Dear Reader,

You likely saw the value of your portfolio plummet this past week.

But a small number of investors made a fortune...

Last week, we saw the first major domino fall in the shell game of fiat currency. Great Britain voted to leave the European Union. And the nation’s highest officeholder – Prime Minister David Cameron – resigned.

The most important thing to understand is that the EU, the world’s largest economy, has failed. And its shared currency, the euro, is next.

Already, France is calling for a "Frexit" and the Netherlands want their "Nexit."

Make no mistake, the panic is here…

Following last week’s vote, the pound plunged to its lowest level in over 30 years. The euro followed suit.

Terrified investors dumped stocks. The Dow fell nearly 900 points in two days.

European bank stocks (some of the largest institutions in the world) fell by just over 30% over the same period.

Welcome to a new period of extreme volatility.

Many market experts are forecasting a recession – or, even worse – a full-blown financial crisis.

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, who recently returned to trading after a long hiatus to make giant bets against the stock market, wrote in a recent op ed:

The consequences for the real economy will be comparable only to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

This is the worst period I recall since I've been in public service. There's nothing like it, including the crisis — remember October 19th, 1987, when the Dow went down by a record amount 23 percent? That, I thought, was the bottom of all potential problems… I don’t know how it’s going to resolve, but there’s going to be a crisis.

Greenspan went so far as to call for a return to the gold standard.

Make no mistake: The UK is just the first domino to fall.

And while everyone else is seeing their portfolio bleed, I believe one small group of Stansberry readers has had the opportunity to rack up the biggest gains of their investing careers.

Like this subscriber, T.M., who recently sent us a note:

My wife and I were out of town Thursday and were fully occupied until Friday afternoon. Because of the superb coaching you all have provided, I had zero anxiety. The gold positions we opened in February provided peace of mind. After the 600 pt loss in the Dow, I was relieved to find all portfolios in the black for the day. "Knowledge is Power."  Thanks.