Franchise Stacking - Jon Ostenson

In this episode of the Financial Survival Network, host Kerry Lutz sits down with financial commentator John Rubino to unpack the compounding pressures facing the global economy. The discussion explores how surging interest rates—highlighted by the 10-year Treasury yield crossing 5%—are placing the Federal Reserve and Treasury in a difficult trap: lowering rates risks triggering persistent inflation, while keeping them high destabilizes the bond market and threatens to freeze housing affordability. The pair also examines global supply-chain vulnerabilities, rising energy transport costs driven by diesel shortages, and China's aggressive gold-buying strategy alongside its growing dominance in the global EV market. Shifting to defense and emerging technology, Lutz and Rubino highlight how low-cost autonomous drones, robot soldiers, and advanced weaponized tech are disrupting traditional military strategy and rendering legacy equipment obsolete. Despite these macro pressures and volatile swings in precious metals, Rubino argues that current pullbacks in gold and silver offer strategically timed buying opportunities for long-term investors rather than signs of a structural downturn. Find John here: https://Rubino.substack.com Find Kerry here: https://Kerrylutz.com and here: https://dollartimemachine.com All Kerry's books are available here: Amazon Bookstore

In this episode of the Financial Survival Network, host Kerry Lutz sits down with Rob Kientz from Freedom Report to analyze current macro-economic challenges and the performance of key asset classes. Kientz unpacks the drivers behind recent gold and silver corrections, explaining why historical patterns point toward a mid-bull cycle setup rather than a long-term downturn. The discussion explores escalating national debt, interest rate pressures, and government proposals—such as wrapping U.S. Treasuries into stablecoins—to maintain liquidity without addressing underlying fiscal imbalances. Kientz also breaks down his inflation-adjusted asset study comparing the S&P 500, NASDAQ, bonds, and precious metals since 1971 and 2010. The conversation further shifts to the structural vulnerabilities of cryptocurrencies, where Kientz details why Bitcoin faces network congestion, rising transaction fees, and centralizing forces that hinder its status as a primary wealth-preservation tool. He highlights how tech monopolies—specifically the “Magnificent Seven”—maintain lower capital costs and competitive moats across internet infrastructure, contrastingly positioning physical gold as a superior risk-adjusted stabilizer for individual portfolios. Finally, Kientz outlines his work as Executive Director of the Sound Money Trade Association, detailing state-level legislative initiatives and infrastructure development designed to establish gold and silver as viable voluntary legal tender options. Find Robert here: https://freedomrpt.substack.com Find Kerry here: https://Kerrylutz.com and here: https://dollartimemachine.com All Kerry's books are available here: Amazon Bookstore

In this episode of the Financial Survival Network, host Kerry Lutz interviews precious metals analyst David Morgan to discuss shifting global monetary dynamics, precious metal pricing, and industry opportunities. Morgan emphasizes that central banks and institutional investors have already signaled a systemic monetary transition through record gold accumulation—reaching 2,522 tons ($380 billion) in the first half of the year alone. With gold trading near $4,600 per ounce and silver breaking $69, Morgan identifies $4,600 as strong technical support for gold and points to mining equities as the market's most compelling value opportunity. He explains that major mining companies are generating historic levels of free cash flow that Wall Street has yet to price in, setting up an impending wave of mergers and acquisitions as majors seek to acquire discounted junior producers to replenish their reserves. The conversation also explores practical market mechanics, trading risks, and physical metals investing. Morgan details how bullion banks utilize high leverage and margin requirement adjustments to navigate parabolic price swings, contrasting paper market exposure with physical ownership. The discussion addresses key retail challenges, such as wide dealer bid-ask spreads and the growing prevalence of counterfeit coins and bars online. Morgan shares operational insights from visiting mints—noting how modern computerized tolerances detect subtle weight variances—and stresses that physical investors must use digital scales, calipers, water displacement, or XRF testing guns to verify authenticity. Note: This interview was recorded live on August 27, 2026 Find David here: https://www.themorganreport.com Find Kerry here: https://Kerrylutz.com and here: https://dollartimemachine.com All Kerry's books are available here: Amazon Bookstore

In this episode of the Financial Survival Network, host Kerry Lutz welcomes back bestselling author and commentator Naresh Vissa for a wide-ranging discussion on the current state of the global economy and the hidden pressures driving everyday costs. Challenging the narrative that a soaring stock market signals economic health, Vissa breaks down why Wall Street highs fail to reflect the financial realities faced by everyday consumers. He points to rising oil and energy costs—exacerbated by international conflict and reduced industry competition, such as the absence of budget carriers like Spirit Airlines—as a primary driver behind surging airfares and elevated prices across consumer goods and services. Expanding on these inflationary pressures, Vissa traces today’s affordability crisis back to the fiscal and public health policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation explores the long-term economic fallout of global lockdowns, massive stimulus money printing, and government mandates that disrupted small businesses and supply chains. Vissa argues that the resulting inflation, coupled with delayed interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, continues to burden Americans years later .

In this interview with host Kerry Lutz on the Financial Survival Network, economic confidence model creator Martin Armstrong breaks down an escalating series of geopolitical conflicts and their economic repercussions. Armstrong argues that aggressive political maneuvers in Ukraine, Iran, and Europe are severely disrupting international energy supplies—specifically refined products like diesel—which could lead to global fuel panics and potential rationing. He highlights how escalating global tensions, coupled with political division, are eroding trust in public institutions while dragging world economies into a multi-year period of stagflation and heightened market volatility. Looking toward the financial markets, Armstrong warns that world sovereign debt is rapidly approaching a dangerous threshold, making higher long-term interest rates an inescapable global reality. He emphasizes that political fixes and tax increases fail to resolve underlying economic crises because power rests largely with unelected bureaucrats and systemically unchecked spending. While gold remains in a temporary consolidation phase, Armstrong predicts that escalating geopolitical instability—driven by upcoming elections in Russia, Israel, and the U.S. midterms—will spark chaotic market shifts and eventually drive precious metal prices higher into 2027 and beyond. Find Martin here: https://armstrongeconomics.com Find Kerry here: https://Kerrylutz.com and here: https://dollartimemachine.com All Kerry's books are available here: Amazon Bookstore