VRA Update: Bulls and Bears Make Money...PIIGS Tend to Get Slaughtered...But Where Does That Leave Totalitarians?

As outlined in my last update here, I expected the markets to correct, and thanks to the VRA Trading & Investing System we were alerted just prior to a major shift in market direction (which also gave VRA Subscribers their next 100% in profits…in a single day).

The vast majority of this weakness has come from the insanity coming out of Europe/Greece…and with the NO vote from this weekends referendum vote, it’s clear that we aren’t out of the woods yet.

Just make sure you keep this in mind; the bull market for stocks…both here and globally…remains entirely intact.  If you’ve been waiting for a pullback to buy stocks, you’re getting your opportunity with this pullback.

**(note: the VRA recently launched our “financial recovery program” for those that may have been buried by Wall Street “guru’s”. Contact us at verticalresearch@mindspring.com for info on our program’s discounted membership, with three awarded each month)**

By now I'm sure you've heard the old investing paradigm, "Bulls and bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered." Whoever came up with this had a pretty clear understanding of the markets, at least as I've always interpreted the phrase. Over my 30 years in the markets, I've known plenty of bullish investors that have made money as the markets rise and conversely, I've known plenty of bearish investors that have made money as the markets fall (in fact, the best investment minds that I know tend to be more skeptical, and hence are probably wired to be more bearish). 

My definition of "pigs" may not be the same as the original author, but in my mind, it's the investor that simply hasn't figured out the emotions of money (fear and greed)...something that I tend to write about fairly often in these pages. By no means is it an easy personality shift to conquer, but with focused effort and discipline, it can absolutely be done. And, as the markets drop, as they did on Monday...and as they may continue to do for a short time into the future (my belief), we will come back to discuss the emotion of "fear" here at the VRA, once again. 

However, you may have noticed my spelling of "PIIGS" in the subject line of this update...and because VRA Subscribers are among the brightest I know, you likely already know that I'm actually referring to a completely different breed of animal. In this case, PIIGS means "Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain"....a derogatory acronym for certain...but one that is prevalent in the investment world once again, as potential Greece contagion fears begin to sweep the planet.

Of course, we've all seen this movie before...maybe that's why things have dragged out this long in Europe before stock markets woke up, once again, to the downside risks. 

My view really has not changed. Some may call it a simple view, but it's really the exact mindset...or more accurately...the frame of reference that I've adopted since the 2008 financial crisis and the resulting global bailout of all things "BIG MONEY"...aka, those special interests/powerful corporations, and most certainly, Wall Street's preferred brokerages and US major money center, commercial banks. 

It's the mindset that says "The Fix is In"... and while I'm certain that it will sound more than a little conspiratorial, when you examine the events of recent history, who knows...I might even bring you over to the dark side with me.   

It's this newfound frame of reference that has served me well in understanding things that, in the past, might completely drive me crazy. For example, following the start of our financial crisis, I would never have believed that our own Central Bank..the US FED (of course, there's nothing Federal about it...and it's certainly not "ours") would make it their mandate to save the worlds financial system as we knew it, including the printing of some $10 trillion + in fresh currency, and then (among many other things) to enter into all kinds of nefarious bailout agreements, not just in the US, but globally as well....AND, not just global governments and financial institutions, but substantial loans to high net worth individuals in the US and globally as well. Of course, we only learned of some of these "off the books" bailouts thanks to a couple of (semi) successful FOIA requests, but the vast majority of bailout details have never been shared with the public...and almost certainly, never will be.

"The Fix is In"...heck, call me simple...some may even call it a "rain-man" kind of mindset...but I prefer to call it "making sense of totalitarianism"...because to me, that's pretty much exactly what our global, and increasingly, highly coordinated planetary system of governance (HCPSG for short...hey, we can have acronyms too) has become...or at minimum, is on its way to becoming. 

If you're not really up on modern day totalitarianism, the history books tell us of leaders that did their absolute best to completely "rig the game". Names like Hitler and Mussolini were big fans. Granted, things didn't end too well for them either...but the Nazi Central Bank had to have been at least partly to blame...right? I mean, no way the "NCB" could have had the omnipresence/omniscience of our modern day central banks (before you look, no...there was no Nazi Central Bank...but please don't let that ruin the fun of the rest of this story for you). 

My frame of reference...as discussed above, also helped me to make sense of George "W" Bush, and the puppet role that he played while President, as we went to war in Iraq  (and those pesky WMD's...that of course turned out to be fabricated ). Interestingly, "W" will likely continue to benefit from Americans with poor memories, as polls continue to show that a majority in the US believe Sadam Husssein was responsible for 9/11. And no....he had absolutely nothing to do with it...but W's not complaining if you believed he did.

Obamacare...in the sense that it was passed in both houses of Congress (a tortured definition of "passed", I know), and has since gone on to survive two serious Supreme Court challenges...either that could have derailed the implementation/effectiveness of Obamacare to the point of making it an immediate failure (rather than the longer term failure that it will almost certainly become). You see, when we saw none other than Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (staunch conservative historically...and of course, a Republican nominee) cast the deciding vote in favor of Obamacare on it's initial court challenge, again, my newfound mindset helped me to make sense of it.

Totalitarianism is the concept of a political system in which the state holds total control over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible.

I could go on...and in the future I will...but the definition above more and more describes the world that we all reside in today. And yes, it's another major reason that I see Greece remaining in the EZ...but wow, is this newly elected Greek government trying to upset that applecart. More and more, I find myself respecting their fight, even if they want to take Greece further to the left. At least they are willing to fight for their original commitment. We should all fight as hard for our beliefs. 

But, at the end of the day, "The Fix is In" will win...and Greece will remain. In fact, within just a few years the EZ will grow from 19 countries to 22-24. Doubt me? Check back in 2020 and we can compare notes...