Will the average stock portfolio gain 1,900% to make up for the coming 95% fall? This is the unenviable task that investors will be facing in years to come.
Six weeks ago I wrote about Alfred, a 74 year old man who during his life made a $14 million fortune in stocks by always being invested in the Dow. Alfred never analysed the US or the world economy. Nor did he analyse a single stock. Always being in the market was his secret.

MMT is the socialists’ dream. It officially stands for Modern Monetary Theory but a more appropriate name would be More Money Theory. Because MMT is just a fancy name to justify more money printing, more deficits and more debts. Socialists love MMT, because for a sovereign nation, it justifies constantly living above your means.

One of the Fed’s three main objectives is to maintain stable prices. But they have never achieved that at least not since 1971. Again, the Fed did a volte face because they have a total inability to read the economy. The clueless Fed overslept and realised a few years too late that the US economy was overheating. So at the time when the economy was turning down, the Fed started to increase rates and implement QT (quantitative tightening). But now they are panicking and reversing policy again.

The astonishing Fed again proved the consistency of its inconsistency. Since its creation in 1913, and especially after WWII, the Fed has always been behind the curve. It is hard to believe that this is just incompetence. The recent change of policy hardly seems to be part of a plan but rather another reaction to events.

Have the Ides of March been delayed in 2019? Normally the Ides of March just means the date March 15th. Shakespeare made the expression ominous as it was the day that Julius Caesar was murdered. Today in 2019, the 29th of March seems more significant than the 15th. Because on the 29th, we first have the conclusion of Brexit. Or maybe we don’t! Brexit has been a tortuous process that after 3 years has got nowhere. All it has done is to reveal the EU elite’s megalomania as well as their intransigence. It has also revealed the complete incompetence of the UK government as well as Mrs May’s total indecisiveness and her inability to distinguish between activity and achievement.

The world financial system has been in a euphoric state since 2009. It seems that the Keynesians, like Krugman or the Modern Money Theorists (MMT) are right after all. All asset markets are near the highs and show little sign of changing direction. As Treasury Secretary Mellon said in September 1929: “There is no cause to worry. The high tide of prosperity will continue.” All that is required is more of the same medicine, more credit, more money printing to make a virtuous circle of eternal prosperity.

Imagine a casino full of slot machines that all guarantee a constant high return. All you need to do is to put in a bit of money and you will get an incredible income stream for life.
Well, this is exactly what the stock market is, namely a remarkable slot machine with a continuous flow of guaranteed payouts. No skill is required, and relatively little money. And the wonderful thing is that you don’t even need to be lucky since the machine just continues to spew out money without the need for either a strategy or dexterity.

Is a total collapse of the financial system next or will we see the globalists taking control of the world? Either way, the world is now at one of the most critical crossroads ever in history. Shakespeare expressed it eloquently in Julius Caesar:

There are critical moments in time that can change history. This week I will talk about two lines which are extremely important, as these two lines will change the world for years to come. The first is a Chinese Gold Line which is linked strongly to China’s history. That line has an important connection with what will happen in the world in coming years. The second line is a Maginot Gold Line which will also shape the world for many years or even decades.

The statement above is of course totally accurate for a country running budget and trade deficits for over half a century with a total debt, including unfunded liabilities, in the hundreds of trillions of dollars.
It could have been said today, but it actually dates back to August 1971 when the

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief

This old nursery rhyme, or counting game, dating back from the late 17th century, could be seen as a prediction of things to come. Many people, from various backgrounds, could soon

What is a Goldbug? If we look at Wikipedia, they define it as “a person who is extremely bullish on the commodity gold as an investment and or a standard for measuring wealth …… goldbug can also be used as a pejorative”. Investopedia states that “A gold bug is an individual who is very enthusiastic about gold

In 2019 the investment world will start to realise that asset markets don’t grow to heaven as stocks, bonds and property start their long journey down which will eventually lead to declines of 75% to 95% in real terms. But the major risk is not just investment markets. Just as important is counterparty risk which too few investors are concerned about.

Long term holders of gold have a different perspective of the world. They are not believers in instant gratification. Nor do they believe that a world based on money printing and debt can create sustainable wealth. They also know that the socialism which has spread like a plague in the Western world only works until you run out of other people’s money.

As we approach the beginning of the biggest wealth destruction in history, it is timely to turn to the wisdom of one of the great philosophers. Plato (428-348 BC) stated:

We are now in the very final stages of the most remarkable era of alchemy in the history of finance. This cycle started in 1913 with the creation of the Fed and had its death knell in 1971 when Nixon took away the gold backing of the dollar. It has been a long and slow 50 year death of the world economy and the patient has only been kept alive due to the creation of fake money, fake assets, fake (paper) gold, fake wealth, fake valuations, fake balance sheets, fake bankers, fake politicians all built on a colossal mountain of fake debt.

Both Western and Eastern central banks are now fully supporting gold. Precious metals investors can with total confidence buy and hold physical gold, silver and platinum in the firm knowledge that central banks both in the West and the East will by their actions guarantee that the price can only go up. But the support from West and East is very different. Western central banks have not been friendly to gold for decades as they have significantly reduced their holdings.