America Then and Now (1976–2026)

Limbo

Everything feels as if it’s in limbo today.

U.S.-Iranian talks may or may not be on, ahead of the ceasefire expiring tomorrow.

Donald Trump’s choice for Federal Reserve chair is speaking to a Senate committee — but the nomination might not come up for a vote before the current chair’s term is up next month.

Companies can now formally apply for tariff refunds — but the online “portal” is glitching and the timeline for payments is, shall we say, fluid.

About the only certainty is that Apple will remain in steady hands, a company veteran promoted from within to succeed Tim Cook as CEO.

Amid that backdrop, oil is up over 3% to $92.44. The major U.S. stock indexes are flat, the S&P 500 just under 7,100. Precious metals are selling off, gold at $4,743 and silver under $77. Crypto is struggling for traction with Bitcoin below $75,000 and Ethereum just over $2,300.

Meanwhile, jet fuel sells for $200 a barrel — a development that’s prompted Alaska Air to give up on providing earnings guidance to Wall Street analysts for the time being. ALK shares are down 4.7% on the day.

While we wait for the next proverbial shoe to drop, we step back for an unusual 5 Bullets edition today.

The background: A reader mailbag that was already getting “spirited” this month turned downright “hostile” last week.

It culminated Friday with one outraged reader saying our organization was aligned with “the anti-democratic movement under the spell of a fascist from New York”... and another coming from the other side of the political divide who advised your editor to pursue “deep personal introspection and maybe professional assistance.”

I said I’d take the weekend to think over some sort of policy. The last time things were spinning out of control like this was during the 2024 presidential campaign. Then, addressing the situation was fairly easy: I refrained from any topic that entailed bad-mouthing a single presidential or vice presidential candidate.

But since there’s no presidential election on the horizon now. I said I was at a loss for what to do.

I’m still at a loss for what to do… but in the meantime, my predicament brought forth a small torrent of reader feedback.

Rarely do we devote the bulk of a 5 Bullets issue to the mailbag — but while everything is in limbo today, it seems like the thing to do.

“Dave, the two letters you highlighted Friday are the classic case of damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Keep up the good work,” says one representative note.

“Keep pushing buttons, LOL,” says another.

“I have a solution for all the people who have been bashing you,” says a third.

“There are a number of commentators out there that I have watched and/or read and don't agree with or like. Here's my solution — quit watching or reading. It works really well!

“I, for one, appreciate receiving the FREE daily 5 Bullets. Don't always agree with everything written, however (no but there) always enjoy the quick, easy-to-read content. Same goes for the upsell emails from Paradigm.

“Keep it up Dave, I appreciate you and your work.”

A couple of the reader notes inspired some reflection. Read on…

Toxic Politics and Economic Anxiety

“Yep, indeed, Brother Dave G, the rancor out here is off the bleepin’ rails,” writes one of our regulars.

“Most of us have one foot on an economic banana peel as a consequence of decades of economic betrayals. Manifests itself in all kinds of incivility.

“So it ain’t personal Brother Dave. You have zip to do with their/our rage other than holding the mirror up. (Might want to revisit some of the great work you’ve done on this subject. Then again, might fill your inbox even more. LOL!)”

Dave responds: Good reminder about economic insecurity.

There would have been no George Floyd riots in 2020 absent the economic anxiety brought on by COVID lockdowns. I said as much even as the riots were still underway.

“Two weeks to flatten the curve” had become two months and counting. Expanded unemployment benefits were about to run out, and so was the eviction moratorium. In the end, they were both extended — but at the end of May 2020, legions of baristas and Uber drivers who’d been cooped up in their crappy apartments had a legit fear they were about to be rendered penniless and homeless.

If it hadn’t been George Floyd, it would have been some other catalyst.

In the years since, the economic anxiety has taken on a weirdly partisan bent.

During the Biden administration, Democrats lamented a “vibecession” — people complaining about their personal economic circumstances despite healthy GDP and job numbers.

The partisan shoe landed on the other foot last year — Donald Trump denying any issues of “affordability” among the masses.

And with the Iran war now underway, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a truly odd remark the other day…

Bottom line: No matter who’s in power, sunny statistical aggregates never trump one’s lived experience. It comes back to that joke from the 20th century about how a recession is when your neighbor is out of a job… and a depression is when you’re out of a job.

Now onto some feedback I wasn’t expecting in the least…

America Then and Now (1976–2026)

“I have to apologize for any bashing I have done toward you recently,” says one of the readers who’d been taking me to task.

“After reading about how you state that you were bashed from both sides in 2024 and still very badly in the toxic spring of 2026… I must say I very much liked your commentary on Friday. With the political atmosphere we have today it must be very difficult to decide how and what to put into print.

“I am 71 years old and have lived through many difficult times and today’s polarized atmosphere seems akin to the ’60s and ’70s.

“Please accept my apology and please continue all your hard efforts to bring coverage of current events to all of us… even when some of us don't seem to appreciate it at times.”

Dave: Apology accepted. Truly gracious.

You got me thinking here. I feel as if the atmosphere now is worse than it was in the ’60s and ’70s. Granted, I don’t have teenage/adult memories of that era as you do — but with the nation’s 250th birthday coming up, I’ve been thinking about my recollection of the Bicentennial as a schoolboy in 1976.

I seem to remember people were happy to be Americans then — even in the shadow of Vietnam and Watergate and inflation and the oil shock — in a way we’re not now.

My working theory is that 50 years ago, the revulsion with the system was universal — transcending partisan lines.

Think Peter Finch in Network: “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

People were disgusted, yes — but it wasn’t a case of “Everything would be fine if only my tribe were in charge and the people in the other tribe went away.”

Everyone in charge of the system was scared they were losing the consent of the governed.

It was only in that atmosphere that the Church Committee was possible. The Beltway class felt as if the only way to retain their credibility was to start coming clean — even if it meant disclosing to the American people that their government had been spying on everyone from John Birchers to Black Panthers. For a few weeks, at least, it seemed as if the “deep state” of that day might actually be reined in.

Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 precisely because he was the first major-party candidate in decades who had no prior experience in Washington, D.C. (And when people felt Carter didn’t work out, they turned to another D.C. outsider in Ronald Reagan.)

If you’re into Strauss-and-Howe generational theory, none of this is especially surprising. The ’60s and ’70s were a “Second Turning.” There was strife, yes, but people didn’t feel as if it was existential. Here in a “Fourth Turning,” they do. The stakes are perceived to be of Great Depression-World War II scale.

To truly appreciate the differences between then and now, ponder this tidbit from author Bryan Burrough, writing a decade ago in Time.

In a single 18-month period during 1971 and 1972 the FBI counted an amazing 2,500 bombings on American soil, almost five a day. Because they were typically detonated late at night, few caused serious injury, leading to a kind of grudging public acceptance. The deadliest underground attack of the decade, in fact, killed all of four people, in the January 1975 bombing of a Wall Street restaurant. News accounts rarely carried any expression or indication of public outrage.

Something like that nowadays would result in martial law, at least in the major cities — and a vicious vendetta by the party in power (whichever party that might be) against its perceived enemies.

Depressing stuff, but it’s been on my mind. Thank you again for your magnanimity… and the chance to reflect alongside the readership.

“IdPol,” 2026

“Dave, identity politics has gripped people so tightly that any hint of criticism of someone’s preferred overlord feels like a personal attack to many of these people,” a reader writes.

“I follow a Facebook page called Government Sucks and the admins there deal with the same thing. As a Libertarian, I am always accused of being on the ‘other’ side whenever I point out a flaw on either side.

“FWIW, this daily missive is worth well more than the zero dollars and zero cents I pay for it. Your somewhat unique ability to look past a partisan view of events adds a lot of value for your readers. If some people can’t see past their own sense of indignation, they probably shouldn’t be participating in a market that could not care less about their feelings.

“What our overlords do and say does impact the markets we are trying to understand, and profit from. It would be remiss not to point out how these actions, on either side, affect our money.

“Please keep doing what you do, exactly as you do. For each of the easily offended douche canoes who write in, there are probably multitudes more who appreciate what you do and how you do it. Try not to let the bitchers bother you. They’re a minority, and their blind allegiances will hinder their success anyway.”

“In response to the vitriolic responses that you have been trying to address recently in 5 Bullets, and particularly Friday, I wanted to send you some encouragement. 

“Thank you for providing us with your perspective on a wide range of issues. You’ve read enough of these emails to be looking for a ‘but,’ so I’m trying hard to express this without using that word and to be honest, anything you write to which I object makes my thanks even more relevant because you are challenging my biases and perceptions. 

“I don’t agree with all of your positions, because I like to think for myself and come to my own conclusions. Again, a but-less thank you from me.”

“‘Deep personal introspection’? LMAO!” a reader responds to the second of Friday’s heated emails.

“Last I checked, this is a financial newsletter, not a self-help yoga guide to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Ommmmm…

“Don’t sweat the comments from the losers with a digital megaphone. Nobody cares what their opinion is, despite their perceived self-importance. I don’t recall subscribing to their newsletter.

“And if you had no opinion whatsoever in the current sea of madness and stupidity, I’d be more worried…”

Dave: Exactly. You don’t last long in this line of work if you go milquetoast, split the middle, play it safe.

That’s what conventional financial media do all the time — and it’s why readers seek out people like us in the first place. As I like to say, we’re the original “alternative media” — going back a century to when Roger Babson was warning that the Roaring Twenties would end in tears. (It was not a popular opinion at the time!)

And actually, I did perform a bit of public introspection one day last May. It’s about as personal as I’ll ever get in these pages. For anyone who thinks I’m too “cynical,” it’s worth a look.

Parting Thoughts

Two more notes that I especially appreciate before we go…

“Thank you for keeping ‘The Five’ open for business as I’ve accompanied you on this journey for at least the last 10 years. I appreciate the cutting-edge viewpoint with which to consider my choices for investing.

“Your twin virtues of passion for your subject and your sense of humor are not lost on me and obviously on many of your readers. I love it when you print the rants from readers accusing you of being Trump deranged or a Trump toady — good news that you piss off both ends.

“Congratulations! I know integrity when I see it and I’m here for the next 10 years. Do continue.”

“Man, some folks don't have a clue when someone such as you tries to keep them informed on all fronts,” says our final correspondent.

“I receive over 150 emails per day. Yours is the one I look forward to the most. Keep up the good work!”

Dave: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And thanks for the ride through this unusual edition of 5 Bullets. Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow — when presumably we’ll be out of limbo.