Our initial thought is simply this: why create these artificial currencies, unbacked by any material wealth, when the two items that worked so well century after century—namely gold and silver—are still fully available?

…2017 was just the first year with a small increase after a huge drop off in exploration activity. It may take many years of future increases to get back to where the activity was in 2012, as projected increases in exploration spending are seen to be slow and steady.

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.

One of the largest conundrums we would point out is the matter of rising interest rates starting to take place in several nations.