By Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. – Donald J. Trump, Feb. 2020 The subprime problem is contained. – Ben Bernanke, former Federal Reserve chairman, March 2007 RANCHO SANTANA, NICARAGUA – We watched the tape again yesterday, while Tom Dyson was surfing in front of the house. In the morning, the stock market was “stabilizing,” said The Wall Street Journal. It was “recovering,” said Barron’s. But then, by the afternoon, some stocks were already in the red – Berkshire Hathaway, Starbucks, Disney, and General Electric. By 1:30 p.m., the whole tape had gone red. And by 9:30 this morning, the Dow was already down 500 points. “Not good action,” say the old timers. So today, we turn to a word that can help us understand it better: more. More = Better? Economists can’t tell “better” from a hole in the ground, so their professional guidance is directed only at quantity. More is the preferred adjective. More jobs. More GDP. More sales. More profits. More spending. More income. More output. Then, they pretend that “more” is the same as “better.” But “more” is not compatible with a stock market selloff. Or a recession. Or the C virus. The bug, especially, is a “less” kind of thing. Fewer trips to the mall. Fewer sales. Fewer profits. [1.9 billion 5G smartphones by 2023… This tiny company stands to profit.] Imagine that your friends – fresh back from Venice – invite you to a party. Would you go? And if not… think of all the “less” that would happen. Less gas to get there. Less alcohol consumed. Fewer canapes eaten. And since you don’t get an update on their latest trip… and how great it would be to take a vacation to Italy this summer… no vacation is planned. Or taken. Less again. For better or for worse, we don’t know. But definitely less. Recommended Link | 2020 election shakeup There’s something huge happening behind the scenes of the 2020 election… Something that will shock even the most loyal fans of our President. If true, it’ll be the biggest “cover-up” of the year. And it could affect not only your future as an American – but also as an investor. |
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State of Emergency Already San Francisco is planning for less. In a report out on CNN yesterday: “San Francisco declares state of emergency.” Here in Nicaragua, too, our resort is stocking up on essential supplies… and making plans to close its doors. It is unlikely that it will be necessary. These types of viruses don’t do well at the beach. Not a lot of people coughing and sneezing in confined spaces. But you never know. There’s already a state of emergency on the other side of the Pacific. Schools are closed. Offices are shut. Airports are empty. In Hong Kong, for example, families are practically confined to their apartments. [Forecasting Genius Warns Savers About New Law] But wait… Where there is a crisis, there is also an opportunity for the feds to make it worse. And the Hong Kong feds are already going “Full Retard.” Here’s the latest from the South China Morning Post: Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 and above will each receive a cash handout of HK$10,000 (US$1,200) in a HK$120 billion (US$15 billion) relief deal rolled out by the government to ease the burden on individuals and companies, while saving jobs. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po confirmed an earlier Post report when he unveiled the payment during his budget speech on Wednesday morning, along with a full guarantee on loans taken out by companies to pay wages and taxes. And here is an opportunity for us… Our Opportunity It is rare that we get a chance to read tomorrow’s newspapers today… and watch the evening news in the morning of the same day. And normally, investors never know what is coming. If they knew, they’d race ahead of the news and make it happen ahead of time. If you knew, for example, that the Federal Reserve was going to cut rates, you’d buy bonds… driving down yields… before the Fed made its move. In effect, you’d be front-running the Fed. At hand is our opportunity to front-run the Fed. According to the news reports, Donald Trump is “furious” with the stock market. He, too, very much wants more… not less. Surely, the call is going out from the White House already: Do something! But what can they do? They can impose travel bans; they can set up makeshift hospitals and lock down the economy. But all of those things – along with the selfish desire of citizens not to die – lead to less. Recommended Link | Introducing: The Zero Stock Retirement Blueprint Jeff Clark has come up with a way to potentially make all the money you need to fund a comfortable retirement – without touching stocks. Or owning bonds… dabbling in real estate… or using any “conventional” retirement vehicle, for that matter. He calls it the "Zero Stock Retirement Blueprint." And for the first time… |
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Good for One Thing Less is not necessarily worse. It is better than dying, for example. And wouldn’t fewer cars on the road be a good thing? Wouldn’t it be easier to get a reservation at a good restaurant if people didn’t want to go out so much? And who really wants another app or cares if the GDP is lower? We recall 1969. The economy was only one-twentieth of today’s GDP. But was the quality of life inferior? In any event, we don’t remember feeling less happy… even with the Hong Kong flu! But the feds don’t care about happiness. Their economists have no way of measuring it; they wouldn’t recognize it if it bit them on the derriere. All they know is that less is not acceptable. They want more. Which is where our opportunity lies. The feds stand ready. If the stock market continues to fall today… if the economy weakens further… if the virus spreads in the U.S… even if aliens land from outer space… …what will they do? Inflate! Spend! Print! Whether this will halt the stock market correction, we don’t know. But it’s a fair bet that something will go up – gold. Back tomorrow… Regards, Bill Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. FEATURED READS America’s Aging Population Puts Pressure on National, State Economies The feds’ financial obligations to the Baby Boomer generation are massive. And as the population ages, those obligations mean far more than simply Medicare and Social Security... If You Haven’t Bought Gold Yet, Now Is a Good Time Longtime Diary readers know Bill is bullish on gold. And Tom Dyson has been pounding the table on gold for months. Here’s colleague Chris Lowe on why you should add physical gold to your portfolio now if you haven’t yet... MAILBAG Strong words from a Dear Reader about Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, following Monday’s Diary... I have zero affinity for Bloomberg, or any Democrat for that matter. It is absolutely illogical to me how any educated financial professional could vote for a Dem. I am NOT a millionaire (I was once) but I have no issue with the rewards of capitalism. Now are you willing to call "democratic" socialism what it really is.... communism? – Randy L. While others believe Bill is underestimating the coronavirus… Bill is incorrect when he thinks this is overblown. If containment fails, and it will if it hasn't already, then the world will encounter the first global pandemic since the Spanish flu in 1918. That resulted in over 500 million infected, with over 50 million dead. Professor Francis Boyle at the University of Illinois says the coronavirus is a genetically modified virus and could be a perfect bioweapon. I think it will result in far more infections than 2003 (and who knows how many fatalities). The Chinese communists are lying about containment and apparently do not not have a cure for it. Italy has already been breached and German virologists have already said it cannot be contained. I hope that this will be a wake-up call for the world. – William C. What makes this virus so dangerous isn’t the death rate. What makes this virus dangerous is the fact that about 10% to 15% of victims require hospitalization. AI models have projected that 2.5 billion people could get this by late spring. 10% of 2.5 billion is 250 million. There isn’t anywhere near 250 million hospital beds in the world. If people who need hospitalization don’t get it the death rate skyrockets. – Charles C. Will the coronavirus be the world’s wake-up call, as William hopes? Write us at feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Jeff Brown Just Revealed THREE Early Stage Tech Deals. Did You See? Jeff Brown revealed an entirely new way to invest in the tech market. Of the trades he’s made in this market, 100% have gone up… but he didn’t stop there. He tested his system against 87,600 hours of historical data and it still had a 96.5% success rate. How? It’s extremely selective. Out of 1,345 available investment choices… 88 passed muster. Of those, 85 went up (494%… 617%… 793%… 884%… 2,293%… even 11,764%). Now, Jeff has revealed details on three of these investments you can buy right now. It’s not too late. Click here for all the details. |