Kerry Lutz's--Financial Survival Network

Eric joined us to give his views on market action. Gold followed according to expectations, rallying the end of the year and into February. He's expecting it to go lower heading into March and then reassert the bullish trend through November. Oil went higher and then corrected slightly, probably in anticipation of higher prices later in the year. The dollar had a bounce and is likely to head lower later in the year. And stock markets are showing much more volatility and getting ready lower prices. 2950-2980 in the Stoxx 50 index is the important level to watch. They could be heading to their 2016 lows, which would trigger some liquidation in markets around the globe. Finally, when Bitcoin saw its final surge into December it was indicator of things to come in other markets. As a result gold saw a surge from anti-dollar money flowing into it. It's got a few more months to go before it goes into the next uptrend. 

We're doomed! So says our good friend Steve St. Angelo. The return on energy invested (eroi) is going down to crisis levels. This will result in a future crisis and this is what assures the ultimate value of gold and silver. That's why there's so much debt holding up the edifice of the economy. Once the debt goes, everything goes with it. 

Noted author and activist David Horowitz joined us to talk about the real racism in America today. As a practical matter, institutionalized racism against African-Americans is all but gone. But racism against whites is all the rage and perfectly acceptable. David believes that President Trump is a beacon of light on the subject. He doesn't kow-tow to political correctness and calls it the way he sees, such as when he called Liddle Adam Schiff a liar. David believes that we all need to speak out now before it's too late. 

The market has been going up and was heading towards overvaluation, but its recent pullback made things a bit more fairly valued. While this bull is getting long of tooth, that doesn't mean it can't continue to increase and reach new heights. Nobody knows what the future economy is going to look like next week, let alone next month next year. So what's an investor to do? Jeff says it all depends upon your timeframe. If you can stay in for 5 years or more, you have a 75% chance of recovering from any decline. Less time than that and you're taking a big risk. So let's see what happens next. 

Unemployment at all time lows, consumer confidence at all time highs, what could possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong? Well according to Charles Nenner, a lot. These are actually contrary indicators that show the economy is close to a peak. If he's right, and there's every reason to believe he is, then there's rough sledding ahead. We may be getting close to a recession. He sees the dollar heading higher shortly, the VIX Index bottoming and higher oil prices ahead. Gold/silver will be turning the corner after the summer. Check out his twitter feed @NennerResearch.

Business schools teach that the most important prerequisite for starting a business is a business plan. Nonsense, says Carl Schramm in Burn the Business Plan, who for a decade headed the most important foundation devoted to entrepreneurship in this country. Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google are just a few of the companies that began without one.

Schramm explains that the importance of a business plan is only one of the many misconceptions about starting a company. Another is the myth of the kid genius—that all entrepreneurs are young software prodigies. In fact, the average entrepreneur is thirty-nine years old and has worked in corporate America for at least a decade. Schramm discusses why people with work experience in corporate America have an advantage as entrepreneurs. For one thing, they often have important contacts in the business world who may be customers for their new service or product. For another, they often have the opportunity to strategize with knowledgeable people and get valuable advice.

Burn the Business Plan tells stories of successful entrepreneurs in a variety of fields. It shows how knowledge, passion, determination, and a willingness to experiment and innovate are vastly more important than financial skill. This is an important, motivating look at true success that dispels the myths and offers invaluable real-world advice on how to achieve your dreams.

George Matheis has branched out. He's now training dogs for personal protection. Whether it's a German Shepherd or a Chihuahua, a dog can be an invaluable layer of protection in your home or your life. Since they can perceive danger, hear far off potential intruders and defend their master to the end, they're better than any alarm or other self-defense tool. 

As John sees it, the latest tax cut has merely cleared the way for even more stock buybacks. This does nothing to help the employees or the economy, but the management will profit handsomely. And therein lies the problem. While the employees are getting modest bonuses and raises, upper management is scoring big time. This will eventually lead to unrest and rebellion. Let's see if he's right or if the tax cuts benefit the economy bigly. 

Nick Santiago called the market almost perfectly the last time we spoke with him. Markets, while not crashing, would start to become far more volatile and this would present amazing opportunities. According to Nick, we're no longer in a "buy and hold" market. Rather, to make money now, you need to be a market technician and watch for the signs. But there's hope, this is exactly what Nick's been doing for over a decade. And he's looking forward to capitalizing on these hidden opportunities to build wealth. The good news is Nick doesn't see a bear market for many years. The Trump Train has left the station. 

Andrew Z believes that the economy, especially the job market, is looking highly favorable. As a result, wage inflation is happening and therefore the Fed is more likely to raise rates than to leave them unchanged. Spending is going up and so are real wages for the first time in decades. Therefore, the market was overtaken by fears of higher rates and less spending. However, these fears might have been overblown. In any event, it's not over yet. Volatility is the byword. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. As this article is written, Bitcoin is trading around $8300. It’s up from breaking the $6000 barrier, but this could well be a dead cat bounce. That’s down from nearly $20,000 in mid December. After all, everyone knows that Bitcoin only goes up. Just like the stock market and housing prices. What gives? What’s happened in cryptocurrencies was completely predictable. In fact, I wrote an article about this very scenario back on December 25, 2017.

Of course no one listened, because when you’re under the influence of dopamine (a powerful neurotransmitter) you’re unable to listen to reason and act accordingly. Effortlessly making money in a bubble is quite gratifying and euphoria inducing. No one wants to come down from the high, you want it to keep going forever. But nothing lasts forever, especially financial driven manias. Just ask the tulip farmers in Holland.

What's up with Memo-gate, Q Anon and the coming storm surge in Washington DC. One thing is for certain, things will never be the same in our nation's capitol. 

There were many weather related stories in 2016 and tragedies they controlled our newsfeed. What were the most severe of the year?

A survey shows millennials are missing out on practical skills such as map reading or fishing, compared to other generations. When asked to perform some simple tasks such as forming a single knot or swimming a short distance, more than half were unable to accommodate.

Researchers also found that most people under the age of 44 prefer to use Google Maps and Satellite Navigation to get around, but half of over-55s stick to a paper street map. On top of that, just a third of the 2,000 surveyed knew how to spark a flame by natural means. How will these people ever be ready for survival?

Disaster Preparation Authority and Author Anthony Kovic is properly versed in the area of preparation and uses the info in his books to help people cope with the fear of impending severe weather.

Anthony Kovic can discuss this by answering the following:
* Why are millennials so out of touch?
* Why is the weather becoming more severe and what can be done to prepare for it?
* What are some of the impacts of severe winter weather?
* What the steps to take to be ready for an Emergency?
* How long should your survival kit be built to last?
* Why is it important to be ready for an unexpected disaster?

The market finally had a pullback. Was it just a 3 day event or is this just the beginning? Paper profits aren't real money until you sell or liquidate. It's always better to sell before the crash, but why are so few unable to execute? It's all tied into the human psyche. Dopamine is so good, we want the good times to keep rolling along. But they don't and you need to be prepared. Otherwise, you'll be left taking out usurious payday loans and that's a losing strategy. 

What a great combination, Amazon, JP Morgan-Chase and Berkshire Hathaway are teaming up to provide healthcare. In big business we trust, or do we? Dr. George believes that nothing good can come of such a combination. They will further shift the system away from the patient and towards the payers. Imagine Amazon telling you where to buy drugs or Berkshire tells you what doctor you can see. While this is taking place, the free market is giving patients greater choices than ever. Find out how you can opt out of the system. Dr. George makes it easy. 

Ned Schmidt believes that investing will be quite easy this year and next, sell stocks and buy gold. He believes it will crash down to 16,000 for 2019. US Stocks are dead for the next few years. This run-up was debt financed with substantial increases in margin debt. Every parabolic move ends with a crash and this one is no different. So get ready. 

Legendary investor Frank Holmes returned to discuss the latest developments at his cryptocurrency miner Hive Blockchain Technologies. Our sponsor, Hive raised over $200 million last quarter and is poised to attain profitability in the very near future. The recent cryptocurrency decline hasn't had much affect on the company. They were profitably mining Ethereum when it was $300 and it's close to $900 now. And come September, they'll be mining Bitcoin too. Everything is looking up for this crypto miner.

In just a few short months we've gone from a stock market that was almost completely devoid of fear to one that is driven by it. Just look at the volatility index, it went from 11 in December to over 50 last week. It's settled down quite a bit, but it's still around 27. If John is right, this trend will continue into the future and could mean big gains and losses too. 

Staggered by Donald Trump’s unthinkable victory in the presidential election, Democrats have continued to be pummeled by the Trump’s tax reform, the supercharged economy, his withering tweet-scorn for them and their media flunkies, their own failed government shut-down, and a rousing State of the Union address that raised his poll numbers and made the Democrat Congressmen in the audience look like pouting prom wallflowers. And now comes the “Memo,” the House Intelligence Committee’s exposure of the slow-motion coup engineered by partisan FBI and DOJ functionaries, and other deep-state members of the “resistance.” Now it’s up to “We the People” to demand accountability from these abusers of the public trust and violators of the Constitution.

The Deep State of the Union Address really showed a totally defeated and humiliated Democratic Party. They sat there stone faced and petulant. The Democratic Party is dead. Perhaps a new party will arise from its ashes.

The Bitcoin bust should come as no surprise to any listeners and readers of FSN. However, what may come as a surprise is that it's not over yet. We're going to see repeated bubbles in the Cryptocurrency space. That's just the nature of the market. Perhaps we really do need a gold-back, gold-convertible Crypto. That could have a market stabilizing effect  and make the Gold Crypto the reserve crypto currency. 

Car scams are all the rage these days. Scammers get you to wire money for a car that they've advertised. They get your money and you never get the car. It all seems so real and that's why we get so easily fooled. Another major scam is that fraudsters send you a link to report a fraud to the FBI. But it's not the FBI you're sending all your personal info to, and they quickly drain your bank accounts and run up your credit cards. The scams keep on coming!

New research by Dr. Lott using data on all the prisoners in the Arizona state prison from 1985 through June 2017 shows that illegal immigrants were 2.4 times more likely to be convicted of crime than U.S. citizens and they were 45% more likely to be members of gangs. This is the first data to allow researchers to clearly separate out the criminal behavior of legal and illegal immigrants.

Dr. John Lott is, without exception, the most prolific and influential writer on the topic of gun violence and gun control. He has credentials that would make most academics envious—with various stints at Stanford, Rice, UCLA, Wharton, Cornell, the University of Chicago and Yale. He now takes you deep inside the world of immigration and his views on its place in America!

Some of Jason's observations about the economy and investing. 

Dow falls 300 points as slump extends into second day
The Dow dropped more than 300 points Tuesday.

Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon's plan to get into the health insurance business sent health care companies tumbling. UnitedHealth (UNH) fell 3%, CVS(CVS) was off 5%, and Walgreens (WBA) shed 3%.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Apple will make 20 million fewer iPhone X's this coming quarter than it had originally planned. The iPhone X, Apple's newest and most expensive phone, hit stores in November. Apple will give investors an update on sales Thursday during its year-end earnings report.

Apple (AAPL) sank 1% early Tuesday.

The market selloff so far is just minor turbulence in a relentless climb. The Dow closed down 177 points Monday, its worst day since September.

If the Dow closes down by more than 100 points Tuesday, it will be the first time since April 19 and only the third time since the November 2016 election that the Dow has fallen triple digits two sessions in a row.

"With higher interest rates globally and the State Of The Union speech on tap tonight, this could simply be some end of month jockeying," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist with LPL Research.

The Dow is up 8,000 points since President Trump's election. A growing global economy, strong corporate earnings and a wave of consumer confidence are pushing stocks higher. Congress' tax cuts and Trump's deregulation agenda have investors and CEOs feeling optimistic.

Gerard Lameiro joined us today for an interesting discussion about the scandals surrounding President Trump. They're not Trump's scandals but those conducted by the Deep State to keep him from the presidency, both during the election and after. There's something very rotten in DC (District of Criminals) and for whatever reason, they despise the President. It's all coming out soon. Will Trey Gowdy be appointed Deputy Attorney General or Clinton Special Prosecutor?

Jeffrey Christian joined us today. We discussed the stock market, precious metals and Bitcoin. Jeff believes that Bitcoin is relatively unimportant at this point. Because it's so small in terms of investors and dollars, central banks are willing to let the market do its thing and sort out the cryptocurrency space, at least for now. He believes that recent stock market decline is temporary, but further down the road there's going to be a major decline. As always, he endorses gold as the ultimate insurance policy and believes everyone should have some. And he's bullish about its investment potential going out a number of years. He says the people buying today are not the fear motivated buyers of yesteryear, but rather they perceive it to be an undervalued asset and are seeking capital appreciation. That's a big change in the market and will have major future consequences. 

Over the last few weeks there has been more than enough bad news (Korea, Bitfinex, Tether, India, etc.) to point the finger at why we've seen such a big sell-off. From a technical trading standpoint, you can also point to the charts. In a little over a month, from November 11th to December 17th, Bitcoin was up 260%...this is a big move. As of today, we've retraced (or given back) nearly 75% of that move just described. Jared is currently looking at the next support level coming in at around 8588 and some change. With the SEC and CFTC chiefs set to meet with the Senate next week (on February 6th), and doesn't expect to see much of any bullish activity until the uncertainty of that hearing has passed.