economic uncertainty rises, investors may increasingly focus on assets with limited supply and long-term purchasing power. Whether markets experience a slowdown, inflationary resurgence, or a deeper financial crisis, the coming years could look very different from the last decade. If this gave you value, smash that like button, share with those paying attention, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. Stay alert, stay prepared, and keep stacking tangible assets.