The Secret War on Cash

Artificial intelligence is becoming one of the most powerful forces driving the U.S. economy and financial markets. But extraordinary technological growth does not automatically guarantee extraordinary investment returns. In Episode 316 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin is joined by longtime friend and Swiss America Trading colleague Bill Mentis, whose background includes investment banking,...

Gold prices have pulled back from recent highs. Silver is showing strength. Oil has eased, and markets increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to pause before potentially tightening again later. But Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos argue that focusing only on the latest daily move can obscure the much bigger monetary story. In Episode 315 of The Secret War on Cash , the Swiss America Trading hosts...

America has a math problem. In Episode 314 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine a fiscal 2026 budget deficit approaching $2 trillion and a national debt that has now reached $40.25 trillion. The federal government brought in approximately $5.4 trillion while spending roughly $7.4 trillion. Chris translates those enormous numbers into something...

China continues buying physical gold while American consumers increasingly expect higher inflation. In Episode 313 of The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading connect those two developments. The episode begins with China’s latest gold purchase. The article discussed by Dean and Chris reports that the People’s Bank of China added 23 tonnes in September , its...

Americans have spent years watching prices rise. Now the Federal Reserve is worried consumers and businesses may simply begin assuming that higher inflation is permanent. In Episode 312 of The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack’s warning about an “inflationary mindset.” Hammack argues that smaller policy adjust...

Why would the U.S. Treasury hire one of the most prominent advocates of gold-linked government debt at a moment when borrowing costs are rising and foreign central banks are accumulating physical gold? In Episode 311 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine the appointment of economist and longtime gold advocate Judy Shelton as counselor to Treasu...

A Russian laboratory worker is dead. Hospitals have been quarantined. Contacts have been monitored. And U.S. officials are asking Moscow for more information. But what actually happened remains uncertain. In Episode 310 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine the developing mystery surrounding the death of a 28-year-old worker at the Irkutsk Anti...

A stock market can look extraordinarily strong right up until sentiment changes. In Episode 309 of The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading begin with a sudden decline in India’s equity markets. The hosts discuss three pressures identified in the article they examine: continued selling by foreign institutional investors, sharply elevated oil prices and gove...

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates, yet Treasury yields continued climbing. That creates an uncomfortable question for policymakers. Are the Fed’s traditional tools still working the way they once did? In Episode 308 of The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine the latest pressure in the Treasury market and what higher yields could mean for th...

Artificial intelligence could become one of the most important technologies in modern history. It could also produce one of the largest investment bubbles. In Episode 307 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine warnings from Michael Burry and Ray Dalio about the financial structure developing underneath the AI boom. Burry has raised concerns abou...

The U.S. dollar remains the dominant currency in global foreign-exchange markets. So why does de-dollarization continue to attract so much attention? In Episode 306 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine China’s upcoming role as BRICS chair in 2027 and what it could mean for efforts to increase local-currency trade among member countries. The co...

Artificial intelligence may be digital, but the infrastructure powering it is very physical. In Episode 305 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine the enormous energy requirements behind America’s rapidly expanding AI data-center industry. The article discussed in the program forecasts that U.S. data centers could eventually consume extraordinar...

The Federal Reserve is confronting a problem with no obvious painless solution. In Episode 304 of The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine expectations for another Federal Reserve interest-rate increase and the conflicting economic pressures behind the decision. Higher interest rates are one of the traditional tools central banks use to slow inflati...

You may never put diesel into your own vehicle, but you still depend on it for the goods and services you use every day. In Episode 303 of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos of Swiss America Trading examine rising gasoline and diesel prices and the wider economic consequences of higher energy costs. The hosts begin with fuel-price reports from Labor Day weekend and the continu...

Why are central banks continuing to buy physical gold while reducing their reliance on the U.S. dollar? In Episode 302 of The Secret War on Cash, Swiss America Trading’s Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos examine reported central-bank gold purchases in July, including approximately 20 tons attributed to China out of 23 tons discussed in the program. The hosts connect that buying with a longer-term re...

Central banks continue buying gold, but the scale of the latest increase stands out. In this episode of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos discuss figures showing roughly $47 billion in central-bank gold purchases over a three-month period, following several years of strong institutional demand. Chris notes that central banks had often been purchasing around $10 billion per qu...

Episode 300 of  The Secret War on Cash  returns to the issue that has become increasingly difficult for Washington to avoid: debt. Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos begin with an article stating that annual U.S. interest expense has reached its highest share of federal revenue since 1991. According to the figures discussed in the episode, interest costs are approaching  20% of federal revenue . Chri...

The U.S. dollar is weakening, Treasury markets remain under pressure, and precious metals continue moving higher. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos examine why financial reporting has increasingly focused on debt, Treasury securities, dollar weakness, and the consequences of years of deficit spending. Chris notes that silver is approaching the $70 level d...

America's national debt has reached the $40 trillion level discussed in this episode, but Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos argue that the trajectory matters even more than the headline number. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , they examine why federal debt can become self-reinforcing. When debt levels rise, Treasury investors may demand higher yields to compensate for increasing financia...

Silver has already experienced extraordinary price volatility, but the structural forces supporting physical demand may be getting stronger. In this episode of The Secret War on Cash, Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos examine two dramatically different but potentially connected silver-price forecasts. The first comes from Citi analysis discussed in the program. The bank sees a short-term target arou...

Rand Paul has now visited Fort Knox and seen some of America’s gold reserves firsthand. But does that constitute an audit? In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos revisit the Fort Knox debate and ask why the federal government has not simply completed a comprehensive inventory of the gold held there. The issue gained renewed attention when President Trump and E...

The Federal Reserve may leave rates unchanged, but the more consequential interest-rate story could be unfolding thousands of miles away. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos begin by examining expectations that the Fed will not raise interest rates in September. Chris explains that because markets largely expect rates to remain unchanged, the decision itsel...

Central banks around the world are buying physical gold at levels not seen in previous decades. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos examine a World Gold Council survey discussed in the program showing that 89% of central banks expect global gold reserves to rise during the coming year and a record 45% plan to increase their own holdings. The trend itself is...

Gold, artificial intelligence and the national debt may appear to be separate financial stories. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos explain why they are increasingly connected. The conversation begins with a bullish gold-price forecast extending through 2030. Dean explains that gold differs from many other asset classes because it is purchased across natio...

Japan has remained relatively quiet during years of debate over BRICS, de-dollarization and the global financial order. That may be changing. In this episode of  The Secret War on Cash , Dean Heskin and Chris Agelastos examine the United States’ intervention to support the Japanese yen and the risks that intervention is attempting to contain. Japan’s currency weakness and domestic financial pressu...