Dear Friend,

Your mortgage rate, your car loan and your savings rest on one assumption: that the world keeps buying American debt.

They stopped.

China held $1.32 trillion of U.S. Treasury debt at the peak. Today, roughly $659 billion. An 18-year low.

That money went into gold.

Beijing's central bank has bought gold 20 months straight, its longest streak in a decade. Goldman Sachs ran the London flows and put China's real buying at 4.8 times the official figure.

And the European Central Bank confirmed what has not been true in generations: gold has overtaken U.S. Treasury bonds as the world's #1 reserve asset. 27% gold. 22% our debt.

The world's most conservative money is not hedging the dollar. It is leaving it.

When foreign buyers stop absorbing our bonds, your rates rise and the interest bill eats the budget. You feel it at the pump and the grocery store.

Washington's counterattack is already signed, funded and filed, with one small American gold company at the center of it.

See Washington's counterattack here >>

"The Buck Stops Here,"

Kelly Maguire

Behind the Markets

Disney Sets Up for a Magical Year in 2027

Authored by Thomas Hughes. Date Posted: 8/6/2026.

After a pinch of fairy dust and a bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is on track to have a magical year in 2027. Years of Bob Iger’s turnaround efforts, coupled with the new CEO’s execution, have the company on track to grow, widen margins, generate robust cash flow, and deliver significant capital returns.

The capital return is an operational factor because it includes an above-average dividend yield at an attractive price, along with accelerating share buybacks.

Dividend payments have a smaller impact than buybacks, yielding approximately 1.5% at recent prices. Disney is on track for annual dividend increases, and its buyback program received a jolt with the release of its third-quarter earnings.

Management’s repositioning efforts, asset reduction, and improving operational cash flow led the company to increase its buyback authorization. The new target is $9 billion by year-end, $1 billion, or 12.5%, above the prior target, with aggressive purchases expected to continue into the subsequent fiscal year. Disney's buybacks lowered its average share count by nearly 2.4% in the first nine months of fiscal 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Disney Experiences Drives Growth and Investment

Disney had a solid quarter despite revenue falling short of analysts' forecasts. Net revenue of $25.25 billion increased 6.8% from the prior year, supported by margin strength. All segments contributed to growth, led by a 10% gain in Experiences. Entertainment grew 6%, underpinned by new releases, while Sports grew 4%. Looking ahead, Experiences is expected to underpin growth, with the company focused on monetizing its intellectual property through new rides, attractions, and reboots.

Margin news was good, with one caveat. The Sports segment continues to drag on results, but its impact is expected to ease. The company is approaching easier comparisons while working to improve streaming results. Streaming is the linchpin of the turnaround, given the erosion of traditional television viewership.

Regardless, the other segments more than made up for the difference, driving systemwide margin expansion and accelerated profitability. Segment operating income grew 21% compared with the nearly 7% top-line advance, while adjusted earnings per share increased 28% and free cash flow rose 63%.

Disney’s guidance was a trigger for the market to accumulate shares. While the 2026 outlook was merely reaffirmed, the initial 2027 outlook is robust. The company forecasts a double-digit earnings gain, adjusted for an extra week in the year, and may be underestimating its strength.

Recent company moves include bringing merchandise operations closer to the creative teams, enabling more streamlined monetization of the intellectual property Disney creates. At the same time, park strength is expected to continue, and the cruise line is expanding. Destiny’s 2025 launch will be followed by Believe in 2027 and two additional ships in subsequent years.

Analysts Point to Fresh Highs as Investors Get Bullish

Analysts responded bullishly to Disney’s news, with commentary highlighting park strength, recent movie successes such as Toy Story 5, and the runway for margin improvement. The commentary and new price targets affirm the consensus position: a solid Moderate Buy, with a 72% buy-side bias among 24 tracked analysts.

The consensus forecast calls for approximately 25% upside from early August lows. The critical takeaway is that 25% upside would put the stock at a 52-week high, breaking it out of a long-term trading range and setting it on course for even higher prices. In this scenario, the price advance indicated by the breakout equals the range’s magnitude, or approximately $30 from the breakout point.

Institutional trends reflect optimism and support for Disney stock. While early third-quarter activity revealed caution ahead of the report, the trailing 12-month balance is more than $2 to $1 in favor of buyers, underpinning the stock-price bottom shown on the charts.

The likely outcome is that institutions will continue buying, given the green light from Disney’s third-quarter results, helping drive prices higher over time. Trading at 14 times its current-year earnings, Disney is trading at value levels, with the potential to rise 50% in the near term and reach triple-digit gains over the long term.

Disney’s biggest risk is the decline of traditional television and the shift to streaming, but the company is navigating the challenge. It has streamlined its offerings, consolidating them into a single platform with numerous consumer benefits. The question is whether Disney can sustain segment profitability, and that remains to be seen.