Kerry Lutz's--Financial Survival Network

August was quite a month! Major stock markets in the US continued their ascent. Same with emerging markets. TSX was down, TSX-V was up. The real action was in Bitcoin; it was up 66%. Metals were all up over the month, Gold was up 4%. Pt and Pd each up 6%. Copper up nearly 7%. Energy took a hit, WTI down 8.4%, Brent down 3.5%. Natgas was up after 3 down months. Uranium was flat. Currencies saw the Greenback decline slightly and the Euro up slightly. Rate on the 10 year T Bond plunged to 2.12. And again Bitcoin was up 66%. in the world of ratios Gold/Silver is still over 75.3. See you next month!

Looks like we're not gonna dodge a bullet on this one. Hurricane Irma is headed straight for FL. Where it goes from there is anyone's guess. It's got the potential to become a CAT 5 storm, the worst possible. I'm debating whether to go or to stay. Not sure what to do. What would you do? I'm 11 miles from the ocean, but it won't be far enough.

Welfare state in NY is buzzing along as expected. Now Legal Aid is suing the City trying to get rights for homeless tenants who's rent is being paid for by the taxpayers. They want them to be protected by rent stabilization, a right that's thus far only been enjoyed by paying tenants. Whatever happened to beggars can't be choosers? 

Finally gold keeps going up. $1376 is the magic number/resistance point. Where will it go from there?

Author Jim Mosquera joined us. He's got a new book out: Escaping Oz: An Observer’s Reflections which is a companion book to the rest of the Escaping Oz series. In today's economic and political climate, protecting yourself means asking the right questions. You can't ask the right questions if your mind's encumbered by what you think you may understand. Who's the man behind the curtain? What's this thing we call money? It's not what you think. Is there really such a thing as a trillion dollar coin? And interesting interview. 

First it was Hurricane Harvey, now we're looking at Hurricane Irma. Then there's North Korea in the background threatening a global conflagration. What can the US do about it? Are we getting to the point where events are rapidly cascading out of control? Has it become obvious that markets and Mother Nature are way more powerful than the desires of man? Let's see what happens next.

Ned Schmidt joined us today. He's bullish on precious metals. Due to Hurricane Harvey and the upcoming disaster of Hurricane Irma, the Fed will be printing money non-stop for years to come. You see it in the sudden rise of the Looney and Aussie Dollar. He's not too enthused about my concept of the tulip backed crypto-currency. Try buying a beer or a cup of coffee with one and see what happens. In other matters, Hurricane Irma's path could lead it to do widespread crop damage right at the harvest. No one knows where it goes after Florida. Agricultural commodities were on a tear before the hurricanes, but have taken a breather. Let's see what happens next. 

China's supposedly coming out with an oil contract that can be settled in gold. Let's see if it really happens. Gold is up nearly 10 bucks the ounce today at $1334 and Silver is getting closer and closer to 18 bucks the ounce. 

Comrade deBlasio (whom we are extremely grateful to for his endless contributions to the show) has done it again. Governor Cuomo has come out against his efforts to take down the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Square (I know it's round) in NYC. The moron Comrade has ignited a fire storm of controversy over this non-issue. It's all a smoke screen for a party that has no message and a proven inability to lead. 

Is North Korea for real or is it just a province of China? Kim gets his marching orders from Beijing, plain and simple. And he's dancing to their tune. Trump has threatened to cut off trade to all countries trading with the Norks. This would send the world into a global depression, the likes of which would make the 1930's a walk in the park. Let's hope it never happens, because then a war could very well become inevitable. 

Will cooler heads prevail? 

The final tally from Hurricane Harvey has yet to be counted, but the state's governor is throwing around numbers of around $180 billion. Houston is vital to the US economy and Congress loves to throw money around, so figure that they'll get it. And there's no other way than for the Feds to get involved. Private will be vital, but nobody writes checks like Uncle Same. 

Gold is trading around $1325 the ounce and Silver is getting close to the $18 mark. Sure there's a lot of fear and loathing with North Korea, but there's a hidden cycle at work. Eric Hadek has been forecasting this price movement since 2015, and here we are. 

Andy Hoffman will be back on the show September 12th or 13th. Keep a look out for him. He's got a lot to say. 

And as always there's lots more. 

Kerry Lutz, Founder and host of The Financial Survival Network, returns to Reluctant Preppers to offer his perspectives on the direction and major upcoming triggers we need to prepare for in the financial world that WILL impact our economic lives!

Surrounding the Lehmans Brothers collapse of 2008, the managers of our financial world were, in their own words, "standing on the precipice and staring into the abyss," and narrowly evaded a total economic collapse. After almost a decade of unprecedented stop-gaps: zero and negative interest rates, exchange stabilization, and plunge protection, how does today's risk stack up? Are your retirement accounts any safer now than during the largest bank bailout of all time, or is your nest-egg truly in much greater peril?

 

 

Nationalism is a buzzword pulled straight from today’s headlines. But did you know that a large part of the Reformation was driven by nationalism? Find out how in The Reformation 500 Years Later: 12 Things You Need To Know (releases August 28th.)

500 years after Martin Luther allegedly nailed his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Castle Church, popular historian Benjamin Wiker PhD reveals 12 little known facts about the historical event that impacts every last one of us.

In The Reformation 500 Years Later: 12 Things You Need to Know, Professor Wiker reveals:

Why Islam and secularism, major threats to Christianity today, were also major factors influencing the Reformation

How Luther inspired radical reformers whom he actually despised

How bad popes were even worse than you think

Why nationalism was as much a force in the Reformation as religious reform was

How the Catholic Church was in dire need of reform—and how it had benefited from continual reform over the course of its then 1,500-year history

How the invention of the printing press both helped and harmed the Reformation

Why another Reformation is inevitable—and what course it might take

Bob Hoye joined us to talk about markets. He believes there's a contraction coming. The current bull markets in stocks and unfortunately the pro-business Trump admin won't be enough to rescue markets, both stock and credit. We're on the path that leads to a contraction. While there's no guarantee that markets will follow the past, there's no guarantee they won't. So it's safer to follow the tried and true path. When the contraction comes, the price of gold will move up. Stocks may take a temporary hit as the greater market contracts. Lot's more. Have a list of the gold stocks you want to buy because you'll probably have an opportunity in November to buy them at a substantial discount. 

Things in Houston are far worse than the media is letting on. The damage has been devastating and has effected millions of people. Most of them are un/under-insured. Get ready for helicopter money. But have we finally encountered a situation that we may be unable to print our way of. And let's see how those dams hold up. More havoc could be on the way. 

David Morgan's been following precious metals markets for 40 years. During this time he's seen a lot. He thinks that the current rally which broke through $1300 without breaking a sweat will soon be over. The silver to gold ratio is not narrowing and that's a negative sign. There's a lot more problems out there than anyone politician wants to admit. Eventually those problems will percolate to the surface making the crash of 2008-09 appear as a minor blip. Are you ready? 

Antifa and Black Lives Matter are out of control. The police have been told to stand down in the face of repeated attacks by these groups. We discuss with George Matheis, our all around self-defense expert, how to avoid triggering these thugs. It might be a good idea to put your MAGA hat away and avoid putting certain bumper stickers on your vehicle. 

George has a new business. He's training service dogs and loving every minute of it. He had a bad case of PTSD and has found that his service dog has always got his back. Dogs are also ideal for home defense, more sensitive than even the best alarm system. 

A clandestine war is being waged against the Trump administration by rogue elements of the intelligence community, with the collusion of the media and liberal establishment. It amounts to an intelligence coup against the Trump presidency. In ROGUE SPOOKS: The Intelligence War on Donald Trump, bestselling author Dick Morris uncovers the facts behind allegations of foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

This groundbreaking expose will leave readers questioning the motives of U.S. Intelligence agencies, leftover partisans within our government, and members of the mainstream press.

Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were roiled by allegations of treasonous contacts between his campaign team and the Kremlin to rig the election. These outrageous charges first surfaced in the notorious “Trump Dossier,” an unverified document of suspect provenance, full of wild and salacious accusations.

This dossier—filled with little more than gossip, rumor, and innuendo––was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence operative who teamed up with the FBI and anti-Trump partisans. Hillary Clinton supporters paid for Steele’s work.

When no news media would publish the unverified dossier, the ex-spook enlisted the help of a former UK ambassador to Russia, who arranged in turn for a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State to get the document to Senator John McCain, in the hope that he would then bring it to FBI Director James Comey’s attention. McCain did just that.

Comey himself played a critical role in the dossier ultimately going public, giving a confidential summary to President Obama and Congressional leaders. It was immediately leaked by rogue spooks in order to demean, destabilize, and destroy Donald Trump’s nascent presidency.

The dossier and this mythical intelligence are the basis for the phony claims about a Russia/Trump collusion to steal the election. No proof was found. No substantiation uncovered. Even Comey told Trump he was not under investigation for the Russian meddling charges. But that didn’t end the leaks or the allegations. Working in concert with liberal news outlets, these rogue spooks have formed a new intel/media complex that threatens our democracy. ROGUE SPOOKS will reveal how it works.

The many questions Dick Morris answers in ROGUE SPOOKS:

Was Russia the only nation meddling in the presidential election, or were the Brits at it too?
Are there still Obama moles burrowed into the FBI, CIA and the White House, sabotaging the Trump administration?
Did the FBI offer to pay the author of the infamous “Trump Dossier” $50,000 of taxpayer money to verify the dossier’s allegations, while he was also being paid by Clinton supporters?
What are the likely next moves of the leaders of the coup, and how can Trump defeat them?

In ROGUE SPOOKS, readers will be shocked to learn the truth about the false accusations against President Trump in the flawed dossier. They’ll be interested to know how leaks to the media fueled the phony scandal, and how intelligence agencies will try to use the newly appointed special prosecutor to oust President Trump. They will also learn what we can do—specifically—to stop them.

Today gold broke $1300 per oz. Is it hallelujah time? Let's see what happens. Gold's price behavior has changed markedly over the past 3 months. We're seeing higher highs and higher lows. Sounds like a trend change to the uninitiated. However, we do have the overhang of a very negative COT report. This probably means that we're going to see a reversal, but it might very well be shortly lived. Exciting times. 

For 30 years Angela Sloan, CEO and founder of Sloan Financial Group, has dedicated herself to helping her clients secure their financial affairs. Unfortunately at a young age, she was swindled out of her life savings by her “trusted” advisor. This misfortune motivated Angela to make it her life’s work to keep bad things from happening to good people.

Angela believes our economy has a good outlook but we know that history does repeat itself. After going through 9-11 and the financial crisis of 2008 and looking at the situation in the Middle East & North Korea one can’t help but be a little cautious. Prepare your portfolio for a quick move if needed but still have it to where you can capture the growth that the markets are experiencing.

With that said Angela is excited about this market and our economic growth. It's great to finally see businesses excited. We are going to set even more records this year especially if the healthcare bill is resolved and President Trump’s tax plan is approved.

Our prayers go out to all you FSN community members in Texas suffering the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Be safe and be smart.

Talked with Andy Hoffman, he's still going to be around and promises you'll be the first to know.

All this talk of removing confederate monuments is contrived manufactured controversy from the Left. They stand for nothing but divisiveness and preying upon dissatisfaction. This will prove to be a world class blunder on their part.

Speaking of which, the GOPe or Establishment is blundering in their Trumpian Opposition. It's backfiring on them now as at least four GOPe senators are facing serious primary challenges from the pro-Trump forces. It's getting very interesting!

From Trump the candidate to Trump (the President), a world of difference. What does the word WIN means, for us, in Afghanistan, after 16 years? And, Trump (the President) takes credit for the record Dow, the GDP, the unemployment rate and draining the swamp (to be replaced with Generals and Goldman Sachs Alumni). Trump (the candidate) would be appalled and would call it the actions of "crooked Hillary".

Molly Montgomery is the founder of Ascension, a startup advisory firm that helps high performing entrepreneurs and visionary leaders grow or scale their company with confidence. Using forensic techniques to help clients fuel growth and increase profits, Molly helps entrepreneurs develop, manage and grow the financial foundation of their company, while helping them understand their financial data and discovering new ways to measure and assess performance. Her role is often keeping a startup out of trouble's path. Solid systems combined with a dose of planning goes a long way. 

As talks get underway for renegotiating NAFTA it now seems as though much of the rhetoric form the campaign has gone away and more modest changes are being looked at.

Rather than getting rid of NAFTA all together, which would have major widespread implications, things being discussed should include tougher enforcement on regulations in Mexico and bringing new technology into the conversation that didn't exist or was just emerging when NAFTA was created.

I think this will be an important negotiation to watch. Many believed that this administration would be able to spur the U.S. economy, through dealing that should be "pro-business," though there hasn't been much actual development towards the improvement of businesses, however, this could be an opportunity to start making tangible steps towards that goal.

Google has declared war on conservatives and those who don't agree with liberals. All of his YouTube videos have been de-monetized. All in the name of diversity. There are companies coming out that will take on the entrenched media/internet companies and will succeed. It's just a matter of time. Faster than you could topple a Robert E. Lee statue. Time to take the internet back. 

Chris Reining became financially independent at 35 by saving $1mm, then quit his job and retired at 37. (Now in his spare time he teaches others how they can do it too.)
Key Takeaways:
1. Automating your personal finances to find hidden income
2. How to start investing in the market, and the one thing to stop doing
3. Why anyone can retire early

The tragedy in Charlottesville could have been an occasion to stop and consider how the tolerance for politically correct violence and politically correct hatred is leading the nation towards civil war. Instead the media and the political left have turned this incident into the biggest fake news story of the summer, transforming its real lessons into a morality play that justifies war against the political right, and against white people generally.

The organizers of the “Unite the Right” demonstration in Charlottesville were repellent racists. But they came to defend a historic monument honoring a complex man and cause, and not to attack it or presumably anyone else. They applied for a permit and were denied. They re-applied successfully in a petition supported by the local ACLU. If they had come to precipitate violence, why would they have gone to the tedious trouble of applying for a permit? Who knows what – if anything – would have happened if that had been the end of the story and no one had showed up to oppose them.

What “Unite the Right” actually demonstrated was that the assortment of neo-Nazis, pro-Confederates and assorted yahoos gathered under the banner of the “Alt-Right” is actually a negligible group. This was a national show of strength that in reality attracted all of 500 people. Compare that to the tens of the thousands who can readily be marshalled by two violent groups of the left – Black Lives Matter and Antifa – and you get an idea of how marginal “white supremacists” are to America’s political and cultural life.

Dr. John Huber joined us for a discussion of so-called hate groups and the recent riot at Charlottesville, VA. Taking down monuments isn't going to end hate. Symbols of the old South have become a flashpoint for numerous groups on the left. Where is it going to end?  Neo-Nazis and the KKK are fringe groups at best and have no voice in contemporary America. They are truly marginal. 

Dee Carter joined us today. He enjoys bringing stability and peace of mind to his retirement planning clients. 'When the market drops 300 points in one day, I don't worry because my clients still make money' he says. That is why I specialize in safe-money solutions...so my clients can sleep well at night.' It's important to learn from your parents' mistakes and Dee is trying to help his clients do just that.