Investors Are More Scared Today Than They Were in 2009

This is not what we'd expect to see at the end of a major bull market.

We should see euphoria – investors throwing caution to the wind, taking big (and even foolish) risks.

That's what happened as the dot-com bubble approached its peak. I saw friends getting "paper rich" with stock options. Others quit their jobs to day trade full time. It was madness.

The same thing happened with housing in the mid-2000s. It seemed like everyone I knew had gotten their real estate license. I knew plumbers and contractors who quit their jobs to flip houses.

This idea just isn't playing out today. Investors haven't thrown caution to the wind. They haven't gone "all in."

In fact, investors are downright scared...

A major gold prediction from one of the world’s best resource analysts

Not even a hurricane will keep me from delivering a podcast to you… 

Marin Katusa, founder of Katusa Research and one of the best resource analysts I know, joins me back on the podcast with a major prediction regarding the price of gold and the U.S. dollar… And it’s something most people believe is impossible.

Marin explains why the Federal Reserve must continue to cut interest rates—and the potential impact a U.S. dollar shortage would have on global markets. He also breaks down how to play the current gold market to get the biggest returns.

This is a wide-ranging interview you can’t afford to miss.

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Dear Richer Lifer,

The first few days of retirement are invigorating and strange. Should you set an alarm? Should you get to the gym early, or sleep in and enjoy a few days of extra rest?

Your schedule is fluid and you find yourself relishing all the extra time on your hands. Want to go play golf mid-morning? Sounds great. Have lunch at 3pm? Sure, why not! That hobby you have been wanting to pursue? Try it out!

A few days turns into a few weeks, and if you’re like a lot of people, you’ll find yourself filling the hours in weird ways. You watch some tv, read a few books, take naps…

Then boredom sets in. The hours and hours of open time that were once so appealing, are now dull.

You may be surprised to find that you wish you were working again! Not necessarily full time, don’t get me wrong, but a few hours at a time just to stay engaged and energized.

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The Federal Reserve May Start Buying Stocks

I’m betting the Federal Reserve’s next move is buying $1 trillion worth of stocks in the open market.

Ten years ago, Fed governors rarely got airtime on financial media. Twenty years ago, we only heard from the chairman occasionally. These days, the Fed is all we hear about.

Most average investors still don’t know that there are 12 Fed banks. Each has a president. However, the New York Fed is the only one that matters. It holds all the power.

It’s the New York Fed that bought trillions of dollars’ worth of U.S. Treasurys after the 2008 crisis.

The idea behind gobbling up Treasurys was to stabilize the U.S. government’s funding market. Federal Reserve primary dealer banks bought up Treasurys during government auctions. They then flipped them to the Fed days later.

Normally, government revenues fall during a recession. With this scheme, congressional funding kept growing right through the downturn. Government rarely shrinks.

Here’s the problem… Like a dope fiend who swears he’ll ease himself off the hard stuff, the Fed and its enablers in Congress said they’d return the system to normal after it stabilized. The truth is, they will never turn the money system back over to the markets.

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Bitcoin Fails to Break $11,000 Again, Drops $400 in One Hour

Friday, Sept. 6 — The Bitcoin (BTC) price is holding around the $10,400 price mark after the largest cryptocurrency got rejected in its attempt to break $11,000.

Market visualization

Market visualization. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin was well on its way to the $11,000 price mark, hitting an intraday high of $10,895 when it lost $400 in less than an hour of trading. At press time the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is trading at $10,350, down 2.12% on the day.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart

Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart. Source: Coin360

The upward momentum seen in the 12% seven-day gains excited analysts, however, bullish sentiments could be short-lived now that Bitcoin has yet again failed to break the $11,000 mark.

Cointelegraph reported earlier that Filb Filb, a popular Bitcoin trader, had pointed to the launch of institutional trading platform Bakkt later in September as a deciding moment for Bitcoin. “Bitcoin continues to consolidate above $10k,” he stated, adding:

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The Financialization of the US Economy

Services are Hopping. The #1 Biggie is Hopping the Fastest. It all adds to GDP!

Service-producing industries dominate the US economy, accounting for over 70% of GDP. And this sector is hopping. Revenues in the major services categories rose 5.3% in the second quarter of 2019, compared to the same quarter a year earlier, to $4.05 trillion, not seasonally adjusted, according to the Commerce Department’s Quarterly Selected Services Estimates released today. For the first two quarters of 2019, service revenues rose 5.5% to $8.0 trillion. The pace of growth so far this year is slightly lower than the hot 6.0% growth for the year 2018.

Four biggies dominate the service sector, and the US economy overall. They accounted for $2.92 trillion in revenues in Q1, or about 72% of total service revenues, with the biggest of them all, finance and insurance, accounting for 32%, up from 31% at the end of last year. It is also the fastest-growing segment, even faster than healthcare, as the US economy is getting more and more financialized. The share of each of the big four of overall service revenues:

• Finance and insurance: 32%

• Healthcare: 17%

• Professional, scientific, and technical services: 12%

• “Information” services, such as telecommunications, software, and data processing: 11%.

#1 Biggie: Finance and Insurance.

Revenues in the finance-and-insurance sector rose 7.0% to $1.28 trillion in Q2, a new record, and the fastest growth of any major sector. For the first two quarters, revenues rose 6.9% to $2.54 trillion.

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The Impossible Recession in the World’s Playground

Over the last six months, it has become very apparent that our global economy is changing. Yet most investors seem entirely complacent.

FTD’s™, aka Financially Transmitted Diseases, will start to appear and be used more frequently.

And the policymakers at central banks globally will apply these FTD’s to combat everything you’re reading about in headlines today to battle recessions and a deflationary market.

The global economy is experiencing tailwinds, headwinds, and crosswinds like never before…

Trade wars have sent prices for copper, long the bellwether of economic activity, to 52-week lows at $2.50 per pound.

Safe-haven assets like gold have to come to the forefront as gold regained $1,500 per ounce for the first time in 5 years.

The main character in this new world is Financially Transmitted Disease known as NIRP.

This key topic that is moving today’s markets is the concept of Negative Interest Rate Policy (NIRP).

NIRP is the single biggest drug for an infected financial system. And it’s only getting started, right under your nose.

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Gold Prices Are Seeing a Sell Signal Soon

The gold sector is on the verge of generating its first sell signal since 2016.

Gold stocks have had an amazing run higher over the past few months. The sector has been much stronger than I anticipated. And the current rally has lasted much longer than I thought it would.

But the gold sector remains vulnerable to a sharp and swift pullback. And even though my mom isn’t talking to me these days because I talked her out of buying gold stocks last month, my advice to her would still be the same today…

You’ll have a better opportunity to buy gold stocks at lower prices in the weeks and months ahead. One of my favorite gold-stock timing indicators is on the verge of a sell signal.

Take a look at this chart of the Gold Miners Bullish Percent Index ($BPGDM)…

A bullish percent index is a gauge of overbought and oversold conditions. It measures the percentage of stocks in a sector that are trading in a bullish technical formation. Since it’s measured as a percentage, a bullish percent index can only reach as high as 100 or fall as low as zero.

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Stocks Are Cheap... And You Want to Own Them Now

No, I haven't lost it.

I feel like the rest of the world has, honestly.

For years, I've been saying that stocks were the best place for your money. And for years, prices – and valuations – have risen.

You'd assume that after a 10-year bull market, stocks would be expensive. But as I explained yesterday, that's not the case.

Stocks are cheaper than just about anyone realizes. And it's all thanks to incredibly low interest rates. Today, I'll explain exactly how to see this... and exactly what it means for your money.

In short, this isn't the time to give up and sell. Stocks are cheap... and you want to own them now.

Before we get to the details, we need to take another look at the chart I shared yesterday...