In this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan welcomes Tracy Shuchart to the show. Tracy is the founder, CEO, and chief market strategist of Hilltower Research Advisors. She's also the author of the Renegade Resources newsletter on Substack, which has more than 8,000 subscribers.

 

Tracy kicks things off by discussing the issues surrounding diesel. She says that the world was previously in a "diesel crunch" in 2025, which only started to ease up in early 2026. With 14% of global refined products passing through the Strait of Hormuz, tension with Iran has started to set things back again. Tracy also states that there's a diesel refinery issue. The U.S. has been slow to build new refineries and is importing diesel from Europe, which is experiencing its own refinery problems. Tracy then gives her 10-year outlook on diesel for the U.S., with part of the solution being that the country looks to South America. (0:00)

 

Next, Tracy shares her reasoning for discussing municipal bonds in her recent writings. She sees a lot of risk in buying energy bonds right now and cautions investors to know what they're buying if they decide to buy any of them. She then mentions how commodities have more applications than most folks realize and are connected with other resources. For example, a sulfuric acid shortage in Africa is impacting copper mines. Tracy then shifts the discussion to China's willingness to produce energy by utilizing any resources necessary, including coal, and she believes that Southeast Asian countries could also start leaning more toward coal as well. She thinks that while nuclear energy is starting to be seen as a viable energy solution, it will take time to establish power plants and overcome remaining pushback. (16:20)

 

Finally, Tracy explains the problems with relying on solar power as a primary source, especially since our grids aren't built to accommodate it. And while there are discussions about adding batteries, she says it's not efficient enough or economically viable for widespread use. Tracy then shares several companies that she's looking at that she believes will be well positioned once the Iran conflict settles. And she concludes things by sharing her bullish outlook on gold. (36:02)