Many people are calling 2024 the year of Gold, thanks in large part to an ever-changing economic and geopolitical landscape. Between an impending banking crisis, an election year, and a turbulent economic forecast, we’ll break down four of the major reasons why owning gold in 2024 is essential to weathering the storm ahead.

I’m Taylor Kenney with ITM Trading and this is Taylor Made Economics. While gold has already proven itself to be the ultimate asset to safeguard wealth, it has never been more important to understand the specific risks that we’re facing this year and how owning gold will help you protect yourself against them. Today we’re going to break down four of the major reasons, plus one huge wildcard at the end, as to why owning gold in 2024 is so important.

Starting with number four: supply and increased demand. In 2023, the entire world saw just how vulnerable their U.S. reserves were when the United States imposed sanctions on Russia and denied them access to their U.S. reserves, freezing their assets. Only one month into 2024 and the United States is making headlines again by considering an actual seizure of those assets, taking it a step further and essentially stealing Russia’s money, no matter where you land on the decision.

These concerns have spurred on central banks to move away from stockpiling the U.S. dollar and instead towards amassing as much gold as possible. Last year, central banks spot gold at a rate of two and a half that of the last decade prior to the Ukraine war, resulting in a total of 374 tons of gold. And it’s no surprise that Russia and China are at the center of all of this, not only because of their fear of sanctions but also because they want to create a new path forward where gold is at the center of it all.

Gone will be the days of relying on the U.S. dollar and instead will be a new currency or currencies based on gold. This high demand is set to continue this year, not only from central banks but also from individuals who recognize gold’s role in preserving wealth. When you think about supply and demand, keep in mind that gold is a finite resource. It is one of the many reasons why demand has always been high and will always be high, but especially in 2024, as we think about all of the geopolitical factors at play.

Number three: preservation of value. In 1913, the Federal Reserve took over the U.S. dollar, and since that date we have lost over 97% of our purchasing power. Let that sink in for a second. Today, we have less than 3% of our purchasing power from what we once had. Thanks to devaluation from additional printing of U.S. dollars, the United States dollar has never been and will never be a good store of value. What you can buy today will only ever diminish with time.

When we think about the economy today, inflation is the name of the game. We have been told that inflation has come down; therefore, it’s a soft landing, that there’s nothing to worry about, and everything is fine. But that is simply not the case. Now, it is true that inflation has come down. In 2021 we had 7%, in 2020 to an average of six and a half. And last year we saw an average of 3.6%. But inflation is not the only thing that matters here. I don’t have to tell you that your 2019 grocery budget will not buy you the same amount of food today that it did then, and that is because the dollar is worth less. Look at this chart from 2020 to today; we have lost 16% of what little purchasing power we had left.

Inflation might be coming down, but the value of our dollar is not skyrocketing any time soon. We are continuing to lose purchasing power. Voltaire, the French philosopher, famously stated; Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. The U.S. paper dollars in your wallet, the ledger in your account at your bank. That is not real money. It is a currency, a fiat currency. There is only one true form of money, and that is gold. Gold has been used as money for thousands of years, thanks in part to its durability and scarcity. But most importantly, because of its intrinsic value. Fiat currencies don’t have any intrinsic value. They are made up and they are not based or backed on anything, whereas gold has an intrinsic value.

So you’ll never have to worry about losing 97% of your wealth thanks to decisions made by governments. Which brings us to reason number two, zero counterparty risk. Five banks failed last year in 2023, setting the stage for what we can expect this year. Last week I made a video on the impending bank crisis that is careening forward, thanks in large part to massive, unreal size losses. Debt maturities in 2024 and hugely leveraged exposure. But banks are just one part of this puzzle.

In addition to banks, corporate debt defaults soared 80% in 2023, thanks in large part to higher financing costs. But with so many issuers at risk, nearly 40% of issuers at risk of being downgraded, financing costs will remain high through 2024, despite potential rate cuts putting corporate America at risk. It is evident that 2024 is going to have significant defaults and realized losses, which is going to have a massive impact on the counterparties of your assets and therefore you any assets that you have in the system that have a counterparty, which is almost all of them always carry risk. But now, as we enter this year, that risk is only growing.

An investment credit or transaction is dependent on your bank not failing. A stock is dependent on a company not going bankrupt. A bond is dependent on the US government being able to repay its bondholders, and the value of your US dollar is dependent on more money not being printed.

The only asset that truly has zero counterparty risk is going to be gold and silver and not ETFs, but tangible gold and silver. Because if you hold it and you own it, there is no other party, there’s no counterparty, and therefore there is zero counterparty risk. Precious metals can’t default. They can’t commit fraud and they don’t go bankrupt.

And before we get to the wild card, let’s go to number one, a safe haven asset. I do not have to tell you that we are living through a period of major volatility. We just went over a ton of different things that are boiling over in 2024. But it is often during these periods of economic uncertainty when people look for assets that offer stability and protection during times of turbulence. Now, depending on who you ask, these assets could be U.S. bonds, cash of U.S. dollars or other currencies, specific commodity stocks or gold.

But last year, we saw that not all safe haven assets are actually that safe. Specifically, 2023 saw U.S. Treasury bills lose hundreds of billions of dollars in value while the purchasing power of your U.S. dollar plummeted, which puts an even greater spotlight going into 2024 on the one true safe haven asset. Gold. Unlike cash, it can’t be printed and is inflation immune. Unlike Treasury bills, it’s not dependent on interest rates and isn’t at risk based on government failures.

This year will be unique in many ways. Not only is it an election year, but we also still have a lot of uncertainty around the Federal Reserve and how they’re going to respond. We have ongoing wars in the Middle East and Russia, Ukraine, as well as BRICS bloc nations gaining ground.

But as these geopolitical tensions rise, gold will withstand these crises, as it always has, and act as a protective shield for your wealth as a true safe haven asset.

Which brings us to, as promised. The wild card reason and the biggest reason of all, the reset. Everyone is busy right now looking at the details of what’s happening right now, given the context of the last 100 years. Not to say that that’s not important. I myself just laid out the details of 2024. But in addition to that, are you looking beyond the narrow scope of what’s happening right now? Are you looking beyond the last 100 years at the big picture?

If you have been watching ITM for a while, you probably have heard Lynette talk about how it’s not a recession but a reset. Lynette has dedicated her life to studying not just 100 year cycles, but thousands, way beyond the scope of what we hear daily in the news. If you’re not aware of this, listen to Lynette. Listen to Ray Dalio. We are not talking about your standard shift into a recession. We are talking about something much larger here and things that we’ve never even seen before.

As an example, central bank digital currencies are coming and they will revolutionize the world as we know it. This is not your standard. Go buy gold and protect yourself from recession. We are talking about something much greater than that, which is why education is so important and not just education and what’s going on or what’s coming next, but education in gold and silver.

There are different types of gold and silver that serve different functions, and our analysts have decades of experience not only in gold and silver, but in helping people. How do you protect the wealth and assets that you already have? Are you going to be able to sustain your lifestyle through all of this? Will you be in a position of opportunity once the reset happens? And beyond all of that, beyond your life, are you setting up dynastic wealth for the people you care about?

These are the questions that you need to be asking yourself if you’re not already. And these are the questions that our analysts are here to help you solve. We are standing on the edge of a cliff uniquely positioned to see what’s coming next before it happens. If you haven’t started your gold or silver strategy yet, start today. Don’t wait, but don’t do it alone. Click the Calendly link below or scan the QR code and talk to one of our analysts. They work with you to understand your needs, your goals, and to create a custom individualized strategy with you at the center of it.

Also, there are a ton of incredible videos on the ATM channel right now. two that I’m going to recommend that expand on topics I talked about today. Daniela Cambone’s interview with Jim Rickards where they dive into U.S. seizure of Russian assets and how it would destroy the U.S. Treasury market as well as one that’s 2024 Impending Financial Chaos video, where she talks about geopolitical risk and the central banks buying up as much gold as they can get their hands on.

To that point, if you haven’t already, please like and subscribe. It helps so much. And also I love reading your comments, so let me know what you think. And as always, thank you so much for joining. I’m Taylor Kenney with item trading. Until next time.