Back to what Jim Rickards calls the “dumbest plan ever” today… Walt B. writes: “It's good to see the different perspectives on the Ukraine conflict.

“I find it amusing that any criticism of the ‘Ukraine is winning’ narrative is viewed as pro-Russian,” he says. 

“Prior to the current conflict, I believe Ukraine was ranked in the top most corrupt nations on the planet. How quickly we forget.” 

Our reader brings up a fair point… 

This year, the nonprofit Freedom House assigned Ukraine a 49 out of 100 — or just “partly free” — based on an amalgam of “political rights” and “civil liberties” afforded to Ukrainian citizens. 

Nevertheless, the U.S. has opened the money spigot for this backwater government. 

But the latest update on the “dumbest plan”... 

Comes from the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell who proposes using 90% of interest payments on Russian frozen assets, mainly held in Brussels, to finance weapons for Ukraine. 

“If we do that, well, the Russians will not be very happy,” Borrell said Wednesday. “The amount of money — three billion (euros) per year — is not even extraordinary. But it is not negligible.” 

Honestly, it seems like the EU is tiptoeing around the issue of frozen Russian assets; namely, Europe seems hesitant to piss off Putin — scruples which Team Biden clearly doesn’t share. 

Here are a couple questions for readers, some of whom are brand-new to The Rundown… 

• How would you rate the U.S and European strategic approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict so far? What, if anything, would you recommend changing?

• Do you agree with the reader's point that criticism of the “Ukraine is winning” narrative is often viewed as pro-Russian? Why or why not?

We look forward to your submissions; we’ll publish them next week… 

Send your opinions to, feedback@newsyoucanacton.com

Your Rundown for Friday, March 22, 2024...

“Dr. Copper” 

Copper: a “base metal” that’s too common to be considered precious. But it’s also an essential raw material in countless industries.

Wall Street, in fact, calls it “Dr. Copper” because its price is such a reliable indicator of economic activity.

Now, several Paradigm analysts see a very interesting pattern developing in copper’s price chart.

The metal is currently selling for about $4 per pound — up almost 5% from where it was trading a month ago.

Just a little more momentum could send it skyrocketing even higher.

Some momentum makers in the news? 

• “Chinese smelters are now starting to ring the alarm bells on ore supply [as] long-awaited supply tightness has begun to come to fruition in the copper market,” says OilPrice.com

• “Since late last year, LME copper inventories have started to trend lower [exacerbating] concerns over a widening supply deficit projected in the coming years, especially given rising demand.”

Paradigm’s commodities expert Alan Knuckmans adds: “If [copper] crosses $4.35 per pound, we’re looking at another buck higher from there” — which would put the base metal in record territory.

The only problem is that there aren’t a lot of easy copper plays for everyday investors.

“It’s a very concentrated market,” says Paradigm market analyst Greg Guenthner, meaning there are very few mining companies that specialize in copper.

Of the few large pure plays, Greg likes Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) because its share price is pegged to copper’s price. 

You can either buy the shares or consider trading call options on the stock.

Then there’s the launch of a new copper-miners ETF by the Canadian financial giant Sprott. 

The Sprott Copper Miners ETF (COPP): Its top-three holdings — Freeport-McMoRan, Antofagasta and Southern Copper — account for about a third of the portfolio.

If team Paradigm is correct, some nice profits from a tight copper market could be on the way. 

Market Rundown for Friday, March 22, 2024

The S&P 500 is down 0.03% to 5,240.60. 

Oil’s up 0.26% to $81.28 for a barrel of WTI. 

Gold is down 0.32% to $2,174.68 per ounce. 

And Bitcoin’s down 2.54% to $63,820. 

Send your comments and questions to, feedback@newsyoucanacton.com