As part of Blackhawk’s close group of family and friends, we thought we’d share with you some of our most salient views as to the state of the world economy today and what to watch for in case you’re also in the “Wealth Creation” business.
We hope these thoughts will help you better position yourselves in the months and years ahead.
Even if you disagree with our points on the trajectory of where the world is heading, it cannot hurt to understand and prepare for the worst case scenario while still hoping for the best.
So here they are…..
About the markets at large:
Contrary to what the talking heads and pontificating gurus are saying, markets are not out of control, central banks are out of control printing money….. and we believe they will never tighten monetary policy again, but merely print, print, and print more as they love to see asset prices go up, and as their policy reflects their desperation to perpetuate the process. As far as we are concerned, we know the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at 0, precisely 0…in real terms.
About the Federal Reserve:
The lifetime achievement of Greenspan and Bernanke is really that they created a bubble in everything, everywhere. In fact, you have to ask what they were smoking during the housing bubble, as prices were increasing by 18% annually when interest rates started to steadily rise in 2004. It seems that the tremendous economic Sophism of the day is that a nation can print its way into prosperity. By the same token, if debt and money printing equaled prosperity then Zimbabwe would be the richest country in the world. Go figure if Mugabe is not the economic mentor of Ben Bernanke.
About Our Fiscal Policy:
Our fiscal situation is much more horrendous than it is made out to be; total debt (public and private) as a percentage of GDP counting unfunded liabilities is an astounding 800% of GDP, more than double that during 1929. Sovereign credits in the Western world are also without a doubt all bankrupt, but before bankruptcy governments will print money; US government leaders will try to postpone the hour of truth, pushing the problems off till succeeding Presidents and Congressmen. So be ready for a real bumpy ride.
About Wall Street Reform:
Unless reform is promulgated by people who understand what the “wealth creation” process is all about, we are going nowhere but torture for all; for Wall Street and Main Street as well. It is a fact that you can’t beat the very same companies which constitute the core of US capitalism over the head and not expect them to get a headache. YES. We for sure need regulation; but by people who know what they are talking about, not a bunch of lawyers turned politicians. Going after the wrong people with the wrong regulations will only lead to more chaos and volatility in the US financial services industry as currently witnessed today. As pathetic as it seems, many seem to hail praise & accolades on reforms for sticking it to us all.
About all those Ivy League Experts from Academia:
They are without a doubt intelligent people and study the textbooks hard, but they study the wrong textbooks and are totally inconsistent in their philosophy. So do yourself a favor and stop listening to them as they are irrelevant anyway. Besides, if they were so smart, wouldn’t they be in the private sector creating wealth than “pontificating” about it?
About Asset Allocation:
Americans must re-think what constitutes a safe asset. In a “traditional” period, one would generally rank from most to least safe assets: cash, Treasuries, corporate bonds, equities, commodities. As the next 3-5 years will be highly volatile, we believe cash and long-term bonds will be a bad place to hold one’s money; equities are an avenue to preserve wealth (but this is a risky proposition, given the effects of rampant currency depreciation); precious metals are a sound place for wealth preservation. In an environment of money-printing and high volatility that exists in the US and that will be created by future policy, we believe physical gold is the best thing to own. Once currency depreciation does take place, stocks may become very cheap, as happened when the Mexican peso depreciated by 95% in the early 80s, as the fund managers invested in Mexican equities completely undervalued them after currency collapse Overall, we favor commodities, equities in emerging markets tied to resources (especially necessities like water and oil) and healthcare, and most of Asia including especially Japanese stocks
About the United States of America:
As for the US being the most important economy for the world, there is a sea of change going on right now; recently car sales in emerging economies (such as Brazil, China) are outpacing those of the US, Europe and Japan; Oil consumption in emerging markets is increasing, while in the developed world it is contracting; the whole world does not depend on American consumption anymore – 60% of total exports are now going to the emerging world when one includes Europe. The US is still a large economy but it is not growing, while the growth in the emerging world is and will continue to be strong. So face reality and stop living in your “ivory tower” that is the USA.
About Emerging Markets:
People still think of emerging market economies as poor cousins, but because 80% of the world’s people are there, in aggregate the consumption is huge.; these are not saturated markets and they are growing rapidly. Hence, we believe everybody should have at least 50% of their money in the emerging world, outside the West.; people should also keep the custody of their assets overseas. The drivers of growth in the emerging world will be the urbanization of India and China; stocks won’t necessarily rise in the short term, but there will be significant growth in Asia in the long run. The shift in economic power from West to East has been remarkable in speed, largely due to the rapid industrialization of the emerging world and the speed at which information travels today .
About Greece and what to learn from the experience:
We at Blackhawk think the lesson from Greece is that, if the problem had been dealt with three months ago, it would not have become as serious as it subsequently became. And we think the important thing now is that Greece has been dealt with a major IMF and European Union package…..But those measures provide only a window of opportunity. They do not affect the total amount of debt, in themselves which countries around the world have to repay. The markets, which some of the European partners like to describe as speculators causing difficulty, are the very same markets where the public sector is looking to provide trillions of dollars of support to finance public debt around the major countries in the world over the next few years.
What matters is that those investors are prepared to buy government debt at interest rates which make it tolerable for the countries concerned. And that is why it is important for each and every country to demonstrate that they are on top of a program for their country to reduce the fiscal deficit to a sustainable path.
That has been the big message, but within the international community we think there is a very clear understanding that the package of financial support which was made available is not an underlying solution to the problem. It provides a window of opportunity which gives governments the chance to put their house in order; and it gives the international economic community a chance to talk about what we think to be one of the major issues facing us, which is the need to rebalance demand around the world economy.
About Oil and Global Geopolitics
The supply/demand characteristics of oil are great due to the need for oil in China, India, rest of Asia. Oil is the top priority for China, as they are now a net importer. The US has a huge strategic advantage over China given that we have access to our own oil, and that of Mexico, Canada, the Middle East and off the western Coast of Africa, in addition to the ability to travel on the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean; meanwhile, China sources 95% of their oil from the Middle East, and while they are building pipelines throughout Eastern Europe, their oil supply points in terms of ports for example are limited, and the US has defense bases surrounding these areas; Chinese subs could sink our boats however; the Russians are also not happy about our forces being in the region, and therefore we believe that tensions will grow as the need for natural resources in these nations grows exponentially.
About a Global War
We believe that there is no means of avoiding a total collapse in the West; at the first train station in 2008, the financial system went bust but didn’t die, at the next station nations will go bust (though this could take 5-10 years or less), but first they will print money as this is the most politically tenable option, and ultimately the world will go to war. So be aware of this next time you vote for your next representative in Congress or your next President.
Bottom Line:
Some investors will buy while blood is flowing; others will wait. Some investors will position themselves right and read the writings on the wall while others will still be snowed by the propaganda machine perpetrated by some of our charismatic leaders out there. We at Blackhawk are positioned to keep creating wealth no matter what.
Looking forward to doing business with you and to continue being your resource for deals, capital, relationships and advice.
Your feedback as always is greatly appreciated.
Thanks much for your consideration.
By : Ziad K Abdelnour
Ziad is also the author of the best selling book Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics (Wiley, 2011),
Mr. Ziad Abdelnour continues to be featured in hundreds of media channels and publications every year and is widely seen as one of the top business leaders by millions around the world.
He was also featured as one of the 500 Most Influential CEOs in the World.
