LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2025--
Lear Capital, a trusted leader in precious metals investing since 1997, today announced results from a recent subscriber survey that reveals silver as the top educational priority among precious metals investors, with 59% of respondents expressing interest in learning more about the white metal.
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The survey, conducted via email to Lear Capital's email subscriber base in early July, gathered responses from approximately 300 investors seeking to understand market dynamics and educational preferences. The results provide valuable insights into investor sentiment as economic uncertainty continues to drive interest in precious metals as portfolio diversifiers.
Silver Leads the Pack
Silver emerged as the clear winner, garnering 158 votes (59% of responses), significantly outpacing other topics. This surge in silver interest aligns with recent market trends, as the metal has gained attention for its dual role as both a precious metal and a critical industrial component, particularly in renewable energy applications.
"The overwhelming interest in silver reflects what we're seeing in the broader market," said Kevin DeMeritt, founder and chairman of Lear Capital. "Investors are recognizing silver's unique position as both a store of value and a metal essential to emerging technologies, from solar panels to electric vehicles."
Economic Concerns Drive Educational Demand
Following silver, respondents showed strong interest in understanding the declining U.S. dollar (113 votes, 42%), reflecting growing concerns about currency debasement amid mounting national debt and inflation pressures. Artificial Intelligence ranked third (102 votes, 38%), indicating investor awareness of how technological disruption may impact traditional markets.
Other significant areas of interest included:
Investor Feedback Shapes Content Strategy
The survey's open-ended responses revealed additional investor priorities, including requests for information on platinum and palladium investments, startup costs for precious metals investing, and expanded educational content through podcasts and webinars. Cryptocurrency education also emerged as a secondary area of interest.
"This survey helps us understand what our clients and prospects need most," DeMeritt added. "As we continue to navigate an increasingly complex economic landscape, providing relevant, timely education becomes more critical than ever."
Building on Market Momentum
The survey results come as Lear Capital continues to expand its educational initiatives, building on recent market analyses, including the company's widely-discussed "$4,200 Gold Ahead?" report. The firm's commitment to investor education has helped establish its reputation among the more than 100,000 clients who have relied on Lear Capital's expertise.
About Lear Capital
Since 1997, Lear Capital has been a trusted name in the precious metals industry, providing expert guidance and tailored solutions on gold and silver. With a commitment to transparency and customer education, Lear Capital empowers clients to make informed decisions about incorporating gold, silver, and other precious metals into their long-term financial strategies.
Lear Capital Survey
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.
Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.
Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.
Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.
Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
