The Institutional Risk Analyst

This week in “The Wrap,” we report in summary fashion about the latest events in Washington and Wall Street this week. The Trump Administration departed from Davos with a variety of “wins,” but there was nothing substantive about housing affordability or really anything else.

Jim Rickards: False Narratives in Crypto & AI, and the Case for Gold

Margin credit in the US reached a new peak last week, FINRA reports. As of the second quarter of 2025, total margin loans in the United States reached a record high of $1.008 trillion vs just $850 billion in April. 

The public mania around stable coins is the latest evidence that humans are incapable of making rational decisions when they are part of a crowd. Long-term, we should view stable coins as marketing tools for large advertisers to acquire and retain customers.

Our bet is that the Bessent "3-3-3" plan likewise will be a failure and that the Fed will be forced to restart QE sooner rather than later

The Treasury should begin to buy gold again to demonstrate that the dollar is real.