A ressaca de 2017 chegou antecipada, com o bitcoin negociado próximo aos US$ 12.000, uma correção de mais de 25 % em relação ao topo, reduzindo o valor de mercado total das criptomoedas para US$ 422 bilhões.

Mantendo a rotina das últimas semanas, as principais corretoras do mundo tem reportado problemas operacionais pelo excesso de fluxo de novos usuários, acarretando atraso nos prazos de validação de cadastros, saques e depósitos.

A rede bitcoin também segue congestionada, com mais de 290.000 transações não confirmadas e custos inflacionados de processamento. Interessante notar que apesar da disparada do custo relativo em dólares ou reais, o custo em BTC tem se mantido dentro de um patamar relativamente estável, sinalizando a necessidade da adoção urgente de soluções de escala por parte dos serviços de carteira, especialmente a implementação do SegWit, dispositivo que torna o processamento das transações mais eficiente.

Traders ao redor do mundo aproveitaram para embolsar parte dos lucros e rever as estratégias de alocação para o início de janeiro. Aumenta o interesse por diversificação em outras criptomoedas, o que tende a puxar os preços dos ativos de maior qualidade.

A explosão do bitcoin em 2017 trouxe milhões de novos investidores e usuários para o mercado e a entrada de bolsas tradicionais como CBOE e CME abriram de vez as portas para o investidores institucionais.

Com contratos negociados em bolsas reguladas, as principais mesas de operações do mercado financeiro começam a operar no Faroeste Cripto. Os contratos futuros permitem não só exposição indireta ao bitcoin, como principalmente operar na ponta vendida.

Passado o período de festas, as atenções tendem a se concentrar na terceira semana de janeiro, quando vencem os primeiros lotes de contratos futuros nas Bolsas de Chicago.

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Governments regularly claim that they favour tax reform. When this claim has been repeated so many times that virtually no one believes them anymore, they announce a tax reform, to show that they really mean it. They then reshuffle the existing taxes to give the appearance that taxation will actually be lowered.

When it becomes apparent that the reform is a sham, they often pull a rabbit out of a hat in the form of a “temporary” tax, that’s pre-legislated to end sometime in the future.

Sounds promising.

So, let’s have a look at one such temporary tax and see how things worked out.

The US government introduced the War Revenue Act of 1898—a tax on telephone use—under the claim that it was necessary to pay for the Spanish American War.

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In what way does telephone use pertain to a government invading another country? Well, actually, one has nothing to do with the other. But, let’s leave that discussion for another day and see how this temporary tax played out.

The Act was repealed in 1902 but was reinstated, this time as the Emergency Internal Revenue Tax Act of 1914. The justification then given was that another war was on the way and increased taxation to pay for it couldn’t begin too soon. Telephone users needed to cough up.

It was decided by both parties to increase the tax on telephones and the War Revenue Act of 1917 was created. It hadn’t passed the debate stage until the war was over, but they decided that they’d implement it anyway, as the work had already been done. In the bargain, they introduced not only increased rates, but graduated rates.

This act was also repealed, in 1924, but was reinstated with the Revenue Act of 1932. Since that date, it has been reauthorised 29 times.

In 1941, an increase was put in place to pay for (you guessed it) another war—World War II. This was increased again in 1943, but people complained and the new law contained a provision that the increased rates would end six months after “the date of termination of hostilities in the present war.” However, the Excise Tax Act of 1947 was passed to assure that the tax would continue indefinitely.

Over the subsequent years, periodic changes were made. Although the rates went up and down like a bride’s nightie, most, not surprisingly, were upward.

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As further (undeclared) wars came and went, taxation on telephone calls repeatedly needed to be increased and, regardless of the party in power, increases continued.

At long last, on 14 September, 2000, the House of Representatives took up legislation which included the repeal of the telephone excise tax. This measure passed both houses, but the fix was in. President Clinton vetoed the repeal. (The legislative branch and the executive branch have to take turns playing the bad cop, but the outcome is the same: increased taxation.)

Then, in 2006, a case was made (in the words of the Treasury Secretary), to amend the Internal Revenue Code “of an outdated, antiquated tax that has survived a century beyond its original purpose, and by now should have been ancient history.”

Finally, American citizens could wash their hands of a one-hundred-year theft of their earnings that, even at the start, was based upon a ludicrous concept.

Unfortunately… it didn’t happen.

The repeal was never enacted and Americans continue to pay for the Spanish American War today.

So, what’s the takeaway here?

Well, first off, this little history serves as a reminder that there’s nothing so permanent as a temporary government measure.

Second, although not a month goes by without one politician or another, from one party or the other, rising up in righteous indignation that a new tax or an expanded tax is absolutely necessary to continue the welfare of the American people, there is, in truth, no sincerity in their claim. They simply want more money.

Third, no amount of money is ever enough. Even if Washington, D.C., is the only part of the US that is enjoying prosperity, even if no congressman leaves office without more zeroes behind his net worth than when he went in, virtually every legislator will vote for increases in taxation.

And, fourth, there’s no such thing as tax reform. From time to time, legislators will need to trot out the idea of tax reform, and be seen to be arguing over the details, but will ultimately always do the same: the deck will be reshuffled, but somehow, taxes will rise once again.

But the overall lesson to be learned is that Government is, and has always been, a shell game. Its purpose is not to serve the electorate; it is to separate them from the fruits of their labours.

Full stop.

As former US Chief Justice John Marshall stated,

The power to tax involves the power to destroy.

More recently, Ron Holland offered the following:

Since the beginning of recorded history, the business of government has been wealth confiscation.

However, both these individuals were conservatives, and it would only be fair to ask for commentary from the liberal side. One such liberal political leader is none other than Vladimir Lenin, who stated,

The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.

Of course, the reader may wish to consider relocating to a jurisdiction where the taxation is far lower, but if he chooses to remain in the US, EU, Canada, or other jurisdiction where the tax level is already oppressive, his plans should include temporary taxes that are unlikely to end in his lifetime.

Regards,

Se quiser surfar a…

… TERCEIRA ONDA DE VALORIZAÇÃO DO IMOBILIÁRIO EM PORTUGAL

Uma nova oportunidade está a surgir e poucas pessoas a identificaram. Entre essas pessoas está Artur Mariano que, ao utilizar uma estratégia própria, está a obter retornos até +27% ao ano.

Não perca a novidade que a Empiricus preparou para lucrar com esta nova onda.

 

Caro leitor,

proponho que preste atenção a esta mensagem por uma única razão: a conclusão desta história pode fazê-lo ganhar muito dinheiro.

É tão simples quanto isso.

Quando falo em dinheiro, não me refiro a uma percentagem qualquer.

É sobre grandes retornos que quero falar-lhe hoje, de +20%, +40%, +52%.

Por isso vou já direto ao assunto.

Uma terceira ONDA de valorização do mercado imobiliário está a formar-se

Repare neste gráfico que apresenta o comportamento do preço das habitações em Portugal em quase uma década:

Como pode ver, o preço médio das habitações em Portugal já ultrapassou a máxima de 2008, valores pré-crise.

O setor está, inegavelmente, em alta.

Gostaria que prestasse atenção, no entanto, a um pormenor que faz toda a diferença.

Acabei de referir que este índice representa a média mas, como vai ver já a seguir, muita dessa valorização esteve concentrada nos grandes centros urbanos, exatamente como previmos em 2015:

Neste caso específico falámos de retornos de +46% e até mais.

A pergunta que agora lhe coloco é: já pensou que valorizações trará esta nova onda?

+10%, +20% ou +30%?

Melhor ainda do que conhecer os ganhos potenciais é saber onde é que esta onda se está a formar e com que estratégia poderá surfá-la.

É isso mesmo que vai ficar a conhecer já de seguida.

Mas antes preciso que esteja a par das razões pelas quais aconselhamos o investimento em imobiliário:

1 – O imobiliário é o único mercado onde pode adquirir ativos abaixo do valor de mercado.

2 – Os imóveis são tangíveis, são ativos que pode ver e tocar.

3 – Os imóveis serão sempre necessários e por isso, a longo prazo, é expectável que o seu valor cresça.

4 – Os preços dos imóveis são menos voláteis.

5 – Os imóveis têm mais vantagens fiscais.

Todos estes pontos são desenvolvidos mais adiante, como lhe iremos explicar.

Para nos ajudar a compreender este fenómeno, não convidei um mero teórico da área que nunca tinha investido neste setor.

Desafiei um grande especialista na matéria com provas dadas na prática no mercado de imóveis alemão e português, entre outros.

O seu nome é Artur Mariano. Ele vai explicar a melhor forma de aproveitar esta nova onda de valorização.

Além da capacidade para prever a terceira onda de valorização do imobiliário em Portugal, o Artur teve a coragem de lançar este alerta. E juntos, estamos hoje aqui, para partilhar consigo esta oportunidade.

Atenção: Não nos estamos a referir ao que toda a gente sabe e que foi amplamente noticiado nos média.

Referimo-nos a uma descentralização do investimento imobiliário.

As grandes oportunidades de investimento – e o imobiliário não foge à regra – estão precisamente onde pouca gente está a olhar.

Por esta ordem de ideias, os melhores negócios não podem estar onde está o rebanho.

Concordará comigo que não é numa agência imobiliária que vai encontrar as melhores oportunidades…

Até porque, quando a procura é muita para os mesmos ativos, os preços tendem a subir.

terceira onda está a formar-se fora dos lugares óbvios, amplamente divulgados pelos jornais e que já estão demasiado precificados.

É de zonas pouco exploradas, mas com um grande potencial de originar retornosextraordinários, que lhe estamos aqui a falar.

Pessoas comuns que acumulam lucros medíocres ou até mesmo inexistentes nas suas aplicações bancárias vão conseguir retornos bem mais apetecíveis com esta oportunidade que lhe vou indicar.

O Artur é a pessoa que identificou este ciclo específico graças à estratégia que ele utiliza há anos, depois de uma década a investir em imobiliário, e que lhe tem trazido rentabilidades de até +30%.

Skin in the game, como dizem os americanos. Ele acredita de tal forma no setor que começou a investir no imobiliário muito cedo.

A sua estratégia foi precisamente fruto do seu trabalho de pesquisa teórica colocada em prática. Com alguns erros mas muitos mais acertos ao longo do caminho.

Tudo isto ele irá partilhar consigo.

Engenheiro informático de formação, o seu gosto por números levou-o a tirar um PhD em criptografia – que trocando por miúdos é matemática aplicada – na melhor universidade do mundo na área, na Alemanha.

É, no entanto, no setor imobiliário que se sente como peixe na água. De tal forma que criou uma empresa de consultoria com foco no imobiliário através da qual contacta com investidores de todo o mundo.

Com toda essa experiência acumulada, ele já ajudou investidores de mais de 10 nacionalidades diferentes a investir em Portugal, entre as quais americana, britânica e brasileira.

Mais do que bater por muito o mercado, o Artur sabe como poucos identificar novas oportunidades e dar dinheiro a ganhar aos seus seguidores.

Sejam eles nacionais ou estrangeiros que procuram investir parte do seu capital numa moeda mais forte e obter um visto gold como brinde. 

Acredite: ele é a pessoa certa para juntar-se à nossa equipa e fazê-lo lucrar com esta raríssima oportunidade de multiplicação de capital.

Para já deixamos-lhe um conselho: esqueça as grandes cidades como Lisboa e Porto onde já não encontrará imóveis a serem vendidos a preços abaixo do seu real valor.

Esta nova onda a que o Artur se refere está a espalhar-se dos grandes centros para localizações específicas às quais o leitor terá acesso dentro de poucos minutos.

Novamente uma chamada de atenção: não estamos a falar nem de uma zona qualquer nem de todos os tipos de habitação.

Apenas as que o Artur recomendar.

O que este especialista sabe (que o leitor não sabe)

Passaram-se meses até o Artur ver concluído o documento imprescindível para quem quer começar a investir nesta área, seja residente em Portugal ou não.

A estratégia que ele vai partilhar hoje consigo é a mesma que ele usa para os seus investimentos imobiliários.

Neste momento o Artur conta com 14 imóveis e um investimento acima do meio milhão de euros.

Ele vai acompanhar de perto as oportunidades de investimento que estão a surgir neste setor.

E a boa notícia é que, neste caso, não precisa de tanto capital inicial para investir. Com €60.000 já poderá começar a investir no imobiliário.

Porque tão importante quanto comprar barato é comprar na hora certa.

E a hora certa para investir na terceira onda é AGORA se quiser conseguir lucros até +52%.

Por essa razão resolvemos antecipar em dois meses o lançamento deste documento imprescindível.

Avaliar imóveis com a estratégia que o Artur criou e utiliza nos seus negócios pessoais, permite dizer com relativa segurança se se trata de um bom ou mau investimento.

Entre outras mais-valias, a estratégia do Artur permite:

  • Avaliar diferentes mercados para saber se é altura para comprar ou eventualmente vender.
  • Encontrar imóveis para buy-and-hold (comprar e arrendar) a preços abaixo do valor de mercado e que por isso tragam de retorno yields (taxas de retorno de capital) acima dos +15% ou até dos +20%, por ano sem contar com a valorização do imóvel.
  • Encontrar imóveis que tenham bons yields e que os gerem de forma totalmente passiva (sem que necessite cobrar rendas ou reparar canos rotos) e em certos casos sem ter que pagar pela manutenção.
  • Encontrar imóveis com rentabilidade garantida – isto é, que tenham contratos de arrendamento de mais de 8 anos já em vigor.
  • Calcular rentabilidades e perceber se a alavancagem é benéfica para o seu caso. E se for, como negociar com os bancos.
  • Indicar o passo-a-passo para cidadãos estrangeiros que queiram investir no imobiliário em Portugal. Tudo o que precisa saber, estará nesta série.

… e muito muito mais!

terceira onda já está em marcha e não espera por si.

O Artur tem vindo a estudar diferentes mercados imobiliários espalhados pelo mundo ao longo dos anos e chegou a uma conclusão muito importante:

o tamanho do mercado não implica necessariamente que o rácio da procura e da oferta seja pior ou melhor.

Passo a explicar: se, por exemplo, numa grande cidade existirem 50.000 compradores para um apartamento, não nos coloca necessariamente mais perto de vender essa mesma casa do que numa cidade pequena com apenas 500 interessados.

Isto porque se existirem 100.000 apartamentos disponíveis para venda na cidade maior e apenas 250 na mais pequena, estatisticamente falando, teremos mais oportunidades vender o nosso apartamento na cidade de menor dimensão.

Dois bons exemplos que ilustram esta situação vêm dos Estados Unidos da América. Um deles é Detroit.

Em 1990 aquela cidade tinha mais de um milhão de habitantes. Hoje tem menos de 70% disso:

No exemplo oposto, ou seja, de uma cidade que tem crescido a olhos vistos está Tampa, na Florida, que passou de 280.000 habitantes em 1990 para mais de 377.000 hoje em dia.

Fonte: World Population Review

Como tal, o valor do imobiliário também subiu muito nesta última cidade.

Para ter uma ideia, quem tivesse comprado imóveis em Tampa há 10-15 anos teria tido um retorno de quase 1.000%, ou seja, uma média +66% ao ano.

O ponto aqui a ter em conta é que uma cidade grande pode decrescer em população (e em valor imobiliário) e que outra pequena pode subir e muito.

Ou por outra, o tamanho de uma cidade e o seu potencial de crescimento não estão necessariamente relacionados.

Contextualizando para a realidade portuguesa, num cenário como o atual – juros baixos, alta procura externa e oferta de novas construções limitada – a valorização expressiva que já aconteceu nos centros das principais cidades tende a replicar-se noutros sítios.

O que estou a querer dizer com isto é que em Portugal ainda existem Tampas por esse país fora, onde pode, com um baixo orçamento conseguir retornos extraordinários.

Mas atenção, investir no momento ou no local errado pode comprometer a sua riqueza ao longo de uma vida. Leu bem – toda a vida.

É para evitar uma situação destas que o Artur está aqui hoje.

Ele é a pessoa mais capacitada para identificar os fatores por detrás deste fenómeno e indicar-lhe, com precisão, como e onde ganhar muito dinheiro com esta terceira ondado imobiliário em Portugal.

A hora H para o imobiliário

Observe o gráfico seguinte que se refere à média de transações de imóveis num estudo feito pela ArrowPlus, referente aos últimos 24 meses.

Como se pode aperceber, ainda há muito espaço para conseguir grandes valorizações fora dos principais centros urbanos portugueses.

Para esta nova oportunidade de investimento muito têm contribuído os juros baixos que estão em mínimos históricos.

Fonte: Empiricus Research; Banco de Portugal

E como já aqui referimos, há ainda o investidor estrangeiro que está a comprar imóveis para utilizá-los como habitação permanente ou simplesmente atraído pelos retornos do setor muito superiores ao resto da Europa.

Afinal só o ano passado vimos investidores oriundos de mais de 40 países investir em Portugal.

Não podemos ignorar o que está a acontecer.

É algo que poderá ter desdobramentos inevitáveis para o seu bolso. Falamos de potenciais valorizações de +52%.

Sim, estamos no meio de um terceiro fenómeno de valorização.

E o leitor precisa tomar medidas rápidas para se aproveitar o mais rapidamente possível desta oportunidade.

Para fechar, veja o gráfico seguinte:

Repare como do lado da oferta, a construção de novos fogos está em níveis muito baixos e totalmente inadequados para a procura que é altíssima.

O cronómetro está em marcha.

Quanto mais rápido se posicionar, maior será a sua oportunidade de obter lucros.

O meu nome é Pedro Gonçalves e sou editor-chefe da Empiricus Portugal.

Com a ajuda do Artur Mariano vamos mostrar-lhe como ganhar muito dinheiro com esta janela no imobiliário que se abriu.

Ao contrário do que muita gente pensa, este setor é muito mais que um instrumento de proteção do património.

É também uma forma de obter lucros avultados, como vimos anteriormente e sem investir muito logo de início.

Convém lembrar que somos uma casa independente de análise de investimentos.

Por isso, temos a liberdade para lhe recomendar o melhor do mercado.

Deixar as suas poupanças de uma vida num depósito a prazo é deitar dinheiro à rua, não me canso de repetir isso.

É preciso aproveitar as boas oportunidades.

Assim sendo, preparámos uma novidade aos interessados neste tema.

Após termos lançado dois produtos relacionados com o imobiliário, uma minissérie e um curso….

… criámos um plano anual para que tire o máximo partido desta nova onda de valorização

Chama-se Investidor Imobiliário

O objetivo é oferecer um acompanhamento constante e acessível a toda a gente que queira investir na terceira onda de valorização do imobiliário em Portugal e por isso a sua periodicidade será quinzenal.

Para fazer parte da comunidade de investidores imobiliários da Empiricus basta querer ganhar percentuais na casa dos +50% e gostar do tema imobiliário.

Não precisa ter conhecimentos em finanças ou economia.

Se não estiver a olhar para este setor como um investimento e quiser apenas comprar casa própria também vai beneficiar desta assinatura.

Da mesma forma que se já possuir um imóvel e quiser saber se está na altura certa de vendê-lo…

… esta mensagem também é para si.

Investir em imóveis não é só saber comprar, é também saber vender na hora certa.

Foi para isso que criámos o plano Investidor Imobiliário, para dar-lhe o passo a passo.

Queremos oferecer algo prático com acesso ao máximo número de pessoas possível.

Como tal, os relatórios estarão escritos de uma forma simples para que todos possam entender.

Sem dúvida que a compra de um imóvel é o maior investimento unitário que qualquer um de nós fará ao longo da vida.

E os portugueses sabem disso melhor que ninguém uma vez que são dos povos que detêm mais propriedades relativamente aos seus congéneres europeus.

Se perde um dia a procurar o melhor preço para as calças que quer comprar, ou uma semana para poupar 10% na nova televisão, quanto tempo e dinheiro acha que deve investir na compra da sua casa?

Não há qualquer outro bem em que deva investir tanto tempo para se educar sobre o mercado.

Mas não precisa desperdiçar as suas horas à procura dessa informação.

Quinzenalmente, o Artur vai fazê-la chegar a si.

O que parecia impossível há alguns meses começa agora a materializar-se.

O leitor não pode ignorar esta terceira onda no setor imobiliário.

Em breve saberá quais são os locais onde esta possível valorização de +52% está a começar a acontecer.

Um potencial realmente avassalador.

Já imaginou o que poderia fazer com esse lucro?

– Garantir uma educação melhor para os seus filhos

– Construir um colchão de liquidez que possa dar segurança financeira à sua família

– Permitir a realização dos seus sonhos…

É possível que ainda esteja incrédulo com o tamanho da oportunidade que está à sua frente.

Aqui na Empiricus queremos que aproveite ao máximo esse potencial.

O que deve fazer agora para ganhar com esta terceira oportunidade

1#) Se quiser investir no imobiliário deve fazê-lo agora

O Artur preparou um plano anual de relatórios quinzenais que explicam em detalhe esta terceira onda de valorização.

Ele vai partilhar consigo todo este material já de seguida.

Desta forma terá acesso, em primeira mão, às principais conclusões de um verdadeiro especialista no setor.

Esta série pode poupar-lhe anos de erros… aqueles que ele próprio cometeu ou viu outros cometer. E vai trazer-lhe conhecimentos que ele levou anos a adquirir.

#2) Siga à risca o que o Artur Mariano aconselha

A nossa recomendação é que não se aventure em investimentos que não valham a pena.

Lembre-se que a estratégia do Artur já lhe trouxe retornos extraordinários. Ele testou com o produto das suas poupanças o seu próprio método e está aqui hoje para compartilhá-lo consigo.

Para que possa conseguir retornos até +52%.

Mas é preciso posicionar-se já.

Só com as informações contidas nos dois primeiros relatórios do Investidor Imobiliário a que terá acesso hoje já seria suficiente para mudar completamente o modo como olha para este setor.

No entanto, o Artur vai continuar a entregar novos relatórios a cada 15 dias.

Trata-se de informação obrigatória que o colocará numa posição muito vantajosa se quiser ganhar muito dinheiro neste setor.

Está a um passo da decisão financeira mais importante da sua vida

Pode ficar parado e assistir a uma nova onda de valorização do imobiliário…

… enquanto outras pessoas começam a ganhar dinheiro com esta janela de oportunidade.

A opção é sua.

Se decidir tomar as rédeas do seu património financeiro para si, com uma atitude simples, poderá mudar de uma vez por todas o padrão financeiro da sua família.

Pelo menos passe os olhos no trabalho sério que o Artur desenvolveu.

Tenho a firme convicção de que terá toda a informação necessária para investir de forma certeira o seu dinheiro.

Ao experimentar a série Investidor Imobiliário, o leitor terá acesso imediato a:

– Relatório I – Fundamentos base do investimento em imobiliário

– Relatório II – É afinal o interior de Portugal um bom ou mau lugar para investir em imobiliário?

– Relatório quinzenal Investidor Imobiliário – Quinzenalmente o Artur vai apresentar-lhe os seus estudos sobre imobiliário, bem como oportunidades únicas para investir na terceira onda do imobiliário. Se for um investidor estrangeiro saberá ainda como dar os primeiros passos para comprar casa em Portugal.

Gostou da minha proposta?

Talvez esteja a pensar que todo este conteúdo lhe vai sair caro…

Se reparar o preço normal da assinatura na nossa loja é de 99,99 euros.

No entanto, o preço especial de lançamento do Investidor Imobiliário é de apenas €49,95 ao ano.

Exclusivamente através desta mensagem pagará um valor tão baixo. A nossa ideia é ter um produto acessível a toda a gente e como tal o preço não pode ser um impedimento.

Reforço, são menos de €5 ao mês, alguns cêntimos ao dia, para conseguir obter retornos até +52%.

Não acha que esse pequeno investimento vale a pena?

QUERO INVESTIR NA TERCEIRA ONDA DE VALORIZAÇÃO DO IMOBILIÁRIO

Estou convicto de que os nossos leitores vão proteger milhares de euros dos seus patrimónios e ganhar outros tantos.

E mais interessante ainda é poder ter acesso a todo esse trabalho desenvolvido durante meses sem nenhum tipo de risco ou obrigação.

Isto porque, durante os primeiros 20 dias, caso tenha acesso à série Investidor Imobiliário e, por alguma razão entenda que ela não encaixa no seu perfil, basta solicitar a interrupção da assinatura que verá o seu dinheiro reembolsado.

Isso mesmo, receberá 100% do dinheiro investido.

Ao concordar com os termos aqui apresentados estará apenas a aceitar experimentar o trabalho desenvolvido pelo Artur Mariano para ver se gosta e com isso terá acesso integral a esta terceira onda que lhe poderá gerar lucros até +52%.

Espero que considere seriamente a minha oferta até porque a onda já se começou a formar e quanto mais cedo se posicionar maiores serão os seus lucros.

Tenho a forte convicção de que esta será uma das melhores decisões financeiras que tomará em toda a sua vida.

Para começar confirme a sua assinatura clicando no botão abaixo que irá levá-lo a uma página 100% segura.

A sua ordem será processada imediatamente e terá acesso a todo o nosso trabalho no mesmo minuto.

QUERO LUCROS EXTRAORDINÁRIOS COM A TERCEIRA ONDA DE VALORIZAÇÃO DO IMOBILIÁRIO

Até breve,
Pedro Gonçalves

Is a police state in the US possible? Absolutely.

That’s because people are essentially the same the world over, regardless of their culture, religion, race, or what-have-you. A certain percentage of them are sociopaths.

There is a standard distribution of sociopaths across time and space. It’s a function of Pareto’s Law, better known as the 80-20 rule. 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Another 20% are responsible for 80% of the crime. 20% of the population always winds up with 80% of the wealth. And so forth, through all areas of human endeavor. This observation can be represented by a bell-shaped curve—a “standard distribution”—with a small minority at each extreme, but the large majority in the middle. The people who will take us to a police state are sociopaths—criminal personalities who don’t respect the liberty or property of others. And sociopaths gravitate towards government, and eventually come to control it.

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My view is that 80% of human beings are basically decent, get along, go along types. 20% are what you might call potential trouble sources, that can go either way. But then you take 20% of that 20% and you’re dealing with the sociopaths.

When social conditions reach a certain stage these really bad guys come out from under their rocks and take advantage of the situation. We’re seeing that right now in the US, across the political spectrum. Just as we’ve seen in the past in hundreds of places throughout history.

A major tipping point occurred sixteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, with the attacks in New York and Washington. They were disastrous. But not nearly as disastrous as the government’s reaction to them.

Among them the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Anybody that speaks German knows that a reasonable translation of Homeland Security is Geheime Staatspolizei, which is usually abbreviated to Gestapo. Anybody that goes through airline security these days should ask themselves, “Where the hell did they find these people? Didn’t they have jobs before they went to work for this moronic agency?” The answer is that there are people out there who like wearing costumes, are willing to boss, herd, interrogate, and go through the dirty laundry of their fellow citizens. They take their jobs seriously and you better not even look at them sideways. There’s no reason to believe it’s going to get better as they groove into their jobs, and their employer cements itself into place. More likely the trend will accelerate.

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Is America currently a police state? Well, let’s see. You can still get in your car and go anywhere, although you might be stopped by the police and you might be detained if your papers aren’t in order. Or the officer thinks you’re not properly respectful. Or you have “too much” cash.

Was there any particular day that Germany became a police state in the 1930s? I’m not sure you can put your finger on any one particular day, even after Hitler was legally and democratically elected. It was a progression, with new laws, new regulations, new taxes every day. While more fear and hysteria were worked up among the populace. Kristallnacht didn’t occur the day after the National Socialists took power.

It’s a case of the frog being put in a kettle of water where the temperature is gradually raised to a boil. That’s what’s occurring in the US. After 9/11, in addition to Homeland Security, we got the Patriot Act, with, among other things, its suspension of habeas corpus. That means that the government can lock anybody up for any reason and not even have to tell them why. Accuse them of being an “enemy combatant”—a neologism that justifies anything, and is robotically and thoughtlessly accepted by Boobus americanus —and anything is possible. Including a trip to a CIA black site in some Third World hellhole. This is something I thought was settled in Western Civilization with the Magna Carta and King John. But we’re going backwards in most areas of personal freedom. And America, of all places, is leading the way—even while falling behind economically.

I don’t know if I can put my finger on exactly when we’re going to go over the edge, but if I was going to guess I would think the real catalyst is going to be the next 9/11-type event. And I don’t doubt it’s going to happen.

How are we any different than the Germans in the 1930s? This was one of the most civilized, best educated countries in Europe and they fell into the abyss. I suppose we’re a bit different. Americans are addicted to welfare, anti-depressant drugs, food, and electronic devices. That should certainly give us a better outcome…

There’s a joke I like to tell. Let me ask you this: Which is the gravest danger? Is it the ignorance, or is it the apathy of the average American today? Stumped? Here’s the answer: I don’t know and I don’t care.

Regards,

When I was a boy, cartoonist Charles Schulz introduced a new comic strip called Peanuts. Its central premise was children having the same problems as adults, and it was an instant hit.

There were several recurring themes and, each autumn, the cartoonist would have his main character, Charlie Brown, attempt to fly a kite. At first all would go well, and Charlie Brown would build up his hopes, only to have them dashed when a tree would snag his kite and eat it.

This theme was endlessly enjoyable, as it reflected a syndrome familiar to all adults. The cartoonist was careful to ensure that he could do new variations on the theme every autumn, due to the fact that Charlie Brown never succeeded. At the end of the strip, the tree always ate his kite.

And so it often goes in the adult world. Albert Einstein famously said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

And, yet, in every era, we can see this strange behaviour play itself out, time and again.

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People go to casinos, imagining that, somehow, the casino will lose and they will win. They buy lottery tickets with odds of hundreds of thousands to one against them.

And, amazingly, they invest in the stock market, not just badly, but in the very same pattern that has historically proven to virtually guarantee loss. More amazingly, this is not the behaviour of the occasional loser; it’s the approach adopted by the great majority of investors and is one that they staunchly defend as “wise and informed investing,” right until the crash that cleans them out.

So what, then, is this pattern? Well, generally, a potential investor contacts his broker and asks him if there’s anything he can recommend. The broker virtually always says yes—that whilst some stocks do not earn his endorsement, there are others that he feels are almost certain to go up.

Should the investor then buy, he can count on the broker to push the prospect of further investment, whenever one of his recommendations has risen in value. (He’s less likely to get in touch if his recommendations go down.)

As each bull market unfolds, the broker advises his clients that, if they don’t continue to buy, they’ll be “missing out,” and the opportunity for enrichment will pass them by.

Each investor who’s roped in by this spiel reinforces the broker’s prediction, expanding the bull market and attracting more and more investors to get into the game.

Then, something very interesting happens.

In a major bull market, when investors have reached their limit, they’re advised that they can buy on margin and increase their position. This is acknowledged as being risky in normal times, but these are not normal times. This is the mother of all bull markets, and “the sky’s the limit.” The investors dive in.

When they become so strapped that they cannot buy on margin any further, many investors, believing that they’re on the cusp of getting rich, borrow money privately to buy on margin and, in so doing, become dramatically leveraged, but they do so because the broker promises that the bull market is going “to the moon.”

But, like all bubbles, this one, too, eventually pops. Naturally, Wall Street doesn’t want an uncontrolled collapse of the market (after all, they wish to get themselves out before a crash), so, their ideal scenario is to create a controlled crash. Once the writing is on the wall, they themselves sell out, just prior to a trigger that will collapse the market.

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In 1929, this was achieved through a sudden raise in interest rates. Since investors were up to their eyes in debt, any rise in interest rates meant that they’d default on their loans. The brokers would then unilaterally sell off their clients’ portfolios (as they are entitled to do in a margin call). They, of course, hope to salvage the maximum amount possible for themselves, so they do their best to liquidate everythingovernight.

The customary reaction by investors is to be stunned that a crash occurred that they didn’t see coming and that they woke up one morning to find that they’d sustained a massive loss.

In the early 2000s, a small number of people (myself included), predicted a stock market crash. I estimated its occurrence to be in 2007, so, in order to be out well ahead of time, I was out in 2006. (As it transpired, I was out earlier than necessary, for which I had no regret.)

Prior to the crash, I warned friends and associates, who invariably said, “All indicators say that the market’s still going up. If it starts to slide downward, then I may sell.”

I repeatedly reminded them that a major bull market never ends with a whimper. It invariably ends with a major upside spike, before it suddenly plummets downward.

And this is not a coincidence. It’s based upon the behaviour stated above.

What I find truly amazing is that most investors never learn. Even after they’ve been cleaned out once, they simply find another “better” broker and start all over. Incredibly, the average investor will work hard at his regular job and do all he can to get better at it, then, whatever savings he can create that year, he hands over to someone else to manage. He makes little or no effort to educate himself in the patterns of bull and bear markets so that he can avoid another failure.

He repeatedly takes his kite out to fly it amongst the trees.

Many investors make the same mistake over and over, throughout their careers, working hard for their pay, then literally throwing away their savings.

Today, we’re approaching the end of a major bull market. This one is especially interesting, in that, since 2008, we’ve been in a depression that virtually no one acknowledges. Those on Wall Street state with confidence that, despite increased unemployment, manufacturers leaving the country in droves, diminishing GDP, extensive business closures, etc., “This can’t be a depression if the market is up.”

Unfortunately, what we’re really witnessing is the world’s longest sucker-rally.

In the 1930s, a popular, if bitter-tasting, joke was that, “When every shoeshine boy is offering stock tips, it’s time to get out of the market.” That advice arrived too late.

We’re presently at that point again, except that the profession of shoeshine boy has disappeared.

Incredibly, even heads of banks and Wall Street firms are now warning that the end is near. Perhaps the most unlikely expert of all to join this group is Lord Jacob Rothschild, who has now said, in a semi-annual report,

We do not believe this is an appropriate time to add to risk. Share prices have in many cases risen to unprecedented levels at a time when economic growth is by no means assured.

Clearly, he was careful not to employ phrasing that would be overly alarming, but he did make the quote to explain why he has dumped massive amounts of US assets (i.e., he’s getting out before the crash).

Meanwhile, the average investor, who contributes the oxygen to create all bubbles, is once again flying his kite, convinced that the tree will not once again eat his kite.

Regards,

Editor’s Note: Given the current extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies, all prices quoted below were accurate at time of writing. We cannot be held responsible for changes to pricing and percentages that occur after publication.

Arguably the biggest craze in global financial markets in 2017 was the cryptocurrency takeover. A simple glance at Google search over the past 12 months easily confirms the soaring interest in everything digital currency related over the course of this past year, especially during the second half.

Cryptocurrencies: Interest over Time

Cryptocurrencies: Interest over Time

Back in June, the combined market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies hit a notable milestone when the industry surpassed the $100-billion-mark for the first time in history. Since then, that number has ballooned by almost 500% to $510 billion as of December 14.

The lion’s share of that interest is focused on Bitcoin, possibly the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. It started 2017 at $966.60 before soaring to an all-time high of $17,500 on December 12, marking a year-to-date gain of approximately 1,600%. The price of Bitcoin last stood at $16,600, giving it a market cap of around $275 billion, larger than some of the oldest blue chip stocks and most famous brands in the world.

Bitcoin is bigger than most companies

Bitcoin is bigger than most companies

Besides Bitcoin, there are plenty of other lesser known alternative digital currencies that have enjoyed a remarkable run-up in prices so far this year, with some even surpassing the breath-taking returns of their older, more popular cousin.

While Monero took the crown in 2016, with growth of nearly 2,760%, 2017 has seen even more explosive gains in the cryptocurrency market.

Below, we look at the five biggest winners this year in terms of percentage gains. Surprisingly, there are a handful of coins that blow Bitcoin’s jaw-dropping rally out of the water. In order to filter the 1,000+ coins which currently exist in the cryptosphere, we decided to focus only on digital currencies with a market cap of greater than $1 billion, which left a total of 20 coins.

With that said, here are the results:

1. NEM: 14,617% YTD Gain

NEM (XEM/USD) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and blockchain platform launched on March 31, 2015. It was developed by Makoto Takemiya, who has been heavily involved in some prominent blockchain projects and was a key figure behind the decision in Japan to allow Bitcoin to become a legal form of tender.

XEMUSD Chart

XEMUSD Chart

NEM’s price on January 1 was $0.003676. It has since rallied a remarkable 14,617% to $0.52370, making it the tenth-biggest cryptocurrency in circulation with a market cap of around $4.9 billion.

Some analysts have suggested that its soaring popularity in Japan has been a big factor behind its whopping gains this year. The NEM blockchain software is currently used in a commercial blockchain called Mijin, which is being tested by financial institutions and private companies in Japan and internationally.

2. Ethereum: 9,146% YTD Gain

Ethereum is an open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications that run smart contracts. It was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher and programmer, and launched in 2015.

The closing price of one Ethereum coin on December 31, 2016 was a mere $8.17. It now stands at around $730, representing a staggering gain of nearly 9,200%. It rose to an all-time peak of $756 on December 14.

ETHUSD Chart

ETHUSD Chart

At current prices, Ethereum has a market cap of approximately $55 billion, making it the world’s number two cryptocoin, trailing only Bitcoin.

This year’s gains have been fueled by several bullish factors including increased public awareness and legitimacy, as well as the growing support of major global corporations.

The recently formed Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, which launched on February 28, 2017 consists of names such as Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) to name a few, has been helpful in supporting the cryptocurrency’s rapidly growing functionality. Its stated mission among other things is to act as “a resource for businesses to learn about Ethereum and leverage this groundbreaking technology to address specific industry use cases”

3. Ripple: 8,577% YTD Gain

Released in 2012, Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange and remittance network. Also called the Ripple Transaction Protocol or Ripple protocol, it purports to enable secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks.

Ripple has rallied an astounding 8,577% so far this year, taking prices from $0.00652 on January 1 to $0.53900 at time of writing. It reached $0.565600 on December 14, the highest in its five-year history. At current prices, Ripple’s market capitalization is almost $22 billion, making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency.

XRPUSD Chart

XRPUSD Chart

Ripple has recently signed up several additional financial institutions to its blockchain network, bringing its clientele to more than 100, including big-name financials like Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN), Unicredit (MI:CRDI), UBS (NYSE:UBS) and Standard Chartered (LON:STAN). Its distributed ledger network, RippleNet, has been joined by the likes of United Arab Emirates-based lender RAKBANK and U.K.-based currency exchange firm IFX.

Ripple investors are hoping that the latest round of financial customers will help the digital currency undermine the dominance of banks and corporations over financial transactions.

4. DASH: 8,519% YTD Gain

Dash is an open source peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that offers all the same features as Bitcoin but also has advanced capabilities, including instant transactions, private transactions and decentralized governance. It was originally released as XCoin in Jan. 2014, before changing its name to Darkcoin the following month. Finally, in March 2015, Darkcoin was rebranded as Dash.

DASHUSD Chart

DASHUSD Chart

The price of one Dash coin changed hands at $11.21 at the start of 2017, before soaring to an all-time peak of $925 at time of writing, representing an extraordinary rally of 8,519% this year.

At current prices, Dash’s market capitalization is $7.5 billion, making it the seventh-largest cryptocurrency in circulation.

Gains this year have been sparked by indications of growing acceptance by online vendors and even physical stores willing to accept Dash as a form of payment. So far, the cryptocurrency can be used at over 100 websites and 300 physical stores to purchase goods or services.

5. Litecoin: 6,921% YTD Gain

Litecoin, which was created in October 2011 by former Google) engineer Charles Lee, is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open source software project. While inspired by, and in most regards technically nearly identical to Bitcoin, Litecoin has some technical improvements over its more popular counterpart, such as the adoption of Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network, allowing it to facilitate payments much faster than its alt coin rivals in the space.

Litecoin started the year at $4.51. Amazingly, it has surged to around $315 at the time of writing, for an eye-popping year-to-date gain of 6,921%. At current levels, Litecoin’s market cap stands at $16.5 billion, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in the industry.

LTCUSD Chart

LTCUSD Chart

Besides benefiting from the increased popularity of Bitcoin, Litecoin’s gains this year have been sparked by a growing number of businesses in the gaming and website hosting industries that have started to accept it for online-based payments.

6. IOTA: 2,677% YTD Gain

IOTA was founded in 2015 by David Sønstebo, Sergey Ivancheglo, Dominik Schiener, and Dr. Serguei Popov, and is overseen by the IOTA Foundation, a German non-profit firm. Its open-source blockchain platform differs from mainstream blockchain networks which use encrypted “blocks” to record transactions. Instead the firm’s digital ledger, inspired by Internet of Things technology, is ‘blockless,’ and relies on a directed acyclic graph (DAG) or what the founders call the ‘tangle,’ allowing users to make transactions on the network for free.

Currently, the market capitalization of IOTA is $11.4 billion, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in circulation. IOTA’s closing price on December 31, 2016 was just 28 cents. It has since rallied 2,677% to around $4.14.

It surged to an all-time high of $5.44 on December 6 after the firm behind it said it was teaming up with a number of big tech firms, including Microsoft, Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) and Fujitsu (T:6702) on a blockchain-based marketplace that lets them sell data.

IOTUSD Chart

IOTUSD Chart

It’s been an action-packed year in the cryptocurrency arena and there’s no sign that interest or activity will be slowing down as we head into 2018. The opportunity remains for big gains if you do your due diligence. There remain multiple way to ride this wave while it is still in its early stages, particularly via the lesser known coins.

Indeed, some of the best options for seeing 10x gains next year will be in the ‘alt-coin’ space, via such cryptocurrencies as Neo, and Cardano as well as 2017 favorites Ripple and IOTA.

 

Using force to compel people to accept money without real value can only work in the short run. It ultimately leads to economic dislocation, both domestic and international, and always ends with a price to be paid.

– Former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul

He who holds the gold makes the rules.

– Old saying

Chris Lowe: Why did you start researching the petrodollar system and its potential unraveling?

Nick Giambruno: This has been on my radar since 2006. That’s when Ron Paul, then a Republican congressman, spoke to Congress about the collapse of the dollar-based global monetary system.

As I recently told my Crisis Investing readers, I think it’s his most important speech ever. It’s called “The End of Dollar Hegemony.”

During the speech, Dr. Paul lays out why a global monetary order built around a fiat currency is doomed to fail.

Crucially, he pointed out the one thing that would precipitate the US dollar’s collapse—the end of the petrodollar system.

I recommend reading the speech in full. But this is the most important part:

The economic law that honest exchange demands only things of real value as currency cannot be repealed. The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or Euros.

I discussed this with Dr. Paul at a past Casey Research conference. He told me he stood by his assessment.

In a nutshell, he’s saying we’ll know the dollar-centric monetary system is on its way out when countries start trading oil for gold instead of dollars.

That’s already starting to happen.

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Chris Lowe: To catch up real quick, why is the petrodollar at risk?

Nick Giambruno: Under the current petrodollar system, all global oil sales are made in dollars. However, the Chinese government recently announced a new mechanism that will allow oil producers anywhere in the world to trade oil for gold.

China’s new mechanism will totally bypass the US dollar and the US financial system… along with any restrictions, regulations, or sanctions from Washington. So for many oil producers, it will be much more attractive than the petrodollar system.

I call it China’s “golden alternative” to the petrodollar. Whatever you call it, though, it will allow for the large-scale trade of oil for gold, instead of dollars.

Here’s how it will work. The Shanghai International Energy Exchange is launching a crude-oil futures contract denominated in yuan, China’s currency. This will allow oil producers around the world to sell their oil for yuan.

Of course, the yuan is a fiat currency, just like the dollar. And most oil producers don’t want large stashes of yuan. The Chinese government knows this. That’s why it’s linked the crude-oil futures contract with the option to efficiently convert yuan into physical gold through gold exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Chris Lowe: How soon will this new system be up and running?

Nick Giambruno: I spoke with officials at the Shanghai International Energy Exchange. They told me they plan to go live with it before the end of the year, or shortly thereafter.

Chris Lowe: But isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t gold, as a currency, more reliable than the dollar?

Nick Giambruno: I think it’s high time gold played a more central role in the global monetary system. The problem is ditching the petrodollar would negatively affect the US economy.

Think about it. If Italy wants to buy oil from Kuwait… or Argentina wants to buy oil from Brazil… they have to buy dollars on the foreign exchange market first.

This creates a huge artificial market for dollars.

It means the US can simply print dollars and exchange them for real things like French wine, Italian cars, Korean electronics, or Chinese manufactured goods.

It also helps create a deeper, more liquid market for US Treasury bonds. This pushes up prices… and pushes down yields… which allows the US federal government to finance enormous and permanent deficits.

The petrodollar has allowed Washington to spend astronomical amounts of money on welfare and other benefits for over half the population. This gives Americans a much higher standard of living than they would have otherwise. Most of them don’t know this or understand how it affects their everyday lives.

Thanks to the petrodollar, Washington can also sanction or exclude virtually any country from the dollar-based global financial system at the flip of a switch. By extension, it can also cut off any country from the vast majority of international trade.

Chris Lowe: Others have argued that this has led the US Deep State into military actions against anyone who threatens the petrodollar system. Is the Deep State that scared about the effects this could have on the economy and on its position as the world’s top power?

Nick Giambruno: Let’s put it this way, world leaders who have challenged the petrodollar system have ended up dead. Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi are prime examples.

In October 2000, Saddam started to sell Iraqi oil in euro only. He said Iraq would no longer accept dollars for oil because it did not want to deal in the “currency of the enemy.”

A little over two years later, the US invaded Iraq. After Baghdad fell to US forces, all Iraqi oil sales were switched back to dollars.

And thanks to WikiLeaks’ release of Hillary Clinton’s emails, we know that protecting the petrodollar—not humanitarian concerns—was the main reason for America’s involvement in the ousting and killing of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

According to the leaked emails, the US—along with France—feared Gaddafi would use Libya’s vast gold reserves to back a pan-African currency. This gold-backed currency would have been used to buy and sell oil in global markets. It would have likely displaced the CFA franc—a version of the euro used in 14 central and west African nations.

As I’m sure you recall, the US and France backed a rebellion that overthrew Gaddafi in 2011. After his death, plans for the gold-backed currency—along with Libya’s 4.6 million ounces of gold—vanished.

Chris Lowe: What’s Russia’s role in all of this?

Nick Giambruno: The dollar is not just a currency. It’s a political weapon… and Washington is not shy about using it.

Most recently, it tried to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine by imposing economic sanctions. This made it harder for Russia to access the dollar-based financial system. So it’s no surprise that Russia struck a deal to sell oil and gas to China for yuan afterward.

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Chris Lowe: How big a deal is it that Russia is working with China on bypassing the dollar?

Nick Giambruno: Russia is one of the world’s largest energy producers. And China is the world’s largest energy importer. Historically, they would trade with each other exclusively in US dollars.

But the Shanghai International Energy Exchange futures contract will streamline and solidify the process of selling oil to China for yuan—or effectively for gold.

When two of the biggest players in the global energy market totally bypass the petrodollar system, it’s a very big deal.

And it’s not just Russia and China. Other countries want to sidestep the US financial system and US economic sanctions, too. China’s “golden alternative” will give them the option to do just that. This will make the US dollar a much less effective political weapon.

Take Iran, for example. It’s the world’s fifth-largest oil producer. And it’s now accepting yuan as payment for its oil. So is Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. I think others will soon follow.

This all makes perfect economic sense. Oil-producing nations can continue with the petrodollar system and sell their oil for dollars. But there’s not much financial incentive to do that anymore. The Fed has deliberately pushed down US Treasury yields to “stimulate” economic growth. Plus, the system exposes US rivals to the whims of Washington.

Now oil producers have a second option. Through China’s “golden alternative,” they can sell their oil for yuan, then quickly and easily convert it to gold.

Unlike the dollar, gold is an international form of money with no political risk. From the perspective of an overseas oil producer—especially one with a poor relationship with the US—this is a no-brainer.

Chris Lowe: Russia may be one of the world’s largest oil producers. But Saudi Arabia is still the world’s largest oil exporter. And a lot of that oil goes to China, the world’s largest oil importer. The Saudis were also America’s partner in the petrodollar agreement back in 1974. Can’t the House of Saud use this influence to protect the petrodollar system?

Nick Giambruno: For now, the Saudis are refusing to participate in China’s “golden alternative.” That’s because selling oil for anything but dollars would break the petrodollar deal they made with the US back in 1974. Remember, the Saudis agreed to sell their oil exclusively in dollars in return for US arms and military protection.

Last year, on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said, “If Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection, I don’t think it would be around.” He’s absolutely correct. If the Saudis started selling oil for yuan, they would immediately lose American diplomatic and military protection.

But Saudi Arabia is already looking for alternatives to American protection.

Chris Lowe: Who is it turning to?

Nick Giambruno: This is where the story gets really interesting. Russia and Saudi Arabia have been enemies for decades. The Saudis, along with the US, supported the Afghan mujahideen that drove the Soviet Army out of Afghanistan. The Saudis also supported a number of Chechen rebellions against Russia. And more recently, the Saudis and Russians have been on opposite sides of the Syrian Civil War.

But recently, the Saudi king—along with 1,500 members of his royal entourage—visited Moscow. It was the first official visit by a Saudi king to Russia. The trip coincided with a $10 billion Saudi investment in Russian energy projects and a $3 billion arms deal.

As part of that deal, the Saudis will buy Russia’s S-400 missile system. It’s arguably the most capable air defense system in the world. It’s a powerful deterrent to even US fighter jets.

Chris Lowe: I didn’t know the Saudis bought Russian weapons systems.

Nick Giambruno: They didn’t… up until now. Ever since the birth of the petrodollar, the Saudis have depended on American military protection. After all, it’s what they get in return for pricing their oil in dollars.

Chris Lowe: So why would the Saudis enter into an arms deal with Russia?

Nick Giambruno: The Saudis are hedging their bets. First, they’re not buying an American-made air-defense system. Second, they’re buying a Russian air-defense system that’s capable of deterring an American attack. The House of Saud is making significant moves, in other words, to give itself alternatives to American protection.

Chris Lowe: Is there any other evidence that Saudi Arabia is moving away from the US?

Nick Giambruno: Last August, Saudi Arabia announced it was willing to issue “Panda bonds” to finance its government spending deficit. These are yuan-denominated bonds from non-Chinese issuers that are sold in China.

This is remarkable. The Saudi currency, the riyal, is pegged to the dollar. Up until this point, Saudi Arabia has exclusively used US dollars for all of its major financial initiatives. Issuing debt in yuan is a significant move. It means that financially, Saudi Arabia is drifting closer to China.

Chris Lowe: Why does Saudi Arabia need to hedge its bets like this?

Nick Giambruno: A few years ago, Saudi oil made up over 25% of Chinese oil imports. They were Beijing’s No. 1 supplier. Today, the Saudis’ market share has dropped below 15%.

The Saudis are losing massive market share and getting pushed out of the biggest oil market in the world—mainly because they refuse to sell oil to China in yuan.

China has made itself clear. It’s willing to expand business with anyone who will accept yuan as payment.

Chris Lowe: If the Saudis bow to Chinese pressure, where does all that leave the petrodollar system?

Nick Giambruno: The Saudis haven’t made a clean break with the US and the petrodollar—yet. But they are drifting toward China financially and Russia militarily. These moves are already sidelining the petrodollar. The Saudis are clearly setting up the option to dump the petrodollar.

If the Saudis start to sell oil to China in yuan, it would kill the petrodollar overnight.

Short of that, things still look very dire for the petrodollar. What is baked into the cake—thanks, in large part, to China’s “golden alternative”—is the petrodollar’s significant erosion.

Chris Lowe: What specific advice do you have based on this prognosis?

Nick Giambruno: The increased demand for gold from China’s “golden alternative” to the petrodollar is going to shock the gold market. And this demand shock clearly hasn’t been priced into the gold market yet. As many of your readers will be aware, gold is still down significantly from its 2011 peak.

That’s why I am so bullish on gold right now. As the petrodollar dies, gold is going to replace it as the go-to currency for the oil trade. That makes the yellow metal the single best way to profit from this major shift in our monetary order.

I started warning about the end of the petrodollar late last year. That’s when I told Crisis Investing readers that the death of the petrodollar would be the No. 1 black swan event of 2017.

Eventually, people will look back and see China’s “golden alternative” as the catalyst that made it happen.

Editor’s Note: Few people appreciate how unstable America’s monetary system is. Our colleague and financial world legend Bill Bonner has an unparalleled track record for making spot-on political and economic predictions… and he says we’re teetering on the edge of a full-fledged economic shutdown. Click here for more straight from Bill.

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O site também tenta ser útil mesmo para quem acredita que a criptomoeda não é bolha. Com isso, mesmo quem investe acreditando no potencial do bitcoin pode utilizar o serviço para se proteger, se manter informado e evitar grandes perdas ao antecipar movimentos de queda.

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When I visited the memorial at Pearl Harbor, I briefly wondered if the Japanese were simply suicidal.

Why start an uncertain battle with a much more powerful opponent?

Japan’s leaders knew the US military was far superior when they attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The attack killed over 2,400 people and brought the US into World War 2.

But Japan’s leaders had a powerful reason to gamble with their nation’s fate…

Access to energy.

For Japan—an island nation totally dependent on imports—access to oil was a matter of life and death. The country needed to secure its energy supply. That made attacking Pearl Harbor a practical proposition.

Turns out, the Japanese thought not attacking Pearl Harbor was suicidal.

Here’s why…

In the early ’40s, Japan had big plans to dominate East Asia. The imperial Japanese military was on the march. And the US was the only country that could stop it.

The US wanted to block Tokyo and protect its geopolitical position in the region. So it moved to restrict Japan’s access to oil, which Japan needed to feed its economy and war machine.

Not surprisingly, the Japanese considered this hostile and aggressive. The US government didn’t expect it to provoke an attack, though.

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The Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs at the time, Dean Acheson, said, “No rational Japanese could believe that an attack on us could result in anything but disaster for his country.”

The Japanese disagreed.

They knew they would run out of vital commodities soon. So they had two choices… let the US slowly strangle their country and ultimately surrender… or take their chances on a risky war against a vastly superior opponent.

In Japan’s samurai culture, surrender was the ultimate disgrace.

Death in battle was better. So they chose option two. It was the only honorable choice.

Japan’s leaders thought the Pearl Harbor attack could knock the US Navy out of the Pacific for at least six months. This would give Japan a sizable window to secure its energy sources without US interference—and to fortify its military positions across the Pacific.

By the time the US could respond, it would face a deeply embedded opponent and decide it was best to leave East Asia to Japan.

That was Tokyo’s plan, at least.

In reality, Japan did successfully capture Singapore from the British. It was an enormous victory. Winston Churchill called it the “worst disaster” in British military history.

And, after a string of big wins during their six-month window, the Japanese were entrenched. They appeared unbeatable. Their leaders hoped this would sap US morale so much that Washington would seek a compromise.

But President Roosevelt did not want to compromise.

Many believe he was actually waiting for the perfect pretext to sell a hesitant US public on another world war. Some even claim the US had deciphered Japan’s military code and knew the Pearl Harbor attack was coming.

In any case, the Japanese could not have been more wrong. Ultimately, their decision to strike Pearl Harbor culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, total defeat, and unconditional surrender. Even today, the US still maintains military bases in Japan.

Today, Japan is in the midst of another energy security crisis.

Right now, it depends on imports for over 90% of its energy needs. Tokyo won’t go to war over it this time. But this crisis could lead to enormous profits in the world’s most hated resource market.

Earlier this year I traveled over 25,000 miles to Japan—and Kazakhstan—to find out how to profit from this historic opportunity.

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The World’s Most Hated Commodity

On March 11, 2011, one of the largest earthquakes in history hit off the coast of Japan. The earthquake, and the tsunami that followed, killed thousands of people and caused over $200 billion in damage.

The tsunami also caused a nuclear meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima power plant, which released radioactivity into the air. It was the worst (and only) nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Afterward, Japan took all 54 of its nuclear reactors offline.

Japan suddenly needed a major new source of energy.

The country has a law dating back to the 1970s that requires it to stockpile at least five years’ worth of energy supplies. Uranium, which fuels nuclear power plants, is the only feasible way for Japan to do that. It’s simply not practical for Japan to stockpile enough coal, oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), etc.

For now, Japan is making an emergency exception to its five-year law because of Fukushima. But this puts it in a very vulnerable geopolitical position, especially since tensions with China, its historical rival, are increasing.

The Japanese know that relying on the kindness of foreigners for their energy security is foolhardy. This situation can’t continue indefinitely.

Eventually, Japan will have to bring most of its nuclear power plants back online. However, restarting idled plants is not as simple as flipping a switch. And, with LNG prices near recent lows, they haven’t had an immediate need to do so.

Nonetheless, Japan recently stated that it would like nuclear power to account for as much as 22% of its energy mix by 2030.

Japan is just one factor driving the coming uranium boom.

Even if Japanese demand for uranium doesn’t return soon, the enormous amount of new demand from China’s new nuclear plants will more than offset it.

Before Fukushima, Japan was a major source of demand for uranium. The country had embraced nuclear energy in the 1960s, despite being devastated by nuclear weapons in World War 2.

Not surprisingly, global demand for uranium tanked after Fukushima. A global supply glut followed.

The uranium price crashed from around $85 to under $30. Then it continued sliding to around $18 per pound, far below the cost of production.

That was last November, and it appears to have been the bottom.

That same month, I said uranium had entered a new bull market and recommended a “best of breed” uranium company in Crisis Investing.

Uranium is now on a confirmed uptrend, but it’s still far below the cost of production. It’s still near the moment of maximum pessimism.

No other commodity has more upside and less downside right now.

The uranium market is one of the best crisis investing opportunities I’ve ever seen.

Psychology plays a big part in all this. After Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and of course Fukushima, it’s easy for certain media and politicians to villainize uranium.

Besides that, investors are terrified that uranium prices have fallen over 85% from previous highs. I don’t know of a market where the sentiment is worse.

This is all good news for us.

The whole point of investing in crisis markets is to take advantage of the aberrations of mass psychology and pick up elite companies and assets for pennies on the dollar. This describes the current opportunity in the uranium market perfectly.

Nuclear power delivers immense value to its users, there’s no substitute for it, and production is falling while demand rises.

This situation only has two possible outcomes:

  1. Uranium prices don’t go up. Miners have no incentive to produce. Nuclear power plants run out of uranium, and the lights go out for billions of people.
  2. Uranium prices go up and incentivize enough production to meet the demand.

There are no other options. Which one do you think is more likely?

Right now, the current uranium supply/demand imbalance is setting the stage for the next uranium boom.

Now is the time to get positioned for the same kind of explosive returns we’ve seen in previous uranium bull markets.

Until next time,


Nick Giambruno
Senior Editor, International Man

A few words are in order about the likely new Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

I don’t know the man personally. Not that it would make any difference; denizens of the swamp within the Beltway usually present well, and a brief meeting rarely allows you to penetrate someone’s social veneer. But I’m pretty confident that if we dined together it would be tense and unpleasant. We’d have no common ground, after the obligatory two minutes on the weather and the state of the roads.

He’s a lawyer, has been a Fed Governor for five years, and appears to be a “steady as she goes” so-called moderate Republican. He’s a lifelong Deep State player. But let’s not waste time psychoanalyzing this bureaucrat; he’s just a cog in the machine. And the machine, at this stage, has a life of its own.

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Many of my friends in the alternative press deplore Trump’s appointment of yet another conventional money printer. They were hoping for a “hawk,” who would start liquidating the Fed’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet, and raising interest rates. And they’re right. That $4.5 trillion of super money has driven stock, bond, and real estate prices to insane levels. And today’s artificially low interest rates are discouraging saving, and encouraging people to live above their means.

In an ideal world there would be some radical changes. The best thing for the US in the (famous) long run is to go “cold turkey.” To abolish the Federal Reserve, fire its thousands of employees with their worthless PhDs. Return to 100% reserve banking with a strict separation of demand and time deposits. Depoliticize money by using gold, not Federal Reserve Notes. And default on the national debt, which is rewarding crony capitalists, and will turn future generations of Americans into serfs. And massively deregulate. And abolish the income tax, while cutting spending 90%. Etc. Etc.

The chances of that happening are exactly zero. So let’s talk, instead, about what is going to happen.

We’re going to have much higher levels of inflation. The new Fed Chair will open a monetary hydrant, at least if he doesn’t want to be hung from a lamppost by his heels. But I’m quite pleased Trump has appointed the guy. That may sound shocking. Let me explain why.

A sound economist would work to stop money printing and let interest rates find a market level. But that would precipitate a deflationary collapse after decades of monetary debasement. And the powers of darkness would again be able to paint sound policies and the free market as the cause for the problem, when actually it’s the only cure for economic problems.

From an economic point of view an inflationist like Powell is a disaster. It’s too bad he’s nominally a Republican, since for some reason they’re associated with the free market. As is Trump. Wearing our speculator hats, we’d likely be better off under Hillary—even more inflation, even more distortions to capitalize on. Even wearing our economist hats we might be better off under her, because if the whole rotten structure collapsed on her watch, it might discredit her ideas for at least a few years. But, as ever, I suspect I’m being too optimistic.

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For decades—at least since I started following these things in the early ‘70s—free market economists have argued whether the Fed’s ever-increasing money printing would result in a deflationary depression, or a hyperinflationary depression.

As to why a catastrophic depression is inevitable—despite the fact most people try to produce more than they consume, and despite the fact science and technology are advancing exponentially—is beyond the scope of this brief article. I refer you to these pieces (here and here ) I’ve done in the past on that topic.

It will be a deflationary collapse if the Fed doesn’t continue buying debt and creating new dollars. And a hyperinflation if they do.

If they stop printing, the banks would fail, and the public would lose a good portion of their deposits. The economy would slow down considerably, causing indebted corporations to default, unemploying their workers. Tax revenues would fall off, and governments wouldn’t be able to fund welfare programs. The stock, bond and real estate markets would collapse, wiping out the asset base of rich people.

It would be a huge social upset. But most of the real wealth in the world would still exist, it’s just that a lot of it would change ownership. And the dollar would still exist—there’d just be many fewer of them. Production and commerce could continue. At least until the cries go out for the government to “do something.”

But hyperinflation will be an even bigger disaster. And that’s what we’re going to get. Money will drop radically in value, making production and consumption much, much harder. Foreigners will dump trillions of them, sending them back to the US in exchange for real wealth. There’ll be even more unemployment than with deflation. But the profligate—those who’d borrowed a lot to live above their means—will be rewarded, while prudent savers will be punished. Shaky, overindebted corporations might survive, while productive ones with fat balance sheets will lose. Worse, governments will have their debts erased, and therefore might even grow in power. They’ll definitely “do something,” they always do in time of chaos. Stocks and real estate could first crash, then soar as people try to get out of dollars and into assets. This will benefit the rich, at least in relative terms.

At this late stage either type of depression will result in not just financial and economic, but in social and political chaos. It won’t be fun. In a depression everybody loses. The winners are just those who lose least. And a few speculators that get lucky. Hopefully we’ll be among them.

Given a choice—and they have a choice, based on whether they keep printing or not—the government and the Fed will definitely veer towards more inflation. Everyone in office just hopes to kick the can down the road for at least one more cycle.

Frankly, I was surprised that things didn’t go over a cliff in 2008 when we entered this most recent hurricane. And I’ve been surprised that things have held together as well as they have during the long “eye of the storm.” But governments and central banks around the world have already printed up scores of trillions of new currency units, and reduced interest rates to zero and below. What can they do when we go into the trailing edge of the hurricane?

My guess is that they’ll repeat their actions so far. Print more money and try to take interest rates even lower. The result will be hyperinflation, or close to it. And lots of new government controls of all types.

Why is this—strictly relatively speaking—good news for us? Because more money printing means more bubbles will be created. And while bubbles are the enemies of a sound economy, they’re the friend of the speculator. The current mania in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is an example.

In particular, I’m looking forward to a bubble in commodities in general (most are down 50% from the previous peak in 2011), and precious metals in particular. And not just a bubble, but a hyper bubble in mining stocks.

So, if I’m right, in the next few years we could stand to make a fortune while the world is falling apart. I know—that sounds harsh to be eating caviar while the masses are forced to grub for roots and berries. But, as Ayn Rand said when asked what you should do about the poor: “Just make sure you’re not one of them.”

Regards,

Doug Casey
Founder, Casey Research