Bizarro World Podcast,
with Nick and Gerardo
Oct. 5, 2026
The free version of the 382nd episode of Investing in Bizarro World is now published.
Here’s what was covered:
Macro Musings — Gold’s short-term bear market tests the long-term bull.
Gold, silver and the mining equities remain under short-term pressure, but the long-term bull market is intact.
Gold’s correction from roughly $4,600 has now reached about 10%. The metal broke below support at $4,375, $4,240 and $4,175 before holding the critical $4,000 level. To regain its bullish momentum, gold must reclaim those former support levels in reverse order before challenging the highs near $4,660.
Silver looks weaker and could trade down to $54 or $55 before its correction ends. Copper has held up better than either precious metal and remains constructive despite pulling back toward $6.
The macro headwinds are clear. The Federal Reserve raised rates by a quarter point, sovereign bond yields have climbed globally and the U.S. Dollar Index moved back above 100. That combination has punished the precious-metals complex, with the GDXJ falling roughly 17% over the past month.
Yet the same debt and spending problems driving bond yields higher also support the long-term case for gold. Central banks and large funds remain buyers, and Nick continues to view $4,000 as the level that keeps the secular bull market intact.
Uranium remains pinned near $89–$90 per pound while many uranium equities trade well below their 52-week highs. Lithium has fallen more than 20% from its recent highs but remains roughly flat to modestly positive year over year. Recent lithium acquisitions carrying premiums of approximately 50% and 75%, combined with unusually low Chinese inventories, suggest larger players are preparing for potential supply deficits and disruptions in 2027 and 2028.
Gerardo emphasized the importance of matching positions to your risk tolerance and time horizon. He and Nick are writing substantial checks into companies they intend to hold through exploration programs and potential discoveries — not simply until their four-month legends come off. The objective is long-term value creation, with the additional benefit of qualifying successful positions for long-term capital-gains treatment.
Market Takes — Institutional money crowds Beaver Creek while Wall Street’s breadth collapses.
Beaver Creek was exceptionally busy, with approximately 220–240 companies in attendance and noticeably more institutional capital in the room. Major mining companies and banks conducted meetings throughout the event, while large financings and project-development facilities continued to get funded.
The industry does not appear concerned about short-term volatility at $4,100 gold. Instead of launching a wave of outright acquisitions, major producers have increasingly taken strategic 9% or 19% positions in junior companies and funded exploration directly.
Companies are also unlocking value through spinouts. Aldebaran is spinning out Centauri, Riverside has already spun out Blue Jay Gold and is working toward another transaction, and Latin Metals spun out Latin Explore. Meanwhile, drill rigs and assay capacity remain tight — evidence that substantial exploration activity is underway despite weak public-market sentiment.
The broader equity market is losing breadth. An equal-weighted S&P 500 portfolio has fallen approximately 6% over the past month and a half, while the capitalization-weighted index has been supported primarily by technology, AI and energy stocks.
Oil has quietly retreated from approximately $106 per barrel in mid-September to as low as $92, which may already be helping bond yields ease. Nick expects third-quarter GDP growth near 4%, possibly higher, while inflation could climb toward 3.7%–3.9%. He expects both growth and inflation to slow as the economy moves through the fourth quarter and into early 2027.
That combination would be challenging for the broad market, but it could force the Fed to turn dovish. Lower yields and a weaker dollar would provide a much more favorable environment for gold, silver and mining equities late in the fourth quarter or early in the first quarter.
Crypto has been one of the few speculative sectors showing strength, with Ethereum rising approximately 70% over three months. Marijuana stocks are also beginning to stir after years in the wilderness. The MSOS ETF fell from roughly $50 to below $4 before recovering toward $5.
The federal marijuana-rescheduling case was delayed again following a Government Accountability Office report, but Nick does not believe the delay necessarily derails the process. With the midterms approaching and Republicans searching for politically popular accomplishments, he believes marijuana reform could become an attempted olive branch to voters.
Bizarro Banter — Government can’t execute, regulate or represent.
Gerardo opened with the ultimate sign of institutional incompetence: reports of another botched execution in Tennessee. The state allegedly failed to execute a death-row inmate properly, left her with brain damage and then transported her to a hospital — while she remained under a death sentence. He cited estimates that approximately 7% of state executions are botched in some fashion.
That led into a broader discussion about a country increasingly unable to perform basic functions competently. Nick pointed to planned obsolescence in consumer products: modern appliances can fail after only a few years and cost more to repair than replace, while refrigerators built decades ago continue running in basements across America.
Both hosts remain deeply dissatisfied with the political choices heading into the midterms. Campaigns increasingly amount to warnings not to vote for the other party rather than coherent explanations of what candidates intend to accomplish. Republicans label Democrats communists; Democrats focus on Trump’s corruption; neither side offers credible solutions to debt, spending, education, public safety or declining institutional competence.
Nick brought the argument down to the local level. Spokane officials resisted voters’ demand to prohibit homeless encampments, later claimed credit for limited enforcement and are now seeking another sales-tax increase in the name of community safety. Washington voters also supported freedom of energy choice, only to have the measure overturned by the state Supreme Court on technical grounds.
His conclusion was blunt: politicians from both parties routinely say what voters want to hear, then ignore those voters once elected. Stop treating them with reverence, hold them accountable and concentrate on the parts of life you can still control. Despite the dysfunction, America continues to offer upward mobility to people willing to take responsibility for their own outcomes.
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0:00 Introduction
3:14 Macro Musings: Gold Tests $4,000. Silver Could Slide. Copper Holds Firm. Uranium Stays Stuck. Lithium Deals Accelerate.
12:03 Market Takes: Beaver Creek Buzzes. Institutions Move In. Majors Buy Stakes. Market Breadth Narrows. Oil Retreats. Crypto Catches Fire. Cannabis Starts Smoking.
24:09 Bizarro Banter: Executions Get Botched. Campaigns Get Weird. Appliances Stop Lasting. Voters Get Ignored. Self-Reliance Wins.
38:47 Premium Portfolio Picks: (You need to subscribe to Bizarro World Live to get this section)
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