Home for the Winter

DRIGGS, IDAHO – We made it!

I’m writing to you from our new apartment in Driggs. We arrived two hours ago.

It warms my heart to watch the kids fastidiously position their toys on the shelves and their clothing in the drawers.

They love the responsibility of having dominion over a little space… even if it’s just a shelf or a drawer. (They did this in Baltimore, too. Is private property ownership a basic human need?)

Here are some pictures of our new place:

Dusty gets his own bedroom…

Penny and Miles share a bedroom…

And here we are having family dinner just now… with a roof over our heads…

Beautiful drive today. We came down the Madison River Valley on a desolate highway.

The valley runs south between two mountain ranges, both of which had jagged, snow-capped mountains. Here we are…

And here we are in the small town of Ennis, in the Madison valley, having lunch earlier today in the town park…

This will be our last meal as hobos for a while, after two-and-a-half years living out on the road.

We’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do, so I’ll sign off here for the weekend. I’ll have more to say about the end of our trip on Monday…

– Tom Dyson

P.S. The ending of Monte Walsh made me cry… while I was driving…

We listen to audiobooks while we drive. For the last two weeks, we’ve been listening to Monte Walsh. It’s a 13-hour-long masterpiece of Western fiction, in the same tradition as Lonesome Dove.

Monte Walsh is a bronc stomper, working on a successful cattle station in New Mexico towards the end of the 19th century. A bronc stomper is the guy on the team who rides “unbroken” or mean horses and makes them work-ready. It’s a dangerous job that requires the cowboy to subdue furious horses who don’t want a man on their back by riding them until they “break,” but without ever hurting them. Hence the term “bucking bronco.”

The book is basically his life story, told in a series of vignettes. This is not a cowboy-fighting-Indians book, or a cops-versus-robbers book, but a realistic, deeply researched look at a working cowboy’s way of life on the range before we had internal combustion engines. (I’d call it “history fiction,” because you learn history through the story, just as science fiction uses fiction to teach science.) Dusty (12) and Miles (10) loved it. I’d say it’s one of the best books I’ve read and one of the best narrations I’ve listened to…

“Daddy, why are you crying?” Penny asked.

“It’s Monte,” I said.

Kate passed me a tissue. “Do you need to pull over for a moment?”

“I’ll be okay,” I said, sniffling and wiping my eyes…

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

One reader wants to know why precious metals prices are moving along with equities… meanwhile, another begs Tom to keep Driggs, Idaho, a secret… and others wish the Dyson family well…

Reader question: I have been following and enjoying your long, winding, and interesting travels since you left Florida. It’s one of the first things I read when I review my emails in the morning. I am a 74-year-old commercial real estate lawyer and I still go to the office four days a week and work at home one day. As you can see, I am semi-retired. I have grandkids the age of your children.

I have one simple question. If I’m not mistaken, the price of gold in recent months is moving up and down in the same direction as the major stock indexes for the most part (albeit, it seems the Dow and Nasdaq move in different directions frequently these days). I have increased my gold, silver, and copper-related holdings since last year, slowly but surely, to about 33% of my portfolio and plan to reach 50%.

I expected these precious metals to be a hedge against a falling market. Can you explain why they are moving in lock-step with equities? Thank you. I wish you more safe and exciting adventures and upcoming skiing when you reach your winter destination.

Tom’s response: A good question. Short term, it all comes down to the dollar. If the dollar rises, the market is saying, “Deflation forces are stronger than the government’s efforts to debase the currency. The dollar hardens.” In this case, assets generally will fall in dollar terms. As the Nasdaq and gold are both quoted in dollars, their prices will likely both fall (although I’d expect the Nasdaq to fall more as it’s far more sensitive to deflation than gold).

If the dollar falls, the market is saying, “The government’s efforts to debase the currency are stronger than deflation forces and the dollar softens.” In this case, assets generally will rise in dollar terms. Nasdaq and gold prices will generally rise. (Recently, the Nasdaq has risen more than gold, but I don’t expect this to last. There’ll come a point where the government’s efforts to debase the currency will start to be seen as positive for gold but negative for the Nasdaq, but we’re not there yet.)

Longer term, looking at multi-year time periods, gold and stocks are strongly inversely correlated.

Reader comment: I receive your emails about your travels and thoughts about investment, etc. I am also a big fan and frequent visitor to Driggs and the surrounding area, and hope to (semi-) retire to Driggs in the near future. Please, I implore you, DON’T TELL THE WORLD ABOUT DRIGGS!! It’s already being invaded by people escaping from cities, etc., driving up property prices. Please don’t be part of the problem! The allure of the area, in addition to its beauty, is the relative solitude of the area, including Grand Targhee.

Reader comment: Just read your update that you will be settling in Idaho for the winter. What an incredible journey you have shared with us for the past couple years. I am very glad that you are back together with your family; it is truly a blessing.

I was an early subscriber to The Palm Beach Letter when it was just (mostly) you and Mark Ford. I subscribed to each service offered and remember watching the videos you made on safely selling put options. I became a life member as soon as it was offered. I was very glad to meet Mark Ford, Bill Bonner, and many others at the first Legacy Investment conference in Bermuda a few years ago. I asked everyone about you and what you were up to. Hopefully, I will meet you at a future Legacy Investment conference when this situation improves. I just want to say thank you and let you know that you made, and continue to make, a difference to many people. Look forward to continuing to read your email and updates.

Reader comment: Driggs and Grand Targhee are great choices. Super town and good local ski area with superb powder snow. (You will learn what it is to love to ski in it.) We live over the hill in Jackson, Wyoming. When we get over the COVID, we would like to invite you and your family to dinner and get caught up.

Tom’s note: Thanks for the kind words! Please keep writing us at [email protected].