Volume III, Issue 5 / May 2009
Welcome Letter
Welcome back. ‘Twas a strange month indeed, full of hysteria and emotion-driven market swings. The piggy virus that was overhyped as if it were the end of mankind. Bernanke’s self-congratulatory rhetoric about being past the economic bottom. The government’s unethical influence over the Chrysler bankruptcy. We have come to the conclusion that the absolute best investment trend in the world is to bet on the continued expansion of the “stupidity bubble,” which seems to be growing faster than America’s monetary base.
Part of this trend is the overwhelming increase in people who are simply fed up – not in a reactionary, emotional sense, but in the purest medical definition: they simply have no more capacity to digest the erosion of their cultures. It is happening all around the world, from Canada to Japan. In our travels, we see expats everywhere — the Korean couple in the Philippines, the Australians in Panama, the Germans in Thailand, the Brits in South Africa, and the South Africans in Abu Dhabi.
The variance in people’s choices can seem strange at face value, but it only serves to prove the concept that a single location cannot be all things to all people. And the more people we interact with on the road, the more incensed we are to continue finding unique and interesting places for our subscribers. After all, a foreign domicile for your assets and even yourself could truly be life saving some day.
It’s no secret that we think exchange controls are coming in the United States. We see the gathering winds now in the way that the government has implemented the TALF and TARP programs. The Fed and Treasury Department are almost treating banks in the same way that the IMF treats third-world countries – dangling large sums of money in exchange for de facto servitude. In light of the U.S. government’s influence in other areas of the private sector, they will undoubtedly show equal virulence in banking.
We believe the end result will be a measurable decline in the free movement of capital, which will provide further argument against the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. We explore what this situation might look like in this month’s Over the Horizon, basing our premise in large part on the Chinese master plan and on recent news that the Middle East’s pan-Gulf currency plans have fallen apart.
We also write this month about a recently defamed country that made it all the way to the top of the OECD blacklist for having arguably the world’s strictest banking privacy laws… and as one of our local friends tells us, it’s what Hong Kong would look like if it were turned over to the Mexicans. Cinco de Mayo meets bank secrecy? Sign us up.
Later in this edition, we will discuss a new recommendation in a Chinese agriculture company whose market cap has been growing like a weed – or a virus, as it were. And to finish off this month, due to overwhelming request, we are reprinting an interview that was first run in BIG GOLD between Fitz and a couple of South American moguls who have lived through multiple economic disasters. We hope that you find their insight to be beneficial.
Lastly, we want to advise all subscribers of an important change to our publication as you will hear about shortly from Olivier. As the political and socioeconomic situation in the Western world deteriorates, we recognize that in addition to finding fantastically undervalued companies and overlooked locales, our publication needs to be more aggressive in providing actionable information relevant to the erosion of capitalism. Notwithstanding its First Amendment rights, Casey Research, a U.S.-based publishing company, felt that such taboo subjects could invite undue regulatory scrutiny and unwanted extra-legal enforcement from Uncle Sam.
After much hand wringing and exploration of alternatives in concert with Doug, David, and Olivier, we have all decided that Without Borders should be spun off outside of Casey Research and based overseas. Yours truly, Simon and Fitz, will continue to write the publication, but with a greater scope in what we are able to discuss.
Nothing about your subscription will change; but given the additional latitude, we will be announcing some enhancements to the publication as early as June, and we believe you will be quite pleased with them. We see this as a great opportunity to provide a higher-quality service, and we are deeply grateful for the continued support of Doug, David, Olivier, and the entire Casey Research team.
This post is just an excerpt from a full issue of Without Borders. If you would like to read the full article and gain exclusive access to all of the actionable investment intelligence that our current subscribers are profiting from every month, then we invite you to try out or subscription, risk-free, for 30 days. So, try it out today and discover a new world of undervalued opportunities – and a fresh new world perspective.