My April RAGE Gauge is in, and RISK remains HIGH. Therefore, I want you to be a mindful and cautious investor, especially with your “safe” money. Your anchor-to-windward savings need to be safe. I’m talking specifically about bonds. Bonds are not dead, far from it. They’re alive and well, especially if you have access to new and secondary market issues. And not just letting the chips fall as they may. Remember, bond prices swing in the opposite direction of interest rates. Their sensitivity to interest rate swings is measured by duration. As a rule of thumb, duration (measured in years) … [Read more...]
Survival: Top 10 Tactical Shotguns #4
Who needs “a semi-automatic shotgun that wants to be an AK-47 when it grows up?” Sometimes it’s not about need. Coming in at #4 on our list of the Top 10 Tactical Shotguns is the famous (infamous?) Saiga 12--a semi-automatic shotgun that wants to be an AK-47 when it grows up. Built on an AK-47 body, the Saiga, made by Izhmash, is immediately recognizable as a Russian weapon. The Saiga 12's greatest advantage is the ability to accept detachable magazines, giving it unmatched capacity. Official Description: The "Saiga-12" self-loading smooth bored shotgun is intended for … [Read more...]
February RAGE Gauge: Americans Focusing on What’s In Front of Them
You think Americans are feeling elevated risk? You wouldn't know it by looking at the stock market. But how are you doing on a local level? Are you taking small steps every day to secure your situation? You don’t have to change your world in a day. Focus on what's right in front of you. That's what's most important. Here are some thoughts looking out at my backyard: Are you seeing local prices higher or lower? Here, the price for food at the grocery store is up, while remaining pretty steady at restaurants. What isn't going up is the yield you're earning on the S&P 500. Yields are … [Read more...]
January RAGE Gauge: “THE MOST Dangerous Investing Environment in My Lifetime”
Good morning from post-winter storm Gail. Your Survival Guy is safe and sound. Not much of a snowmaker here in Newport. But the snow is pretty, especially this time of year. Let me know how you're faring in your neck of the woods. In my conversations with you, you're telling me about your own island life you've created, and I thank you for that. You're telling me you're getting lost in your reading, doing a lot of thinking, and looking forward to when your band gets back together this Spring. In the meantime, your island life is alive and well. You understand you don’t need to spend a lot … [Read more...]
Why Your Retirement Survival is No Easy Task
You know how I feel about keeping what you’ve made and perhaps working a side hustle. You Owe it to Yourself to Continue Doing What You’re Good At Keep Working, if You Can How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Some Just Won’t Stop How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Today’s Elderly Twice as Likely to Work than in 1985 Your Retirement Life: You Can Keep Working These Americans Are Never Going to Retire You also know the benefits of working with someone who can be unemotional about your money. The entire country is emotional today. My RAGE Gauge, which measures … [Read more...]
New! November Rage Gauge™ LAST CALL Before the Election
Your November Rage Gauge™ is in, and it’s at a record high, but you don’t need me to tell you that—just look around you. This week you learned Social Security’s cost of living adjustment will average about twenty bucks a month next year. You remember a time when a crisp twenty-dollar bill meant something to you. It meant I had to cut my neighbor’s lawn twice or scoop ice cream for five hours. Today you’re looked at as old-fashioned when presenting one for payment—as if cash is an inconvenience. “Just Venmo me.” What could possibly go wrong with the digitalization of the dollar? What … [Read more...]
October RAGE Gauge: Stocks Down Over 33% Thrice this Century
With stocks down more than 33% three times now this century, it’s clear that investors have a short-term memory problem—forgetting how bad they felt in March 2001/2008/2020—which is why my RAGE Gauge continues to signal my highest risk level. The new normal we’re living with is a manmade China virus and manmade chaos created by blue state government. Schools are a mess as lawyers lick their chops, ready to pounce with class-action suits, and parents seethe because they want their kids in the classroom where they belong. Anecdotally, at my son’s school, a positive test (kid feels fine) means … [Read more...]
You Know in Your Gut Why My September RAGE Gauge™ Concludes This
Pre-China virus, anyone who wanted a job could get one. But for some, no matter how loud an economy roars, they’re too lazy to work. For them, any economy is a bad economy because living off your taxed wages is a whole lot easier. Meet the viewers of the DNC infomercial. The puppet Biden and his masters tell their followers: “you work for me.” The little Caesar-like mayors and governors in blue cities and states find their holy grail with a health crisis (probably on the way out the door) to shut down an economy to keep the plebes locked up, to turn against each other, and under their … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge™ July: Fortunes Are Being Lost in a Matter of Weeks
You’d never guess by the soaring stock market that we’re in a government-induced depression and that there’s rioting in the streets. My latest RAGE Gauge shows a nation on edge, savers penalized with a risk-free rate of no return, and government creating a Grand Canyon size gap between the haves and the have nots. Anyone see how this could turn ugly? If you were uncomfortable with your stocks in March and hung in there, it’s in times like these where you need to think about self-reliance and self-preservation. Fortunes are being lost in a matter of weeks. Is this the calm … [Read more...]
New! RAGE Gauge™ I’m Busier than Ever
The numbers ain’t pretty. Unemployment went from a near-record low to high in a matter of weeks; the T-bill rate, the investor’s North Star, is a fallen one (see below); gold is up, and background checks are still high (about double compared to this time last year). Elevated risks are everywhere and yet the Nasdaq trades as if there’s “nothing to see here,” as retail investors run ‘em up like .com days. It’s truly breathtaking. In my conversations with you, you’re telling me it’s because of times like these you’re with us. You also tell me, if you’re not a client, how much … [Read more...]