Jayant Bhandari: Geopolitics, Gold, and the Philosophy of Markets
Summary
Merger Arbitrage: The guest emphasizes shifting to arbitrage to protect downside in a frothy market, targeting double-digit spreads with near-term closings.
Winsome Resources (WR1): ASX-listed target trading around A$0.59 with ~25% arbitrage upside and an expected March close.
Golden Lake Exploration (GLM): Canadian target with ~11% spread; trading near C$0.12 with potential dip to C$0.10 to enhance return; acquirer ticker mentioned as MUX.
Gold Resource (GORO): NYSE-listed target around $1.34 offering ~28% arbitrage upside, presented as part of a diversified arb portfolio.
Electrum Discovery (ELY): ~50% arbitrage upside but requires care due to post-deal ASX-only listing; use brokers like Interactive Brokers to avoid high foreign-trade fees.
Precious Metals: Bullish long-term drivers include currency debasement and rising geopolitical risk, but the guest cautions prices ran too far too fast; prefers gold over silver given potential industrial substitution.
China: Strongly positive on China’s safety, rule of law perceptions, manufacturing dominance, and long-term vitality; suggests it as a future investment area alongside select East Asian markets.
Risk Management: Stresses capital preservation, avoiding buying frenzies, and using diversified arbitrage positions to seek attractive annualized returns with controlled downside.
Transcript
Welcome to proven and probable. I'm Maurice Jackson and joining us for a conversation is Giant Bandari, the founder of capitalism and morality and he is also a highly acclaimed adviser to institutional investors. Mr. Bandari, welcome back to the program. >> Oh, thanks very much for having me again, Maurice. >> Oh, it's always a pleasure, sir. We have a lot of ground to cover today from geopolitics to natural resources and philosophy. Last week, the World Economic Forum concluded and President Trump took the stage to announce a 129:1 regulatory slash and a massive bureaucratic reduction. From your seat, was Davos a celebration of globalism's end, or are we just watching the debt clock tick faster toward a Federal Reserve note collapse? >> Uh, well, the the the international trade is certainly broken. Uh there will be a reorganization of international trade. Uh there will be reorganization of how countries who countries affiliate themselves with. So the world is indeed going through a reorganization. Uh but the the fundamentals are of globalist thoughts are very much there and are indeed increasing. What you see uh that from is uh the speech of Marani who was uh who gave a typical globalist speech and who was applauded for his virtue signaling and platitudes. Uh things he said were the things people wanted to hear rather than what were the truth. Uh but unfortunately but even if they were the truth those were the truth that do not continue uh institutions that they the way they should be. So in my view globalist thoughts continue but globalist um structure the globalist structure of trade is going to uh shift quite a bit. Um in in my view the non-globalist people are uh people like Trump, Putin and Xi and these are all actually different kind of people with different kind of associations. Uh but the rest of the world is really globalist in its thinking. You know, I never I don't think many of us never thought we'd see the day where the US and Canada would not be in agreement with one another. And I'm just curious to see what your point of view is. Is this short-term? Is this long-term? Who wins and who loses? >> Well, I think it will certainly continue until the time Trump is in uh presidency. Um I I'm actually amazed as well that Canade, Canada, and US are on the opposite sides right now. Uh but for Mark Khani it is extremely important to to virtue signal uh and that is what he's doing. He's a part of a government that has seriously harmed Canada. He's a part of the government that hasn't really taken care of uh the protection of Canada in terms of uh its u its independence. Uh and uh Canada has depended on the United States for its security. So they can do virtue signal as much as they want to. But Mark Carney's speech, his anti-American, anti- Trump speech, which actually goes down very well with the globalist thinking people was uh really the the speech that uh that sounded good in terms of words, but that will harm his relationship with Trump. So yeah, Canada and US will be at loggerheads for the next 3 4 years now. Uh but again when a democratic president comes to power in the US, things will revert back to normal very quickly at least between Canada, the US and maybe European Union. >> You know, speaking of President Trump, since we last spoke in the summer of 2024, I wanted to get your view on the current administration because they've been moving at light speed. uh how do you how do you assess them currently where they are one year later? >> I I'm I have become increasingly a fanboy of uh Trump. I think he has done a marvelous job. Uh it's not that uh he he's a saint. Maybe his name keeps coming out of Epstein files as well. Uh and I cannot imagine that he had a saintly record. He was a a builder and a constructor in New York. uh so I cannot imagine uh him being a saint. uh but given what we have in the world Maurice uh he is truly a top international leader and again I keep coming back to the three people X G X Ping Putin and Trump who are the people who think for themselves who have uh gone through rough periods of lives uh who have u who who stand on their own feet who have views of their own and who have spines. Now all these three people think differently and do things differently but these are the only three leaders and maybe the Argentinian prime minister Eve Malay but he's not so influential in the world affairs but these are the four people who have their own views and they stand by what they believe in where whereas the rest of the world is really morally and spiritually crippled in terms of leadership. Uh I just we just talked about Marani. Uh look at the top two people of European Union Ursula and Kaya Kalas. You have to listen to them for 5 minutes and I don't suggest you listen to them for more than 5 minutes. Uh what they say is purile. It's it it brims with virtue signaling. It's really really something that I when I listen to them it comes across to me as if I'm uh listening to a middle class uh school essay. So that's how purile uh the world leadership is about. Um so at the end of the day u I I think I have to go by what Trump is doing because other people are just spineless and mostly I would say idiots. >> You know in reference to spineless what are your thoughts on the United States essentially abducting uh Venezuela's president Maduro and is this Noriega 2.0? And actually here's the bigger question. Is the extraction justified in your viewpoint? >> Well, I don't know what is justified, Maurice. Look at what has been happening for the last 100 years since the time or maybe 70 80 years under Pax Americana. American governments have competed with USSR and now Russia and China on uh the on countries in Middle East and in Latin America. America in the last three decades that I have watched closely has uh changed regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, uh Libya leading to emergence of worse people to positions of power because those are the societies that will always have tyrants and totalitarians in in positions of power. And then in the process of changing regimes uh America uh led to indirectly maybe deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. So now you change regimes, you change governments, you de destabilize those countries. Uh compared to that here what you did was remove just the top guy and take him to a a prison in the United States. Now, how is that any worse than what Saddam Hussein faced? Uh, if people recall Saddam Hussein's and there are videos available, he was dug out of a rat hole uh brutalized uh and killed in a very uh inhuman way and similarly Gaddafi suffered the same fate. So, uh given that background, how is bringing Mudoro, kidnapping Mudoro any worse? Uh in fact I think I admire the fact that uh Trump understands that he does not want to take over control of other countries. That's what he's trying in Iran. That's what he he tried in Venezuela. But ensure that the second level of leadership in these countries works on his instructions at least partially. Now uh your question would be why what gives him the authority to pass on instructions to other countries? But that has how the world worked in the last 70 80 years. That has the how the world has always worked. Um now Mark Khani very uh uh you know in a very virtue signaling way talked about the international rule-based order. What has been the international rule-based order? It has always been America international order. America decides what is right and wrong. Now that's that is completely another subject whether what America does is legitimate or not. I'm only saying that in the from the perspective in the context of what the world has had for the last 100 years. How is kidnapping a crook who was very likely supplying uh illegal uh immigrants to the US? And I'm I I know it from a legitimate source. Someone you and I know both very well. um knows uh through his top contacts that Maduro was actually ex expo exporting his worst prisoners to the United States. So he was already fighting a war with America. So I I think people should look at it within that context. Now whether America should have influence in in countries outside its borders is another matter but that's something that no one wants to discuss right now. There's there has nothing be international rule-based order. United Nation from day one has been a totally useless, crippled organization and they only do uh you know what looks good rather than what is good and they have no teeth anyway. >> Yes. One of the factors that many people do overlook is the asymmetrical warfare that uh Maduro basically unleashed on the United States but we don't see it in our news dayto day per se. Uh, but we are aware that it does happen or and it still has h has been and currently still is. I want to shift now to Iran. There's nationwide protests and I'm just curious, is this time different? And if so, why? >> Well, it will never ever be different in human affairs. Maurice, uh, those countries require tyrants to lead them. uh that is the nutrients the culture and psychology of the locals provide that enable tyrants to rise into positions of power. So you will always see tyrants ruling uh countries like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. I mean the list goes on and on and on. And you are best off leaving those tyrants in positions of power because if you remove them, the worse will come into positions of power as you see in Afghanistan and you know Afghanistan is probably stabilizing now. But let them organically live their way. Uh it is the the kind of regimes these countries have are organic and natural to them. uh and don't expect to uh bring many uh moral uh changes in the regimes uh and don't think that what America and Europeans or the western people believe in will is the is the mind mindset of people in other countries. Don't think that we are all the same. We are very different people. We could be different species as well. So I think unfortunately one biggest harm that America Americans did was to start assuming that we are all same people. We have same instincts. We all want liberty which is all fake and untrue. So uh stop changing regimes just uh pressurize them enough that they behave uh in a way that does not harm you. And I think so far that is what exactly Trump has done which adds to my becoming a fanboy. uh he has destroyed the nuclear capab some of the nuclear capabilities of Iran. Uh and he has not tried to bring a regime change so far and uh I hope that when he brings in a he pressurizes them enough to change something it will not lead to occupation of Iran because that will actually destabilize things and people will eventually learn to hate America again. Right now they want America to attack but in 6 months time they will have turned around and started hating America. So the best thing for America would be to just remove uh and uh influence the top people rather than bring a full regime change as they have done in Venezuela. Very rational words I have to tell you. Uh let's shift to India. You referenced them earlier and one of the things that keep I I keep hearing over and over again is that India is an emerging economy and you've called this a dangerous conflation. Why is the narrative of India as a rising superpower essentially false and give us some examples of the irrationality that the GDP numbers are holding? Um well India sticks around as an emerging power because it's the world's largest democracy and dem democracy as a word is has a almost a sanctity has a religious feeling in the western world very erroneously because democracy is nothing but the rule of mobs. So uh uh India is seen that way and educated people who believe very strongly in democracy really really desperately want India to succeed because they want u their views to work out well which don't democracy is an absolute disaster everywhere in the world that leads to emergence of spineless mentally crippled people like Marani and Ursula and Kaya Kala asked to emerge into positions of power and including of course Modi who is completely brain dead and who is a tyrant um to emerge into positions of power. So that is but but because democracy world has this sanctimonious position um India is seen as positively um but um what is India's GDP Maurice? India's GDP per capita is less than $3,000 per person. Now if you delete the top 10% of those people um the top 10% earners you very rapidly start seeing something like $1,200 or $1,500 per capita which means that every Indian and and and 90% 95% of Indians live on a couple of dollars uh a day or maybe three $3 a day. So this is how wretched poor and backward and primitive uh India is. Uh now supposedly India is growing at 7 and 12% or 6 and 1/2% whatever they say they claim that it's the fastest growing large economy in the world. Now Maurice we learned in primary and middle school that you can't compare GDP growth rates of things which are on a completely different baselines. Now, American GDP, Western GDP comes close to $80,000 per capita whereas Indian is about 3,000. Now, there's such a huge difference that growth rates really don't matter. Uh you can't really compare growth rates. But even if at $3,000, if you grow by 6%, you will add $180 to your growth next year. Whereas uh $80,000 you grow at even 2% you will be adding $1,600 per capita which means that you would be eight uh in America you would be adding eight times the growth real absolute growth compared to that of India. So firstly this comparison is uh an uneducated uh comparison. Uh but now move on to whether India's growth rate of 6 and 1/2 or 7 and 1/2% really legitimate. It's all fake Maurice. Uh India is getting worse by the day. In the last 10 years that I have been visiting India. Of course I have been visiting India all my life but in the last 10 years I have seen degradation in the country. I have never seen as many beggars as on the street, old women, old men begging for food as I have in the recent past. And the reason is that the economy is actually in my view stagnant and receding despite the positive growth figures. Let's just break up one very important part of it. It is assumed that half of the Indian economy is informal. So what Indian government does is that it basically in very simple terms uh takes into consideration the formal economy and doubles it up. And I'm making very uh raw numbers here, very rough numbers just to convey an idea. So it doubles up the GD informal sector GDP to conclude what the total GDP would be. But what you have to do is to decide on the proportion of informal uh GDP uh economy by uh surveys and India hasn't done that survey in the last 15 years I think. So now just that thing tells you how corrupt the numbers are because after demonetization and the uh and the imposition of the new tax structure the informal economy has actually fallen quite a bit. So let's say informal economy has fallen by 20 or 30%. Your growth rate right away turns into negative if that has actually happened and my guess is that is exactly what has happened. uh grow informal economy has formal in fallen formal economy has fallen increased but Indian government only considers the uh the formal economy and assumes that informal economy is just uh the same size as that of formal economy. >> I'm just curious what is the biggest export for India? >> Well look around yourself Maurice I and tell me if you buy if you know anything in your house that is made in India. India is a non entity. It's it's the biggest country in terms of population in the world. One out of five people in the world is an Indian. But tell me what in your house is Indian. Uh what in your what you think about is an invention by India? Uh it is a country which is a non- entity and which is destined to be a non- entity. Now you can you know cry as much as you want. you can you know do fantasize as much as you want but India isn't going to improve it has never contributed to the world uh it is a drag on the world it is dependent on the world and whatever progress India has seen in the last three decades and I must say whatever I'm saying about India is actually true for all the third world countries um the the all the progress has been because of the free gift of western technology technology which hastened up because of the advent invent of um of uh internet enabled back office works to start happening in Philippines, India, Sri Lanka etc etc. So they progressed very rapidly. The only exception among those third world countries I would say are three China which is actually a fabulous country. Maurice when I go to China I some or usually these days think that I'm in a first world country and increasingly Vietnam and Cambodia but apart from that third world countries are destined to live a a horrible life and let's not try to change that. Sticking with India uh there seems to be tensions between India and Pakistan. How serious is the threat of a kinetic conflict and does the moral fabric of these two nations even allow for a rational peace? Oh, there will never be a rational peace among those people. Uh they will always fight. That is in the minds of those people. Maurice, uh western people fail to understand that what they take for granted which is let's say ten commandments. They think that those things are natural uh in human existence. Those things aren't natural. Um envy runs u envy, hate, uh covetousness runs wild in those countries. is in the third world. So there is no way you can change that mindset. That is changing that mindset is is a process of at least 3 to five millennia. And I'm not exaggerating it. It's not a process of a few generations or even a few centuries. It will take millennia for these people to change if at all they can ever change. So what happens when you are left without this fabric of ten commandments the the value structure that Europeans created? uh you are left with um uh a society that uh enjoys hating. Uh they hate each other and they cannot exist without hating other people. Uh they uh envy envy is openly expressed Maurice. Now I know this would come as a shock to you but envious people in the west would hide their envy. That is not the case in India and Pakistan. They would openly express their envy. So there's no rational peace possible among those people. You can sort them out as much as you want to and they will find a reason to fight again. This is like a couple, you know, a couple that fights, a husband and wife that fights all the time and you sit down and sort out all their problems and the next day you realize they have come up with a new totally new problem to fight on. So, forget about a rational peace between India and Pakistan. They are totally incapable of fighting as well. Particularly India because India has no friends. Pakistan is slightly more rational and they have built friendship with China. So now whenever India fights with Pakistan, it will be having a proxy war with China. So India will is in a horribly losing position here because uh you know our Indian leadership is clearly worse than the leadership of Ind Pakistan. So now this is the situation when they have a war as they had last year. India and Pakistan which lasted for four days. Uh it seems that India lost uh very badly. They lost about seven planes, six or seven or maybe eight planes within hours or within the first 2 days and the war lasted for 4 days. So they don't have the the capability to continue to fight a war the way Ukrainians and Russians or Palestinians and Israelis or is Iranians can fight. These are much superior people than South Asian people. So Indian South Asians have no uh capability to fight for a long time. Every war India and Pakistan has have had lasted for no more than 6 weeks. So that's how incapable they are of fighting with each other. But this is h what happens Maurice when you have a fight with an Indian he will say his he these are the standard statements you will hear. He will say, "Do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do to you?" So, they threaten more than they actually deliver on those threats. But unfortunately, Maurice, one day comes when your threats snowballs into a full-fledged war. And I think that is not impossible for for those countries. But always remember, they will always fight. They will always be poor. They will always be wretched. And there's no escape for from from that. And in comparison, I already consider Iranians to be much better people. >> You've said a lot there. I'd like for you also to take us now to Bangladesh, which is at a crossroads of chaos right now. What is the mainstream media not reporting about the unrest there and the anti-India sentiment that is currently tearing the region apart? >> Yeah. So, these are different sides of the same coin. Bangladeshies, Indians and Pakistanis are the same people with same the same petty mindset, the [clears throat] same hatemongering, envious mindset. So uh they will always be in chaos. I hold Bangladeshes and Pakistanis into a slightly better regard than I do Indians because at the end of the day once in a while Bangladesh and Pakistanis come to the street to fight for what is right. uh Indians never ever do that. So I hold Bangladeshes and Pakistani to a slightly higher regard. Now uh in India Muslims are being lynched. In Bangladesh Hindus are being lynched. So the these are two sides of the same coin. I have said it for many many years now that the the zenith of Bangladesh's progress was with ended with the end of Sheik Hassina. Now she was a tyrant. She very likely led to deaths of many people. But don't imagine for a second that any leader in a country in countries like those can run those countries without uh leading to brutality because that is the very nature of the people in those countries. They are selfish. They are corrupt. Corrupt from the western perspective. Uh I mean Maurice I can hardly ever think of people I know in India who are honest. They are simply dishonest. They lie all the time. So given that those kind of people you will have brutalities you simply cannot have civilization and this will continue. So Bangladesh will will become worse. It will become democratic again in another few months time maybe in a year's time and I guarantee you it will only be worse because democratic forces will lead to emergence of more fanaticism. Shik Hassina controlled fanaticism. Now most people don't understand Maurice but the reason UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahin, Oman are great and they are actually very good countries some of these UAE I could actually live in UAE if I wanted to. Bahin or Oman they are very good countries but the reason they are well sane countries is because the rulers control fanaticism. If you want to pray in Dubai on the street they will come and take you away and probably can you. So uh uh that's how bad how how well behaved the people are there primarily because the rulers ensure that uh people do not become too fanatic and that's the same in central Asian republics uh as well which are primarily Muslim countries. So don't give democracy don't bring democracy to these countries. It will lead to emergence of fanaticism and mob rule as as it happened in Iran by the removal of Shaha. just let those those countries stay non-democratic. >> I'm just uh in awe with everything that you always say here. [laughter] Well, I tell you what, let's let's finish out the geopolitical discussions with China. What has your attention in Beijing right now that the western investor is completely blind to? Well, Maurice, I gave a speech in Vancouver at my capitalism when morality seminar last year and uh you know people usually like my speech but there were at least a few people who completely objected to my speech. My speech was on how good China is and how rapidly it is emerging into a wonderful country. Uh and they some of them just refuse to accept it. And you know I always tell people yes I let's think about whether China is a paper tiger or not. Look around yourself and tell me what is it around you which is not made in China. Maurice at this point what I'm looking at virtually everything has been made in China. My my camera is made in China. My computer is made in China. My monitor is made in China. My microphone is made in China. So uh I I bought this headset in China for about $7 US or probably less. China is an absolutely amazing country. It is extraordinarily safe these days and honestly Maurice while my heart is in the United States phys in terms of physical safety I find China to be much safer. There is virtually no crime happening in that country these days. Maurice in in at least in cities that I have been to because I you know the only place I can go and sit down is in coffee shops in cities tier three cities included. Um people leave their oses on the table in the coffee shops and go away for half an hour and return back and not worry that their oes would be stolen. So that's how safe China has become. People talk about this social credit system. I spent maybe a total of 4 months last year in China. Uh I still don't understand what social credit system is. I have been going to China for two decades multiple times and every year I don't see it. People are becoming increasingly civilized. People are polite. They are civilized. Their driving is still not great. It's actually I would hate to drive in China. But that is only because uh they don't know any better. And learning to drive as a society properly takes a very long time because every cog and screw and nut has to fit in the right way. uh but uh even in the United States uh Maurice try see how people merge into the high come into the highway merge into the highway let's say in California they they they take the ramp and drive straight into the highway without letting the person on the slow lane continue driving at his pace. So unfortunately changing the driving habits is not easy. But Maurice I am just uh amazed at no end looking at how rapidly China is improving. Now Chinese economy is suffering because of their fight with uh Trump and I in my view both are right. Trump wants to jump Trump need wants to bring some manufacturing back to to the US. He is u very likely scaled that within the next 5 or 10 years China will be able to uh compete with America in in its armed for in terms of armed forces and Chinese economy probably has more um vitality than American economy in the long term probably so in the medium term I would say. Uh so I'm totally amazed and I think people should uh just visit China for a few days. You now can visit visafree for I think 30 days to China. Just go and have a look. Here is the big difference between the west and and the far east Asia. Maurice the west is very solidly rooted in truth seeking and philosophy. That is not necessarily the case in far east Asia. And because of that uh the key innovation and creativity will continue to emerge from the west. Uh that is why my heart belongs to the west. But don't underestimate China. It's a lovely country. It's a fabulous country. It has a country with the rule of law. The policeman isn't going to take you away at 2:00 in the night and hood you when taking you away. That I have never seen or heard of in the last two decades. And people have a very m misconceived notion of that country. Go and visit it. >> As you state that, I recall and you referenced as well your presentation during capitalism and morality. And there was uh probably I think one or two people that were in >> Oh, thanks. And and thanks Maurice. You helped me uh uh edit and upload those videos. So you of course watched those videos. >> Well, my absolute pleasure, sir. But I'm reminded of the uh the discontent if you will when you were referencing the virtues that you enjoyed about China. And I think you in each case uh your your simple rebuttal was have you ever been there? And each respondent said no. And that's kind of what I noticed on our number of our previous videos as well or interviews is when you're referencing the virtues that you like about China, there's a lot of uh content there. But then the question I always asked is I ask and I I interject sometimes in those comments is have you been there? Because often we we make comments because we've seen it on a screen but that doesn't give you the full narrative whatsoever. >> Well, and that is Maurice a big problem with the educational system. People should be very careful about sending their children to schools. Uh the problem is that uh schools educate you while removing you from realities of life and that is a very strange way of educating people. I think it makes people very bookish. Bookish in the sense that they think that what they read is a is the reality rather than the reality being the reality. So I I think schools have done a horrible job by removing people from the realities of life. I don't think I can disagree with you and I think many of our audience members are of the same opinion. Let's pivot to natural resources. Starting with physical precious metals, we're seeing gold, silver, and platinum each respectively setting new all-time highs. In your view, is this simply a currency debasement story, or are these metals trying to tell the market something more ominous about the global rational fabric? Um well both Maurice uh fiat currencies are headed uh for a complete disaster because uh there's no way you can in stop inflating them away. So uh that's on one side. The other side is that wars continue to increase. Uh we and you can't blame anyone for it. um the you know you can't blame Trump for it because Trump has only made those uh un uh underflow more uh obvious to to the society which Biden and other administrations were hiding from your visibility but uh those tensions were all were increasing and were there. So the world is changing very rapidly. There is going to be conflict between supremacy of China and the United States. There will be conflicts on places like Greenland, Canada. Europe is probably gone in my view because their leadership is so stupid. You just have to listen to Kaya Kaj Kaya Karas and Ursula for 5 minutes to understand what a disastrous future Europeans have built. So uh in in my view the world is a very unstable people. It is and at best controlled by purile na and naive people in in the in in the in many parts of the world and at least in the first world and very stupid and tyrannical people in the third world. So the the world is going to go continue to go through chaos and that is why people want to uh people will continue to have a temptation to keep uh things that that are more likely to preserve their values. So I think that is why metal prices have gone up so much. Uh but here here is my issue Maurice. these prices have gone up too much too quickly and uh and u u and I think u I was uh always in your show recommended people to buy gold and silver in the past but because I'm an investor I think through things ahead of times uh I bought these uh 10 15 years back 20 years back uh and now they are much bigger parts of my part of my portfolio than they should be so am I going to buy more no uh but uh I think people who don't own any of these should be paying attention to the uh destabilization of the world that is happening but they should also be looking at China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan as possible investment areas in the future and of course the US which is which I continue to love and continue to think is the top country in the world. >> Let me give credit where credit is due. You and I spoke late, I believe it was last weekend, and you shared, Maurice, I believe that the metal prices are going to have a big setback coming here and true to the words, uh, we were actually supposed to interview yesterday. So, it would have been perfect to have the interview done yesterday and then people could see what came to fruition. But we saw that, uh, silver, gold had a significant drop today, I believe. Silver up, silver down 30%. So, your call was spot on. Uh, by the way, I just wanted to give credit there. Yeah, but at the same time Maurice what else would you do because the stock markets fell very badly as well. So uh unfortunately the world is becoming very unstable and uh it is very easy for people to say hey what I got into fell by 30%. uh but uh my guess is that it is not impossible that uh a time might come when you would say hey at least I preserve 25% of my value by investing in this thing and this is how some of the very rich people think today they they invest they buy something worth billions of dollars knowing fully well that they might lose a big chunk of it but they just want a guarantee that a bit part of their propert wealth would stay preserved for them to continue their lifestyles. So we are in a very chaotic environment. I would be very careful about buying buying anything in in a feeding frenzy. That would that is something I have never done in my life. But indeed precious metals have gone up too much too quickly and um and and they might still continue to go up. So I have no way to tell you not to buy but be very careful particularly when uh at these current prices a lot of projects can become mining projects the gold projects. So a lot of gold can start coming into the market in 5 or 10 years time. >> Good insights. And just to share with everyone just so you know that I'm not here to sell my own book. I'm bringing on someone that believes that the metal prices are going to go down and he's not a big advocate for buying them. [laughter] So I got to be the worst salesperson in the world. But I would like to ask you this. >> Well, well, Maurice, Maurice, people trust people who are truthful. So they might not. And I I I admire you for bringing me on despite that. I am a lot less um optimistic about the gold price today than I used to be in the past. Um and so so but but eventually people find themselves attracted to pe towards people who are truthful. >> Thank you for the kind words. I'm honored. May I ask you this? If you did not own precious metals, could you speak to the person um listening that may be in that position even under these current circumstances, would you still not buy if you didn't own any precious metals or would you still entertain having a metal and which one would it be? >> Well, I I would always be interested in gold. Um I I think silver has a problem right now because silver prices have gone up too much and that will hurt uh industrial consumption of silver and substitution uh substitutions will start to emerge in uh industrial usages. So silver prices in my view might have gone up too much. I would continue to be in interested in gold also because platinum and palladium are very politically charged commodities. Um, South Africa has a negative influence on the pricing of platinum and paladium. So, I'm more interested in gold. Uh, if I did not own gold with my present net worth, I would certainly be interested in buying it. Uh but when a person who has $2,000 uh in his bank deposit and nothing else uh in his pocket, if he goes to the market and buys silver with that money, I would discourage him because uh it might it might be too much uh for him. Uh for a person who is reasonably well off and doesn't own any of these things, uh it would certainly be worth having five or 10% of his net worth in precious metals. I have a lot more of it. So, I'm not I'm uh that is why I'm I'm ambivalent today. >> And if you're looking to buy or sell physical precious metals, please give me a call at 855-5051900. We are licensed brokers through Miles Franklin Precious Metals. Again, that number is 855-5051900. And again, you can call or text me directly. Moving on to resource stocks. Giant, you're one of the most respected names when it comes to resource stock analysis and arbitrage opportunities. Are there any value propositions at the moment that have your attention that we should consider researching? >> Absolutely, Maurice. And I have now um apart from our two or three companies completely shifted into investing in arbitrage opportunities uh because when the market is frothy I want to protect my downside and arbitrage investments help me with that enormously. So I I have one four companies uh in front of me Maurice I can take you through uh as many as you want. Um but uh let's start with one company. First company is Winsome Resources on ASX. The ticker is WR1. Winsome Resources and it is being acquired by a by a Canadian resource company and the Winom Resources is trading for 59 cents Australian. I bought bought it for 57 and a half yesterday. So you should be able to buy it for less than 59. And at 59 the arbitrage upside is 25%. And this merger should close sometime in March. So I'm very happy with such an arbitrage 25%. Uh let's talk about another company um Golden Lake Exploration which is being acquired by um by another major company um um I'm forgetting the name the ticker is MUX but Golden Lake Explorations is ticker is GLM and the arbitrage is 11% right now. It is trading at 12 cents Canadian. My guess is that it will fall to 10 cents. So you can increase your arbitrage upside by being patient in Golden Lake. Um so these are two companies. If you want to hear more, I can give you two more, Maurice. >> Absolutely. I think everyone has their pen and paper out right now, sir. >> Okay. So the next one >> myself. >> Okay. The next one is gold resources. The ticker is Goro Goro on New York Stock Exchange. It closed today at $1.34. The arbitrage upside is 28%. Uh now the last company is uh a very interesting company. Be very careful how you buy it if you do. Uh the company is Electrum Discovery. It trades in Canada under the ticker Ely and it is trading at 11 12 cents. the it is being acquired by an Australian listed company. The arbitrage upside is 50%, 50%. So the ticker is El. Uh here is the issue with Ely. Uh it will get delisted in Canada and the merged entity will continue to uh trade on ASX. So if I had to buy ELY, I would buy in a in a in a brokerage like Interactive Brokers where my uh Canadian listed stock would without any pain change into ASX listed stocks and uh so I won't have to worry about that issue. If I bought it in in a Canadian brokerage that exclusively trades in the US and Canada, my problem would be that my broker would charge me 10 15% in commission to do a trade in Australia. So be very careful if you want to buy this company, buy it in a on a on a platform like Interactive Brokers. >> Wonderful insights and on behalf of all of us here. Thank you for your insight, sir. This is probably everyone's favorite part of the show when Giant shares his arbitrage opportunities. Ladies and gentlemen, I've benefited from these arbitrage opportunities over the years. uh you know we always reference that one uh Sun Ridge Gold from 2016 but uh your insights have fundamentally changed a lot of people's lives by just taking advantage of these arbitrage opportunities that just kind of go under the radar and we're thankful that you're sharing them here with us uh right here on >> yeah Maurice I don't think they are necessarily under the radar the what happens is that people are too greedy they want to convert their money into 10 times overnight that doesn't happen the greed will ensure that you uh break your foot, leg or or nose, uh you will fall. uh but if you're patient about trying to exploit this 11% 28% 25% and even 50% arbitrage opportunities as a portfolio I'm unlikely to lose money and I'm as a portfolio one of these things one of these mogers might fall apart but overall I will make money and I'm the best thing is I'm least likely to lose money in in a portfolio like this if I make uh 10% a month in In an arbitrage like this, my annualized gain is more than 150%. Now, that's a fabulous upside, but unfortunately, a lot of people are too focused on investing in something that can make them 10 times their money overnight. And that is uh the reason why they never make any money. >> Wonderful words of wisdom and instructions. And I recall you when we first met years ago, uh 10 years ago actually 2015 I believe it was and uh when I asked you some questions regarding investments and the number one thing you shared with me is you must preserve your capital and this is one of the ways as you're sharing right now how to do that. In closing, we've talked about metals, we've talked about stocks, but all this ultimately is a byproduct of philosophy. Now you've long argued that philosophy is the most underappreciated tool in an investor's kit. Why is it so paramount to understand the moral fabric before we even look at a balance sheet? >> Well, because Maurice philosophy, ideas, values like honor, integrity, um ten commandments, these are something which removed humanity from the animal kingdom. We became distinct from animals because of these things. And the world has to pay tribute to the west for it, Europe for it because they were the people who came up with those uh those values and those uh that moral fabric. uh and those values uh and moral fabric led to emergence of massive economic growth which is just one part one symptom of having uh uh have having these values and that is why uh particularly United States will continue to be the center of the of the of gravity of the world because it is a society that is deeply rooted in those values and and in in a in a slightly less a solid way are Canada, other European countries and Australia. But that is what gives uh massive creativity and innovative p innovation power to the western world and that is why they will continue to lead the world in for many years to come. Um and uh if you see Japan, China and other far east Asian countries copied uh western ways of institution building from 1850 onwards after the loss of opium war in China and uh during mi restoration in Japan. So those things even copying the superficial aspects have meant that far east Asia has done extraordinarily well. So philosophy and ideas for me are the keystone of everything. Money is just a symptom of uh that keystone. I would focus on moral values, philosophy and ideas. And I I think that is where Europe many western people will continue to exceed the rest of the world. >> If uh you're interested in hearing more words of wisdom again as Mr. Bendori just alluded to you can find that under his uh vision and his uh creation called capitalism and morality. Mr. Bendori introduce us to capitalism morality and what is the vision behind it? >> Um well I have been u running this seminar in downtown Vancouver for the last uh 16 17 years now and it has run every year except for a couple of years during co days. I have invited people like Dr. Amy Wax or um Warren Ferrell, Dr. Walter Block, Rick Rule, my philosophical mentor Duck Casey. So, I've invited some really top-notch people to speak at the seminar. And my idea to idea here is mostly to convey to the western people that what the the today's generation might take for granted that is ten commandments a certain moral fabric uh might not be natural to human existence. They were those things were created over uh many millennia long pro process uh in the western world. Don't take them granted. don't get get rid of them or they will disappear and maybe before you get rid of Christianity think about it because maybe it is a glue that keeps many of those values together and I think loss of Christianity has at least coincided with the loss of moral fabric in the west. So I my interest is to just remind them that these values and moral fabric do not exist in nature. civilization does not exist in nature and uh let's preserve what we have in the west. >> Well, as a Christian, I have to say amen. All right. Uh I want to congratulate you first and foremost on another successful year for 2025 on capitalism and morality. It was a a true master class in conturing thought. For those looking ahead, where and when will the next capitalism morality be held? Uh next one will again be in downtown Vancouver 19th of September this year. So I decide on a date much earlier so that I can start uh filling up my program slowly. It is on my website. If you go to jantandari.com there's a tab capitalism morality. It gives you videos of the past 16 years of uh se the seminar and it will also uh give you the the date of the next seminar and some of the speakers that are going to be there. Looking forward to it, sir. Last question. What did I forget to ask? >> Um, well, Maurice, I think we have talked a lot. Uh, my my only strong recommendation to many people would be to go and visit China if they have never done so. If they haven't done so, they are losing out on understanding a big part of the world, which is uh which which actually makes you cry sometimes because these people were uh so poor, so wretched. uh when I started visiting China and it has become such a prosperous such a calm such a peaceful country uh it has you know nothing is perfect so don't judge a country based on based on what you don't like but look at it as an overall society and I think most people will return from China extraordinarily impressed with those people what they have achieved in fact Maurice I'm a libertarian I'm a very capitalistic guy and When I look at China, I challenge myself if there is something about my understanding which is erroneous because China has invested hugely in um in big industry in capital intensive industry in in infrastructure and I question myself if the I always ask my myself these days if government participation in such sectors is legitimate the way China has done because it has actually given China a bad bond. So I'm always open-minded because I'm always looking for truth. Uh that is the cornerstone of my life and visit China. It's a lovely and fabulous country. >> Mr. Bendari, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today. Wishing you the absolute best, sir. >> Thank you very much for the opportunity, Maurice. The information presented on proven improbable is provided for educational andformational purposes [music] only without any express or implied warranty of any kind including warranties of [music] accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose. The information is not intended to be and does not constitute [music] financial investment or trading advice or any other advice. You should not make any financial, investment, or trading decision based on any of the information presented without first undertaking [music] independent due diligence and consultation with a professional broker or competent financial adviser.
Jayant Bhandari: Geopolitics, Gold, and the Philosophy of Markets
Summary
Transcript
Welcome to proven and probable. I'm Maurice Jackson and joining us for a conversation is Giant Bandari, the founder of capitalism and morality and he is also a highly acclaimed adviser to institutional investors. Mr. Bandari, welcome back to the program. >> Oh, thanks very much for having me again, Maurice. >> Oh, it's always a pleasure, sir. We have a lot of ground to cover today from geopolitics to natural resources and philosophy. Last week, the World Economic Forum concluded and President Trump took the stage to announce a 129:1 regulatory slash and a massive bureaucratic reduction. From your seat, was Davos a celebration of globalism's end, or are we just watching the debt clock tick faster toward a Federal Reserve note collapse? >> Uh, well, the the the international trade is certainly broken. Uh there will be a reorganization of international trade. Uh there will be reorganization of how countries who countries affiliate themselves with. So the world is indeed going through a reorganization. Uh but the the fundamentals are of globalist thoughts are very much there and are indeed increasing. What you see uh that from is uh the speech of Marani who was uh who gave a typical globalist speech and who was applauded for his virtue signaling and platitudes. Uh things he said were the things people wanted to hear rather than what were the truth. Uh but unfortunately but even if they were the truth those were the truth that do not continue uh institutions that they the way they should be. So in my view globalist thoughts continue but globalist um structure the globalist structure of trade is going to uh shift quite a bit. Um in in my view the non-globalist people are uh people like Trump, Putin and Xi and these are all actually different kind of people with different kind of associations. Uh but the rest of the world is really globalist in its thinking. You know, I never I don't think many of us never thought we'd see the day where the US and Canada would not be in agreement with one another. And I'm just curious to see what your point of view is. Is this short-term? Is this long-term? Who wins and who loses? >> Well, I think it will certainly continue until the time Trump is in uh presidency. Um I I'm actually amazed as well that Canade, Canada, and US are on the opposite sides right now. Uh but for Mark Khani it is extremely important to to virtue signal uh and that is what he's doing. He's a part of a government that has seriously harmed Canada. He's a part of the government that hasn't really taken care of uh the protection of Canada in terms of uh its u its independence. Uh and uh Canada has depended on the United States for its security. So they can do virtue signal as much as they want to. But Mark Carney's speech, his anti-American, anti- Trump speech, which actually goes down very well with the globalist thinking people was uh really the the speech that uh that sounded good in terms of words, but that will harm his relationship with Trump. So yeah, Canada and US will be at loggerheads for the next 3 4 years now. Uh but again when a democratic president comes to power in the US, things will revert back to normal very quickly at least between Canada, the US and maybe European Union. >> You know, speaking of President Trump, since we last spoke in the summer of 2024, I wanted to get your view on the current administration because they've been moving at light speed. uh how do you how do you assess them currently where they are one year later? >> I I'm I have become increasingly a fanboy of uh Trump. I think he has done a marvelous job. Uh it's not that uh he he's a saint. Maybe his name keeps coming out of Epstein files as well. Uh and I cannot imagine that he had a saintly record. He was a a builder and a constructor in New York. uh so I cannot imagine uh him being a saint. uh but given what we have in the world Maurice uh he is truly a top international leader and again I keep coming back to the three people X G X Ping Putin and Trump who are the people who think for themselves who have uh gone through rough periods of lives uh who have u who who stand on their own feet who have views of their own and who have spines. Now all these three people think differently and do things differently but these are the only three leaders and maybe the Argentinian prime minister Eve Malay but he's not so influential in the world affairs but these are the four people who have their own views and they stand by what they believe in where whereas the rest of the world is really morally and spiritually crippled in terms of leadership. Uh I just we just talked about Marani. Uh look at the top two people of European Union Ursula and Kaya Kalas. You have to listen to them for 5 minutes and I don't suggest you listen to them for more than 5 minutes. Uh what they say is purile. It's it it brims with virtue signaling. It's really really something that I when I listen to them it comes across to me as if I'm uh listening to a middle class uh school essay. So that's how purile uh the world leadership is about. Um so at the end of the day u I I think I have to go by what Trump is doing because other people are just spineless and mostly I would say idiots. >> You know in reference to spineless what are your thoughts on the United States essentially abducting uh Venezuela's president Maduro and is this Noriega 2.0? And actually here's the bigger question. Is the extraction justified in your viewpoint? >> Well, I don't know what is justified, Maurice. Look at what has been happening for the last 100 years since the time or maybe 70 80 years under Pax Americana. American governments have competed with USSR and now Russia and China on uh the on countries in Middle East and in Latin America. America in the last three decades that I have watched closely has uh changed regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, uh Libya leading to emergence of worse people to positions of power because those are the societies that will always have tyrants and totalitarians in in positions of power. And then in the process of changing regimes uh America uh led to indirectly maybe deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. So now you change regimes, you change governments, you de destabilize those countries. Uh compared to that here what you did was remove just the top guy and take him to a a prison in the United States. Now, how is that any worse than what Saddam Hussein faced? Uh, if people recall Saddam Hussein's and there are videos available, he was dug out of a rat hole uh brutalized uh and killed in a very uh inhuman way and similarly Gaddafi suffered the same fate. So, uh given that background, how is bringing Mudoro, kidnapping Mudoro any worse? Uh in fact I think I admire the fact that uh Trump understands that he does not want to take over control of other countries. That's what he's trying in Iran. That's what he he tried in Venezuela. But ensure that the second level of leadership in these countries works on his instructions at least partially. Now uh your question would be why what gives him the authority to pass on instructions to other countries? But that has how the world worked in the last 70 80 years. That has the how the world has always worked. Um now Mark Khani very uh uh you know in a very virtue signaling way talked about the international rule-based order. What has been the international rule-based order? It has always been America international order. America decides what is right and wrong. Now that's that is completely another subject whether what America does is legitimate or not. I'm only saying that in the from the perspective in the context of what the world has had for the last 100 years. How is kidnapping a crook who was very likely supplying uh illegal uh immigrants to the US? And I'm I I know it from a legitimate source. Someone you and I know both very well. um knows uh through his top contacts that Maduro was actually ex expo exporting his worst prisoners to the United States. So he was already fighting a war with America. So I I think people should look at it within that context. Now whether America should have influence in in countries outside its borders is another matter but that's something that no one wants to discuss right now. There's there has nothing be international rule-based order. United Nation from day one has been a totally useless, crippled organization and they only do uh you know what looks good rather than what is good and they have no teeth anyway. >> Yes. One of the factors that many people do overlook is the asymmetrical warfare that uh Maduro basically unleashed on the United States but we don't see it in our news dayto day per se. Uh, but we are aware that it does happen or and it still has h has been and currently still is. I want to shift now to Iran. There's nationwide protests and I'm just curious, is this time different? And if so, why? >> Well, it will never ever be different in human affairs. Maurice, uh, those countries require tyrants to lead them. uh that is the nutrients the culture and psychology of the locals provide that enable tyrants to rise into positions of power. So you will always see tyrants ruling uh countries like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. I mean the list goes on and on and on. And you are best off leaving those tyrants in positions of power because if you remove them, the worse will come into positions of power as you see in Afghanistan and you know Afghanistan is probably stabilizing now. But let them organically live their way. Uh it is the the kind of regimes these countries have are organic and natural to them. uh and don't expect to uh bring many uh moral uh changes in the regimes uh and don't think that what America and Europeans or the western people believe in will is the is the mind mindset of people in other countries. Don't think that we are all the same. We are very different people. We could be different species as well. So I think unfortunately one biggest harm that America Americans did was to start assuming that we are all same people. We have same instincts. We all want liberty which is all fake and untrue. So uh stop changing regimes just uh pressurize them enough that they behave uh in a way that does not harm you. And I think so far that is what exactly Trump has done which adds to my becoming a fanboy. uh he has destroyed the nuclear capab some of the nuclear capabilities of Iran. Uh and he has not tried to bring a regime change so far and uh I hope that when he brings in a he pressurizes them enough to change something it will not lead to occupation of Iran because that will actually destabilize things and people will eventually learn to hate America again. Right now they want America to attack but in 6 months time they will have turned around and started hating America. So the best thing for America would be to just remove uh and uh influence the top people rather than bring a full regime change as they have done in Venezuela. Very rational words I have to tell you. Uh let's shift to India. You referenced them earlier and one of the things that keep I I keep hearing over and over again is that India is an emerging economy and you've called this a dangerous conflation. Why is the narrative of India as a rising superpower essentially false and give us some examples of the irrationality that the GDP numbers are holding? Um well India sticks around as an emerging power because it's the world's largest democracy and dem democracy as a word is has a almost a sanctity has a religious feeling in the western world very erroneously because democracy is nothing but the rule of mobs. So uh uh India is seen that way and educated people who believe very strongly in democracy really really desperately want India to succeed because they want u their views to work out well which don't democracy is an absolute disaster everywhere in the world that leads to emergence of spineless mentally crippled people like Marani and Ursula and Kaya Kala asked to emerge into positions of power and including of course Modi who is completely brain dead and who is a tyrant um to emerge into positions of power. So that is but but because democracy world has this sanctimonious position um India is seen as positively um but um what is India's GDP Maurice? India's GDP per capita is less than $3,000 per person. Now if you delete the top 10% of those people um the top 10% earners you very rapidly start seeing something like $1,200 or $1,500 per capita which means that every Indian and and and 90% 95% of Indians live on a couple of dollars uh a day or maybe three $3 a day. So this is how wretched poor and backward and primitive uh India is. Uh now supposedly India is growing at 7 and 12% or 6 and 1/2% whatever they say they claim that it's the fastest growing large economy in the world. Now Maurice we learned in primary and middle school that you can't compare GDP growth rates of things which are on a completely different baselines. Now, American GDP, Western GDP comes close to $80,000 per capita whereas Indian is about 3,000. Now, there's such a huge difference that growth rates really don't matter. Uh you can't really compare growth rates. But even if at $3,000, if you grow by 6%, you will add $180 to your growth next year. Whereas uh $80,000 you grow at even 2% you will be adding $1,600 per capita which means that you would be eight uh in America you would be adding eight times the growth real absolute growth compared to that of India. So firstly this comparison is uh an uneducated uh comparison. Uh but now move on to whether India's growth rate of 6 and 1/2 or 7 and 1/2% really legitimate. It's all fake Maurice. Uh India is getting worse by the day. In the last 10 years that I have been visiting India. Of course I have been visiting India all my life but in the last 10 years I have seen degradation in the country. I have never seen as many beggars as on the street, old women, old men begging for food as I have in the recent past. And the reason is that the economy is actually in my view stagnant and receding despite the positive growth figures. Let's just break up one very important part of it. It is assumed that half of the Indian economy is informal. So what Indian government does is that it basically in very simple terms uh takes into consideration the formal economy and doubles it up. And I'm making very uh raw numbers here, very rough numbers just to convey an idea. So it doubles up the GD informal sector GDP to conclude what the total GDP would be. But what you have to do is to decide on the proportion of informal uh GDP uh economy by uh surveys and India hasn't done that survey in the last 15 years I think. So now just that thing tells you how corrupt the numbers are because after demonetization and the uh and the imposition of the new tax structure the informal economy has actually fallen quite a bit. So let's say informal economy has fallen by 20 or 30%. Your growth rate right away turns into negative if that has actually happened and my guess is that is exactly what has happened. uh grow informal economy has formal in fallen formal economy has fallen increased but Indian government only considers the uh the formal economy and assumes that informal economy is just uh the same size as that of formal economy. >> I'm just curious what is the biggest export for India? >> Well look around yourself Maurice I and tell me if you buy if you know anything in your house that is made in India. India is a non entity. It's it's the biggest country in terms of population in the world. One out of five people in the world is an Indian. But tell me what in your house is Indian. Uh what in your what you think about is an invention by India? Uh it is a country which is a non- entity and which is destined to be a non- entity. Now you can you know cry as much as you want. you can you know do fantasize as much as you want but India isn't going to improve it has never contributed to the world uh it is a drag on the world it is dependent on the world and whatever progress India has seen in the last three decades and I must say whatever I'm saying about India is actually true for all the third world countries um the the all the progress has been because of the free gift of western technology technology which hastened up because of the advent invent of um of uh internet enabled back office works to start happening in Philippines, India, Sri Lanka etc etc. So they progressed very rapidly. The only exception among those third world countries I would say are three China which is actually a fabulous country. Maurice when I go to China I some or usually these days think that I'm in a first world country and increasingly Vietnam and Cambodia but apart from that third world countries are destined to live a a horrible life and let's not try to change that. Sticking with India uh there seems to be tensions between India and Pakistan. How serious is the threat of a kinetic conflict and does the moral fabric of these two nations even allow for a rational peace? Oh, there will never be a rational peace among those people. Uh they will always fight. That is in the minds of those people. Maurice, uh western people fail to understand that what they take for granted which is let's say ten commandments. They think that those things are natural uh in human existence. Those things aren't natural. Um envy runs u envy, hate, uh covetousness runs wild in those countries. is in the third world. So there is no way you can change that mindset. That is changing that mindset is is a process of at least 3 to five millennia. And I'm not exaggerating it. It's not a process of a few generations or even a few centuries. It will take millennia for these people to change if at all they can ever change. So what happens when you are left without this fabric of ten commandments the the value structure that Europeans created? uh you are left with um uh a society that uh enjoys hating. Uh they hate each other and they cannot exist without hating other people. Uh they uh envy envy is openly expressed Maurice. Now I know this would come as a shock to you but envious people in the west would hide their envy. That is not the case in India and Pakistan. They would openly express their envy. So there's no rational peace possible among those people. You can sort them out as much as you want to and they will find a reason to fight again. This is like a couple, you know, a couple that fights, a husband and wife that fights all the time and you sit down and sort out all their problems and the next day you realize they have come up with a new totally new problem to fight on. So, forget about a rational peace between India and Pakistan. They are totally incapable of fighting as well. Particularly India because India has no friends. Pakistan is slightly more rational and they have built friendship with China. So now whenever India fights with Pakistan, it will be having a proxy war with China. So India will is in a horribly losing position here because uh you know our Indian leadership is clearly worse than the leadership of Ind Pakistan. So now this is the situation when they have a war as they had last year. India and Pakistan which lasted for four days. Uh it seems that India lost uh very badly. They lost about seven planes, six or seven or maybe eight planes within hours or within the first 2 days and the war lasted for 4 days. So they don't have the the capability to continue to fight a war the way Ukrainians and Russians or Palestinians and Israelis or is Iranians can fight. These are much superior people than South Asian people. So Indian South Asians have no uh capability to fight for a long time. Every war India and Pakistan has have had lasted for no more than 6 weeks. So that's how incapable they are of fighting with each other. But this is h what happens Maurice when you have a fight with an Indian he will say his he these are the standard statements you will hear. He will say, "Do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do to you?" So, they threaten more than they actually deliver on those threats. But unfortunately, Maurice, one day comes when your threats snowballs into a full-fledged war. And I think that is not impossible for for those countries. But always remember, they will always fight. They will always be poor. They will always be wretched. And there's no escape for from from that. And in comparison, I already consider Iranians to be much better people. >> You've said a lot there. I'd like for you also to take us now to Bangladesh, which is at a crossroads of chaos right now. What is the mainstream media not reporting about the unrest there and the anti-India sentiment that is currently tearing the region apart? >> Yeah. So, these are different sides of the same coin. Bangladeshies, Indians and Pakistanis are the same people with same the same petty mindset, the [clears throat] same hatemongering, envious mindset. So uh they will always be in chaos. I hold Bangladeshes and Pakistanis into a slightly better regard than I do Indians because at the end of the day once in a while Bangladesh and Pakistanis come to the street to fight for what is right. uh Indians never ever do that. So I hold Bangladeshes and Pakistani to a slightly higher regard. Now uh in India Muslims are being lynched. In Bangladesh Hindus are being lynched. So the these are two sides of the same coin. I have said it for many many years now that the the zenith of Bangladesh's progress was with ended with the end of Sheik Hassina. Now she was a tyrant. She very likely led to deaths of many people. But don't imagine for a second that any leader in a country in countries like those can run those countries without uh leading to brutality because that is the very nature of the people in those countries. They are selfish. They are corrupt. Corrupt from the western perspective. Uh I mean Maurice I can hardly ever think of people I know in India who are honest. They are simply dishonest. They lie all the time. So given that those kind of people you will have brutalities you simply cannot have civilization and this will continue. So Bangladesh will will become worse. It will become democratic again in another few months time maybe in a year's time and I guarantee you it will only be worse because democratic forces will lead to emergence of more fanaticism. Shik Hassina controlled fanaticism. Now most people don't understand Maurice but the reason UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahin, Oman are great and they are actually very good countries some of these UAE I could actually live in UAE if I wanted to. Bahin or Oman they are very good countries but the reason they are well sane countries is because the rulers control fanaticism. If you want to pray in Dubai on the street they will come and take you away and probably can you. So uh uh that's how bad how how well behaved the people are there primarily because the rulers ensure that uh people do not become too fanatic and that's the same in central Asian republics uh as well which are primarily Muslim countries. So don't give democracy don't bring democracy to these countries. It will lead to emergence of fanaticism and mob rule as as it happened in Iran by the removal of Shaha. just let those those countries stay non-democratic. >> I'm just uh in awe with everything that you always say here. [laughter] Well, I tell you what, let's let's finish out the geopolitical discussions with China. What has your attention in Beijing right now that the western investor is completely blind to? Well, Maurice, I gave a speech in Vancouver at my capitalism when morality seminar last year and uh you know people usually like my speech but there were at least a few people who completely objected to my speech. My speech was on how good China is and how rapidly it is emerging into a wonderful country. Uh and they some of them just refuse to accept it. And you know I always tell people yes I let's think about whether China is a paper tiger or not. Look around yourself and tell me what is it around you which is not made in China. Maurice at this point what I'm looking at virtually everything has been made in China. My my camera is made in China. My computer is made in China. My monitor is made in China. My microphone is made in China. So uh I I bought this headset in China for about $7 US or probably less. China is an absolutely amazing country. It is extraordinarily safe these days and honestly Maurice while my heart is in the United States phys in terms of physical safety I find China to be much safer. There is virtually no crime happening in that country these days. Maurice in in at least in cities that I have been to because I you know the only place I can go and sit down is in coffee shops in cities tier three cities included. Um people leave their oses on the table in the coffee shops and go away for half an hour and return back and not worry that their oes would be stolen. So that's how safe China has become. People talk about this social credit system. I spent maybe a total of 4 months last year in China. Uh I still don't understand what social credit system is. I have been going to China for two decades multiple times and every year I don't see it. People are becoming increasingly civilized. People are polite. They are civilized. Their driving is still not great. It's actually I would hate to drive in China. But that is only because uh they don't know any better. And learning to drive as a society properly takes a very long time because every cog and screw and nut has to fit in the right way. uh but uh even in the United States uh Maurice try see how people merge into the high come into the highway merge into the highway let's say in California they they they take the ramp and drive straight into the highway without letting the person on the slow lane continue driving at his pace. So unfortunately changing the driving habits is not easy. But Maurice I am just uh amazed at no end looking at how rapidly China is improving. Now Chinese economy is suffering because of their fight with uh Trump and I in my view both are right. Trump wants to jump Trump need wants to bring some manufacturing back to to the US. He is u very likely scaled that within the next 5 or 10 years China will be able to uh compete with America in in its armed for in terms of armed forces and Chinese economy probably has more um vitality than American economy in the long term probably so in the medium term I would say. Uh so I'm totally amazed and I think people should uh just visit China for a few days. You now can visit visafree for I think 30 days to China. Just go and have a look. Here is the big difference between the west and and the far east Asia. Maurice the west is very solidly rooted in truth seeking and philosophy. That is not necessarily the case in far east Asia. And because of that uh the key innovation and creativity will continue to emerge from the west. Uh that is why my heart belongs to the west. But don't underestimate China. It's a lovely country. It's a fabulous country. It has a country with the rule of law. The policeman isn't going to take you away at 2:00 in the night and hood you when taking you away. That I have never seen or heard of in the last two decades. And people have a very m misconceived notion of that country. Go and visit it. >> As you state that, I recall and you referenced as well your presentation during capitalism and morality. And there was uh probably I think one or two people that were in >> Oh, thanks. And and thanks Maurice. You helped me uh uh edit and upload those videos. So you of course watched those videos. >> Well, my absolute pleasure, sir. But I'm reminded of the uh the discontent if you will when you were referencing the virtues that you enjoyed about China. And I think you in each case uh your your simple rebuttal was have you ever been there? And each respondent said no. And that's kind of what I noticed on our number of our previous videos as well or interviews is when you're referencing the virtues that you like about China, there's a lot of uh content there. But then the question I always asked is I ask and I I interject sometimes in those comments is have you been there? Because often we we make comments because we've seen it on a screen but that doesn't give you the full narrative whatsoever. >> Well, and that is Maurice a big problem with the educational system. People should be very careful about sending their children to schools. Uh the problem is that uh schools educate you while removing you from realities of life and that is a very strange way of educating people. I think it makes people very bookish. Bookish in the sense that they think that what they read is a is the reality rather than the reality being the reality. So I I think schools have done a horrible job by removing people from the realities of life. I don't think I can disagree with you and I think many of our audience members are of the same opinion. Let's pivot to natural resources. Starting with physical precious metals, we're seeing gold, silver, and platinum each respectively setting new all-time highs. In your view, is this simply a currency debasement story, or are these metals trying to tell the market something more ominous about the global rational fabric? Um well both Maurice uh fiat currencies are headed uh for a complete disaster because uh there's no way you can in stop inflating them away. So uh that's on one side. The other side is that wars continue to increase. Uh we and you can't blame anyone for it. um the you know you can't blame Trump for it because Trump has only made those uh un uh underflow more uh obvious to to the society which Biden and other administrations were hiding from your visibility but uh those tensions were all were increasing and were there. So the world is changing very rapidly. There is going to be conflict between supremacy of China and the United States. There will be conflicts on places like Greenland, Canada. Europe is probably gone in my view because their leadership is so stupid. You just have to listen to Kaya Kaj Kaya Karas and Ursula for 5 minutes to understand what a disastrous future Europeans have built. So uh in in my view the world is a very unstable people. It is and at best controlled by purile na and naive people in in the in in the in many parts of the world and at least in the first world and very stupid and tyrannical people in the third world. So the the world is going to go continue to go through chaos and that is why people want to uh people will continue to have a temptation to keep uh things that that are more likely to preserve their values. So I think that is why metal prices have gone up so much. Uh but here here is my issue Maurice. these prices have gone up too much too quickly and uh and u u and I think u I was uh always in your show recommended people to buy gold and silver in the past but because I'm an investor I think through things ahead of times uh I bought these uh 10 15 years back 20 years back uh and now they are much bigger parts of my part of my portfolio than they should be so am I going to buy more no uh but uh I think people who don't own any of these should be paying attention to the uh destabilization of the world that is happening but they should also be looking at China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan as possible investment areas in the future and of course the US which is which I continue to love and continue to think is the top country in the world. >> Let me give credit where credit is due. You and I spoke late, I believe it was last weekend, and you shared, Maurice, I believe that the metal prices are going to have a big setback coming here and true to the words, uh, we were actually supposed to interview yesterday. So, it would have been perfect to have the interview done yesterday and then people could see what came to fruition. But we saw that, uh, silver, gold had a significant drop today, I believe. Silver up, silver down 30%. So, your call was spot on. Uh, by the way, I just wanted to give credit there. Yeah, but at the same time Maurice what else would you do because the stock markets fell very badly as well. So uh unfortunately the world is becoming very unstable and uh it is very easy for people to say hey what I got into fell by 30%. uh but uh my guess is that it is not impossible that uh a time might come when you would say hey at least I preserve 25% of my value by investing in this thing and this is how some of the very rich people think today they they invest they buy something worth billions of dollars knowing fully well that they might lose a big chunk of it but they just want a guarantee that a bit part of their propert wealth would stay preserved for them to continue their lifestyles. So we are in a very chaotic environment. I would be very careful about buying buying anything in in a feeding frenzy. That would that is something I have never done in my life. But indeed precious metals have gone up too much too quickly and um and and they might still continue to go up. So I have no way to tell you not to buy but be very careful particularly when uh at these current prices a lot of projects can become mining projects the gold projects. So a lot of gold can start coming into the market in 5 or 10 years time. >> Good insights. And just to share with everyone just so you know that I'm not here to sell my own book. I'm bringing on someone that believes that the metal prices are going to go down and he's not a big advocate for buying them. [laughter] So I got to be the worst salesperson in the world. But I would like to ask you this. >> Well, well, Maurice, Maurice, people trust people who are truthful. So they might not. And I I I admire you for bringing me on despite that. I am a lot less um optimistic about the gold price today than I used to be in the past. Um and so so but but eventually people find themselves attracted to pe towards people who are truthful. >> Thank you for the kind words. I'm honored. May I ask you this? If you did not own precious metals, could you speak to the person um listening that may be in that position even under these current circumstances, would you still not buy if you didn't own any precious metals or would you still entertain having a metal and which one would it be? >> Well, I I would always be interested in gold. Um I I think silver has a problem right now because silver prices have gone up too much and that will hurt uh industrial consumption of silver and substitution uh substitutions will start to emerge in uh industrial usages. So silver prices in my view might have gone up too much. I would continue to be in interested in gold also because platinum and palladium are very politically charged commodities. Um, South Africa has a negative influence on the pricing of platinum and paladium. So, I'm more interested in gold. Uh, if I did not own gold with my present net worth, I would certainly be interested in buying it. Uh but when a person who has $2,000 uh in his bank deposit and nothing else uh in his pocket, if he goes to the market and buys silver with that money, I would discourage him because uh it might it might be too much uh for him. Uh for a person who is reasonably well off and doesn't own any of these things, uh it would certainly be worth having five or 10% of his net worth in precious metals. I have a lot more of it. So, I'm not I'm uh that is why I'm I'm ambivalent today. >> And if you're looking to buy or sell physical precious metals, please give me a call at 855-5051900. We are licensed brokers through Miles Franklin Precious Metals. Again, that number is 855-5051900. And again, you can call or text me directly. Moving on to resource stocks. Giant, you're one of the most respected names when it comes to resource stock analysis and arbitrage opportunities. Are there any value propositions at the moment that have your attention that we should consider researching? >> Absolutely, Maurice. And I have now um apart from our two or three companies completely shifted into investing in arbitrage opportunities uh because when the market is frothy I want to protect my downside and arbitrage investments help me with that enormously. So I I have one four companies uh in front of me Maurice I can take you through uh as many as you want. Um but uh let's start with one company. First company is Winsome Resources on ASX. The ticker is WR1. Winsome Resources and it is being acquired by a by a Canadian resource company and the Winom Resources is trading for 59 cents Australian. I bought bought it for 57 and a half yesterday. So you should be able to buy it for less than 59. And at 59 the arbitrage upside is 25%. And this merger should close sometime in March. So I'm very happy with such an arbitrage 25%. Uh let's talk about another company um Golden Lake Exploration which is being acquired by um by another major company um um I'm forgetting the name the ticker is MUX but Golden Lake Explorations is ticker is GLM and the arbitrage is 11% right now. It is trading at 12 cents Canadian. My guess is that it will fall to 10 cents. So you can increase your arbitrage upside by being patient in Golden Lake. Um so these are two companies. If you want to hear more, I can give you two more, Maurice. >> Absolutely. I think everyone has their pen and paper out right now, sir. >> Okay. So the next one >> myself. >> Okay. The next one is gold resources. The ticker is Goro Goro on New York Stock Exchange. It closed today at $1.34. The arbitrage upside is 28%. Uh now the last company is uh a very interesting company. Be very careful how you buy it if you do. Uh the company is Electrum Discovery. It trades in Canada under the ticker Ely and it is trading at 11 12 cents. the it is being acquired by an Australian listed company. The arbitrage upside is 50%, 50%. So the ticker is El. Uh here is the issue with Ely. Uh it will get delisted in Canada and the merged entity will continue to uh trade on ASX. So if I had to buy ELY, I would buy in a in a in a brokerage like Interactive Brokers where my uh Canadian listed stock would without any pain change into ASX listed stocks and uh so I won't have to worry about that issue. If I bought it in in a Canadian brokerage that exclusively trades in the US and Canada, my problem would be that my broker would charge me 10 15% in commission to do a trade in Australia. So be very careful if you want to buy this company, buy it in a on a on a platform like Interactive Brokers. >> Wonderful insights and on behalf of all of us here. Thank you for your insight, sir. This is probably everyone's favorite part of the show when Giant shares his arbitrage opportunities. Ladies and gentlemen, I've benefited from these arbitrage opportunities over the years. uh you know we always reference that one uh Sun Ridge Gold from 2016 but uh your insights have fundamentally changed a lot of people's lives by just taking advantage of these arbitrage opportunities that just kind of go under the radar and we're thankful that you're sharing them here with us uh right here on >> yeah Maurice I don't think they are necessarily under the radar the what happens is that people are too greedy they want to convert their money into 10 times overnight that doesn't happen the greed will ensure that you uh break your foot, leg or or nose, uh you will fall. uh but if you're patient about trying to exploit this 11% 28% 25% and even 50% arbitrage opportunities as a portfolio I'm unlikely to lose money and I'm as a portfolio one of these things one of these mogers might fall apart but overall I will make money and I'm the best thing is I'm least likely to lose money in in a portfolio like this if I make uh 10% a month in In an arbitrage like this, my annualized gain is more than 150%. Now, that's a fabulous upside, but unfortunately, a lot of people are too focused on investing in something that can make them 10 times their money overnight. And that is uh the reason why they never make any money. >> Wonderful words of wisdom and instructions. And I recall you when we first met years ago, uh 10 years ago actually 2015 I believe it was and uh when I asked you some questions regarding investments and the number one thing you shared with me is you must preserve your capital and this is one of the ways as you're sharing right now how to do that. In closing, we've talked about metals, we've talked about stocks, but all this ultimately is a byproduct of philosophy. Now you've long argued that philosophy is the most underappreciated tool in an investor's kit. Why is it so paramount to understand the moral fabric before we even look at a balance sheet? >> Well, because Maurice philosophy, ideas, values like honor, integrity, um ten commandments, these are something which removed humanity from the animal kingdom. We became distinct from animals because of these things. And the world has to pay tribute to the west for it, Europe for it because they were the people who came up with those uh those values and those uh that moral fabric. uh and those values uh and moral fabric led to emergence of massive economic growth which is just one part one symptom of having uh uh have having these values and that is why uh particularly United States will continue to be the center of the of the of gravity of the world because it is a society that is deeply rooted in those values and and in in a in a slightly less a solid way are Canada, other European countries and Australia. But that is what gives uh massive creativity and innovative p innovation power to the western world and that is why they will continue to lead the world in for many years to come. Um and uh if you see Japan, China and other far east Asian countries copied uh western ways of institution building from 1850 onwards after the loss of opium war in China and uh during mi restoration in Japan. So those things even copying the superficial aspects have meant that far east Asia has done extraordinarily well. So philosophy and ideas for me are the keystone of everything. Money is just a symptom of uh that keystone. I would focus on moral values, philosophy and ideas. And I I think that is where Europe many western people will continue to exceed the rest of the world. >> If uh you're interested in hearing more words of wisdom again as Mr. Bendori just alluded to you can find that under his uh vision and his uh creation called capitalism and morality. Mr. Bendori introduce us to capitalism morality and what is the vision behind it? >> Um well I have been u running this seminar in downtown Vancouver for the last uh 16 17 years now and it has run every year except for a couple of years during co days. I have invited people like Dr. Amy Wax or um Warren Ferrell, Dr. Walter Block, Rick Rule, my philosophical mentor Duck Casey. So, I've invited some really top-notch people to speak at the seminar. And my idea to idea here is mostly to convey to the western people that what the the today's generation might take for granted that is ten commandments a certain moral fabric uh might not be natural to human existence. They were those things were created over uh many millennia long pro process uh in the western world. Don't take them granted. don't get get rid of them or they will disappear and maybe before you get rid of Christianity think about it because maybe it is a glue that keeps many of those values together and I think loss of Christianity has at least coincided with the loss of moral fabric in the west. So I my interest is to just remind them that these values and moral fabric do not exist in nature. civilization does not exist in nature and uh let's preserve what we have in the west. >> Well, as a Christian, I have to say amen. All right. Uh I want to congratulate you first and foremost on another successful year for 2025 on capitalism and morality. It was a a true master class in conturing thought. For those looking ahead, where and when will the next capitalism morality be held? Uh next one will again be in downtown Vancouver 19th of September this year. So I decide on a date much earlier so that I can start uh filling up my program slowly. It is on my website. If you go to jantandari.com there's a tab capitalism morality. It gives you videos of the past 16 years of uh se the seminar and it will also uh give you the the date of the next seminar and some of the speakers that are going to be there. Looking forward to it, sir. Last question. What did I forget to ask? >> Um, well, Maurice, I think we have talked a lot. Uh, my my only strong recommendation to many people would be to go and visit China if they have never done so. If they haven't done so, they are losing out on understanding a big part of the world, which is uh which which actually makes you cry sometimes because these people were uh so poor, so wretched. uh when I started visiting China and it has become such a prosperous such a calm such a peaceful country uh it has you know nothing is perfect so don't judge a country based on based on what you don't like but look at it as an overall society and I think most people will return from China extraordinarily impressed with those people what they have achieved in fact Maurice I'm a libertarian I'm a very capitalistic guy and When I look at China, I challenge myself if there is something about my understanding which is erroneous because China has invested hugely in um in big industry in capital intensive industry in in infrastructure and I question myself if the I always ask my myself these days if government participation in such sectors is legitimate the way China has done because it has actually given China a bad bond. So I'm always open-minded because I'm always looking for truth. Uh that is the cornerstone of my life and visit China. It's a lovely and fabulous country. >> Mr. Bendari, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today. Wishing you the absolute best, sir. >> Thank you very much for the opportunity, Maurice. The information presented on proven improbable is provided for educational andformational purposes [music] only without any express or implied warranty of any kind including warranties of [music] accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose. The information is not intended to be and does not constitute [music] financial investment or trading advice or any other advice. You should not make any financial, investment, or trading decision based on any of the information presented without first undertaking [music] independent due diligence and consultation with a professional broker or competent financial adviser.