Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News
Discover the insights of economist Stephen Leeb, PhD, chief investment adviser for Turbulent Times Investor.
- Top in Finance
- #16
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- Recommends
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- Podcast
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What they write about
Commentary from an economist, published alongside a monthly investor edition. Recurring subjects include the limits of artificial intelligence, China's economic and strategic position, gold and the future of the dollar, and US political and public-health controversies.
- macro
- artificial intelligence
- china
- gold
- us dollar
- political commentary
Recent examples: How Soon Before the AI Bubble Bursts? · AI Could Kill You
Written from Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News’s own published post titles and openings in Sep 11, 2026. It describes the subjects the newsletter covers, not its views, and is not investment advice.
Growth history
Subscribers (thousands, nightly)
348K on Sep 10, 2026 → 345K on Oct 21, 2026
Followers (thousands, nightly)
Rank in Substack’s finance leaderboard: #16 today · #17 a week ago · #18 a month ago
Stats worth sharing
Tracked since Sep 10, 2026 — 42 daily snapshots so far. The card below is built from what we track and refreshes nightly.
- Percentile
- Top 4%
- Best rank seen
- #16
- Rank, 7 days
- +1 place
- Rank, 30 days
- +2 places
- Subscribers added
- −3.0K
- Followers added
- −2.7K
- Posts
- 5
- Reactions per post
- 15
- Reactions tracked
- 276
of 525 ranked finance newsletters
on Oct 21, 2026
since tracking began
since tracking began
last 30 days
average, recent posts
across 18 posts
Most-reacted post we have seen: A Milestone Week for Gold — 48 reactions on Jul 21, 2026.
Recent posts
- How Soon Before the AI Bubble Bursts?
Financial stress can spread like wildfire. There has been a lot of talk recently about an AI bubble, and for good reason. Even the typically cautious Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has referred to the current environment as potentially the biggest bubble in history. Until recent market volatility, dips in stocks were more easily seen as profit taking than a reaction to clear signs that the proverbial needle was moving inexorably closer to pricking the balloon. It seems that speculation about a bust has become much more than just talk. There’s good reason for the rising concern. All…
- AI Could Kill You
AI could kill you. That’s what the headlines have been saying. But why the sudden flood of people coming forward with this apocalyptic prediction? Jacob Coxon, an AI researcher who announced his resignation from Anthropic last month, stood before New York City lawmakers on Monday, October 5, 2026, and said, “more likely than not that humanity loses control to these AIs, and it could end in human extinction.” Particularly interesting is that Jacob Coxon spent three years with OpenAI before transitioning to Anthropic. These are the two major foundational AI companies in the United States. Both…
- Dr. Stephen Leeb: Interview with RiskTakers
“Stephen Leeb, chairman and chief investment officer of Leeb Capital Management and author of nine books including China's Rise and the New Age of Gold, joins Risk Takers to argue that China has quietly accumulated more gold than every central bank on earth put together, and that the system being built around it is gold-centred rather than yuan-centred. Leeb explains how monetary gold escapes import statistics, that the dollar is America's last vestige of hegemony, and that gold has to be repriced high enough to back the debt.” 0:00 Intro 1:23 China Is Playing A Longer Game 19:21 A word from…
- October Turbulent Times Investor
October Issue 2026 Market Insights Is Buffett Really So Anti-Gold? October 1, 2026 | By Stephen Leeb Why you shouldn’t be deterred from owning the metal It’s no secret that we consider gold the no-holds-barred most essential investment you can own, viewing it as both a haven in rocky economic times and as an investment that will reward you with multifold gains. It’s also no secret that we regard Warren Buffett as arguably the greatest investor of our time. And finally, it’s no secret that Buffett has in his day made a famous anti-gold argument. So how do we reconcile all these non-secrets?…
- Gold at $40,000??
Gold at $40,00/oz. or higher? Really? We found it hard to believe, too—until we looked deeper Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Recently we watched an interview in which a friend of ours, someone with long experience and much success in gold and commodities, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see gold go up 10-fold—a rise that would bring it to $40,000 an ounce. While we’ve been highly bullish on gold, our initial reaction was to be skeptical. We thought our…
- America's Weimar Moment? The Red Flags We're Watching
Historical parallels are never perfect. But they can be revealing—and serve as warning signs. Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Recently we’ve seen posts that equate present-day U.S. with the Weimar Republic, Germany’s ill-fated democratic government that was formed after Germany’s defeat in World War I and that ultimately led to the rise of Nazism. Is this apt? Is it fair? Does the U.S. today really resemble a Germany edging towards a future in which its…
- Failing the Test
AI is flooding into every aspect of life in the U.S. today—including our classrooms. And that, according to one of the most authoritative measuring sticks of educational achievement, is damaging our children. Results from the latest round of PISA (Program for International Assessment) tests were released this week, and they were chilling. The tests, which are organized by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), score 15-year-olds around the world on their skills in reading, math, and science. A record 91 countries and economies participated in the most recent…
- Turbulent Times Investor
SEPTEMBER 2026 DIGITAL EDITION Click the PRINT VERSION tab on the upper main navigation menu to access the print files for the complete monthly edition, along with Growth & Income portfolio spreadsheets. They Have Gold All Wrong September 4, 2026 | By Stephen Leeb and Donna Leeb An ossified view that ignores the real world It’s undeniable that the market is great at shrugging off risks—until, suddenly, it isn’t. The question for investors: Would you rather be early? Or are you willing to risk being too late? We know which side we hope you’ll be on: Readying yourself now so that you’re…
- It’s a Game. And AI Can’t Figure It Out
Optimists see the glass as half full. Pessimists see it as half empty. That cliche is a wonderful metaphor in many areas of life. But sometimes it fails to capture the full extent of the possible alternating realities. Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Today, when it comes to the stock market, the optimists have faith that rising stocks are the gift that will keep on giving. The pessimists worry that the rise is threatened by any number of risks. We fall…
- Fauci Takes the Fifth 111 Times in Fiery Senate Hearing on COVID Origins
111 times. That’s how many times Dr. Anthony Fauci took the fifth when he appeared before the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29. In 2022, Dr. Fauci had said on CNN: “I am very happy to testify before any congressional oversight committee. I have nothing to hide. I can explain and validate everything I’ve done… I am going to do what I need to do and that’s cooperate fully because we have nothing to hide.” Stephen Leeb, PhD > Turbulent Times Investor News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free…
- America’s Choice: Join China’s Game or Lose It All
forever The East, led by China, seems better positioned by the day to compel U.S. cooperation in the new world order that China is determined to engineer. The U.S. won’t remain the hegemonic nation we once were. But we’d reap great benefits from cooperating—and risk great damage if we don’t. China’s most critical project is the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, which connects more than 150 countries via massive infrastructure creation, including rail and roads, sea-based shipping lanes, ports, and investments in telecommunications. BRI countries span Asia, Africa, and even include Latin…
- AI Mania Meets Its Canary: What Oracle’s Debt Downgrade Really Means
forever There are always those pesky canaries in the coal mine. And along with them, there’s always the question: When will investors pay attention? We’re referring to that event or events—such as a sharp drop in a significant player—that warn that a market bubble is getting closer to being unsustainable. Market tops, and subsequent crashes, don’t happen out of the blue, although it might seem like it at the time. There’s always something to tip you off. And recently in today’s market there have been warning signs ominously similar to those that preceded both the dot.com bust and the 2008…
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