Are you missing out on the greatest investment boom of our lifetime?
Our “Wild West” theme at next week’s FreedomFest is perfectly timed. The stock market is on a wild wide, and we’re on board the Wells Fargo stagecoach riding to Vegas.
As a follower of the Austrian school of economics, I know the source of a booming bubble — the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies.
Last year, the Fed raised interest rates and the stock market fell sharply in late 2018. I noted the dramatic slowdown in the supply chain, business-to-business (B2B) spending and capital investment, suggesting a potential recession in the air.
The Fed leaders saw it, too, and reversed course this year. Yesterday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the central bank may cut rates next month.
And lower interest rates mean higher equity prices — in stocks, bonds and real estate. It is all part of the artificial “boom” phase of the Austrian theory of the business cycle.
To learn more, see my book “A Viennese Waltz Down Wall Street: Austrian Economics for Investors,” available for $20 from www.skousenbooks.com, or call Harold at Ensign Publishing, 1-866-254-2057.
Now is the time to get aboard the “asset” wagon. In fact, I’ve bought all three asset classes this year — stocks, gold and real estate!
Watch Out for Bear Country
It is dangerous to be short the market or in cash when interest rates are declining. At the MoneyShows in Orlando, Vegas and Seattle, I quoted J. Paul Getty, one of America’s first billionaire, who said:
“Businessmen and investors can profit handsomely if they will disregard the pessimistic auguries of self-appointed prophets of doom.”
There will come a time when the boom turns into a bust, as the Austrian theory of the business cycle shows. But wait for interest rates to rise before the boom ends.
I’ll be monitoring interest rates very carefully in future issues of Forecasts & Strategies. If you are not a subscriber, click here to learn about the benefits of signing up.
Meanwhile, it’s time to celebrate. The S&P 500 Index just surpassed 3,000 for the first time. Gold is back up over $1,400 and headed higher. Mortgage rates have fallen to below 4%, offering another opportunity to profit from the real estate boom.
Go West, Young Man, to FreedomFest!
We are going to celebrate big time our financial success at next week’s FreedomFest, July 17-20, at the Paris Resort, Las Vegas. Over 1,500 people already have signed up, and we are growing fast!
On Thursday, July 18, we have “Mr. Wonderful,” Kevin O’Leary, of “Shark Tank” fame, speaking on “The Cold Hard Truth about Business and Investing” and “The Inside Story of ‘Shark Tank.’” Plus, he will be debating John Mackey (CEO, Whole Foods Market) on the purpose of business: “Conscious Capitalism or Pure Greed?”
John Mackey (left), Kevin O’Leary (right)
How many of you have taken the time to look at Kevin O’Leary’s impassioned plea to come to FreedomFest? Over 200,000 have seen it. Click here to watch it now.
My Own Schedule is Now Posted Here
With over 260 sessions, every person has a different experience. It is like a kaleidoscope, where every picture is different. Here’s my own schedule online. Click here to access it.
The full FreedomFest schedule can be found here: freedomfest2019.sched.com.
One of the highlights will be meeting and hearing Vince Foster, the founder and chairman of Main Street Capital, the private equity fund that has outperformed even Warren Buffett since its inception in 2007. His talk also will take place on Thursday, July 18.
Main Street Capital Founder and Chairman Vince Foster
New Speaker Just Added: Brad Thomas, the country’s #1 real estate guru and editor of Forbes Real Estate Investor, will speak on “Real Estate’s Road to Riches: My Favorite High-Income REITs to Retire on.”
I’m also happy to announce that C-SPAN will be taping several events, including my talk, “Call of the Wild West: Jack London, Rugged Individualist or Socialist?” on Saturday afternoon, July 20. They will be shown next month on Book TV.
Alex Green, chief investment strategist at the Oxford Club, loves FreedomFest and comes every year. He says: “Whatever your interests — politics, economics, financial markets, history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, theater or film — FreedomFest has world-renowned experts and authors speaking about them, debating them and answering your most urgent questions. I wouldn’t miss it. And you shouldn’t either.”
FreedomFest is only a week away! There’s still time to sign up. Use code Eagle100 to get $100 off the price you pay at the door. You pay only $595 per person/$895 per couple. Click here to get your discounted ticket now, or call toll-free 1-855-850-3773, ext. 202, and mention the Eagle 100 code.
Or if you can only make it for a day, you pay $195. Details about buying a one-day ticket are available at www.freedomfest.com, or by calling toll free 1-855-850-3733, ext. 202.
Amazing: I just received a letter from one subscriber who is flying in from Montana for just one day (Thursday, July 18), to meet Kevin O’Leary and Vince Foster.
What are you doing on July 17-20? It can’t be half as fun as FreedomFest in Vegas.
Come join! Drive there, fly there, bike there, be there!
Until then, good investing, AEIOU,
Mark Skousen
You Blew It!
No Consensus Emerges on Economic Impact of $15 Minimum Wage?
By Mark Skousen
Editor, Forecasts & Strategies
“We have never taken a position on the minimum wage.” — Fed Chairman Jerome Powell
One of the primary goals of the Federal Reserve is to maintain full employment. And yet yesterday before a House committee, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell seemed totally unconcerned that millions of workers could lose their jobs due to a $15 minimum wage.
Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) asked the chairman about a proposal by Democrats to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. After the chairman admitted that it could cause lots of people to lose their jobs, the congressman followed up with this question:
Kustoff: Would the Federal Reserve be concerned if 1.3 million people to 3.7 million people lost their jobs because the minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour?
Powell: Again, we do not take a position, we have never taken a position on the minimum wage. We would take whatever decision you make, as the decision that we would put in our models and take as a given. We wouldn’t express either support or disapproval.
I think it’s time for the Fed to do its own study on the impact of a $15 minimum wage on employment. It is in the Fed’s charter to focus on full employment!
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