The combination of these two concerns—the drift toward socialism and the willingness to violate law—appear to me to be capable of raising the level of civil disorder to a point where such disorders could be positive influences on the price of gold and silver.

Perhaps the heart of our pro-gold thesis is this consideration: governments are inherently inefficient, they attempt to provide services far beyond their genuine fiscal ability and these trends result in deficit financing, growing debt levels and ultimate “watering” down of currency values.

These moves were the first serious interruption to the bull market, which had not encountered a serious decline since the election of November, 2016. Since general market moves have been one of the most reliable historic indicators of precious metals market moves, we take a close look at these developments.