Examining the markets and realizing that they continue to behave in an irrational manner can lead a person like me to one of two conclusions. The first is that my reasoning is incorrect and the market knows something that I do not suspect as of yet. The second is that I know something the market, i.e. the great mass of buying and selling humanity, does not yet suspect. And therefore they are just running around buying and selling things with information that is inferior to mine, and eventually will pay the price, almost by definition, directly to me. Figuring which of these scenarios is operating at any given time must be an essential component to investment success. Indeed if YOU ever expect to be able to make money in the market, there is only one way you will do it successfully for the long term and that is to learn how to know things before the great mass of humanity does. You don’t have to know everything or even a great number of things, just a few things are usually enough, and study and diligence can usually insure that you can be adequately acquainted with those few things. In order to achieve this end, the quality of the information you receive is of greatest importance. Quantity of information can only take you so far. If data was all that mattered, then the richest man in the world would simply be the man with the fastest computer. But the richest man in the world is not the man with the fastest computer, just as the happiest man in the world is not the one with the wife with the largest breasts. So how does one understand quality information, by very simply understanding quality. How does one understand a person with integrity, by being a person of integrity. How does one understand baseball, by playing baseball. It is very hard to appreciate someone who has class if you yourself have no class. It is very hard to appreciate someone like Jim Puplava who studies, studies and studies if you yourself are not willing to do some work. Sure you can follow him blindly for awhile, but ultimately if you are not paying a price for what he gives you, you will end up in a confused place not knowing where to turn. I remember a Q caller from several months ago who asked Jim Puplava, basically “How do you know so much? And how can I know so much too? To this Puplava said, “Well, to start off, I read about 8 hours a day.” I could just imagine that Q caller somewhere out in internet land thinking, “O.K., I can’t do that, so skip the reading, what else can I do, like something that will take about 15 minute a day and be fun?” You all need to think about these things, because as the gold bull continues to develop you will all be tested. Richard Russell has said it many times, “The bull is like a bull at a rodeo. It will try to shake off as many riders as possible before it goes up in earnest.” You cannot be one of them who gets shaken off or YOU WILL NOT BE VICTORIOUS, but you can’t just follow blindly either. You need to understand what you are doing. And fear and understanding don’t work to well together. And if you don’t have understanding and the price action you’ve been seeing in Kimber doesn’t frighten you, you probably shouldn’t be invested in the markets anyway because you are most likely slightly off your rocker. So study, read, be of good character, do something nice for someone today, that’s the only way you’ll be able to recognize whether Jim Puplava is doing something nice for you. Bull