---
title: Information Line - October 2026
description: This monthly commentary on metals and the markets features insights from Albert Lu, Nomi Prins, Jim Woods, and Rich Checkan in October 2026.
image: https://blog.assetstrategies.com/hubfs/informationline.png
---

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 Oct 8, 2026, 8:15:00 AM

# Information Line - October 2026

[ASI](https://blog.assetstrategies.com/always-something-interesting/author/asi)

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| Perspective By Rich Checkan *Would you believe me if I told you that everything today costs* **less** *than it did twenty-six years ago?* *I shared this with the audience at the recent Porter & Company conference at Porter Stansberry’s farm in Stevenson, Maryland.* *You could hear their jaws drop and hit the floor.* *I will share the numbers dump that proves this in a second, but first I would like to share a couple key points – very much related – that came out of the conference.* ***“Someone said that at this conference?”*** *It was the end of the second day of the conference. Porter and a handful of assorted gurus were assembled on the stage for the closing Question and Answer panel.* *One gentleman from the audience took the microphone. He said he had heard earlier in the conference from a speaker that the U.S. $40 trillion debt did not matter. Therefore, he was wondering how that premise affected various markets, and how that will impact his portfolio.* *Porter was flabbergasted.* *He said, “Someone said that at **this** conference?!?!”* *Porter went on to explain that the debt absolutely does matter. It affects all markets and currencies. And the effect is anything but a positive one.* *Further, he said that the debt will continue to grow as long as Congressmen and Senators fail to balance the budget. Therefore, by extension, gold and Bitcoin will continue to rise in price as long as Congressmen and Senators fail to balance the budget.* *It was good to hear that come out of someone else’s mouth. As you know, I have been saying that here now for over thirty years.* *It is in fact the biggest no-brainer… period… full stop. We see eye-to-eye with Porter on this point.* ***Price Deflation? Seriously?*** *Yes. Price deflation. Seriously.* *Here are the numbers I shared with the crowd on Porter’s farm…* *Here are the prices of a few key items as of the turn of the millennium in 2000…* *Gallon of Gasoline - $1.29* *College Tuition (average annual cost for an in-state student at a public 4-year university) - $3,349* *New Home - $168,000* *Ford F-150 - $17,000* *Ounce of Gold - $288.50* *Here are the prices of those same items a couple of weeks ago as I spoke at the farm…* *Gallon of Gasoline - $4.48* *College Tuition (average annual cost for an in-state student at a public 4-year university) - $14,080* *New Home - $394,000* *Ford F-150 - $41,000* *Ounce of Gold - $4,327.00* *I can only imagine the thoughts running through your head right now. All the prices are higher. How on earth can everything be cheaper?* *I am glad you asked.* *Take a look at what everything cost in terms of gold in the year 2000…* *One ounce of gold would buy 224 gallons of gas.* *College tuition would cost you 11.6 ounces of gold.* *A new home would cost you 582 ounces of gold.* *A Ford F-150 would cost you 58.9 ounces of gold.* *Now, consider what everything costs today in terms of gold…* *One ounce of gold will buy you 966 gallons of gas.* *College tuition would cost you 3.3 ounces of gold.* *A new home would cost you 91 ounces of gold.* *A Ford F-150 would cost you 9.5 ounces of gold.* *If all you did was put some of your money into gold in the year 2000 and did absolutely nothing, you could buy 331% more gasoline today. Your college tuition would be 72% cheaper. Your new home would be 135% cheaper. Your Ford F-150 would be 84% cheaper.* *Prices of everything that matters have come down over the past 26 years substantially… in terms of gold.* *I do not know how to drive home the importance of having a small allocation of gold in your portfolio any more profoundly than that.* *But I will try.* *Consider this. Over the past 26 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 356%. The S&P 500 is up 433%. The Nasdaq is up 558%.* *Gold is up over 1,400%!* ***You Cannot Reduce Debt by Overspending*** *The number dump above is the result of out-of-control spending from both parties for decades.* *The consequences are clear. Holding U.S. dollars in your portfolio is a long-term liability due to the “Incompetence Tax” I mentioned last month.* *Holding gold in your portfolio is a long-term asset… the biggest benefactor of the fiscal irresponsibility of our elected officials.* *Ignore this at your own peril. The trend is not reversing anytime soon… if ever at all.* *As a result, here is your slightly modified “To Do” list from last month…* *1/ [Buy gold](https://assetstrategies.com/gold)… now.* *2/ [Buy silver](https://assetstrategies.com/silver)… now.* *3/ If you need help to get started, call us toll free at (800) 831-0007, or simply [**email us**](mailto:infoasi@assetstrategies.com).* *4/ Join us at 7PM EDT Wednesday, October 21st. Adrian Day and I will be hosting Luma Financial’s Albert Lu for our sixth and final **On the Move** webinar of 2026. [**Register Here!**](https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5P71YgFLQQaWfIsuaMTe-g#/registration)* *Doing all four is the best way I know to **Keep What’s Yours!** —Rich Checkan* --- Editor's Note:  Albert Lu provides discretionary investment management services through Luma Financial LLC using a macroeconomically driven, asset-allocation-focused approach. His management style heavily integrates Austrian economics, inflation/deflation theory, and fundamental research, focusing on long-term capital preservation and growth. He will also be the featured guest of our next On the Move Webinar on October 21st at 7 pm EST. Don't miss it! [Register here.](https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5P71YgFLQQaWfIsuaMTe-g) Feature The AI Megatrend: How to Ride (and Survive) Big Tech’s Great Leap Forward By Luma Financial AI is an unfolding reality that is revolutionizing the way we live, work, and invest. It’s as unavoidable as it is transformative, and according to financial advisor Albert Lu, adapting to its momentum is not only wise, but also essential. Drawing lessons from history and providing a candid look at both the promise and the pitfalls of such sweeping change, Lu frames the AI transition as a megatrend with deep consequences. AI as a Mega Trend AI is now seamlessly woven into daily life. From facial recognition replacing passwords on computers to automation steadily taking over routine tasks at work and at home, AI is embedded in our consumer products and professional environments. It is no longer science fiction, Lu argues, but a new way of life: “One day you’ll wake up and your vacuum cleaner will be talking to you. Like it or not, AI will find you.” The sense of inevitability comes not only from technological progress but also from an unmistakable societal push toward AI adoption. This adoption is happening at every level, and it is quickly becoming a necessity rather than a choice. Historical Parallels and Their Lessons Massive technological revolutions are not new. Lu compares the current AI surge to the infamously ambitious but disastrous Great Leap Forward in 1950s China. Like the Great Leap Forward, today’s AI revolution is fueled by existential anxiety, bold ambitions, and the willingness to take huge risks despite limited resources. Lu identifies five risk factors common to both historical revolutions and today’s AI revolution: 1\) Existential Threat: National survival and global dominance are at stake. In the AI arms race, leaders view technological superiority as a matter of economic security and world order. 2\) Desperation and Bold Planning: The urgency to regain tech leadership—especially over rivals like China—has fueled massive, unprecedented government programs and investment, such as the Chips and Science Act and direct equity in major semiconductor companies. 3\) Insufficient Resources: The U.S. faces a shortage of both human capital (highly skilled labor) and financial resources required for such rapid transformation, echoing the resource gaps that doomed previous attempts at sudden industrial progress. 4\) Lack of a Safety Net: Much of society is financially vulnerable, with many unable to cover even small emergency expenses. Economic fragility heightens the risk that shocks—whether economic, political, or technological—could have outsized effects. 5\) Susceptibility to Disaster: In any revolution, disasters such as inflation, war, or economic crashes can derail progress. While modern society is far removed from the famine and chaos of Mao’s era, the risks of unforeseen shocks remain. Economics, Policy, and the Drive for Dominance America’s AI push has become a national imperative. With decades of technological outsourcing behind it, the U.S. government is investing hundreds of billions in reclaiming its semiconductor edge, backing companies like Intel with direct ownership stakes and supporting bold, compressed development schedules. These high-stakes bets risk near-term financial losses for uncertain long-term gain, but leaders view them as necessary for national survival. The analogy to the Great Leap Forward is not meant to alarm; rather, it serves to remind us that ambitious transformations are fraught with both necessity and danger. The difference, as Lu notes, is that today’s revolution comes without the catastrophic human toll—but the pressure, resource constraints, and risk of miscalculation are familiar. The Individual’s Dilemma: Adapt or Fall Behind In this new era, resistance to AI’s spread is deemed futile. The job market, in particular, faces the threat of disruption not just for low-skill positions but across every sector. Automation, algorithms, and AI-driven decision-making are already reshaping industries, and Lu urges workers to embrace these changes, learn to work with technology, and see AI not as a competitor but as a tool for self-improvement and relevance. “Machines have wanted my job for years,” Lu points out, describing how he survived waves of workplace automation by continually adapting his skills and mindset. The key is not to hide from change, but to run toward it with openness and agility. Investing in the Age of AI: Where to Find Opportunity From an investment standpoint, the AI revolution’s costs will be socialized—everyone pays through higher taxes, energy consumption, and economic adjustment—but the profits will be highly concentrated. Government policy and private capital are building an AI future regardless of near-term economic logic, so passive avoidance is not a shield from risk. Lu advises investors to seek exposure at the foundational and application layers of the AI stack. On the one hand, companies producing core components like chips and energy infrastructure are positioned for long-term value, though currently many are highly overvalued. On the other hand, software and application providers stand to benefit as AI’s efficiency gains reach consumers. The crowded, overhyped middle segment—cloud providers and AI labs—may carry more risk and uncertain reward. Conclusion: The Bumpy Road Ahead The AI revolution, Lu warns, will not be smooth or free of peril, but the direction is clear. History shows that revolutions are daunting but necessary for progress, and those who prepare, adapt, and find ways to participate in the value created will stand the best chance of thriving. The societal price of AI is already being paid; the question left is who will collect its rewards. --- *Editor's Note:  Nomi Prins is a best-selling author, financial journalist, and former global investment banker. Prinsights Pulse is a new, free publication that’s curated by Nomi Prins. Designed for everyone from executives at large institutions to individuals seeking to enhance their financial understanding, this powerful newsletter provides essential insights into economic trends that affect us all. [Click here to discover more of Nomi's insights.](https://prinsights.substack.com/p/the-silver-squeeze-just-got-real)*   Hard Stuff Geography Beats Geology: Gold’s New Risk Premium By Nomi Prins 🌎 Discover why the location for gold producing companies is a data point to monitor now - and what the geopolitical dynamics mean behind the trend. ![photo-1584931423298-c576fda54bd2](https://blog.assetstrategies.com/hubfs/photo-1584931423298-c576fda54bd2.jfif) As they say in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. Gold is a prime commodity example of this mantra in action. Last month, Lahontan Gold (LGCXF), a small Nevada-focused developer in the U.S. that’s advancing the past-producing Santa Fe mine in Walker Lane, agreed to buy Emergent Metals at a 48% premium. In the process, it took full control of the West Santa Fe gold project, cleared the royalties on it, and added a second Nevada deposit to its portfolio. What made Emergent worth the premium was where its gold is, in Nevada. There, a company can permit a deposit, build the mine, and keep what it produces without worrying about nationalization creep. However, increasingly across much of the gold-producing world, none of that is guaranteed anymore. For instance, over the course of 2024-2025, Mali’s military government extracted about $1.2 billion in back taxes and payments from foreign mining companies, temporarily seized stockpiled gold bars, and put Barrick’s flagship mine under state administration before a settlement resolved the dispute in late 2025. This February, the government created a state mining company, Sopamim, to hold aggressive equity stakes across every working mine in the country. Burkina Faso nationalized five licenses and two working mines. Across West Africa’s Sahel, where a growing share of the world’s gold is dug, a government can rewrite the terms of a mine faster than a company can build one. This is why the country where gold deposits are located matters as much, or even more, than the amount of gold. Location Matters: Building a U.S. Mine Can Take 29 Years Tier-one jurisdiction means the rule of law holds, a permit stays a permit, and the royalty, tax and ownership terms a company signs today are the same ones in ten years. It is characterized as a state or a province with a record of legal and regulatory dependability. Nevada, Arizona, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Western Australia, South Australia. Canada as a whole means little. The Yukon is not Ontario. After the Eagle mine’s heap-leach pad failed in 2024 and the territory put the mine into receivership, the Yukon’s reputation took the damage with it. Locational consistency especially matters given how long project constructions take. Building a new mine in the United States takes about 29 years from discovery to first production, the second-longest timeline in the world, compared with about 27 years in Canada and 20 in Australia. Those figures cover all mines. Gold projects tend to move faster, but even a gold mine in a stable country takes close to a decade to build. Permitting alone can take seven to ten years in the US and two to five in Canada and Australia. That means that for the entire period, a company might invest billions of dollars in the ground with no offsetting metal coming out, so the only thing protecting it is a government that keeps the terms it signed. In the Fraser Institute’s 2026 annual survey of mining executives, Nevada grabbed the number-one spot as the most attractive place to invest on earth, moving up from second place the previous year, based on the solidity of this state government commitment to the mining process. Only Three of the Top Ten Gold-Producing Countries Are Tier-One Most of the world’s gold does not come from that kind of ground. By that dependability criterion, only three of the ten biggest producing countries qualify as tier-one. Those are Australia, Canada and the United States. But together, these countries mine only about one ounce of every six the world produces. Meanwhile, the other seven carry varying degrees of state intervention, permitting risk and shifting fiscal terms, and the changes keep coming. Some of the movement within the global landscape includes: · On September 1, Ghana, the biggest producer in Africa, banned the export of unrefined gold, forcing miners to refine it inside the country before it can leave. · Mexico, the ninth-largest producer, still refuses to grant a single new mining concession under President Sheinbaum and has put its open-pit mines under review. · Niger is rewriting its mining code, and Guinea, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo have each moved to take a bigger stake and a bigger cut of a mine’s revenue and gold exports before they leave the country. The economic calculation for a miner is simple. Gold in the Sahel region can be taxed, diluted or seized with little warning. But that same ounce in Nevada or Quebec carries far less of that risk. As a result, those ounces command a jurisdiction premium, as do the miners that develop them. ![f0ba9eaf-a57e-494e-b3e6-4b4d4de0039b\_1760x1060](https://blog.assetstrategies.com/hs-fs/hubfs/f0ba9eaf-a57e-494e-b3e6-4b4d4de0039b_1760x1060.png?width=800&height=482&name=f0ba9eaf-a57e-494e-b3e6-4b4d4de0039b_1760x1060.png) The next wave of big gold comes with its own issues. The largest undeveloped deposit in the world, Russia’s Sukhoi Log, holds about 43 million ounces, but it’s locked behind Western sanctions. Other large finds waiting to be built include projects in Cote d’Ivoire, Guatemala and Guyana that have varying degrees of jurisdictional uncertainty. With little new large-scale supply coming online in more politically stable countries, the majors are buying stable-jurisdiction deposits and bidding each other up to get them. Gold Led a $41 Billion Deal Wave Miners announced $41 billion of deals in the first five months of 2026. Gold was the biggest target, 31 of the 73 transactions. In July, Equinox Gold completed its $5.1 billion acquisition of Orla Mining, building a North American producer above a million ounces a year. In Australia, Genesis and Vault Minerals agreed to merge, creating a gold company valued at about A$12.6 billion. Canada has become the epicenter of this defensive consolidation sweep. Because stable provinces like Ontario and Quebec offer near-perfect policy predictability, global mining giants are aggressively outbidding each other for low-risk Canadian developments rather than gambling capital on volatile regions. Since the start of last year, nine separate takeovers of Canadian gold companies have each topped a billion dollars. Majors are competing for large, low-cost assets in tier-one jurisdiction with predictable paths to production. --- *Editor's Note:  Jim Woods is the editor of Forecasts & Strategies, Bullseye Stock Trader, Fast Money Alert and his latest publication, Crypto & Commodities Trader. A self-described radical for capitalism, he celebrates the virtue of making money from his Southern California horse ranch. [You can read more of his work here](https://jimwoodsinvesting.stockinvestor.com/).*  The Inside Story A Case of Bad ‘Breadth’ By Jim Woods The big news in markets came at the end of the third quarter, and it was the massive surge in Treasury bond yields. On Sept. 30, the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note yield closed at 5.30%, which is a two-decade high. Think about that, and where you were in life two decades ago. You’ve gotten older, richer (I know, because you subscribe to Info Line), and hopefully, a lot wiser. Meanwhile, the cost of capital is now back up to the levels not seen since the George W. Bush administration. Yet to me, the interesting thing about the spike higher in yields is that despite the move, the S&P 500 continues to push higher. Year to date through the first three quarters, the benchmark equity index was up nearly 12%. Talk about resilience!  Perhaps more impressively, that rise in the benchmark domestic equity index came despite other persistent headwinds aside from rising bond yields, including a spike higher in crude oil prices, and no actual progress on a U.S./Iran diplomatic solution that would open up the Strait of Hormuz.  Yet the bullish flipside here, and what is keeping this market pushing higher, is a combination of enthusiasm over the AI trade, a strong economy, and most importantly, strong expected earnings growth. All of these positives have more than offset the negatives, and they’ve been doing so since March.  Now, despite me putting a bullish spin on the market, I am concerned with something I am calling this market’s, “bad breadth.” Not bad “breath” as in what emanates from one’s mouth, but bad “breadth” as in market breadth, i.e. the number of stocks advancing versus declining.  One practical way to understand the breadth issue is to realize that tech stocks carried the S&P 500 higher over the past two months. Without a strong move higher in tech, the index would have actually declined. We know this, because if we look at the performance of the market-cap-weighted SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) vs. the Equal-Weight S&P 500 ETF (RSP), we see a clear divergence.  ![jimoct26\_1](https://blog.assetstrategies.com/hs-fs/hubfs/jimoct26_1.png?width=800&height=600&name=jimoct26_1.png) The heavy weighting of mega-cap tech stocks in SPY allowed it to climb 3% from Aug. 1 through Oct. 1, while equal-weight RSP was down nearly 3% over the same period.     A more technical, way to understand this “bad breadth” is to look at the NYSE Advanced-Decline line. Take a look at the chart below, which comes courtesy of my partners at Sevens Report Research. ![jimoct26\_2](https://blog.assetstrategies.com/hs-fs/hubfs/jimoct26_2.png?width=800&height=583&name=jimoct26_2.png) As you can see, we jumped above 7,600 on the S&P 500 in August, a move that peaked on Aug. 13. That move was confirmed by new highs in the number of stocks advancing vs. the number of stocks declining on the NYSE.  However, since that Aug.13 peak, the NYSE Advanced-Decline line has dropped sharply. Now, by itself this is not a bearish signal. However, a breakdown here in the Advance-Decline line can be a threat to the sustainability of any bull market, and this time is no different.  Going forward, I will be watching for more signs of “bad breadth,” because if this market doesn’t get a big mouthful of Listerine soon, my concern level will begin to increase markedly.  If this does take place, and if equity positions begin to falter, I will increase my allocations to real assets, and that means I’ll want to allocate more to commodities, and in particular, silver and especially gold.  Now, if I only had a great gold company to buy from… oh, wait… I have Asset Strategies International! |
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