Key Takeaways

Tiggre sold all his gold and silver mining stocks, yet remains a long-term bull. His point is that a correct thesis is not the same as good timing, and on the miners specifically, "the stocks I just don't think now is the time to buy," even as he keeps accumulating physical bullion.

His base case is consolidation, then a new leg higher, not a top. Tiggre describes gold "stairstepping up," but says the current pattern looks unnervingly similar to the last major peak, which he refuses to ignore.

2011 is his cautionary tale. After the financial crisis, every structural bull argument was in place and he stayed fully invested, yet a multi-year bear market followed. He calls not planning for that a personal failure, and one he will not repeat.

Rick Rule's rule anchors his patience: don't confuse the inevitable with the imminent. Tiggre agrees with many long-term gold arguments but notes some have been called "imminent" for 15 years, so he lets price, not the narrative, dictate timing.

The biggest mistake he sees is chasing. Rushing in on FOMO or a headline, and being "religious" about a thesis rather than watching the data, is in his view how gold investors get hurt.

Key Moments

00:18 - Where are we in the gold bull market cycle? Tiggre's "stairstepping up" base case for gold and silver.

00:50 - Is gold repeating the 1980 market top? The pattern that looks "spooky" similar to the last major peak.

01:49 - Gold warning signs every investor should watch Why he says look at the data instead of being "religious" about the thesis.

02:34 - What the 2011 gold crash taught him The bear market that arrived even with every bull argument in place.

03:45 - Rick Rule's rule: don't confuse the inevitable with the imminent Why a compelling macro story is not a reason to buy today.

05:24 - Still bullish on gold, but not buying yet Agreeing with the structural case while staying patient on price.

07:36 - Gold vs. copper and the commodity supercycle Why "buy low" beats any grand supercycle theory.

09:16 - Have gold and silver bottomed? Tiggre's direct answer on the monetary metals.

Should I Buy Gold Now? Why Lobo Tiggre Sold His Gold Stocks but Stays Bullish

Timing is the question every gold investor faces when the metal is near record highs: buy now, or wait for a better entry. Speculator Lobo Tiggre, publisher of The Independent Speculator, gave Wealthion a deliberately uncomfortable answer in early August 2026. Speaking at the Rick Rule Symposium, Tiggre revealed he had sold every gold and silver mining stock he owned while remaining a committed long-term bull, arguing that having the right thesis is not the same as it being the right time to buy. For more from the same event, see Wealthion's recap of the 2026 Rick Rule Symposium.

Should you buy gold now?

On the mining stocks, Tiggre's answer is not yet, even for a bull. He says plainly that "the stocks I just don't think now is the time to buy," and disclosed that he had sold all of his gold and silver equities. He draws a clear line between the miners and physical metal, noting he is "always an accumulator" of bullion. This is his own positioning and risk discipline, not a recommendation for any individual, and he stresses that everyone's time horizon is different.

Is the gold bull market over?

Tiggre does not think so. His base case is that gold is "stairstepping up," working through a multi-year consolidation before another leg higher, much as it did after the 2020 run before breaking out again. What gives him pause is the data: he says it is "pretty spooky how similar this peak looks to the last one," and while "history doesn't repeat but it can rhyme," he refuses to dismiss the resemblance. He is explicit that this is not a top call, only a reason to stay alert. A more aggressively bullish structural view runs through Jeff Currie's case for a gold and silver supercycle.

Could gold repeat 1980 or 2011?

Both are on Tiggre's mind. If gold keeps falling from here, he says, the setup starts to look more like the brutal 1980 top; if it holds and moves sideways, it looks better than either 1980 or 2011. His formative lesson is 2011: after the financial crisis, governments had done "unprecedented, off-the-charts" things, every structural bull argument was in place, and he and his mentors stayed bullish, yet a four-to-five-year bear market followed. He calls his failure to plan for that outcome a real mistake and says he is "not doing that again." The takeaway he draws is that bear markets can happen even when the structural narratives are intact. Chris Vermeulen has made a similar timing argument about a shakeout before the next big rally.

What is Rick Rule's rule?

It is the line Tiggre keeps returning to: "Don't confuse the inevitable with the imminent." In the metals space, he notes, "not imminent" can mean years. He agrees with many compelling macro arguments, including the idea that the BRICS could move to dethrone the dollar and that a gold-backed unit makes sense, and he tips his hat to Ronnie Stoeferle's "In Gold We Trust" work. But his problem, he says, is that people have called such outcomes imminent for 15 years, so building a "buy now" case purely on a macro story is dangerous. For that de-dollarization thesis in full, see Stoeferle on the dollar system losing trust, and for the contrasting timing call, Rick Rule's own case to buy gold before the crowd comes back.

Why is Tiggre still bullish but not buying?

Because he separates conviction from timing. He agrees with the structural case, central-bank buying that "hasn't gone away," and gold's role as a hedge "that works when the internet doesn't," physical and independent of the financial plumbing. "But that doesn't mean it can't go down now," he says, "and I'm not predicting it will go down now. I'm just saying it behooves us to be prudent." His practical rule is to watch price: if gold solidifies, the picture improves; if it keeps sliding, caution is warranted. Even a "diehard gold bull" wanting more mining exposure, he argues, does not have to buy today.

Have gold and silver bottomed, and is the supercycle intact?

On the monetary metals, Tiggre's answer is no, he does not think they have bottomed. He is similarly unmoved on other commodities as entry points: copper has pulled back from record highs but still sits above $6, and uranium, near $85 to $95, is far above the roughly $18 of a few years ago, so neither qualifies as "buy low." On the popular commodity supercycle, he notes that gold and copper have historically correlated around 0.9, so there is something to the theme, but he warns that commodities rarely all bottom or peak together, so the grand theory is not much help for picking. His bedrock, delivered as a riff on Nancy Reagan, is simpler: "buy low or just say no."

What is the biggest mistake gold investors make?

Chasing. Tiggre's core warning is against rushing in on fear of missing out or knee-jerking off a headline, and against being "religious" about a thesis: "religion is fine in the church, not so much in the market." He contrasts the pressure a Wall Street manager feels to stay invested against quarterly benchmarks with a newsletter writer's freedom to hold cash and wait, and notes that having a plan and a known time horizon is what lets an investor sit patiently rather than move for movement's sake. As always on Wealthion, this is Tiggre's attributed approach, not investment advice.

What Investors Should Watch

• Gold's price action from here: Tiggre's key tell, whether it keeps falling (more like 1980) or firms up sideways (better than 1980 or 2011).
• The resemblance to the last major peak: the "spooky" chart similarity he says he cannot ignore.
• Real-world confirmation versus narrative: whether the charts show the market "has the legs," rather than relying on macro stories.
• Relative value across metals: copper above $6 and uranium near $85 to $95, which he does not consider low.
• Your own time horizon and plan: the discipline he says separates patient investors from those who chase.

FAQ

Should I buy gold now? Lobo Tiggre, a long-term gold bull, says he is not buying gold or silver mining stocks at the moment, having sold all of his, though he continues to accumulate physical bullion. His view is that a good thesis is not the same as good timing. This is his attributed position, not advice.

Is the gold bull market over? Tiggre does not think so. His base case is consolidation followed by another leg higher, but he cautions that the current pattern looks unnervingly similar to the last major peak, so he is watching the data closely rather than assuming the bull market simply continues.

Could gold crash like it did in 1980 or 2011? Tiggre says if gold keeps falling it starts to resemble the 1980 top, while holding sideways would look healthier than either 1980 or 2011. He points to 2011, when a multi-year bear market arrived even though every structural bull argument was in place.

What is Rick Rule's rule about gold? "Don't confuse the inevitable with the imminent." Tiggre uses it to argue that even a correct long-term thesis is not a reason to buy today, since in metals "not imminent" can mean years.

Have gold and silver bottomed? In Tiggre's view, no, not the monetary metals. He also does not consider copper (above $6) or uranium (near $85 to $95) to be "buy low" entries.

Which expert and interview does this article reference? This article draws on Wealthion's interview with Lobo Tiggre, publisher of The Independent Speculator: "Gold's Bull Market Isn't Over, But Don't Buy Yet."