If anything ranks lower in popularity than the FIFA President, it is probably the three-minute hydration breaks introduced during the 2026 World Cup for additional ad revenue. 

When North America last hosted the tournament in 1994, Brazil defeated Italy in a penalty shootout under conditions many players described as dangerously hot. More than three decades later, temperatures have only increased. 

While climatologists continue to debate the relative contributions of natural variability and greenhouse gas emissions, the optics of the FIFA President crisscrossing North America by private jet to attend as many matches as possible are difficult to ignore. The aircraft reportedly logged about 30,000 miles over 27 flights, consuming roughly 1,800 liters of fuel per hour during more than 66 hours in the air. 

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Florida for the 2026 Rule Symposium on Natural Resource Investing, where I will meet several companies in the portfolio.

In the Weekly Market Digest, the US jobs report came in well below expectations, easing investor concerns about an increase in benchmark interest rates, which hurt market volatility and the US dollar but had a positive impact on precious metal prices and precious metal equities. Base metal prices were mixed, but base metal equities were positive. 

The Exploration Insights portfolio outperformed the precious- and base-metal equity ETF benchmarks, led by a PGM developer in Brazil, a copper developer in Perú, and a silver-gold explorer in southern Chile.

In Stock Talk, I dig into some major catalysts, including a definitive feasibility study and a mineral resource update from a pair of silver-gold developers in NW Argentina and southern Chile. I also review the latest results from a drill program testing a skarn project in Perú. In addition, I cover updates from a grassroots precious metal explorer in the western US, a gold-antimony explorer in southern Australia, and an REE developer in Brazil/Chile.