This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Neland Nobel contributed 523 entries already.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Commodities can often be quite profitable investments. However, investing in them remains problematic for the average investor, and it is not always easy to find yourself only in the favorable portion of the cycle. If you remember the funny and pithy movie, Trading Places, you likely remember the classic explanation scene with Eddie Murphy comically […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Women’s National Basketball Association, a subsidiary of the better-known NBA, is headed for a confrontation with reality. This comes in several forms. This heretofore obscure and money-losing division of the NBA has been attracting both needed media attention and unwanted controversy. One of their players, Caitlin Clark, a married white athlete, has been breaking […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Readers would do well to follow the trail of comments, especially January 28, May 2, June 9, June 18, and the latest July 7. A compressed compendium of comments would inform you that we were looking for gold to correct from its lofty highs, earlier in the year. Gold needed to correct, wash out the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Many commentators on the Right, and even a few on the Left, are justifiably worried about what seems to be a rapid takeover of the Democratic Party by mostly young, radical members. America needs a functioning two-party system that believes in our Constitutional Republic. Unfortunately, one of the parties expresses open hostility to the Constitution, […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
New readers may have to go back to the archives to fully absorb the thread of these comments. See January 28, May 2, June 9, and June 18. The quick summary is that we looked for gold to peak earlier in the year because of its excessive parabolic action (gold bullion hit $5,600 per ounce […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
Angel Studios has released a biopic on the early years of George Washington. A formative time for a man who would become quite important to America and the world. The New York Times says, “The most bracing thing about “Young Washington” is its commitment to old-fashioned stodginess.” The L.A. Times says, ” Young Washington’ is the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
World War I, the so-called “war to end all wars”, had a shattering impact on the psyche of Europe that lasts even to today. The carnage, the destruction of life and property, and the fault lines it exposed in Western Civilization led to a post-war era of cynicism, renouncement of faith, disillusionment, and a period […]
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
TPP Editors’ Takes When colleges pump out more “elites” than society has elite jobs for, the frustrated ones don’t get humble — they get radical Capitalism is so successful it pays people to attack it. Schumpeter called this in 1942. Mises: if nobody will pay for your ideas, blaming the system is easier than changing […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Pixar division of Disney may not have returned to its glory days, but it has produced a winner with Toy Story 5. Over the weekend, it did very well, pulling in about 10 times as much revenue as the number-two film. More importantly, we took our grandchildren to see it and thought the film […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Supreme Court just handed down one of the most important cases regarding the Second Amendment, the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. Liberals and Progressives, following their socialist comrades in Europe and Canada, have long been hostile to the Second Amendment and have attempted to make it illegal to own a firearm, […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
We wrote on June 9th that June would “likely provide some kind of bottoming action soon” for gold bullion and the mining shares. We pointed out that gold was now badly oversold but lacked the requisite bottoming action to make a solid case that the bottom is yet in. It is normal and healthy for […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
We have been through a dizzying cycle of tough rhetoric, constantly shifting deadlines, and fragile pauses in a “cease fire” with Iran that has been anything but. Now it would seem we are back to airstrikes after Iran shot down an Apache helicopter gunship. This cycle of rhetoric and kinetic action keeps repeating itself and […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Back on January 28, we noted (HERE) that gold had gone parabolic and was significantly overbought. We feared what history has shown. A market that goes parabolic almost always ends in a severe correction, not just a sideways waddle to purge the market of its overbought condition. On May 2nd, we revisited market conditions (HERE) […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
This is part two of a piece from Neland Nobel on the impact of envy on our society. To read the first installment, please visit HERE. Schroeck does not say that all envy is bad. The measure of a civilization is how effectively it contains envy’s destructive potential while harnessing its regulatory and motivational aspects […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
“Envy was once considered to be one of the seven deadly sins before it became one of the most admired virtues under its new name, ‘social justice.’” — The Quest for Cosmic Justice By Thomas Sowell Helmut Schroeck, in his famous book Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior, defines envy as “sorrow for another’s good.” He goes […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
We will lay our prejudices on the table. We think that in America (as opposed to Europe), we are better served by a large swath of the population living in homes they own. A home that one owns is an essential part of the American dream, and makes us distinct from crowded Europe. This creates […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Many Conservatives are puzzled as to why President Trump is delaying delivering a knock-out punch to Iran, and instead seems intent on a diplomatic outcome. He may have very good reasons for this, and we admit we are not privy to intelligence data that he has. Therefore, we don’t wish to sound harsh or judgmental. […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Readers likely know that the stock market can fluctuate up and down, even within a general uptrend or a general downtrend. Predicting these moves with precision is very difficult. Last time we looked at the market, we caught a significant oversold condition, almost to the day, and have profited nicely. Since the low around the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
TPP Editors’ Takes The Trump administration has effectively reshaped the Republican coalition. However, the movement is ignoring a looming fiscal crisis that threatens the nation’s long-term stability. The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio has hovered above 100% for over a decade. At over 120%, it sits at historical, unsustainable wartime highs. Short-term U.S. bonds fail to keep […]
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
TPP Editors’ Notes Historically, American Jews have leaned heavily toward the Left, with low gun ownership (13% vs. 41% for non-Jews) and a strong preference for restrictive gun laws. There has been a recent shift in perspective due to rising anti-Semitism across the political spectrum, leading some Jews to reassess their stance on self-defense. The […]
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
TPP Editors’ Takes A significant political realignment is occurring among American Jews, leading to Dershowitz’s defection to the Republican Party. ~75% of Jews have traditionally voted Democrat. Why? Fear of “Old World” Conservatism, which linked church and state and led to pogroms and exclusion. Early 20th-century urban Jewish life was centered around unions and secular […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
Perhaps it is because, late last year and early this year, gold overshot and went parabolic. Perhaps it is because Iran and other regional powers are selling gold. Maybe a central bank has been a seller. Gold has increasingly become a “risk on” asset, correlating rather closely with the stock market. But of late, there […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
TPP Editors’ Takes The decline in NATO enthusiasm stems less from MAGA isolationism and more from a fundamental drift within Europe away from democratic reliability. NATO’s primary purpose has become increasingly muddled since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Low combat readiness, declining birth rates, and high average […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
By Neland Nobel Just to update our readers, we ran a market commentary on March 31st, written on March 30, suggesting that extreme sentiment indicated that a “zone of value“, if not an outright low in the stock market, was pending. To refresh that commentary, we noted that an extreme reading of 4 on the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
By Neland Nobel The stock market has fallen between roughly 6% to 10%, depending on the average examined, as of the close on Friday, March 27th. The market began this decline from a position of historical overvaluation, so it is little wonder the market should sell off under the circumstances. The uncertainty of the war’s […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The political Left in the US basically pioneered the idea of cultural appropriation. Why and how they became guardians of others’ cultures, and why mixing cultural traits and habits into the general populace is considered an inexcusable trespass, is a complicated story. Our best guess is that they want to divide us from one another […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
For the moment, we will not wade into the controversy over whether the current military campaign against Iran is justified or what constitutes an “imminent threat”. Rather, we will observe the unique way this war is being conducted and its military and moral implications. While there have been flirtations with targeting military and political leadership, […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
While we don’t think The Prickly Pear is suitable as a financial advisory publication, we do make market calls from time to time. Not surprisingly, like most people, Conservatives are interested in money, especially during times of turmoil. So, we hope you find these market commentaries helpful for your financial planning. With that in mind, let’s […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
If you follow the news, you likely are aware of two recent shootings involving transgender individuals. One was at a hockey rink in Rhode Island, and the other in Canada. At least in an anecdotal sense, there seems to be a growing problem. However, when one looks at most media accounts, they suggest there is […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
News broke today that in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a substantial part of the Trump tariff agenda. No doubt the President’s supporters will be angry, but while some justices may have ruled to frustrate Trump in particular, they protected the mechanism of our Constitutional structure, and therefore, it is actually a […]
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute
The Prickly Pear posts often as many as 10 new videos a day. It is one of our most popular features. We do this because we know that increasingly, people get their information this way. You can turn on a podcast or video, and walk the dog, do the dishes, clean the garage…all while learning […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
We do not always agree with President Trump on style, and on occasion, his policies. However, when it comes to substance, he is among the rare politicians who actually deliver on his promises. He appointed Congressman Lee Zeldin to the Environmental Protection Agency, and last week, he delivered the largest single act of deregulation in […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
No Liberty for License: The Forgotten Logic of the First Amendment is a 1997 book by David Lowenthal, a political philosopher and professor associated with Boston College. The forward was written by Harvey Mansfield, a rare beacon of reason from Harvard. In the Founders’ context, one is free to act in accordance with the moral and natural law. Boiled down in simplistic terms, man is free to choose to be moral, but not free to be depraved or immoral. The title draws from a classical distinction between liberty (responsible freedom under moral and civic constraints) and license (unrestrained, licentious behavior that harms society). Lowenthal argues that the modern interpretation of the First Amendment has forgotten this distinction, turning free speech and religious protections into tools for moral and social degradation rather than safeguards for a healthy republic. He blames this drift primarily on Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis, two important Supreme Court Justices. Their successors continued the drift towards a different definition of freedom. The American experiment assumes enough residual moral agreement (or at least tolerance bounded by law) to hold things together, while protecting dissent. But it does not protect violent rebellion. We wonder, though, whether we have now gone so far towards license that the Founders’ fear that it will destroy liberty in the end is not now unfolding before us.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Since most Conservatives fear government budget and monetary mismanagement, many own some quantity of precious metals. But even those without Conservative credentials had to have noticed the profit potential. For those willing to own some gold, it has outperformed the vaunted S&P 500 and “indexing” over the past 25 years, and often has done so while correlating either negatively or neutrally. In investment jargon, this means its presence in the portfolio has created higher returns and lower portfolio volatility, thereby raising risk-adjusted returns. In short, it has served investors well, regardless of political persuasion. The evidence we have right now is that metals are having a sharp correction within the context of an ongoing bull market. That could change, but right now, that appears to be the circumstance in which we must all operate. If that is true, buying the dip during a severe correction is the right move. Right now, we think silver has suffered a “flash crash”, but not a reversal of over all trend.
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
According to Gemini AI, the UK has reduced its annual greenhouse gas emissions by over 50% since 1990, with 2023 emissions at 384.2 million tonnes of CO2. Conversely, China has significantly increased emissions, with data suggesting it emitted over 80 billion tonnes of CO2 in just the past 8 years, more than all the estimated emissions from England since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, generally believed to be around 1750. Multiple countries, such as Germany and England, have changed their entire energy policies based on the theories Gore popularized. In the process, they have lowered their citizens’ standard of living and deindustrialized themselves. They are more dependent than ever now on China, a vicious Communist dictatorship, that powers their industrial might on burning vast quantities of the dirtiest fuel, coal.
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
For the US markets, we have a positive “January effect”, the notion that a positive January bodes well for the coming year. As we recently wrote, while there are some exceptions, during bull markets the odds are pretty good at 80% that if January ends with a gain, the year ahead will be a positive one. The real fireworks came near the end of the month. Some cite the selection of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as the head of the Federal Reserve as the source of volatility. Most people want border control, strong defense, and less woke cultural policies from the government. But if their 401(k) drops sharply, family members become unemployed, or their Medicare and Social Security benefits are cut, they are likely to vote with their pocketbooks. We think Donald Trump knows this, and we suspect Kevin Warsh does as well. And we doubt it is simply political expedience. Between tax cuts and reduced regulation, securing new supply chains, and bolstering the military, Trump has consistently advocated his integrated vision to make America Great Again. It is a deeply held belief that has animated his entire political career.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
under the Biden Administration, the policy shifted to completely open borders with no tracking of illegals or foreign terrorists that might be crossing our border. Somewhere between 10 and perhaps as high as 20 million people were allowed to cross the border illegally, even though Federal and state officials are bound to enforce the law equally and fairly to all, and cannot pick and choose which laws to enforce based on their short-term emotions or opinions. In case you missed it, the practice of equally enforcing the law and not legislating from bureaucracy is called the rule of law. Now Democrats are totally out in the open. They want the border open, and they want illegals to vote. That is replacement politics as clear as you can make it. Even the rounding up of just criminal aliens and closing the border has caused the party to go into a fit of rage. ICE and Border Patrol are now Nazis. Rank-and-file Democrats now organize themselves to inform illegals of the activities of ICE, and activists now openly impede the operations of law enforcement. Even in Arizona, Democratic officials and rank-and-file seem in open rebellion against the law. In case you missed it, Democrats did this once before over the issue of slavery and plunged the nation into a civil war.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
After stunning gains last year, the precious metals are on their way to a spectacular month of January. While the month is not over, as we write, gold is up about 16%, silver is up more than 40%, and platinum is up 36%. GDX, the global gold mining index, is up about 30%, about twice what the metal itself has done. SIL, the ETF representing silver miners, is up about 41% so far this month. These numbers are changing fast, but you get our drift. These are spectacular gains by any measure. Rising demand and a lack of supply are a recipe for higher prices. China dominates both the supply and refining capacity for many of these critical metals, and it is clear that the US, in particular, should not depend on China, which hovers between rival and outright enemy. If we are correct, the forces underpinning the precious are strong, despite the risk for short-term corrections.
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes
In this essay, we are not making the case for current immigration laws. We are making the case that the law should be understood and enforced until it is changed. If there are imperfections in the law, our elected representatives can change them. However, citizens who might disagree with the law or simply don’t understand it are not free to defy it. Moreover, they are not free to organize themselves to impede the execution of the law or to harass Federal officers in the performance of their duties. It is interesting that those who are howling the loudest about democracy and due process do not use either to change the law. Rather, they simply defy laws they don’t like, often with force and violence.
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Why would the North Atlantic and the Polar cap be important from a geopolitical/military perspective? Anyone with a vague memory of World War II and the Battle of the Atlantic must remember the importance of that theatre of the war effort. The only way to get massive supplies to our allies in Europe is by ship. Even the massive airlift capacity available today cannot move the quantities of materials needed to fight another European war. Today, with hypersonic missiles, detection is just one problem. Knocking them down will be another. That will require more than just detection. Well, in the age of hypersonic missiles coming over the pole, or silent nuclear submarines getting close to the US undetected to launch missiles, perhaps Greenland is more important than you think. Maybe this is not just a big ego trip.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Of late, the MAGA Conservatives seem to have no real concern about the deficits, even though the interest on the accumulated debt is now over $1 trillion a year, surpassing what we spend on defense. It would be nice to see more concern about the deficit because, at some point, it really will matter. Over the past 50 years, defense has fallen to about a quarter of its 1970 level, while social spending has doubled. In short, the defense budget, bloated it may be, cannot be causing the deficits. This is not to say there is no waste in defense, and the money could not be saved. We are saying the structural shift in spending from defense to welfare and social entitlement programs is driving the deficit higher and higher, and that, in turn, drives interest expense higher and higher.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Wall Street history is full of aphorisms. Some have substance, and some are urban myths. One of the more popular is the “January Barometer, popularized by the late Yale Hirsh in his famous book, The Stock Trader’s Almanac. Hirsh is also generally credited with popularizing “The Santa Claus Rally” and “The Presidential Election Cycle.” You […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
We face today an organized Leftist campaign to monitor, obstruct, and impede the execution of laws by ICE. This is a crucial difference. This is not a one-off emotional political event but a coordinated, ongoing, well-funded conspiracy to obstruct the execution of the law. We have Governors like Tim Walz suggesting Minnesota is at war with the Federal Government and mayors like Jacob Frey stoking the violence. ICE is in Minnesota at a time when it is clear the Somali immigrant community was deeply involved in pulling off the biggest theft of public money in history, often with the cooperation and knowledge of Democrat officials. The Somali scandal aside, the whole notion of sanctuary cities is a neo-confederate project. It suggests that Federal law is null and void in their jurisdictions, a position that would make Jefferson Davis smile. This is dangerous. We can’t really allow areas of the US break away and ignore the law of the land. The full might of the Federal government should be brought to bear on those who are obstructing the law.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Calls for accountability are often heard but rarely delivered. This case may be different. Arizona’s Senior Democrat Senator, Mark Kelly, has received a censure from the Department of War. This ruling came after weeks of investigation into a video he joined with other lawmakers in calling for members of the armed services not follow “unlawful orders”. Asked repeatedly, Kelly would not specify what unlawful orders he was referring to. None of the other Democrats in this video presentation cited any violations of law when asked. They only warned service personnel to be on the lookout for possible unlawful orders they might receive in the future.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
No doubt both the Left and elements of the Libertarian Right will be discussing at length the move by President Trump to capture and arrest Maduro in Venezuela. At least preliminary reports indicate an almost flawless US military operation with no loss of life or equipment. At this early stage, we have few details, but […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
For the American investor, 2025 was again quite a decent year. To be sure, the 16% return for the S&P fell short of the 20%+ returns of the two previous years, but it was still quite respectable. The average return for the S&P is about 10% per year. So, there is nothing wrong with a year with returns 60% above the average. This is despite all the uncertainty surrounding political changes in the US, interest rate uncertainty, wars, a weaker dollar, soaring precious metals, historic overvaluation, and lop-sided, concentrated behavior of the technology sector. The market once again showed a remarkable ability to plow through potential dangers and reach higher ground. The market faces some hurdles, including another possible government shutdown, the midterm elections, a new FED Chairman, and an elevated risk of war. But as long as liquidity is ample and technical action is positive, we see no reason why a simple turn of the calendar spells doom for stocks. True, the market remains vulnerable to unexpected shocks because of over-concentration and overvaluation. But historically, going up another year (four years in a row) is not out of the question.
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute
Former Congressman and Senator John Kyle announced recently that he has been diagnosed with dementia and will be withdrawing from public life. Dementia is a terrible disease that can humble the greatest of us and is extraordinarily painful for the family. Our prayers and best wishes go out to his friends and family. They face […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Readers know we have been positive on the prospect of silver for some time. Last summer, when silver had just crossed $34 per ounce, we wrote a special report on it, Silver Makes A Move. And quite a move it has been. In just about six months, the price has more than doubled. Is this […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
We very early noted the serious rift forming in Conservatism. See the achieves for our four part series. Since the murder of Charlie Kirk, it really seems to have burst into the open. We are seeing a battle for the soul of Conservatism and the future of the MAGA Movement. Some of this rift is […]
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
Whether intended or not, the net effect of gun control laws is to disarm the innocent. Bad guys break laws, including gun control laws. No Jews were carrying concealed at the beach to respond to the terrorist attacks—the reason: Australian gun control laws. The Jewish Community needs to get serious and teach its members how to defend themselves. The government won’t keep bad guys from getting guns, knives, and cars to run into crowds. And the police may or may not arrive in time, and when they do, they are not always effective. The citizen is always the first responder. When people chant “Globalized the Intifada, what does that mean? It means Jews, everywhere, are now targets. If Jews do not support and protect themselves, who will?
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