A Super-Size Friday Mailbag!

Sorry for the delay, but the world was moving fast! [The Rude Awakening] July 28, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( A Super-Size Friday Mailbag! - M3? Never heard of it… - Sending the boys to the Ukrainian meat grinder. - Money laundering and GDP: how are those productivity numbers going? [Tiny AI Stock Targeted For Buyout Deal?]( [A massive buyout alert has just been issued]( on a tiny AI company that could skyrocket in the coming months, weeks, even days. And according to James Altucher, a man who has made millions of dollars on these kinds of deals… This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to make a fortune. He’s revealing all of the details in the video below (including a leaked memo from Google) [Click here to learn more]( You can watch it by [clicking here](. [Click Here To Learn More]( [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Happy Friday from gorgeous and relatively cool Northern Italy! You’re going to need a double for this super-size Rude. I don’t know what the Klimate Klowns™ are on about, but we spent a perfectly seasonable day driving around the Langhe Valley yesterday. Pam’s parents hadn’t been there yet, so we took them to Barbaresco and La Morra. I forgot to take pictures in Barbaresco, but here are some from La Morra: The view from Belvedere di La Morra; Credit: Sean Ring Torre Campanaria di La Morra; Credit: Sean Ring And my favorite: Credit: Sean Ring The translation: The Marcarini wine shop has the cure! That’s probably better advice than you’d get from most quacks! With that said, let’s get to the mailbag. Ukraine I so agree with you, Sean, regards the call-up of 3,000 Reservists for ESCALATING this Ukraine mess. Also, note the commitment to cluster bombs. I have been on battlefields shortly after they were cluster-bombed. NOT pretty, and this commitment now in UKR definitely is wrong!! Don E. Thanks for writing, Don. I’m with you on the cluster bombs as well—awful things. Don’t you think the bribes would be even bigger if a country wants out of NATO? Ha-ha. Jim T. Ha! Jim, thanks to Viktor Orban and his Hungarians, we may test your theory very soon! Hello Sean, Avid reader, article saver, and first-time communicator. You probably know that the Putin links you have in today's article are not available on YouTube in the United States. Yet another form of sanctions, right? Keep up the fabulous work. Wayne M. Hi Wayne! Thanks for writing in and for the kind words. I didn’t know that at all, but I’m not surprised. They’ll do anything to keep Americans from the truth. Vesper Lind of Casino Royale fame said, “You’re the money.” If you knew what was happening, The Bank of the American Taxpayer would close. Live and Learn Hi Sean, I’ve been reading Rude for over 2 years now. I just want to say thanks for your knowledge and insight on so many things. I sometimes struggle through the technicalities of some of the financials but enjoy it all. Kat S. Hi Kat! Thank you for sticking with me for so long! At the same time, I encourage you to continue. Because one day, those technicalities will become clear. You’ll have mastered something new and have another arrow in your quiver. It’s a pleasure to share the journey with you. Hey Sean, welcome back to NY. I read the Rude on the LIRR every day and really enjoy the insight. Let me know if I can buy you a beer at the Wheeltapper. While you are here in NYC have a look at the commercial real estate situation. I still see half-empty floors that are occupied and lots of unoccupied floors. Even in the high-end Hudson Yards buildings. And yet there is still scaffolding on every street. How long is this sustainable? How long can businesses bide their time before they give up the space? When do loans stop being paid by the property owners? Thanks, Steve G. Steve, I know this will sound like bullshit, but I wanted to catch up for a beer. But after teaching a full day, I need to return to my hotel room to write the Rude. I will bribe Byron and Zach to fill in for me next time! As for commercial real estate, my theory is this: everyone around the table is holding a crappy hand, but no one wants to fold yet. Because once they do, the entire house of cards is coming down. With that said, I’d encourage you to follow our friend Danielle DiMartino Booth on Twitter ([@DiMartinoBooth]( who’s forgotten more about US corporate real estate than I know. Have a look at this, which explains much: Credit: [@DiMartinoBooth]( Hi Sean, I really enjoy your daily newsletter during the week: it is insightful, informative, and educational. My son wants to go to Italy, and because your newsletter expanding my knowledge of your world, we are now planning the trip. Requesting a favor: would you please be so kind as to tell all of your subscribers about your other newsletters that you write and how we can subscribe to it or them? And the other thing, a suggestion is, over time to introduce us to the other newsletter writers that are a part of Paradigm! Thanks, Richard H. Hi Richard! Thanks for the kind words. I’m happy to hear about your Italy trip. Stop in Asti for lunch, at the very least! As for my scribblings, there’s the Rude and the Thursday morning edition of the [Daily Reckoning](. I also appear on Rickards Uncensored once a month to give Jim, Byron, Dan, and Zach a break. As for my fabulous colleagues, Brian Maher’s Daily Reckoning and Dave Gonigam’s 5 Bullets are our free offerings. Jim Rickards, Byron King, and Dan Amoss form the backbone of Strategic Intelligence and other offerings. Jim’s “Banker,” Zach Scheidt, writes the Rich Retirement Letter and the Income Alliance, among others. Alan Knuckman heads up our options at the Profit Wire. Ray Blanco heads up our tech letters, and James Altucher is in charge of crypto. They’re all excellent, and [you can find them all right here](. [Exposed: Biden’s 2022 mistake to cost him election?]( [James Altucher]( Will this ugly scandal doom Biden in 2024? In February 2022, [Joe Biden made the most dangerous mistake]( any President has made in the past 150 years. If it all plays out like Jim Rickards is predicting… Biden’s blunder will soon cost good Americans EVERYTHING. There’s still time to protect your money. But you can’t wait. [Click Here To Learn More]( Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics Today’s report was excellent, thank you for the education. Investopedia states that M3 has largely been abandoned but is reported for historical comparison purposes. Care to comment? James T. Thanks, James! The official reasons for giving up M3 were cost concerns, the limited added value of keeping track of the number, and its lack of role in monetary policy. Of course, I think it’s bullshit, and they didn’t want the world to know how many dollars were out there. In regards to your "Rude Awakening" for 25-July-2023… I think those OECD numbers of labor productivity are suspect, being inflated by intangible nonphysical products in the finance world. The 2 leftmost countries listed, Ireland and Luxembourg, are known as "money-washing havens" for many big corporations, but you already knew that given your background in finance. Is "the art of money washing" actually a productive "national product," measurable by GDP, or just a fancy way of inflating economic numbers by shifting money from 1 pocket to another and then on to another shell corporation? Consider Ireland. I've never been there, but that island nation impresses me as a "mostly agrarian society with little local industry that produces physical product mainly for its domestic market." And then there is Luxembourg, a country so small that it might fit within the State lines of Rhode Island in the USA. And another "mostly agrarian society with little local industry that produces physical product mainly for its domestic market." Yet, both Ireland and Luxembourg are flush with lots of other people's money while it changes hands and pockets and moves along the financial pathways of life. And while we are on the subject, I'd say Monaco is really slacking when it comes to being "small yet flush with other people's cash." :))))) Signed - A loyal reader that likes your "Rude Awakening" column. Jeff R. Thanks for this, Jeff! The productivity stat I used via the OECD is calculated as GDP per hour. So, of course, that puts “Double Dutch Sandwich” Ireland and the Luxembourg Laundromat at the top. It’s incredible to think that Monaco is slacking… because that means the French are hustling! Regarding your rhetorical question of money laundering being productive or not, I’d answer your question with a question. Why does every country in the world want to be a financial center? Alas, crime pays. Italia! Ciaoooo from America Sean, Long time reader and fellow Italian-American from Philly. My family comes from Abruzzo (which you never talk about, by the way)? 🤣 Being from Philly and Italian, we get a little testy about what it means to be of Italian descent. Anyway, we love your work, and as I have been to Italy 7 times (Sicily 2x (Sciacca, Corleone, and Palermo), Taormina/Messina 1x, Rome 3x, Florence/Siena 1x, Naples 1x, Sorrento/Amalfi, Ravenno 1x and Abruzzo 3x where my family still lives in Civitella del Tronto and Alba Adriatica). My wife and I are serious about getting a 2nd passport (and why not Italy, right)? Both of my grandparents (both sides) came here in the early 1900s, and I think they never gave up their Italian citizenship. If this is true, I am told I may be able to use this to move to the front of the line and get an Italian passport. Would appreciate the name of that lawyer to start the process. Thanks for all of your intel on investing while keeping it real and FUN! Life is too short to be nonstop serious. Grazie mille! Mark S. Hey Mark! Thanks for writing and the kind words. My grandfather’s family hails from Campobasso, Molise. At the time, Abruzzo and Molise were one region. They separated in 1970. So my grandfather always told me he was Abruzzese. I don’t talk about Abruzzo because we haven’t been there yet, but I love their wine! I know Philly from my ‘Nova days. Whenever someone asks me, “Pat’s or Gino’s?” I respond the only way one should: “Tony Luke’s!” But I haven’t been to a game there since the Vet was still standing. I met Harry Kalas at a Phillies game with my college roommates. Brilliant. My remarkable lawyers, who I’ve engaged again to help with my house purchase, are here: [(. They won’t take a dime off you until they’re sure you’ll get a passport. Oh, and ask for a 5% discount, which they used to give to Rude readers. Good luck with it! Sean, This is less market and more Italy. From the market aspect, I have you by about 30 years (81 last week), but in one way or another been involved in the Treasury market for almost 50 years. Started as a salesman at Merrill, and ended up as CEO of a firm that played the cash futures markets to the tune of a 1 billion dollar book in the 70s and 80s. Retired to a horse farm, got bored, and started doing structured finance deals which I still do...mainly in the energy market. Have traded long treasuries at 3% and at 15.75%. Still trade the futures market every day. I was a car nut from 15 on...but not SoCal hot rods, always sports cars. Bought the first of 3 Ferraris in 1970 and have owned at one time or another almost everything from Alfa's to Mercedes AMGs. Through that passion and mother luck ended up with a young man named Gilles Villeneuve (a name the Tifosi still revere) as my best friend. I sponsored Gilles in Formula Atlantic and through that became friends with Teddy Mayer of McLaren and a part owner of McLaren. F1 pretty much matches your travels around the world. I have been to just about every venue around the world where we raced. South Africa, South America, Australia, Japan all of Europe, and North America. As I think I said, I feel like the luckiest SOB on the face of the earth. Of all the places, there is nothing like Italy. In Italy, there is nothing like Monza. If you get a chance, go to the Hotel de Ville in Monza with your wife. Nowadays Ferrari takes it over for the Grand Prix, but go there once for dinner, and I think you will love it. Four different summers my wife and I have rented a place on Lake Como for a month or two. This was after staying at Villa d' Este for a week one year. If your son likes motor racing, by all means, take him to the Ferrari Museum in Modena. You can spend most of a day there if you are a racing nut or just like beautiful examples of motor cars. We were blessed with a tour of the Ferrari factory which was mind-blowing, to say the least. When Gilles was killed at Zolder in 82, I was one of three (Jody Scheckter, Gilles’ manager, the other two) who negotiated with Mr. Ferrari on a settlement for his family. Being educated as a lawyer (although I hate them), I was the bad cop, and Jody was the good cop. I envy you your Italian heritage, as I would get an Italian passport in a minute if I could. My wife and I had decided we wanted to retire to Nendaz, Switzerland, but the US government screwed Switzerland up for US citizens, as I am sure you are aware of. Italy was her first choice and my second but circumstances ended up keeping us in the US so we get to watch the country of our birth go into its death spiral. I don't know if you are familiar with Alexis de Tocqueville, but what he predicted about this new experiment called democracy back in 1835 is becoming true. Hopefully, the US citizens will get their heads out of their asses in 2024 and realize it is the last chance to save this thing called democracy. Fortunately, I will probably die before the complete collapse, but you, my friend, have shown your brilliance not just in your market acumen, but in your choice of a place to live. If you ever want to hear about the single best trade that has ever existed in the markets, drop me a line, and I will explain how a small US firm ($10 million in capital) made over $5 million a month for 26 months in the trade. Drop me a note, and I will explain it all. Again, I was one lucky SOB to be in the right place at the right time. I envy you, your living place. Dio vi benedica John L. Amazing. Simply amazing. I love great stories like that. Thank you, John, for sharing. I will certainly take your advice on Monza. I was supposed to go last year, but had to miss it. Micah will be a lifelong fan, I’m sure. He loves Ferraris already! I absolutely want to hear about the best trade ever and will drop you a line. Stay well, and God bless you, John! Wrap Up Thank you to Joe B. for writing in again. It’s a pleasure! That was one long Rude, and I’m grateful to everyone who wrote in. Please keep doing it by writing to feedback@rudeawakening.com. I think I’ve responded to everyone. But if I haven’t, write in again with ALL CAPS. I’ll get the hint… Have a wonderful weekend! All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( In Case You Missed It… Education Has Become a Battlefield [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Last week, I taught a graduate course in New York City for one of the big banks. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the students did, as well. The experience reminded me of this piece I wrote about 18 months ago, before I was writing for the Morning Reckoning. You see, I’m not licensed to teach. I’ve just got a lot of experience that banks demand. They want me to pass on that experience to their new hires to give them a running start. Honestly, if I had to pass an exam to be able to teach, I’d probably not bother. So let’s get into the ideas of education and freedom… How It Started Over 25 years ago, I bought the Easton Press’s One Hundred Greatest Books series to bolster my meager literary knowledge. My girlfriend was a literature major and I thought my reading would greatly increase our conversational repertoire. Alas, we wound up breaking up anyway. And I was left with these beautiful books that came once a month. Ahab and The Whale The first book Easton Press sends is Moby Dick, a thick classic steeped in the minutia of whaling ships. I felt I could tie knots and sail after I had read it. All great literature makes us feel as if we are there, amid the narrative, sharing the trials and tribulations of both the protagonists and antagonists. Like all things, we like those that make us feel smart. And Melville’s writing does that. He doesn’t condescend for a sentence, making Moby Dick such lavish and challenging reading. I was determined to get through it, though I’d never read a 600-page book before. Some of it was tough going, to be sure; I felt like a rusty weightlifter trying to lift his usual after a few months off. But I got through, and I’m all the richer for it. All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it. There may not be [a finer passage]( in all literature. I remember reading those famous words for the first time and thinking, “Yes. That’s it. That’s why we read these books. That’s why they’re called Classics.” So you can imagine my dismay when I saw Star Trek: First Contact, the finest of all the Next Generation films. [Biden to “retire” US dollar?]( [James Altucher]( A former advisor to the CIA and Pentagon now believes President Biden plans to retire the US dollar we know. And replace it with what he calls “Biden Bucks”. It is underway. On March 9, Biden signed Executive Order 14067, which could pave the way for Biden Bucks. [Click to see how to save your investment and retirement accounts](. [Click Here To Learn More]( Self Education To hear Sir Patrick Stewart, a classically-trained actor, and a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, butcher this passage was an affront to me. I felt like a 22-year-old Waldorf and Statler-like critic! Oh, I know why he did it. Who knows what a “mortar” is today? Or in 1996, for that matter, before Her Majesty The Queen knighted him? “His hot heart’s shell?” What? What is he talking about? You can find the misquote here, right on [IMDB](. The bolds are mine: Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [Quoting "Moby Dick"] And he piled upon the whale's white hump, the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it. Lily Sloane: What? Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "Moby-Dick.” Lily Sloane: Actually, I never read it. Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Ahab spent years hunting the white whale that crippled him, a quest for vengeance, but in the end, it destroyed him and his ship. Lily Sloane: I guess he didn't know when to quit. At least he didn’t butcher the message, I suppose. Why do I bring this up? Because no teacher ever taught me that. No one ever made me read Moby Dick. That isn’t a rebuke to the Hasbrouck Heights Junior-Senior High School English Department, which was easily the best assembly of teachers in my high school. But life influences, circumstances and desires fuel our need to further our education at one time or another. And the sooner, the better. Rude reader Dan K. reminded me of all this with an excellent commentary on the state of education. Or, in The State’s parlance, the education of the state. And that, my friend, is the problem in a nutshell. 1619 or 1776? That is the Existential Question... Dan wrote to me about the 1776 Report, issued by the Trump Administration, in response to the New York Times’s 1619 Project. Of course, The Cathedral awarded the Pulitzer Prize to Nicole Hannah-Jones for her work on The 1619 Project. It’s plain to see why Trump felt a duty to strike back, so to speak. Here’s a list of essays that make up The 1619 Project: - "America Wasn't a Democracy Until Black Americans Made It One,” essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones - "American Capitalism Is Brutal. You Can Trace That to the Plantation", essay by Matthew Desmond - "How False Beliefs in Physical Racial Difference Still Live in Medicine Today,” essay by Linda Villarosa - "What the Reactionary Politics of 2019 Owe to the Politics of Slavery", essay by Jamelle Bouie - "Why Is Everyone Always Stealing Black Music?", essay by Wesley Morris - "How Segregation Caused Your Traffic Jam,” essay by Kevin Kruse - "Why Doesn't America Have Universal Healthcare? One Word: Race", essay by Jeneen Interlandi - "Why American Prisons Owe Their Cruelty to Slavery,” essay by Bryan Stevenson - "The Barbaric History of Sugar in America,” essay by Khalil Gibran Muhammad - "How America's Vast Racial Wealth Gap Grew: By Plunder,” essay by Trymaine Lee - "Their Ancestors Were Enslaved by Law. Now They're Lawyers", photo essay by Djeneba Aduayom, with text from Nikole Hannah-Jones and Wadzanai Mhute We all have our frames. And if you’re African American, you will have a different frame to the one I grew up with. But alleging America is America because of slavery is ludicrous. And that’s where education becomes a battlefield. An Education For All Must Be An Education For One, First Murray Rothbard wrote a monograph called Education: Free and Compulsory. Of course, Rothbard, as a libertarian, believed education should be tailored to each child’s needs. Not only is this right and the best way to give the child the ability to absorb new concepts, but the alternative is the gateway to totalitarianism. Rothbard writes: It is evident that the common enthusiasm for equality is, in the fundamental sense, anti-human. It tends to repress the flowering of individual personality and diversity, and civilization itself; it is a drive toward savage uniformity. Since abilities and interests are naturally diverse, a drive toward making people equal in all or most respects is necessarily a leveling downward. It is a drive against development of talent, genius, variety, and reasoning power. Since it negates the very principles of human life and human growth, the creed of equality and uniformity is a creed of death and destruction. He goes on: Since each person is a unique individual, it is clear that the best type of formal instruction is that type which is suited to his own particular individuality. Each child has different intelligence, aptitudes, and interests. Therefore, the best choice of pace, timing, variety, and manner, and of the courses of instruction will differ widely from one child to another. And further writes: It is obvious, therefore, that the best type of instruction is individual instruction. A course where one teacher instructs one pupil is clearly by far the best type of course. It is only under such conditions that human potentialities can develop to their greatest degree. It is clear that the formal school, characterized by classes in which one teacher instructs many children, is an immensely inferior system. Since each child differs from the other in interest and ability, and the teacher can only teach one thing at a time, it is evident that every school class must cast all the instruction into one uniform mold. Regardless how the teacher instructs, at what pace, timing, or variety, he is doing violence to each and everyone of the children. Any schooling involves misfitting each child into a Procrustean bed of unsuitable uniformity. I couldn’t agree more. Luckily, many Black families feel the same way: [chart] Credit: [census.gov]( This is thrilling, excellent news. These kids aren’t victims. In fact, with the help of their parents, they will have shrugged off that awful millstone. They’ll thrive in this environment. Even the liberal [New Yorker]( seems to cheer this trend on. In the fight between state-sponsored malarkey and parents looking out for their children’s best interests, support the parents. I just hope they read Moby Dick at a younger age than I did. Light that fire early! I’ve received a lot of good feedback so far on my “educational” pieces. Let me know if there are any topics you’d like to learn more about by emailing me [here](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com). All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2023 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. We welcome comments or suggestions at feedback@rudeawakening.info. This address is for feedback only. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, [contact us here]( or call (844)-731-0984. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. 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