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In 1986, Peter Munk bought a gold mine in northeastern Nevada for $62 million. The mine was only producing 40,000 ounces of gold a year back then (around $16 million annually) … and the sellers believed the land held 600,000 ounces easily minable gold. But those estimates were woefully short. By 1992, the
Howard Marks is one of the smartest, wealthiest investors in the world. As founder of Oaktree Capital, Marks manages around $120 billion. And his track record ranks him among the greatest investors in history. So it’s probably no surprise that Marks is deeply concerned about “the rising tide of anti-capitalism,” and dedicated one
On October 31, 1517, an obscure German theology professor put the finishing touches on a paper he had written about the current state of the Catholic Church, and sent it off to Archbishop Albert of Brandenberg for review. The professor’s letter was polite and professional, with a formal tone that one might find
“Sometimes [two and two are four], Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.” One of the key themes from George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 is that the Party can do and say
Amazon made big headlines yesterday when it announced it was walking away from its plan to build a new headquarters in New York City. The company was under intense pressure from the media and politicians who were angered that New York City’s local government was giving away too many tax incentives, purportedly worth
Things keep getting worse for pensions… If you’ve read Notes recently, you know the pension fund crisis is one of our major themes. Simply put, these giant pools of capital responsible for paying out retirement benefits to workers are BROKE. According to the World Economic Forum, pension funds around the world are short
The market’s last hope is faltering… By July of last year, just three stocks (Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft) were responsible for 71% of the S&P 500’s returns. Through the third quarter, tech stocks were responsible for 95% of the S&P’s gains. Amazon alone was responsible for about one-third of the index’s move. And
What I’m about to say may sound totally crazy at first. But keep reading, because I think you’ll agree that it’s dead-on accurate. There’s a recession coming. No, that’s not some Chicken Little “The Sky is Falling” statement. Far from it. It’s just a fact: economies and financial markets always go through boom
Earlier this morning, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker became the latest socialist to throw his hat in the ring for the US Presidency… He announced his candidacy with a new website and two-minute video full of the usual collective hoopla. Bear in mind that Booker raised taxes by 20% while serving as mayor
We write a lot about global debt levels at Sovereign Man. In fact, the very first Notes from the Field I ever wrote, in June 2009, was about how broke the US was… and the severe consequences that eventually face a nation that recklessly spends money it doesn’t have. And debt has been
Mexico is in the midst of a crisis again. And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the border wall that caused the US government to be hopelessly deadlocked for more than a month. Or the economy. Or murders and violence. Or drug trafficking. Or bird flu. Nope. Mexico is battling an
It’s been more than a month since the federal government shut down. We all know the familiar story of the 800,000+ workers, and the millions of contractors, who are not receiving paychecks. (Plus there are millions of other workers and small businesses in the private sector whose incomes depend at least partially on
Every so often throughout history, the peasants grab their pitchforks and come for the elite. It happens when the wealth gap grows too extreme… when people feel like they are getting left behind, with no opportunity to advance. Central banks around the world have printed trillions of dollars over last decade, and pushed
Grab your wallets. Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York City, may be lining up a presidential run. And in his State of the City speech last Thursday, he gave us a peak of what the future could have in store… “Here’s the truth. Brothers and sisters, there’s plenty of money in
Last week I decided to use my tax savings to pay the rent for US government workers affected by the shut down. Emails keep coming in from furloughed federal employees having a tough time. And money keeps going out. As I’ve been highlighting over the past week, the government shutdown affects many more
