‘THE BIG PRINT’
Meet New Boss; Not Same As Fiat Boss
“This book is not written for Bitcoin-ers.” — Larry Lepard
Professional investment adviser Larry Lepard is a first time author, a veteran gold investor and a ‘sound money’ advocate.
So let’s get my one qualm removed from the picture: Larry 20 months ago was vibrantly backing gold and silver, and to be fair, Bitcoin, as stratospheric beneficiaries of a collapse in paper-perpetuating currencies, say by 2030.
[... enCore Energy EU says it replaced its CEO, and the stock cratered.] Below *
Trading note: Ivanhoe Mines IVN Below **
Now, with this first book, THE BIG PRINT: WHAT HAPPENED TO AMERICA AND HOW SOUND MONEY WILL FIX IT, Larry is placing the 16-year-old crypto a notch or three higher than bullion on his profits-watch.
“Bitcoin,” says the 67-year-old Florida and New England resident, “has taken away from gold and the gold stocks.”
So there. He said that.
America’s $1.4 trillion government run rate of the federal deficit comes, Larry says, amidst the third BIG (currency) PRINT since 2008.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in two years ran the central bank’s currency Gutenberg to the tune of $5 trillion.
“Gold is analog sound money; Bitcoin is digital sound money; some people can’t get their heads around that.”
Larry’s book is Everyman‘s reading of what bullion believers have been preaching at least since 1999 (GATA.org; Peter Palmedo‘s reciprocal gold theory; Reginald H. Howe‘s Golden Sextant, etc., etc.): the global currency exchange system, spearheaded by America’s perpetual bucks, is shtupped.
Just not yet — as U.S. dollars boast DXY Index dominance not recorded against major currencies since summer 2002.
Robin Seyr‘s podcast interview with Larry the other day is worth the time investment.
Oh, I l-o-v-e The Book.
“Real estate they can’t print it; gold, silver, they can’t print it; Bitcoin, they can’t print it. You have to own them all.”
Larry Lepard sees Bitcoin at a “really deep part of the (investment and knowledge) curve now … we will evolve a new monetary system, n0t the dollar, not even gold.”
Cut to the Bitcoin greyhound: the digital sound money will race to $1 million from approx. $80,000 right now in “three to five years.”
Larry says he missed the Bitcoin bandwagon some 5 years after its 2009 genesis. Trouble was, he was using faulty pattern recognition.
Not just for BITC; also for the wave of Internet networkers such as Amazon.com, Facebook, Apple, Google, Tencent Holdings that proceeded to rise many thousands of percent since their genesis.
I missed those bandwagons in the steep part of their curves; yet caught Tencent, Apple and two others when they were $300 million to $1 billion market values.
My mistake: pattern recognition: I cashed those in with what I thought were spectacular 3-year to 4-year gains. (In the naked light I saw, 10,000 percent gains and maybe more — if I still held ’em.)
Larry’s book, published at Amazon, is racking up dozens of darn good to jumping-off-chair reviews in a mere 3 1/2 weeks.
“Books can change the world. Everybody uses money. Before airplanes were invented people didn’t fly. This is a complete change in the way things are done.”
You know, Larry, I hoped my PABLO BY NUMBERS (2017), the novel, would change the world. I hoped the econ-book I co-wrote with Steve Gelsi, HOW AMERICA MADE A FORTUNE AND LOST ITS SHIRT (2002), would change the world.
Hope springs eternal.
Larry convinced me just now to purchase BITU, a 2x long ‘Ultra’ Bitcoin ETF.
Simon Catt at London’s Arlington Group several weeks ago convinced me to bet against MSTR, the MicroStrategy Bitcoin proxy, with PUT options. I’m long and short the crypto complex, you can say.
Here is what Larry leaves us with, and it is potent:
“The growth of Bitcoin is mirroring that of the Internet.”
Boilerplate: Lawrence Lepard advocates a return to sound money. He manages funds that focus on companies involved with gold and silver mining, and with Bitcoin. He contributes to the “sound money” discussion on X, using the handle @LawrenceLepard. His first book: THE BIG PRINT: What Happened To America And How Sound Money Will Fix It.
Thanks for the B-boost, Larry; needed that. [TCRs, gold will thrive, too — gold futures are rising $32 USD in Asia this evening (Monday morning).]
* The enCore Energy board of directors let Paul Goranson, 4-year CEO and a director, go without a thank you. The Texas uranium explorer and producer’s shares EU-NYSE lost 45%.
Chairman Bill Sheriff tells us the company continues to drill multiple wells in south Texas. (My take: costs add up with frequent drilling and multiple rig operators — even with $38.5 million of year-end cash on the books.]
Bill, in an update just released (Thursday March 6 2025), confirmed, saying “The wellfield decline curve at Alta Mesa is quite steep, achieving approximately 80% uranium capture in just over 4 months. With this we see very quick recovery of uranium, however this necessitates a very aggressive drilling and well completion schedule that requires extra logistical emphasis, urgency and oversight in the continued development and expansion of the wellfield.”
Two uranium execs at U.S. companies told me EU board members were concerned that ‘urgency’ was lacking in the drill program and its scheduling.
This week, enCore reported a net loss of $61.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, vs. a $25.6 million net loss for the year ended December 31, 2023. Bill says the company will have more to say later this week or early next. Release here. I sold my remaining shares, about $600 USD, for a loss.
** Trading note: Ivanhoe Mines IVN — this week’s copper price gains, rising 6% at last look to $4.80 a pound, prompted me to sell about $6,000 USD worth of the Africa copper and zinc producer. The company says its run rates for Kamoa-Kakula copper and Kipushi zinc are, respectively, near record highs and at record highs. See IVN release.
All told across taxable and retirement accounts, we here at home own approx. 78,400 shares worth $784,000 USD.
In the midweek commodities rally for most metals, I also sold approx. 1,200 shares of Ghana explorer-producer Xtra-Gold XTG and approx. 250 shares of Alamos Gold AGI. These two, with Ivanhoe, are our three largest resources stakes. Ivanhoe, Xtra-Gold and EMX Royalty are our longest-standing positions in metals — since 2003 with Ivanhoe and 2009 with Xtra-Gold. Alamos Gold we have owned since 2016 or so; EMX since 2014 or so.
— Thom Calandra
Thom Calandra is a writer and an investor. Research and material are meant as editorial opinion. He is not a professional investment adviser. Please do not consider his reporting as a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The Calandra Report, in its 13th year, offers a one-price, $139 yearly fee for all newcomers. Earlier subscribers keep their original cost. Sob stories listened to. No refunds after three weeks of service. Exceptions: