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Image | Sebastian Junger: Our Evolutionary Need For Community
Sebastian Junger: Our Evolutionary Need For Community
by Chris Martenson

Peabody award-winning author Sebastian Junger joins our podcast this week. Junger is well-known for his NYT-bestselling books The Perfect Storm and War, the latter of which was written after a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

Based on his observations while in Afghanistan, Junger noted how much troops in combat valued the social solidarity of their units. In fact, he noted that the loss of this cohesive community, with its sense of purpose and shared responsibility, created prodigious psychological strife when these soldiers returned and tried to re-integrate into civilian life. This dynamic is not just limited to the military; any collection of humans working in tight-knit groups under stress, united in purpose, evidences similar behavior (Peace Corps volunteers, trauma care physicians, etc).

In his latest book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Junger explores our evolutionary wiring for community, and paradoxically, how our modern aspirations for “success” and “wealth” attempt to distance ourselves from it — making us unhappier and emotionally unhealthier in the pursuit.

Sebastian Junger: Our Evolutionary Need For Community
 by Chris Martenson

Peabody award-winning author Sebastian Junger joins our podcast this week. Junger is well-known for his NYT-bestselling books The Perfect Storm and War, the latter of which was written after a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

Based on his observations while in Afghanistan, Junger noted how much troops in combat valued the social solidarity of their units. In fact, he noted that the loss of this cohesive community, with its sense of purpose and shared responsibility, created prodigious psychological strife when these soldiers returned and tried to re-integrate into civilian life. This dynamic is not just limited to the military; any collection of humans working in tight-knit groups under stress, united in purpose, evidences similar behavior (Peace Corps volunteers, trauma care physicians, etc).

In his latest book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Junger explores our evolutionary wiring for community, and paradoxically, how our modern aspirations for “success” and “wealth” attempt to distance ourselves from it — making us unhappier and emotionally unhealthier in the pursuit.

Image | Fortunes Will Be Made & Lost When Capital Flees To Safety
Fortunes Will Be Made & Lost When Capital Flees To Safety
by Chris Martenson

Little did I realize when creating the short video below how prescient it would quickly become in the wake of last night's Brexit vote…

It's message is simple: there's a preponderance of data that shows the world's major asset markets are dangerously overvalued. And when these asset bubbles start to burst, the 'save haven' markets that investment capital will try to flee to are ridiculously small. Investors who do not start moving their capital in advance of crisis will be forced to pay much higher prices for safety — or may find they can't get into these markets at any price.
Fortunes Will Be Made & Lost When Capital Flees To Safety
 by Chris Martenson

Little did I realize when creating the short video below how prescient it would quickly become in the wake of last night's Brexit vote…

It's message is simple: there's a preponderance of data that shows the world's major asset markets are dangerously overvalued. And when these asset bubbles start to burst, the 'save haven' markets that investment capital will try to flee to are ridiculously small. Investors who do not start moving their capital in advance of crisis will be forced to pay much higher prices for safety — or may find they can't get into these markets at any price.
Image | How My Personal Portfolio Is Positioned Right Now
How My Personal Portfolio Is Positioned Right Now
 PREVIEW
by Adam Taggart

Executive Summary

If you have not yet read Part 1: Fortunes Will Be Made & Lost When Capital Flees To Safety available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

So, given the conclusions in Part 1 — as well as the larger risks to the economy and financial markets that we analyze daily here at Peak Prosperity — how am I positioning my own personal investments?

I get asked this question often. Often enough that I'm deciding to open the kimono here and let it drop to the ground. Everyone interested to look will get the full frontal.

Before I do though, let me make a few things absolutely clear. This is NOT personal financial advice. The investment choices I've made are based on my own unique situation, financial goals and risk tolerance. And I may change these choices at any moment given new market developments. What's appropriate for me may not be for you, so DO NOT blindly duplicate what I'm doing.

As always, we recommend working with a professional financial adviser to build an investment plan customized to your own needs and objectives. (If you do not have a financial adviser or do not feel comfortable with your current adviser's expertise in the market risks we discuss here at PeakProsperity.com, consider scheduling a free consultation with our endorsed adviser)

Suffice it to say, any investment ideas sparked by this report should be reviewed with your financial adviser before taking any action. Am I being excessively repetitive here in order to drive this point home? Good…

OK, with that out of the way, let's get started. I'll walk through the asset classes I own and my rationale for holding each.

The strategy behind my portfolio allocation is of my own devise, though it has been influenced in no small part by the good folks at New Harbor Financial, Peak Prosperity's aforementioned endorsed financial adviser.

At a high level, it has been constructed to address my strongly-held conclusions that:

  • Prices of most asset classes are dangerously overvalued
  • The risk of another economic contraction on par with (or greater than) the Great Recession within the next 2-4 years is uncomfortably high
  • The most likely path is we will experience a short period of coming deflation, followed soon after by one of high inflation as central banks starting printing currency without restraint (the Ka-POOM theory)
  • Capital will increasingly want to flow from paper assets (tertiary wealth) into tangible ones (primary and secondary wealth)
  • This is a time to prioritize protecting capital (defense) over speculating on how to grow it (offense)
  • Diversification is wise: just be emotionally prepared that some of your bets, by definition, will not pay off
  • In today's world of financial repression, no asset class is truly "safe". As such, asset performance is all relative.

This is not a swing-for-the-fences portfolio. It's much more of a prepare-for-the-storm approach…

How My Personal Portfolio Is Positioned Right Now
 PREVIEW by Adam Taggart

Executive Summary

If you have not yet read Part 1: Fortunes Will Be Made & Lost When Capital Flees To Safety available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

So, given the conclusions in Part 1 — as well as the larger risks to the economy and financial markets that we analyze daily here at Peak Prosperity — how am I positioning my own personal investments?

I get asked this question often. Often enough that I'm deciding to open the kimono here and let it drop to the ground. Everyone interested to look will get the full frontal.

Before I do though, let me make a few things absolutely clear. This is NOT personal financial advice. The investment choices I've made are based on my own unique situation, financial goals and risk tolerance. And I may change these choices at any moment given new market developments. What's appropriate for me may not be for you, so DO NOT blindly duplicate what I'm doing.

As always, we recommend working with a professional financial adviser to build an investment plan customized to your own needs and objectives. (If you do not have a financial adviser or do not feel comfortable with your current adviser's expertise in the market risks we discuss here at PeakProsperity.com, consider scheduling a free consultation with our endorsed adviser)

Suffice it to say, any investment ideas sparked by this report should be reviewed with your financial adviser before taking any action. Am I being excessively repetitive here in order to drive this point home? Good…

OK, with that out of the way, let's get started. I'll walk through the asset classes I own and my rationale for holding each.

The strategy behind my portfolio allocation is of my own devise, though it has been influenced in no small part by the good folks at New Harbor Financial, Peak Prosperity's aforementioned endorsed financial adviser.

At a high level, it has been constructed to address my strongly-held conclusions that:

  • Prices of most asset classes are dangerously overvalued
  • The risk of another economic contraction on par with (or greater than) the Great Recession within the next 2-4 years is uncomfortably high
  • The most likely path is we will experience a short period of coming deflation, followed soon after by one of high inflation as central banks starting printing currency without restraint (the Ka-POOM theory)
  • Capital will increasingly want to flow from paper assets (tertiary wealth) into tangible ones (primary and secondary wealth)
  • This is a time to prioritize protecting capital (defense) over speculating on how to grow it (offense)
  • Diversification is wise: just be emotionally prepared that some of your bets, by definition, will not pay off
  • In today's world of financial repression, no asset class is truly "safe". As such, asset performance is all relative.

This is not a swing-for-the-fences portfolio. It's much more of a prepare-for-the-storm approach…

Image | Brexit Shocker!
Brexit Shocker!
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

The political and financial landscapes have been altered by last night upset "Leave" vote in Britain and now we have to try and make sense of the new terrain.

This is huge. Not that a Brexit 'Leave' vote has anything at all to with, say, Caterpillar’s earnings over the next few quarters. It has nothing at all to do with anything fundamental, but these “”markets”” have been anything but fundamental for years.

They've become gigantic, globally interconnected, leveraged speculating casinos. Nothing but a massive set of bubbles in search of a pin.

It looks like they may have just found one…
Brexit Shocker!
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

The political and financial landscapes have been altered by last night upset "Leave" vote in Britain and now we have to try and make sense of the new terrain.

This is huge. Not that a Brexit 'Leave' vote has anything at all to with, say, Caterpillar’s earnings over the next few quarters. It has nothing at all to do with anything fundamental, but these “”markets”” have been anything but fundamental for years.

They've become gigantic, globally interconnected, leveraged speculating casinos. Nothing but a massive set of bubbles in search of a pin.

It looks like they may have just found one…
Image | Off the Cuff: Things Are Toppy
Off the Cuff: Things Are Toppy
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

In this week's Off The Cuff podcast, Chris and Charles Hugh Smith discuss: The Fed's Empty Threat Could it really raise rates if it wanted to? Things Are Toppy And when they break, capital will flee into real "stuff" Brexit The Europeans are clearly worried about their banking system The Madness Of Crowds Desperate people…
Off the Cuff: Things Are Toppy
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

In this week's Off The Cuff podcast, Chris and Charles Hugh Smith discuss: The Fed's Empty Threat Could it really raise rates if it wanted to? Things Are Toppy And when they break, capital will flee into real "stuff" Brexit The Europeans are clearly worried about their banking system The Madness Of Crowds Desperate people…
Image | Dmitry Orlov: The US Is Sleepwalking Towards A Nuclear Confrontation
Dmitry Orlov: The US Is Sleepwalking Towards A Nuclear Confrontation
by Chris Martenson

Following his cautionary analysis on the increasing tension between the US/NATO and Russia, Chris interview Dmitry Orlov this week about the potential likelihood for actual direct conflict to break out between the world powers.

Orlov was born and raised in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States in the mid 70s, He has spent the past several decades traveling back and forth between the two countries, writing about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the many similarities he sees between that and the secular decline happening in the West. Orlov recently co-authored a stark warning with a number of other experts on Russia, concerned that the US is recklessly provoking a military confrontation it cannot win.
Dmitry Orlov: The US Is Sleepwalking Towards A Nuclear Confrontation
 by Chris Martenson

Following his cautionary analysis on the increasing tension between the US/NATO and Russia, Chris interview Dmitry Orlov this week about the potential likelihood for actual direct conflict to break out between the world powers.

Orlov was born and raised in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States in the mid 70s, He has spent the past several decades traveling back and forth between the two countries, writing about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the many similarities he sees between that and the secular decline happening in the West. Orlov recently co-authored a stark warning with a number of other experts on Russia, concerned that the US is recklessly provoking a military confrontation it cannot win.
Image | Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously
Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously
by Chris Martenson

As if there weren’t enough crises to worry about in the world already, from shooting rampages to accelerating species loss, the US and NATO continue to ‘poke the bear’ and risk an outbreak of war with Russia.

I wish this were idle speculation. But if you haven’t been paying close attention, you'll probably be shocked at just how much direct military and diplomatic provocation has been going on between NATO/US and Russia over the past several years — and in recent weeks, in particular.
Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously
 by Chris Martenson

As if there weren’t enough crises to worry about in the world already, from shooting rampages to accelerating species loss, the US and NATO continue to ‘poke the bear’ and risk an outbreak of war with Russia.

I wish this were idle speculation. But if you haven’t been paying close attention, you'll probably be shocked at just how much direct military and diplomatic provocation has been going on between NATO/US and Russia over the past several years — and in recent weeks, in particular.
Image | How To Prepare For War
How To Prepare For War
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

Executive Summary

  • How to Prepare for:
    • Trade War
    • Energy War
    • Financial War
    • Cyberwar
    • Grid-down attack
    • Conventional Shooting War
    • Nuclear War

If you have not yet read Part 1: Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

As a preamble, I need to note that I do not enjoy or derive any satisfaction from writing about or spending time on figuring out how to dodge the worst impacts of human behavior.  War sits right at the top of my ‘this is stupid’ list.  War should be the very last resort after all other diplomatic efforts have failed.  I am sorry that I have to spend time writing this report, and I am sorry that you have to spend time considering it.

As (sadly) expected, things have only escalated over the past several years, not deescalated.  The West has a serious bone to pick with Russia and nobody can rationally explain what or why that might be. I happen to think this is all about bruised neocon egos over Syria, while others think this is just military industrial business being waged in typical fashion.  But it really doesn’t matter what the explanation is; at this point we have to accept that things are at a dangerous point and do our best to respond appropriately.

The consequences of a war between Russia and the US/NATO could range from a very minor skirmish fought over some relatively meaningless items of trade, to an attack on financial markets, all the way to an all-out nuclear exchange.

The question becomes, what, if anything, can we do to prepare?

Lots as it turns out.

No matter where you live, even if you are close to Ukraine and face the prospect of being near a front line that might develop in the future, there is lots that you can and should do.  Luckily, most of the preparations are similar to those you should be undertaking anyways, war worries or not, so they won’t cost you anything extra in terms of time or money.

What you end up doing depends on which sort of war you consider most likely, where you happen to live, and your means.  So let’s consider the range of possibilities here…

How To Prepare For War
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Executive Summary

  • How to Prepare for:
    • Trade War
    • Energy War
    • Financial War
    • Cyberwar
    • Grid-down attack
    • Conventional Shooting War
    • Nuclear War

If you have not yet read Part 1: Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

As a preamble, I need to note that I do not enjoy or derive any satisfaction from writing about or spending time on figuring out how to dodge the worst impacts of human behavior.  War sits right at the top of my ‘this is stupid’ list.  War should be the very last resort after all other diplomatic efforts have failed.  I am sorry that I have to spend time writing this report, and I am sorry that you have to spend time considering it.

As (sadly) expected, things have only escalated over the past several years, not deescalated.  The West has a serious bone to pick with Russia and nobody can rationally explain what or why that might be. I happen to think this is all about bruised neocon egos over Syria, while others think this is just military industrial business being waged in typical fashion.  But it really doesn’t matter what the explanation is; at this point we have to accept that things are at a dangerous point and do our best to respond appropriately.

The consequences of a war between Russia and the US/NATO could range from a very minor skirmish fought over some relatively meaningless items of trade, to an attack on financial markets, all the way to an all-out nuclear exchange.

The question becomes, what, if anything, can we do to prepare?

Lots as it turns out.

No matter where you live, even if you are close to Ukraine and face the prospect of being near a front line that might develop in the future, there is lots that you can and should do.  Luckily, most of the preparations are similar to those you should be undertaking anyways, war worries or not, so they won’t cost you anything extra in terms of time or money.

What you end up doing depends on which sort of war you consider most likely, where you happen to live, and your means.  So let’s consider the range of possibilities here…

Image | The Approaching Moment Of Market Capitulation
The Approaching Moment Of Market Capitulation
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

Today, on Wednesday June 15th, the Fed made its latest 'non-decision' and did not raise interest rates. The stock market first rose but then tumbled, likely indicating that the Fed's magic is all used up. As we all know, that’s about the only thing that’s been keeping the stock market levitated of late.

I’m on record as saying that not only would the Fed not raise rates this meeting, but that their next move, when it arrives, will be to lower rates; not raise them.

Got that? Down; not up.
The Approaching Moment Of Market Capitulation
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Today, on Wednesday June 15th, the Fed made its latest 'non-decision' and did not raise interest rates. The stock market first rose but then tumbled, likely indicating that the Fed's magic is all used up. As we all know, that’s about the only thing that’s been keeping the stock market levitated of late.

I’m on record as saying that not only would the Fed not raise rates this meeting, but that their next move, when it arrives, will be to lower rates; not raise them.

Got that? Down; not up.
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