Some Of This Is Completely Delusional. Some Of It May Actually Be Pretty Smart

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)  April 14, 2025

It’s been nearly two weeks of whipsaw, roller coaster tariff moves and countermoves… all of which threatens to upend not only economic stability, but even the global financial system as we know it.

 I can’t stress this enough: what we’re witnessing right now will almost certainly go down as one of the most monumental events in US economic history. And the consequences will have far-reaching implications far beyond a trade war or potential recession.

What Matters More Than the Stock Market

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)  April 12, 2025

Yesterday when I was talking to my friend and business partner Peter Schiff, he made it clear: China is trying to drive a wedge between the US and Europe by dumping US bonds, and buying euros. (Gold too, for that matter!)

This would account for why the dollar has been sinking against the euro… and why Treasury yields have surged.

OK— It’s Almost Definitely China Who’s Dumping Treasury Bonds

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black) April 10, 2025

Yesterday I wrote to you that something very fishy was going on in the bond market. And not just fishy— potentially destructive for the federal government and US economy.

For the past several days, US government bond yields have been surging at a rate not seen since at least 2008. And in some cases not since the early 1980s.

And this is a very, very big deal.

Is China Dumping US Government Bonds?

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)  April 9, 2025

You probably saw the headline this morning that China is retaliating against US tariffs with an 84% tariff of its own.   This trade war is obviously far from over… which probably means that financial markets are in for a lot more volatility.   Most people focus on the stock market. And that has obviously been a wild ride.   But what’s happening in the bond market right now is actually a much bigger deal.

 Remember that US government bonds have been considered a “safe haven” asset for decades. And that was the case, very briefly, late last week. Investors dumped stocks and then parked all that cash in the bond market.

China: I See Your Trade War And Raise You A Cyberwar

Notes From the Field By  James Hickman (Simon Black) April 2, 2025

It was sometime in the spring of 323 BC when Alexander the Great-- the “King of the World”-- passed through the gates of ancient Babylon for the last time.

He had already conquered the city nearly a decade before. But his men were worn out from fighting in India and Persia, and Babylon was a secure place to give his army a much-needed rest.

They remained there for a few months, until, quite suddenly, Alexander became extremely ill on either the 10th or 11th of June and then died.

If tomorrow is “Liberation Day”, today is “Rational Day” [Podcast]

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black) April 1, 2025

Tomorrow is being billed as Liberation Day— where tariffs will supposedly free America from those pesky, parasitic foreign markets. 

But what’s actually going to happen? 

This is the subject of today’s podcast. 

Here’s How The US Might Force Foreign Nations Into Submission [Podcast]

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)  March 27, 2025

On June 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon dispatched Treasury Secretary William Simon and his deputy to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to strike one of the most critical—and secretive—economic deals in modern history.

 Three years earlier, in August 1971, Nixon had severed the final link between the US dollar and gold, officially ending the Bretton Woods system. That meant foreign governments could no longer redeem their dollars for gold, effectively turning the dollar into a pure fiat currency backed by nothing but political promises.

This Looks Like A Divorce. And It’s Going To Be A Messy One

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)  March 25, 2025

“I think we are making a mistake,” said the Vice President, in what the media is criticizing as an unclassified text message discussion.

The administration was discussing if, when, and how to strike against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which has been menacing commercial ships in the Red Sea since late 2023.

The media is focusing on the fact that someone had inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally) added a reporter from the Atlantic to the chat group. But once again the media has missed the point.

Nothing Combats Climate Change Like a Four-Lane Highway Through the Amazon

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black)   March 21, 2025

About eight months from now in November 2025, over 50,000 world leaders, bureaucrats, activists, celebrities, and VIPs will descend upon the Brazilian city of Belém for the United Nation’s annual climate change lollapalooza, otherwise known as COP30.

These esteemed experts will gather to lecture the world on how desperately the rest of us peasants need to cut carbon emissions. They’ll make “bold commitments” to end fossil fuels and pledge to save the Amazon rainforest.

This High-Risk Gamble Is Putting The Future Of The US Economy At Stake

Notes From the Field BY James Hickman (Simon Black)  March 24, 2025

Russian-born Lydia Lopokova was not happy with her accommodations at the posh Mount Washington Hotel.  The world-famous former ballerina complained that, in room 219, “the taps run all day, the windows do not close or open, the pipes mend and unmend.” Not to mention the hotel pool was absolutely frigid, even for someone who had grown up in frosty Saint Petersburg.

Lopokova coped by practicing her ballet moves late in the evening-- the only time when the crisp New Hampshire mountain air made it tolerable enough to exercise.