Your Survival Guy

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January 2017 RAGE Gauge Surprise

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rage-gauge-60The numbers are in and my January RAGE Gauge has never looked better, with a reading of Neutral. This is not a stock market indicator, far from it, stocks are not cheap. It is a pulse of the social, political and economic landscape using a proprietary method I’ve devised and tweaked over time. I use it as a back-of-a-napkin snapshot to give me a feel for the current landscape.

One component I like to use is background checks, a barometer for final handgun sales, and a measure of fear. The December reading is the first since April 2014 that didn’t produce a record high for its month. This isn’t great news for gun shop owners, but the key to their survival, one owner told me yesterday, in addition to moving the goods, will be through special builds for pistols and rifles and training courses. Gold was down again, but the decline slowed and T-Bill yields were way up—the highest since 2008.

This is certainly not a time to be sticking your neck out as an investor but it is time to get your financial house in order, put your lazy money to work and finally beat inertia by doing something. I’d be happy to talk with you how to do it. You can email me at ejsmith@youngresearch.com.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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