Sierra Madre Precious Metals

US Gas Station Chain Closing 600 Locations as It Shifts Strategy
7-Eleven is reportedly closing over 600 stores across North America this year as part of a multi-year business restructuring.

This follows the closure of 700 locations in 2024 and 2025, with parent company Seven & i Holdings aiming to improve finances before a planned 2027 initial public offering.

The company is shifting its strategy from small, traditional shops to larger stores that prioritize fresh food and a wider variety of drinks, reflecting a broader industry trend.
Some sites scheduled for closure will be converted into “wholesale fuel stores” rather than being shut down completely.

Analysts suggest 7-Eleven is undergoing a complete overhaul, moving towards a hybrid model combining convenience, grocery, and fast-food, prioritizing store quality and design over sheer number of locations… (Continue to full article)

Social Security Has a $25 Trillion Deficit – Here’s What Congress Is Doing About It
Social Security is one of the most important senior benefits today. And without it, millions of older Americans would most likely struggle to make ends meet.

The problem is that Social Security is facing a massive funding shortfall. The program’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays retirement benefits, is expected to run dry by 2032, according to a recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. Once those reserves are depleted, Social Security may only be able to pay 77% of scheduled benefits, according to the program’s Trustees, resulting in a 23% cut.

Given the timing of Social Security’s insolvency date, lawmakers need to act quickly to prevent sweeping benefit cuts that could harm current and future retirees alike… (Continue to full article)

Over 1,500 Store Closures Announced in 2026 Retail Bloodbath
The retail sector has already faced significant headwinds this year, with restaurants, stores, and various businesses announcing mass closures.

Recently, the legendary department store Macy‘s disclosed plans to close 14 locations across 12 states, while Saks Global, another major retailer, has filed for bankruptcy. Industry analysts are sounding the alarm about this retail downturn, warning that many additional companies could fall victim to it.

Retail expert Neil Saunders shared with Daily Mail that this trend is expected to continue through 2026. “Against the backdrop of rising costs, a lot of retailers are looking to become more efficient,” he explained. “Part of this involves closing underperforming stores that are not producing sales growth or contributing to profits.”

Business Insider has documented over 1,500 store closures thus far this year, including well-known brands like Francesca’s and Wendy’s… (Continue to full article)

Largest Copper, Gold, and Silver Deposit Found in the Past Three Decades May Change Global Markets

Tunnel in the mine

Argentina’s mining sector has surprised many observers with a deposit that sets a new high mark for precious and industrial metals.

This find, located near the rugged Andean highlands, highlights a shift in the nation’s economic possibilities and introduces bold goals for its development.

Large-scale extraction carries challenges such as waste management and safeguarding aquifers. Engineers say advanced water treatment systems, tailings disposal methods, and real-time monitoring tools will be critical.

Investors exploring Argentina’s deposit remain optimistic. Some compare the current excitement to other legendary metal discoveries that propelled countries from local players to top exporters… (Continue to full article)

Finance commentator Adam Snyder, speaking on his Snyder Reports channel, says Americans may need to get used to another small but symbolic change in everyday life: after the penny’s phaseout, the nickel could now be next on the chopping block.

In Snyder’s telling, this is not just a quirky coin story. It is tied to rising metal costs, supply chain stress, war-linked commodity pressure, and a broader push away from physical cash. He argues that if production costs keep moving in the wrong direction, the government may decide the nickel is no longer worth keeping around.

That may sound minor at first. It is only five cents, after all. But as Snyder framed it, this kind of shift says a lot about where the economy is heading and what happens when the cost of making money starts exceeding the money itself. Continue reading →

For now, everything looks wonderful and coming-up-roses for a good many top-tier and upper-middle class folks. Just wait. The other shoe’s fixin’ to fall.

The American economy today presents a glittering facade: stock indexes shattering records under the current administration, retirement accounts swelling for those who own them, and headlines proclaiming a new era of prosperity. Yet beneath this surface lies a structural fragility that no amount of official optimism can conceal.

For the average working family — whether a factory hand in Tennessee, a small-business owner scraping by, or a retiree stretching a fixed income — the warning signs are unmistakable. We are hurtling toward an economic collapse that will dwarf the 2008 financial crisis and rival, if not exceed, the misery of the Great Depression. The reasons are not mysterious or accidental. They flow directly from decades of government meddling, central-bank manipulation, and a refusal to let markets — real markets, governed by the discipline of profit and loss — do their job.

At the heart of the danger sits an unfunded federal liability bomb of roughly $169 trillion in off-the-books obligations, a figure that dwarfs official debt and represents promises future taxpayers cannot possibly keep. Add to that a wealth pyramid that has grown dangerously steep, a stock market now propped up as a matter of “national security,” and a culture that shields giant corporations from the consequences of their own folly.

The result is not sustainable prosperity but a house of cards built on borrowed money, printed dollars, and political favoritism. Americans of every background must prepare — not with panic, but with the clear-eyed realism that liberty demands. Continue reading →

We are all concerned about the many problems we face today: inflation, affordability, a world at war, the list goes on. That will all be irrelevant if the United States goes bankrupt. Make no mistake, that is where we are headed if we continue our current path.

No, we are not bankrupt yet, but we are insolvent. That is simply financial jargon, meaning we cannot pay our obligations as they come due. However, if we can still borrow, we can continue to meet those obligations and avoid bankruptcy. So, we borrow and pay, borrow and pay, and pile up unfathomable debts.

We currently have around $39 trillion of interest-bearing debt (and approximately $136 trillion if you include unfunded obligations) owed by the Treasury to many different people, countries, and institutions. It all matures at different dates. Last year alone, about $8 trillion in interest-bearing debt came due, requiring repayment. We also ran a deficit of nearly $2 trillion, meaning expenses exceeded revenue by that amount. In total, we needed to fund roughly $10 trillion in obligations. Continue reading →

The U.S. government added $1.2 trillion to the national debt over the past six months, borrowing $163 billion during March alone, the Congressional Budget Office reports.

At the current rate of borrowing, federal deficits are on track to top $2 trillion by October, the end of the current fiscal year. Continue reading →

Tariffs rarely appear on a grocery receipt or electronics price tag, but economists say American households are increasingly paying for them anyway. A growing body of research from federal budget analysts and university economists suggests that the current U.S. tariff structure is quietly raising the cost of everyday goods, adding roughly $1,500 per year to the typical household’s expenses. As tariffs expand across a wider range of imported products, the economic impact is becoming easier to measure and harder for families to ignore.

The estimate has drawn new attention because multiple independent economic models are now producing similar results. From household appliances and smartphones to groceries and auto parts, tariffs function like an indirect tax that gradually pushes prices higher. For families already managing elevated costs across housing, food, and transportation, that additional burden is beginning to show up in monthly budgets.  Continue reading →

The problem with an increasing debt burden is that it costs more to maintain it: This is precisely the issue with which the U.S. Treasury is wrangling at present. As total U.S. national debt ticks over $39 trillion, the interest payments on that value are eye-watering: $529 billion for the first six months of the current fiscal year.

A new budget update from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released yesterday highlights that the government – according to preliminary estimates – paid out the near $530 billion between October 2025, when the fiscal year starts, and March 2026. This equates to more than $88 billion in interest payments a month, or more than $22 billion a week. Continue reading →

Silver Outshines Gold: Prices Surge 6% to $77

The ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran propelled gold and silver prices to nearly two-week highs. Silver outperformed gold, with spot prices surging over 6% to $77.64 per ounce, while gold rose over 2% to $4,836 per ounce. This divergence is attributed to capital rotation from gold toward industrial metals like silver, driven by easing supply chain and energy concerns and expectations of economic recovery. However, silver’s higher volatility means it could retrace faster than gold if negotiations fail.

Spot gold prices rose by more than 2%, breaking through the $4,800 per ounce barrier to reach a high of $4,836, touching its March 19 peak. Clearly, both gold and silver rebounded past key levels, but gold’s gains lagged behind those of silver. Why is this the case?

The easing of U.S.-Iran tensions and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have significantly alleviated global supply chain and energy concerns. This has prompted capital to rotate from gold as a pure safe-haven asset toward industrial metals linked to economic recovery expectations, allowing silver to benefit more.

However, if the Islamabad negotiations prove fruitless, silver, as a high-volatility asset, could also see a faster retracement than gold… (Continue to full article)

The Oil Prices Plunge to Under $100 a Barrel With TrucePrice of Coffee Is Skyrocketing Faster Than All Other Groceries — and the Reason Goes Way Beyond Tariffs

Oil prices plunged and U.S. stock futures jumped after President Donald Trump held off on his threat of devastating attacks on Iran. U.S. crude oil futures fell more than 15%.

Late Tuesday, Trump said he was holding off on his threatened attacks on Iranian bridges, power plants and other civilian targets, subject to Tehran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted a two-week ceasefire and its foreign minister said passage through the strait would be allowed for the next two weeks under Iranian military management.

Futures for U.S. crude oil sank 14.7% to $96.27 a barrel, while Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped 14.4% to $93.48. The price remains well above where it was at the start of the war… (Continue to full article)

Coffee Prices Tumble on Abundant Global Supplies Paid $3.89 for Gas on Monday. By Wednesday It Was $4.29

HOT morning coffee!!!

Coffee prices are plunging today, with arabica falling to a 3-week low and robusta dropping to an 8-month nearest-futures low. Coffee prices have retreated over the past two weeks amid expectations of a record Brazilian coffee crop. On March 19, Marex Group Plc projected a record 2026/27 Brazil coffee crop of 75.9 million bags, even higher than Sucafina’s forecast of 75.4 million bags, up +15.5% y/y.

On March 12, StoneX raised its Brazil 2026/27 coffee production estimate to a record 75.3 million bags, up from a November estimate of 70.7 million bags. Meanwhile, StoneX projected the 2026 global coffee surplus will expand to 10 million bags from 1.8 million bags in 2025, the biggest surplus in 6 years… (Continue to full article)

Here’s What $25,000 in Gold Could Look Like by the End of 2026

It’s no secret that the price of gold has been volatile over the last year or so. Gold’s price trajectory went from reaching new record highs month after month to declining and then surging back, with even more ups and downs in between.

The gold price rollercoaster is being driven by a few factors, including inflation trends, Federal Reserve policy, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and the changing investor demands that have resulted. Even after all that movement, though, gold still sits at $4,690 per ounce (as of April 6, 2026), which is well above its price from even one year ago.

Does that mean it’s a good idea to invest in the precious metal right now? Here’s what experts say you could expect to happen by the end of the year if you invested $25,000 in gold today… (Continue to full article)

Millions of Americans Paid Billions in Tariffs Later Ruled Illegal — and They Won’t See a Dime Back

Low – and Middle-Income American families, and small businesses, accounting for well over half of our country’s population, paid out a disproportionate share of their incomes to the government due to IEEPA Tariffs recently struck down by the Supreme Court. Total payments amounted to roughly $175 billion. Now these families and small businesses face the prospect of receiving no rebates. Thus, the system is regressive for them on both the front and back ends — the burden of the original high tariffs and now the denial of rebates to compensate them.

As the result of the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs announced April 2, 2025, retail prices rose by between 6 and 7 percentage points, costing the average American household between $400 and $600 — and many considerably more. For low-income families especially, this was a painful gouge into their incomes.

300 million-plus Americans assumed most of the burden virtually every time they went to the grocery store, bought a car, or purchased a pair of shoes, a dress, or a home appliance. Small businesses lost as well because most of the costs of the tariffs paid by larger importers or wholesalers were passed on to them. Most consumers and small businesses have NO clear recourse to getting any of their money back.

As a result – WE the Peeps get Screwed!!! (Continue to full article)

Trump Officials Prepping for ‘Nightmare Scenario’ Where Oil Hits $150-a-Barrel – and Unleashes More Pain at the Gas Pump

White House officials are bracing for oil prices to surge past the $150-a-barrel mark as the Iran war stretches into its second month and the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, according to a new report.

In recent weeks, the average cost of a barrel of crude has hovered around $100, a figure that the Trump administration now sees as the new “baseline,” though a potential spike to $200 hasn’t been ruled out, a source familiar with the matter told Politico.

As a result, officials have entered “all hands on deck” mode, urgently evaluating options to tame soaring oil prices — which pushed gas above $4 a gallon this week and risks inflating costs across the broader economy.

In Arizona – we are paying $4.99 per gallon of regular… (Continue to full article)

The Price of Coffee Is Skyrocketing Faster Than All Other Groceries — and the Reason Goes Way Beyond Tariffs

The price of coffee is increasing faster than any other household grocery, and it’s not just tariffs driving the surge — bad weather, war and a frenzy of market traders are also to blame for the rise.

Coffee prices have spiked by a stunning 18.4% in the last year, according to federal data from February.

Most other household spending items — from groceries to cars to haircuts — don’t close to that increase rate, figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

Those increases have affected both producers and consumers, and reflect a trend that has been running wild since the pandemic — a pound of roast coffee cost about $4.17 on average in 2020, and about $9.46 in 2026… (Continue to full article)