A Billionaire's Case for 'Gold 1.0'

An exclusive interview with Thomas Kaplan... A billionaire's case for 'gold 1.0'... A new bull market is here... Southwest Airlines gets grilled (kind of)... A former CEO's great quote... [Stansberry Research Logo] Delivering World-Class Financial Research Since 1999 [Stansberry Digest] An exclusive interview with Thomas Kaplan... A billionaire's case for 'gold 1.0'... A new bull market is here... Southwest Airlines gets grilled (kind of)... A former CEO's great quote... --------------------------------------------------------------- I never thought 'gold bug' was a fair term... Apparently, neither does the billionaire investor, mining mogul, and chairman of NovaGold Resources (NG), Thomas Kaplan... "I think it's probably the only asset in the world where when you are bullish, you are referred to as an insect," he said in a wide-ranging interview with our editor-at-large Daniela Cambone, published this week. I (Corey McLaughlin) don't consider myself the biggest "gold bug" on Earth, but I do see the value of gold and gold stocks in a well-diversified portfolio. I've always felt bad when someone slaps gold bulls with such a negative-sounding label... Because, as Kaplan also explained so well to Daniela in this video interview – published for paid subscribers [here]( as well as for free on [our YouTube page]( – there are a lot of great reasons to own gold... and today in particular. The case for 'gold 1.0'... I suggest you check out the entire interview for all the details, but here are a few highlights. Kaplan talked about... - Why "gold is in a bull market against all currencies," including the U.S. dollar, and how high it could go. - The real reason central banks have been buying record amounts of gold lately. - The myths about gold and how he can debunk them. It "works well without inflation, against commodities, against the dollar," he says. - Why he believes that if "crypto is gold 2.0, it turns out that gold 1.0 is pretty, pretty great." He says critics of gold are "demonstrably incorrect, historically." And he comes with plenty of receipts, as the kids like to say, to back up his argument. It's a fascinating discussion all around, and we're happy to bring it to you. [Check it out](. Moving on, here's fodder for some other bulls... Our colleague Brett Eversole [recently wrote to you]( about why he believes we're still in a secular bull market even if we have been in a cyclical bear market. Now, he's seeing a big sign that the short-term trend for U.S. stocks may be going bullish, too... In today's edition of the free DailyWealth newsletter, [Brett shared]( a characteristic of the markets that I like to look at too and have cited in the Digest frequently: market breadth. It's a fancy term for how many stocks are going up versus going down. I've measured this by the percentage of stocks trading above or below their 200-day moving averages, a simple technical measure of a long-term, 10-month trend. Today, 68% of the S&P 500 Index's stocks are trading above this average. Similarly, Brett says that despite the market's seemingly downward trend, another simple market-breadth indicator tells a different story beneath the surface today... Most stocks have stopped falling... Brett says market breadth has "diverged" from what the stock market might appear to be showing on the surface... and that this is a "strong sign that the bear market is over." He explained by starting with a look at this indicator in late 2021... To see it, we'll look at the advance/decline line for the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). This cumulative indicator takes the total number of stocks that rose during the day and subtracts the number of stocks that fell. So the advance/decline line rises when more stocks go up than down over time. For the most part, this indicator makes new highs and lows right alongside the S&P 500. But that doesn't always happen... These divergences often mark a turning point for the overall market. Just look at the chart below to see what I mean... The stock market and the NYSE advance/decline line both hit new highs in November 2021. But when stocks hit another new high in early 2022, the advance/decline line was well below its high. That divergence was an early warning sign for investors looking under the hood. It meant that more stocks were going down than up, despite a broad rally in the market. And that meant losses were likely... which is exactly what ended up happening. Today, we have the opposite situation... As Brett said, today he's seeing a "positive divergence" for the first time since the bear market began. Here's the chart he shared... Brett explained... The S&P 500 and the advance/decline line bottomed at the same time in October before rallying together into November. And then, in January, they diverged. The January stock rally failed to break above the November high. But the advance/decline line did the opposite – and blasted through its November highs. That tells us something important about the current market... More stocks are going higher than lower. And that means a major rally is likely on the way. Importantly, stock prices have backed up this argument in recent days. The S&P 500 broke above its November high on February 1. And it has stayed above that level since then. In Brett's view... When you put it all together, we have a powerful signal that the next bull market is underway... I realize it's scary to hear this. Investors have been beaten up, over and over again, for more than a year. But the new bull market is here. And that means the time to act is now. Don't miss it. If you want to hear more from Brett and Stansberry Research founding partner Steve Sjuggerud on this point, be sure to check out their latest free video presentation... They explain why they think the market is entering a new "phase" that could produce multiple opportunities to make five or 10 times your money in the right stocks. Thousands of viewers have tuned in to this free briefing. [You can check it out right here](. Southwest goes to Washington... We wrote earlier this year about [Southwest Airlines' holiday-season debacle](... Today was a tiny reckoning. Southwest's Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson testified before a U.S. Senate committee on "Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections" (because CEO Bob Jordan declined to attend). Without Jordan – the leader of the entire organization – the discussion seemed rather hollow... I probably spent too much time watching the hearing, but it gave a good look at the situation. There was some debate about regulation, though not too much, and apologies from Watterson. And Watterson said Southwest's inadequate winter-weather preparation at airports in Denver and Chicago was the "root" of the cascade of problems that followed. I'll aim to put together a more detailed report soon. But for now, I want to share one other interesting comment from Captain Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, who also testified... We heard, of all things, about a recession indicator... Murray described the events of late December, when Southwest canceled more than 15,000 flights in a week and stranded 2 million passengers, as a "failure" that was "as tragic as it was historic." He called on the company to invest in technology like an updated crew-scheduling system and return to the employee-focused culture it had under cofounder Herb Kelleher. One thing he said that wasn't an issue was Southwest's so-called point-to-point system of scheduling... Murray said the system was a big reason why Southwest has actually made money over the past decade as other airlines have not, giving Southwest flexibility when demand in certain cities might drop off. Then he quoted Kelleher, who died in 2019... Herb had a famous quote: "We've predicted 12 out of the last five recessions"... It was because of our point-to-point network... He meant that the company has often been able to see when travel – whether from particular cities or across the country – was slowing down. This trend might indicate broader economic activity slowing, too... even all the way into a recession. This comment serves up two reminders. First, note the way he said it – "12 out of the last five." In other words, when passenger activity declined substantially enough for Southwest to take warning, a recession didn't always follow. This can be the case with many indicators. Second, by the time a recession is deemed "official," its impact has already been hitting businesses for months and months... And as we talked about [earlier this week]( the forward-looking stock market likely reflected the possibility way before that. So, there you go. We tuned in to a congressional hearing looking to hear one thing, and we ended up being reminded of a few analytical principles via the late CEO of Southwest Airlines... all while the living, current one kept silent. --------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended Links: # [Huge Stock Announcement]( If you've been watching stocks slip this week, and you're wondering if this could be it... then it's something you need to see immediately. Two legendary investors who called the 2020 crash are stepping forward with an urgent stock prediction. It involves the recent volatility... a devastating market shift no one sees coming... and a rare investment that could five times your money as a result – even if the S&P 500 Index falls another 20%. [Full details here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- # [A Financial Fraud BIGGER Than FTX and Madoff?]( The man who called the 2008 crash reveals a financial fraud that could be BIGGER than FTX and Madoff combined... And it could soon impact millions of Americans. [Click here for details](. --------------------------------------------------------------- New 52-week highs (as of 2/8/23): Arafura Rare Earths (ARAFF), Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS), Parker-Hannifin (PH), and RenaissanceRe (RNR). In today's mailbag, some more feedback on our annual Report Card ([Part I]( and [Part II]( and Greg Diamond's performance in Ten Stock Trader... some other kind words... and thoughts about dealing with interest rates... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com. "Good Morning, I began trading with Greg [Diamond] in February 2022, after following him for three months. I lost $20K in the first 35 days of 2022. I should have begun trading with Greg earlier. "So, having sustained the losses and paying off my ranch last year, my trading account was much smaller than in days gone by. I was busy last year and did not always trade at the prices Greg published. But, I had results like what you published. I traded 47 times based on Greg's counsel with 41 winners. "I finished the year down $2,800 for the year. I certainly feel more confident this February than last." – Paid-up subscriber John Q. Mr. C. McLaughlin's aftermarket commentary via Stansberry Digest is such a great help for comprehending the finer points of what's taking place in the market and to become aware of knowledge that professionals possess in interpreting the markets." – Paid-up subscriber Tyco Z. "Many of your readers writing in seem to have the mindset that life needs to come to a complete standstill until interest rates subside. Yeah, 3% was nice. I locked in a refi at slightly more than that. "But I entered college when Reagan was Prez. When he took office, the Prime lending rate was something like 22%. My guaranteed student loan rate was 13%! And that was supposed to be a better rate than the bank would have given me. 13%, folks! There was no Amazon yet and I got gouged like crazy for my college textbooks. A few years later, when hubby and I bought our first house interest rates were down. That little starter home only cost us 9.5%. "Life didn't stop back then, and it won't stop now. People need to work and shop and go to school and buy houses and cars and get married and have babies and start businesses and go to the doctor and on and on. If the media would shut up for five minutes, people might actually go live their lives instead of whining about interest rates. Does the government's own debt load and the interest on that make a difference now? Of course it does and you can thank your elected representatives... "Meanwhile, I have a life to live. And I have better things to do than complain about interest rates which is about as useful as complaining all the time about the weather." – Paid-up subscriber Jacqueline G. All the best, Corey McLaughlin Baltimore, Maryland February 9, 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------- Stansberry Research Top 10 Open Recommendations Top 10 highest-returning open positions across all Stansberry Research portfolios Stock Buy Date Return Publication Analyst MSFT Microsoft 11/11/10 959.4% Retirement Millionaire Doc MSFT Microsoft 02/10/12 824.8% Stansberry's Investment Advisory Porter ADP Automatic Data 10/09/08 799.2% Extreme Value Ferris WRB W.R. Berkley 03/16/12 613.5% Stansberry's Investment Advisory Porter ETH/USD Ethereum 02/21/20 581.7% Stansberry Innovations Report Wade HSY Hershey 12/07/07 562.5% Stansberry's Investment Advisory Porter BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway 04/01/09 447.0% Retirement Millionaire Doc AFG American Financial 10/12/12 441.6% Stansberry's Investment Advisory Porter FSMEX Fidelity Sel Med 09/03/08 320.9% Retirement Millionaire Doc ALS-T Altius Minerals 02/16/09 315.0% Extreme Value Ferris Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 10 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the model portfolio of any Stansberry Research publication. The buy date reflects when the editor recommended the investment in the listed publication, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if a security is still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber to that publication and refer to the most recent portfolio. --------------------------------------------------------------- Top 10 Totals 4 Stansberry's Investment Advisory Porter 3 Retirement Millionaire Doc 2 Extreme Value Ferris 1 Stansberry Innovations Report Wade --------------------------------------------------------------- Top 5 Crypto Capital Open Recommendations Top 5 highest-returning open positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio Stock Buy Date Return Publication Analyst ETH/USD Ethereum 12/07/18 1,332.6% Crypto Capital Wade ONE-USD Harmony 12/16/19 1,245.4% Crypto Capital Wade POLY/USD Polymath 05/19/20 1,059.3% Crypto Capital Wade MATIC/USD Polygon 02/25/21 975.3% Crypto Capital Wade BTC/USD Bitcoin 11/27/18 511.3% Crypto Capital Wade Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 5 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the Crypto Capital model portfolio. The buy date reflects when the recommendation was made, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if it's still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber and refer to the most recent portfolio. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stansberry Research Hall of Fame Top 10 all-time, highest-returning closed positions across all Stansberry portfolios Investment Symbol Duration Gain Publication Analyst Nvidia^* NVDA 5.96 years 1,466% Venture Tech. Lashmet Band Protocol crypto 0.32 years 1,169% Crypto Capital Wade Terra crypto 0.41 years 1,164% Crypto Capital Wade Inovio Pharma.^ INO 1.01 years 1,139% Venture Tech. Lashmet Seabridge Gold^ SA 4.20 years 995% Sjug Conf. Sjuggerud Frontier crypto 0.08 years 978% Crypto Capital Wade Binance Coin crypto 1.78 years 963% Crypto Capital Wade Nvidia^* NVDA 4.12 years 777% Venture Tech. Lashmet Intellia Therapeutics NTLA 1.95 years 775% Amer. Moonshots Root Rite Aid 8.5% bond 4.97 years 773% True Income Williams ^ These gains occurred with a partial position in the respective stocks. * The two partial positions in Nvidia were part of a single recommendation. Editor Dave Lashmet closed the first leg of the position in November 2016 for a gain of about 108%. Then, he closed the second leg in July 2020 for a 777% return. And finally, in May 2022, he booked a 1,466% return on the final leg. Subscribers who followed his advice on Nvidia could've recorded a total weighted average gain of more than 600%. You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to Stansberry Digest. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from Stansberry Digest [click here](. Published by Stansberry Research. You’re receiving this e-mail at {EMAIL}. Stansberry Research welcomes comments or suggestions at feedback@stansberryresearch.com. This address is for feedback only. 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