The subtitle of my collection of “Maxims of Wall Street” (over 2,000 of the new 4th edition sold during the holiday season) is “Bears make headlines, bulls make money.”
That adage was never as true as this year. The doom-and-gloom reports came out of the woodwork in 2015: the dollar was going to collapse and gold skyrocket; the Chinese stock market crash would be the start of a worldwide recession; the collapse in oil & gas would batter Wall Street; the Fed raising rates would be the start of a bear market; and the latest terrorist attacks in France and the United States would bring down the economic system.
None of these bearish headlines succeeded in destroying the bull market of the past six years.
As George Foreman, our keynote speaker for next year’s FreedomFest (see below), might say, “This market can sure take a punch!”
Granted, most stocks were down for the year, and the S&P 500 Index was only slightly positive. Even the highly vaunted Berkshire Hathaway investment company run by Warren Buffett ended the year down 10%. Money manager Ron Baron’s growth fund slipped 3%.
We have very few complaints and a lot to cheer about at Forecasts & Strategies as we approach the New Year tonight. Currently, 12 out of our 15 recommended stocks and funds are in the black this year, and our overall return was around 4%, beating Warren Buffett, Ron Baron and the market.
One recommendation in particular isn’t just finishing the year on an up note, it also pays a great monthly dividend (along with bonus special dividends at times throughout the year). I’m expecting bigger and better rewards in 2016 as the market picks up on the story. It’s part of what I’m calling the “SS-4 Income Stream,” and you can learn all about it here.
Here’s to a peaceful, prosperous and free New Year.
You Blew It! Beware of the Financial Terrorists
“Nothing is more difficult than holding on to your stocks in a bull market.” — Jim Dines, “Maxims of Wall Street,” p. 99
Several hundred innocent people were killed by radical Islamic terrorists in 2015, and no doubt there will be more tragedies in 2016.
As bad as terrorism is, your chances of being maimed or killed by terrorists are extremely small.
There’s a much greater threat out there, what I call “financial terrorism” — the self-proclaimed prophets of doom and gloom who are predicting financial Armageddon “just around the corner.” I’ve never seen so many “gloomy gus” forecasters out there as I do these days.
The latest even abuses the world’s greatest investor with this headline: “Warren Buffett Indicator Signals Massive Collapse.” In the scary promotion, a bear (not Buffett) is quoted as saying, “We have no right to be surprised by a severe and imminent stock market crash. In fact, we must absolutely expect it.”
How can promoters get away with this abuse? Buffett is clearly no Cassandra. My son and I attended his 50th anniversary shareholders’ meeting in Omaha last May, and he was outright bullish about the future.
These financial terrorists can do a lot more damage to your lifestyle than the radical Islamic terrorists by causing untold anxiety about your money and your investments. You may end up investing in gold and penny stocks, while missing out on profitable opportunities in the traditional stock and bond markets. I know one fellow who sold his home to buy gold and mining stocks, only to see his net worth fall sharply, and he’s still trying to make it all back. At the most recent New Orleans conference, I met investors who had lost more than 70% of their portfolio investing in penny mining stocks, even as Wall Street was near record highs. It reminds me of one of my favorite collectible financial books entitled, “Wiped Out: How I Lost a Fortune in the Stock Market While the Averages Were Making New Highs” (Simon & Schuster, 1966). It seems that investors will never learn.
Dennis Miller has appropriately warned, “Beware of the prophet seeking profits.”
Just remember, in the past 100 years on Wall Street, stocks have gone up twice as often as they have gone down.
You can learn a lot from my “Maxims of Wall Street,” now in its 4th edition: You pay only $20 for the first copy, and all additional copies are only $10 each. All will be personally autographed, and I pay the postage! I’m offering “half off” because I know “Maxims” makes a great gift for friends, relatives, business colleagues, investors, your favorite stockbroker and money manager. Many people order a whole box of 32 copies. The price of a box of books is only $300 postpaid. To order your copies at this super discount, call Ensign Publishing toll-free at 1-866-254-2057 or go to www.miracleofamerica.com/maxims. (Additional charges apply to all orders outside the U. S. — call for more information.)
Thank You for Joining Me for another Profitable Year!
I end this Skousen CAFÉ with a big thank you to all of the subscribers to my monthly investment newsletter, Forecasts & Strategies, as we enjoyed another profitable year together. It has not been easy to stay fully invested in the face of a Chinese stock market crash, the slump in oil prices, terrorist attacks around the globe and constant doom-and-gloom predictions. Bull markets climb a wall of worry. But if you have held on, you are ahead of the game.
I’d also like to thank all of you who came to my annual FreedomFest show in Las Vegas in July, and witnessed the biggest turnout ever (2,500 attendees) and major media coverage. I hope you will join us next year at the Global Financial Summit in The Bahamas, March 13-16 (gfs.freedomfest.com), and FreedomFest, July 13-17 (www.freedomfest.com). Both events are great ways to learn, network and celebrate liberty.
In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my e-letter column from last week about why silver coins are in such high demand. I also invite you to comment in the space provided below my commentary.
Upcoming Conferences
Special Announcement: Subscribers to the Skousen CAFE should be happy to know that for the first time in two years, I am hosting the Global Financial Summit, a special private investment seminar, in The Bahamas. The focus will be on “High Income & Fast Money Investing” — combining my two most successful trading services!
My “All Star High Income & Fast Money” experts for this exclusive private meeting will include Alex Green, investment director of the Oxford Club, and editor of three trading services (Momentum Alert, Insider Trader and True Value Alert). Alex is rated the #5 best investor according to Hulbert Financial Digest. I’ve also confirmed Martin Truax, vice president at Raymond James, whose “income & growth” portfolio has more than tripled during the past 10 years. He and his partner Ron Miller also have developed a highly successful trading system using “red” and “green” signals to determine when to get in and out of markets (they flashed “sell” in May and now are flashing “buy” — good calls!)
Our keynote speaker will be Steve Moore, the chief economist for the Heritage Foundation and the #1 columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who will speak on “Money & Politics 2016: The Inside Story for Private Investors.”
The dates are March 16-19, 2016, at the five-star Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Nassau, The Bahamas. This is during high “Spring Break” season, so I urge you to make your flight reservations now.
I soon will be announcing more top experts in portfolio management, tax and estate planning, and foreign investing. But I want to encourage you to sign up now and take advantage of our special “early bird” discount — $200 off the retail price for Skousen CAFE subscribers if you register by Dec. 31. The price is only $495 per person/$795 per couple with the discount. And hotel rates at the five-star Atlantis Resort are only $209 per night. We are limiting this private meeting to 200 attendees only. To sign up, call Karen or Jennifer at 855-850-3733 ext 202, email info@freedomfest.com or go to gfs.freedomfest.com.
Former Islamic Radical to Address FreedomFest
In response to the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism both here and abroad, FreedomFest will host Dr. Tawfik Hamid, one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt, former member of Al-Qaeda and author of the bestseller, “Inside Jihad.” A physician, he has appeared on CNN and Fox News and has written op-eds for The Wall Street Journal. He has lectured at the Pentagon and the FBI on his strategic plan to defeat radical Islam. Dr. Hamid will also participate in an important debate, “Can Islam be Reformed?” That debate is not to be missed.
Join these speakers as well as Steve Forbes and John Mackey, co-ambassadors of FreedomFest, and find out why they attend all three days! As Forbes says, “FreedomFest is the best place to find out what’s really going on in the world.”
