In this interview with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable, Jayant Bhandari presents his world view and discusses how it meshes with investment in the precious metals markets.
Maurice Jackson: Joining us for a conversation is Jayant Bhandari, the founder of the world-renowned Capitalism and Morality seminar, and a highly sought-out advisor to institutional investors. Mr. Bhandari, welcome to the show, sir.
Jayant Bhandari: Thank you very much for having me, Maurice.
Maurice Jackson: Always glad to have you on our program, sir. We have a number of topics to address that are important for members of our audience to be aware of that may have an impact on their investment decisions. I would like to begin our discussion by addressing geopolitics in areas of the world that many investors and those in the media identify as emerging economies. But in previous interviews you've pointed out that these are not emerging economies but they're Third World economies, and they will remain Third World economies. Let's began in Latin America and go to Venezuela. What has your attention there and why?
Jayant Bhandari: What is happening in Venezuela is that that country is imploding, as are many countries in the Third World. In fact, all Third World countries that I can think of are imploding, Maurice. The only exception is China.
What happened with Venezuela is something very similar to what happened in the Middle East. These people became very rich as a consequence of finding oil. And what people might want to look at is GDP [gross domestic product] per capita of countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. The GDP per capita was, in general, about twice as much as it is today, which means that not only they have half as much wealth-generating capacity 50 years later, they have completely failed to benefit from technological revolution that has happened in the last 50 years. And this is a consequence of only one thing, Maurice, and that thing is because Western societies, Europeans no longer rule countries like Venezuela, leadership has got completely depleted in these countries, and these countries, as a consequence, are imploding.
What you see happening in Venezuela or Brazil or Central America—Guatemala, Honduras and many of these countries, El Salvador—they're all imploding and in my view, they will all fall apart into tribal pieces, which means that there is a huge, huge humanitarian crisis that we are looking forward to, not in the very far future.
Maurice Jackson: How do you see the events unfolding in Venezuela? Do you see regime change? And if so, will that mean that socialism leaves?
Jayant Bhandari: No, that won't happen. People erroneously project their good views on protests that happen in the streets. So a lot of libertarians and even the international media will claim that these people on the street, Venezuelans, are sick and tired of their regimes, but the reality is that these people, if you look closer, are, of course, asking for Maduro to go. But what they are not asking for is for the free stuff to go away. What they are on the street for is because the free stuff has stopped coming to them. They want free stuff and that is the only reason they are on the street.
So the problem, Maurice, is that socialism doesn't add up. There's nothing like free stuff. Someone has to produce wealth to give it to you and a time must come when all this excess wealth will have got used up. That is what happened in Venezuela and these people have now no option but to continue to become poor. Maduro can go and the new regime can come in, but don't expect anything to really change in a very material way in Venezuela. This country will implode because that is where their thinking takes them.
Maurice Jackson: You know, we're going to discuss the value proposition of precious metals later in the interview, but it was brought to my attention that the situation is so dire in Venezuela that graves are being robbed for jewelry of the deceased—in particular those that died prior to 1940. And the reason I bring that up is when times get desperate, that's when people begin to realize the difference between currency and money, which is gold and silver.
Jayant Bhandari: Absolutely, Maurice. When you want to protect your wealth going forward, one of the best ways to protect it is by using precious metals. Precious metals and gems do not die, deteriorate, or fall apart with time, and they become good ways to be used as currencies when time comes for you. And they have been, historically, very good ways to protect your wealth. In a situation in which the society is going into a chaos, property prices fall apart. They don't add to their value with time. You can't really invest in the economy, in factories or in infrastructure, and expect to make money from them. And that is exactly the reason why people historically have owned things that preserve their value with time, and gold and silver are among the most important commodities that way.
Maurice Jackson: Let's move to the Persian Gulf and go to Iran. The situation is becoming more and more tense. What is going on there and why?
Jayant Bhandari: Maurice, what those people among us who dislike American involvement in Iran fail to understand really is that Iran has been trying to build nuclear capabilities. And America has this real responsibility to make sure that Iran does not build nuclear weapons. Now, what people forget is that at one point of time, Iraq, Libya, Brazil, [and] many of countries tried to make nuclear weapons, and America ensured that these people failed to make nuclear weapons.
Now imagine what would have happened had Iran built nuclear weapons. It would start to dominate everything around itself. And if it got capabilities to send missiles to America, this would be game over for America because America can't afford to have even one city get blown away, and Iran can afford to lose half of its population and not worry about it.
So what America is doing is fully legitimate in my view, America has the responsibility, for its own protection, to make sure that Iran does not build nuclear weapons and missile technology.
Maurice Jackson: Now what are your thoughts on Iran taking the oil tankers of Great Britain here recently?
Jayant Bhandari: Well then, that is the problem. These are completely superstitious, tribal, irrational people and they will create chaos just to look brave to their own people. And the reason is that Iranians themselves are like that. And their government is merely a reflection of its people. I'm reasonably sure people in Iran are feeling very euphoric despite that they are hungry. They're feeling euphoric about what Iranian government has done. And this is a way to control the crowds, control the masses, and this is what Iranian government is doing, and this needs to be controlled. This needs to be checked as far as Iranian kind of countries are concerned.
Maurice Jackson: There's a lot of turmoil in Iran as well. The women there are fighting to give up their hijabs, and there seems to be a growing faction that want the mullahs out. What are your thoughts there?
Jayant Bhandari: I think that's a very erroneous conclusion that a lot of people make [from] watching anecdotal videos of women burning away their hijabs or people fighting against the mullahs. Or they might even show photographs of Iranians from the 1960s or '70s, in which women are wearing miniskirts or sitting on beaches. These are very inappropriate shows of the truth of what Iran is like.
Now, the reality is that 83% of Iranians are in favor of sharia law. A large, vast majority of people in Iran would want you to be stoned to death for not believing in Islam, or particularly if you are a Muslim and if you want to give up Islam. So it's a very hard core, fanatic society. And the few women who are protesting are just those rare one or two women who are protesting, or probably they are out of their mind at this stage—[that is] the reason they have the so-called courage to protest in public.
In general, Iranians are protesting against inflation, not against religious fanaticism. Inflation has been increasing and the problem with irrational people, Maurice, is that they think that believing more in Islam or believing more in tribalism, or investing more in military hardware, would somehow make up for this inflation, would somehow make them richer despite inflation. They don't understand that fanaticism and too much focus on the military actually leads to even more inflation. These Third World countries are in a vicious cycle because they are headless, they are leaderless, and democracy has got them where they are today.
Maurice Jackson: It seems that the citizens of Iran could also benefit from owning physical precious metals. Let's move further east into India.
Jayant Bhandari: Maurice, the truth is that Iranians are among the biggest buyers of precious metals because individually they know that their society's extremely chaotic.
Maurice Jackson: And thank you for that input. Let's move further east to India, which recently had elections. What do you make of the elections?
Jayant Bhandari: Well, this is all noise for me. The path of India is well defined, the future path is well defined. India is imploding. India is in a terrible situation and the international media, the World Bank, the IMF [International Monetary Fund] show all erroneous information about India. India has been going downhill since the time the British left India. Its institutions are falling apart, its economy is getting worse by the day, and all we have today is a very fanatic person ruling that country. And he is going to continue to do more things to correct the problems and he will do those things that led us to those problems in the first place.
Which means that the situation will just get worse, and worse because again, Maurice, he is an irrational person and his actions will take India to a worse situation. Now, if I were a voter in India, who would I have voted for? I would have actually voted for the current prime minister. And the reason is that other people would have been even worse. And that is how bad, headless and brain-dead the leadership of that country is today.
Maurice Jackson: That's truly unfortunate to hear. So, just for the record, because my next question was going to be, should investors expect to see new opportunities with Prime Minister Modi remaining in power? And that answer is no. Is that correct, sir?
Jayant Bhandari: Absolutely. There is no opportunity in India. Now, of course, there can be isolated opportunities in any society. I mean you can make money probably in Venezuela or North Korea or some really dysfunctional parts of Africa. But in general, as a country, as a society, India is imploding and I have no interest to keep any of my money there except in isolated cases.
Maurice Jackson: Before we move to speculations in the natural resource space, what are your thoughts on the situation between the U.S. and China?
Jayant Bhandari: Yeah, I mean this trade war continues and I like both these countries. I think America is really the best country on the planet even today, and China is the only emerging market. China has shown the capability to continue to improve, and I go to China quite often. I love how Chinese culture and Chinese society is changing, but this trade war is something that will actually harm China. And I think what Trump is doing is quite correct because China has been getting a free ride, and what Trump wants to do is for China to control, to make sure that the playing field is level.
Now the current president of China, Xi Jinping, is certainly egocentric, and my fear is that he might lead to reduction in growth rate of China for the next few years. But China's future, I think, is reasonably very good in the future. And I hope this trade war blows over eventually. But for now China is suffering.
Maurice Jackson: We've discussed some of the challenges in the Third World economies. What is the solution for people who want to see changes?
Jayant Bhandari: It's too late for changes to happen in the Third World countries, Maurice. Five billion out of seven and a half billion people in the world live in Third World countries. And remember when the populations of the Third World countries was one fifth of what it is today? When it was 1940s and 1950s, and Europeans were ruling these Third World countries, they were starting to find it very difficult to control the chaos of the Third World countries.
Now, what has happened in the intervening 70 years, is that the best people of these Third World countries have moved to the First World. And democracy has meant that the really worst part of the Third World country masses are now in leadership positions in the Third World countries. So there's really no solution, given the inertia that we are in right now. For individuals, my only suggestion would be to find a refuge somewhere in the West. Now, of course, the West should try to minimize immigration into their countries, because this multiculturalism is destroying the West very rapidly.
So it's a very strange situation. I think the Third World will certainly implode. It is the biggest humanitarian crisis that world has ever faced in my view. Hundreds of millions—billions—of people will perish when this comes to its conclusion.
Maurice Jackson: Now you referenced that multiculturalism is destroying the West. In what regard?
Jayant Bhandari: Western civilization is a sane civilization for a reason, and the reason is the concept of reason, the concept of causality, the concept of individuality, the concept of property rights, which are all interconnected concepts in a way, and that is really the only culture that exists. That is my definition of civilization.
Now, people from the Third World don't have civilization. They operate through their animal base instincts. If when these people come to the West and they don't accept the primary aspects of Western civilization, they participate in destroying the Western society.
My guess is that 90–95% of immigrants do not add cultural value to the West and they should have never been accepted into the Western countries. But again, my guess is that this has led the Western society into a huge problem, particularly America. Where America has been a place where a lot of people have moved to, and they increasingly vote for the left, and the nanny government, exactly the way they voted in the places that they left behind. And they are now destroying America very rapidly.
And that is why, Maurice, my view is that after Trump, America is going to be a very sad and bad place—despite that it is the best country on the planet. The problem is polarization is huge in America today, and once the Republican Party loses its control, it will become ultra-leftist in America.
Maurice Jackson: Well I'm just shaking my head here in despair here. This a not a bright future for American citizens. Let's switch gears here. In the natural resource space, many speculators are euphoric, with gold seeming to find some price stability above $1,400/ounce. Is this a head fake or are we in for higher gold prices?
Jayant Bhandari: Well, I don't speculate much in any commodity or precious metals, but really Maurice, if you think into the future, what options do you have? As I said, the Third World is imploding, and these five billion out of seven and half billion people on the planet have really no other choice except to preserve their wealth either by buying Western properties, Western investments, or by buying gold and silver.
Most of these people don't really understand what is happening outside their boundaries, so they have no option but to buy gold, silver, and currencies of Western countries. And that is why I think support for precious metals will continue to increase going forward. I don't know what influence it will have in pricing, but really, if I had to suggest to someone on how to preserve his wealth, my suggestion would primarily be focused on gold and silver.
Maurice Jackson: I hear from a lot of speculators in the space. They're very euphoric regarding the gold price, but I want to delve a little bit into your mindset here and your investment thesis. How does the gold price factor into your investment decisions?
Jayant Bhandari: When I look at mining companies, Maurice, I don't build into my model prices of commodities and gold higher than what they are today. I always build either spot prices, or actually lower than the spot prices, in my discounted cash flow model. For me, these mining companies are for profit and they should make sense to me at the spot price.
Maurice Jackson: Are you actively buying gold, or are you more focused on the junior mining companies?
Jayant Bhandari: I am certainly interested in buying gold. I own gold and any dips that happen in gold would lead me to buying, accumulating more gold. Now I understand, or I like to think I understand, the junior mining business very well. And I also like to think that I understand other investment vehicles as well. So I, of course, invest in these other companies as well, because they are investment vehicles for me. That is where I expect to make money irrespective of what happens to the metal prices.
Maurice Jackson: Speaking of junior mining companies, which ones have you attention at the moment?
Jayant Bhandari: A couple of companies, Maurice, that I have talked with you [about] many, many times in the past—both of those companies have gone up about 10 to 20 times. And those two companies are Novo Resources Corp. (NVO:TSX.V; NSRPF:OTCQX) and the other one is Irving Resources Inc. (IRV:CSE; IRVRF:OTCBB). I own; these are two of my largest positions and I continue to hold them. I'm, of course, not buying them. I buy things when prices are cheap. But I continue to hold them, and I continue to believe that they offer me a very good upside, speculative upside. Things can go wrong, but they offer me very good speculative upside.
Maurice Jackson: You know, there's another company within that family per se and that is Miramont Resources Corp. (MONT:CSE). What are your thoughts on them?
Jayant Bhandari: Well, Miramont is a company that I am accumulating at $0.10. It is currently trading at $0.10, and the good thing with a $0.10 pricing of Miramont is it has priced in all the risks that exist in the company. It is trading not much more than its cash value. The enterprise value of Miramont today is only about $2 million for two very prospective and large projects. And I'm very happy to accumulate Miramont at $0.10. When it was trading at $0.15 or $0.20, I suggested that people sold that company, and I did sell my Miramont position at that time, and I am a buyer of this at the current price.
Maurice Jackson: I noticed a central theme in all those names that we just referenced there, and they're all sponsors of Proven and Probable, and we're proud to say that. But Dr. Quinton Hennigh—what does that mean to you when you see a name like that affiliated with those companies?
Jayant Bhandari: Most of the people, Maurice, that I have known in the business space are a mixture of psychopaths, idiots, financial illiterates, or simple conmen. The arena is filled with those kinds of people. My guess is that no more than 10% of leadership in junior mining business is smart people who are good in engineering, good in geology and good in business. And Quinton Hennigh, Dr. Quinton Hennigh, fits all those things. He is among the most honest people I have known in the business. He's very smart in financial and geological matters, and I'm very happy to trust him, and that is the reason why the biggest part of my portfolio belongs to Nova Resources.
Maurice Jackson: Yeah. With Dr. Quinton Hennigh behind the scenes, when I talk to people I interview [and] ask them who their top three geologists, his name is always in their top three. Follow the names and you'll follow success, and we've had a number of successes with Dr. Quinton Hennigh.
Jayant Bhandari: If you listen to speeches made by Dr. Quinton Hennigh, even if you don't understand geology, you will find yourself understanding geological concepts very easily. When someone can explain to you difficult concepts in layman terms, it also means that they are actually very smart at their understanding of those concepts, because that is the only way you can translate difficult concepts into layman's language.
Maurice Jackson: Mr. Bhandari, you're known for brilliant calls on arbitrage opportunities. Do you have any to share with us?
Jayant Bhandari: I can mention three names to you, Maurice, and all these three names are very close to a final major decision, so people have to be very careful not to chase these shares.
And these companies, one is Alexandria Minerals Corp. (AZX:TSX.V), a company that I did mention to you a couple of months back when it was trading at $0.025/share. Currently it is $0.05, so it has gone up quite a bit, but at $0.05 there is still a nice arbitrage upside. It is being acquired by O3 Mining, which will eventually own projects that I would have owned anyway because I think the acquiring company also offers me a value. So Alexandria Minerals at $0.05; just sit on it. If it doesn't get bought, don't bother. But it's a good value at $0.05.
There's another company called Terraco Gold Corp. (TEN:TSX.V; TCEGF:OTCPK) and it's a royalty company which is being acquired, and it is trading at $0.12/share. I have no interest to buy more of it at $0.12. I bought it at $0.095 and I'm keen to buy more at $0.11. And I think it offers me a good downside risk and a nice upside at $0.11.
And there's a third company called Toachi Mining (TIM:TSX; TIMGF:OTCQB), which is being acquired. It is trading at $0.065. I have no interest in buying it at $0.065. I think it will eventually fall to $0.055. So, if you cue yourself up right now, your order will likely get filled before the module is closed. So these are the three arbitrage opportunities. All three of them will make you about 20%.
Maurice Jackson: As always, thank you for sharing with us, sir. Moving on to philosophy. Mr. Bhandari, you're the founder of a philosophical forum focused on reason, argumentation and liberty. For someone new to your work, please introduce us to Capitalism and Morality.
Jayant Bhandari: I have been running Capitalism and Morality for the last 10 years Maurice. And Rick Rule has been very kind enough to let me run this seminar immediately after his Sprott Natural Resource Symposium, who's link is, of course, on your website. People can register using that link. So I piggyback on his conference, of course with his approval, and he is one of the key speakers at my seminar, along with people like Adrian Day, Jeff Deist, Rakesh Wadhwa and my mentor Doug Casey. We have a total of 13 speakers and it will be on Aug. 3 at the downtown campus of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.
Maurice Jackson: This is a world-class event and I look forward to being there, Jayant. You referenced some of the feature speakers. Can you share what they will be discussing?
Jayant Bhandari: Well, the key aspect of this seminar, Maurice, is to talk about the greatness of Western civilization. And really I should not be using Western civilization, because this is the only civilization I have known, but people who have grown up in the civilization fail to understand the great qualities of Western society, and it is the only civilization I have known. Other societies outside the West and outside those people who have failed to adopt Western civilization are just tribal people who live their lives using animal instincts.
And I want to talk about issues that make the West great, and I want to talk about issues that are not allowed to be spoken on in the West today because of political correctness. So we talk about agenda issues. We talk about race, we talk about ethnicity, and it does not mean that those people who speak and listen are necessarily correct in their opinions. But we want to have an open discussion, which is really what Western civilization is about. Without free speech, there is no future of Western civilization.
Maurice Jackson: Mr. Bhandari, are there tickets still available and if so, what is the price of admission?
Jayant Bhandari: The tickets are still available, Maurice, only about 20 seats are left. They are actually going away and I have limited capacity in that room because of fire regulations. The price of the ticket is $175, but as is always the case, your audience have an opportunity to get 10% discount. And I can send you the coupon for that 10% discount again so that you can link it for your audience.
Maurice Jackson: Well thank you for that generous offer. And is that in Canadian or U.S. currency?
Jayant Bhandari: That is in Canadian dollars; CA$175, which translates into about US$135, and you also get 10% discount on that.
Maurice Jackson: Well, you can't beat that. And not with the name of speakers that you have there. T I want to remind everyone this is a world-class event and the intellectual capital that's there, you can't beat it. And refreshments are there, food is there. You don't have to leave the facility, it's an all-day event, it's worth every single minute. For audience members that are familiar with our website, we have a direct link on our homepage that will take you directly to the registration tab for Capitalism and Morality. Mr. Bhandari, before we close, what did I forget to ask?
Jayant Bhandari: Well, we have talked a lot, Maurice. I have just returned from a fabulous five-day trip to Yukon, a trip that was organized by Yukon Mining Alliance and the Yukon government. They did an absolutely fabulous job showing us around what is the natural endowment in terms of natural resources in Yukon. We got to understand about the capabilities and the kind of mood that pervades the Yukon government, and the kind of mood that pervades in the society there, and the capabilities that exist in Yukon.
And now, whether I invest in Yukon or not is a different matter, but these people have done a fabulous job of explaining to me what Yukon is about, and they offer this trip every year in summer and I think anyone who can afford to go should take that opportunity to visit Yukon with Yukon Mining Alliance and Yukon government.
Maurice Jackson: Mr. Bhandari, for someone listening that wants to get more information about your work, please share the website address.
Jayant Bhandari: Everything I do, Maurice, is on my website, jayantbhandari.com.
Maurice Jackson: As a reminder, before you make your next precious metals purchase, please call me directly at (855) 505-1900 or you may email at maurice@milesfranklin.com.
I'm a licensed representative for Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we provide a number of options to expand your precious metals portfolio, from physical delivery, offshore depositories, precious metal IRAs, and private blockchain distributed ledger technology.
Finally, please visit provenandprobable.com for Mining Insights and Bullion Sales.
Jayant Bhandari, the founder of Capitalism and Morality, thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable.
Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world.
Disclosure: 1) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Irving Resources and Novo Resources. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Irving Resources and Miramont Resources are sponsors of Proven and Probable. I am a licensed representative of Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below. 2) Jayant Bhandari: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Irving Resources, Novo Resources, Miramont Resources, Alexandria Minerals, Terraco Gold and Toachi Mining. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 3) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Terraco Gold. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees.4) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 5) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.6) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Irving Resources, Miramont Resources and Terraco Gold, companies mentioned in this article.
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