Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader pointed out that while small speculators have been puking up long gold positions in the paper market, the “smart money” has been buying GLD (see chart below).

…read more HERE

…related: in the most recent Committment of Traders – Speculators Close Gold Positions

Here’s a great example of how, no matter what’s happening in the world, there’s always an abundance of compelling, lucrative opportunities. 

Lately the British pound has plunged to historic lows. 

The pound recently touched a 31-year low against the US dollar, and an all-time low against the euro. 

And earlier this month the pound shed nearly 3% of its value in the course of a single day. 

That’s simply not supposed to happen to a major currency. 

A move of just 1% for a major currency is considered shocking. Currencies are supposed to be stable, not ultra-volatile like a penny stock. 

Yet these sharp swings keep happening to the pound, mostly out of Brexit fears. 

Emotion has taken over. There’s no rational basis for the pound being this cheap—merely panicked selling on the assumption that everyone else is going to be selling. 

This is a broken market. And I imagine it must be nerve-wracking to be living in the UK and watching your currency knocked around like some third-world peso. 

Yet anytime markets break down like this and emotions take over, great opportunities almost invariably emerge.  We’ve discussed our deep value investment strategy before; financial markets in some parts of the world are so fractured that it’s possible to buy shares of a profitable business for less than the amount of cash it has in its bank account. 

That qualifies as a no-brainer– an extremely LOW risk way to generate a built-in profit. 

Some colleagues and I are taking this a step further, in fact, and working on a deal to purchase a controlling stake in a listed company that is selling for a fraction of the value of its assets. 

(SMPI and Total Access members– watch out for more information on this one.) 

These types of opportunities exist almost everywhere that markets have broken down, and the UK is no exception. 

I’ll highlight a few simple examples that don’t involve investing tens of millions of dollars. 

One asset class that makes sense to consider is collectibles, things like rare coins or wine. 

Like gold and silver bullion, collectibles are real assets. And scarce. They’re not making any more 1982 Chateau Petrus. 

With collectibles, I prefer to stick to assets with a wide base (i.e. nothing too niche) that are fairly easy to buy and sell. 

Art and antiques, for example, can be difficult to value and sell without going to an appraiser and broker. 

But certain luxury watch brands, on the other hand, can be sold in minutes, especially the historic high-end Swiss manufactures like Patek Philippe, Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC Schauffhausen, and Vacheron Constantin. 

Many of these watches are hand-made and they are NOT mass-produced, so they’re scarce and extremely popular. 

Right with the British pound at around $1.22, luxury watches being sold in London and priced in pounds can be had at a steep discount to their US dollar prices across the ocean. 

A recent year Patek Phillippe Calatrava model (5119G) is selling for about GBP 12,300 in the UK right now, or right around $15,000. 

(And that doesn’t include the benefit of receiving a VAT refund.) 

This same watch can easily sell for more than $20,000 in the US.  

You could even sell it yourself on Amazon or eBay at a steep discount to that price and still make a very healthy profit.

Technically it should even be possible to sell the watch first in US dollars, and then purchase it in pounds from a UK vendor once you collect the money from your buyer.

That way you can generate a solid profit without actually using any of your own money.

It’s easy to be fearful when markets break down, when terrifying political candidates emerge, and when it seems like World War III is breaking out.

But as a result of all that fear, there are countless opportunities like this to generate low risk, built-in profits.

And thanks to our modern technology, these opportunities are available to anyone in the world who has access to the Internet… and a little bit of hustle.

….related from Victor Adair & Michael Campbell: Live From The Trading Desk: An Astonishing New Low

The British Pound just set a 168 year low, proving what Victor regularily says that currency markets often trend far further than expected. Also Victor short bonds expecting higher interest rates, short crude oil and more…..

Let me cut right to the chase: The global financial markets … entire economies … and even political systems and philosophies — will soon start spiraling out of control.

So don’t kid yourself. The relative calm in the markets of late is a freak occurrence. You’re about to see plenty of action.

We will hit the back wall of the financial hurricane that started in 2008. That part of the financial crisis where the governments of the world stepped in to try and save things, but which are now infected with an even worse disease: Debt-to-GDP ratios that over the next five years will bankrupt first Europe, then Japan and then, the United Sates.

It won’t be pretty. It will affect everything you do. Everything you own. Every investment you make. Your lifestyle. Your children and grandchildren’s future.

No, I am not being an alarmist or screaming fire in a packed theater. I am merely telling it like it is, for if you understand the forces that are now converging upon the world, you will see the same things coming that I do.

Just take a look around:

 Financial markets are starting to swing wildly. Everything from stocks and bonds, to commodities are now on a roller coaster. Whenever that happens — especially after a period of relative calm — it means something big is coming.

Big moves that could destroy your wealth in a heartbeat. Or, big moves that you can capitalize on for big profits. The choice is yours.

 Entire economies are quaking. Europe is the worst of them. But there are also problems in China (though they won’t derail China’s long-term growth). There are problems in Australia, Canada, Great Britain. In Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela. In Russia.

And then there’s the Middle East, where countries are being kicked in the butt by still low oil prices, not to mention rising domestic unrest and terrorism.

 Even political systems are under stress. Third parties are rising in strength all over Europe. New Neo-Nazi groups. Separatist groups. Secession parties. Terrorist groups. Cultural clashes. Syrian refugee crisis. And more.

All part and parcel of the rising war cycles that I’ve been warning you about, conditions that will not abate until at least the year 2020.

So why is all of this happening? Why will it get worse in the years ahead?

It’s actually very simple: You are witnessing the death of communism and Western-style socialism. 

It is not the demise of capitalism, as so many think. It’s the opposite:

The death of big government. The death of the state taking care of you. The death of Keynesian economics.

The death of governments that are so indebted from fiscal mismanagement and making promises to you that they could never keep — that they are now waging financial repression against you …

While at the same time finding scapegoats in the form of other countries, other political systems and parties, to blame.

We are entering a crash and burn phase for government. Especially Western governments and their socialist and safety net experiments of the last several decades. Of their currency experiments, their trade wars, their inept policies, bureaucracies, tax systems and more.

It will manifest itself mostly in the sovereign bond markets of Europe and the United States, where interest rates started moving up — and bond prices started falling — even before Janet Yellen started talking about raising rates.

And all the chickens will start coming home to roost, when the citizens of those countries … and investors everywhere … realize that the emperors of western socialized countries — their leaders and governments — really do have no clothes.

And then, nearly all markets will swing even more wildly than they are now.

I repeat: This is the first year of five years in total that will be a roller coaster ride through hell. And unless you start preparing now, it will gut your wealth.

My best advice right now:

First, stay out of U.S., Japanese and European government debt. No matter what anyone tells you, sovereign debt markets are soon going to become the biggest disasters of all time.

Second, steer clear of all foreign currencies. Stay mostly in dollars. I know it seems illogical, but it isn’t. As the global economy weakens and geo-political tensions domestically and internationally ramp ever higher, wreaking havoc in almost every corner of the globe …

More and more savvy money will flee to our shores and to the dollar — even as our bond markets tumble.

Third, build your own war chest, to go after the opportunities that are coming. 

Some of the opportunities I see coming …

• The next leg up in gold, silver and mining shares.
• A breakout in the Dow above 18,500 on a monthly basis that will kick off a move to at least 31,000.
• Oil shocking everyone, making yet another new low, then turning around next year and rocketing higher. 

The profit opportunities for the rest of this year and onward will simply be off the charts. It’d be foolish not to go after them.

Best wishes,

Larry

also from Michael Campbell: Pubilc vs private healthcare solutions: Time To Rock The Boat