Mark Skousen
“If we are in a transition period, the person
in the most danger is the one who has
recently done well, because he’s done well on
things that are about to change.”
-- Dean LeBaron (Batterymarch Financial
Management)
Last Friday, the Wall Street Journal had a
cover story, “Big Investors Lose Even as Market
Rises,” about hedge fund managers like Paul
Tudor Jones whose investments are down for
the year even as the stock market is ahead by
5%. Tudor and other big hedge fund
managers have taken losses on buying Nikkei
Japanese stocks and shorting Treasuries.
These big financial operators were betting
that last year’s winners would continue to
outperform.
But last year’s winners may be this year’s
losers, and vice versa. Treasuries have rallied
this year, surprising most investors. Japan
imposed a massive increase in its national
sales tax in its misguided attempt to reduce
its high debt level, rather than growing its
way out of debt. The Nikkei index, which was
up sharply last year, has suffered this year.
Meanwhile, ourForecasts &
Strategiesportfolio of high dividend-paying
stocks and funds have outperformed the stock
market this year, with 15 out of 18
recommendations profitable. We’ve made
several changes in our portfolio in 2014,
shifting into energy stocks and India, whose
stock market is booming now that it has voted
in a pro-business prime minister.
I asked Donald Smith, my favorite hedge fund
manager in New York, about the Wall Street
Journal story, and he was happy to report
that his portfolio is ahead 19.6% so far this
year before fees. He’s been bullish on airline
stocks, which have skyrocketed. Don has
managed money for more than 30 years with
incredible success -- he’s outperformed
Warren Buffett. He will be doing a breakout
session at FreedomFest on his “deep value”
investing strategy. I hope you can join us --
his session alone will be worth the price of
the ticket. To see what all of the excitement is
about, see below.
Yours for good investing, AEIOU,
Mark Skousen
Upcoming Appearances
FreedomFest, July 9-12, 2014 , Planet Hollywood,
Las Vegas : Here's what Rick Sampley , senior
vice president of Raymond James, wrote:
“During my entire career, I have never
before been to one venue that allowed me
access to and interaction with such a
concentration of great thinkers and financial
professionals. If one values capitalism and
practical approaches to navigating the daily
challenges of investing in these treacherous
times, then FreedomFest is a must. This is
truly a conference for great investment
thinkers and doers. A most impressive aspect
of FreedomFest was simply how the day to
day conference was managed: it ran like a
Swiss watch. Unlimited kudos to your
conference organizer. How did you manage
to get all these great people in one place at
one time and start and finish meetings right
on time… including all the wonderful
breakout sessions? During the conference I
met many people who have been coming to
FreedomFest for years… I will certainly be
one of them in the future." Why do Steve
Forbes, John Mackey, John Stossel , Alex Green,
Peter Schiff and dozens of other speakers
attend all three days? Find out by going to
www.freedomfest.com , or call Tami Holland,
1-866-266-5101 . Our room block at Planet
Hollywood is almost sold out, so hurry! The
big show is only three weeks away!
In case you missed it, I encourage you to read
my e-letter posted last week on Eagle Daily
Investor about whether the European Central
Bank’s interest rate cuts are good or bad .
You Blew It!
Thousands of Undocumented Children Flood the
United States
“Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants
who came to the United States as children will
be allowed to remain in the country without
fear of deportation.” -- President Barack
Obama (June 16, 2012)
When the Dream Act was not passed by
Congress a few years ago, President Obama
designed to take things into his own hands. In
2012, he signed executive action that allowed
800,000 young undocumented immigrants
under the age of 16 to stay in the United
States. “They are Americans in their heart, in
their minds, in every single way but one: on
paper,” he said.
Now we are paying the consequences.
Thousands of under-aged children are being
brought from Central America to the United
States and left there without their parents.
Word is spreading quickly that Homeland
Security won’t deport children if they are
from Canada or Mexico. As a result,
thousands of parentless children are crossing
the border. U.S. facilities in Texas are at or
near capacity for the immigrants because of a
"record increase in underage migrants,"
which led to the transfer of hundreds to
Arizona, a spokesman said. Talk about
expensive babysitting.
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