Emergency “Paradigm Shift”
“Most people think today will be like yesterday,” our founder Bill Bonner says…
“But every now and then, today is NOT like yesterday. Something changes, something goes off the rails, there’s a paradigm shift.”
If you’re watching the market this morning — or if you made the brave mistake of looking at your 401(k) balance — you’ll know we’ve seen a major market shift over the past few days.
Markets started to tank last week. Then Japanese markets fell off a cliff overnight, down 12%.
This might be a big paradigm shift in the making. More on that in a moment — after our Top Stories and the Reader Forum.
Your Top Stories & Analysis of the Week:
- “What We the People Owe” (Daily Reckoning, Biran Maher): The U.S. national debt recently topped $35 trillion — a full 120% of our GDP. Paying the interest alone takes a sizable chunk out of the federal budget. And as Brian explains, the situation won’t get better anytime soon… no matter who prevails in the November elections. He also knows exactly who is to blame — but his answer might surprise you.
- “Gay Paris” (Rude Awakening, Sean Ring): The Paris Olympics opening ceremony left a lot of people confused, if not outright insulted. Sean explains why it’s just the latest instance of Parisian cultural and moral decline — a trend that’s been on display since the French Revolution. If you think overthrowing the monarchy made France a freer, more tolerant country, Sean offers some historical anecdotes that might change your mind. See why this was our most-liked e-letter last week.
- “Facebook’s Most Powerful AI Yet'' (Altucher’s Investment Network, James Altucher): Move over, ChatGPT and Claude. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platform Inc. (META) — the company behind Facebook — is turning heads with its new AI innovation, Llama 3.1. James recently told his Investment Network members why the software is so revolutionary. He also explains what it could mean to Meta’s bottom line. It’s a fascinating story that’s not getting a lot of attention. It was also our most-liked story of the week overall. So it was an easy decision to unlock it for you.
Remember, we publish tens to HUNDREDS of stories. The write-ups and presentations above are our TOP ones for the week — including one that had been roped off from the public. If you want to stay ahead of the pack, make sure you’re caught up now.
And if you’d like to nominate any of our stories for next week’s “Top 3,” just let me know at concierge@paradigmpressgroup.com.
The Reader Forum:
First from the concierge@paradigmpressgroup.com mailbag today, William K. has a comment about last week’s Reader Forum
I have become an Omega Wealth Circle member and the sheer volume of information across so many topics is fantastic. I participate in crypto, equities, commodities, futures, etc., and Paradigm has the spectrum covered for me. I would say the negative feedback is probably more of a general reflection of our current society (or lack of) than anything else.
First, congratulations on becoming an Omega Wealth Circle member, William. We’re thrilled to have you aboard our highest level of service — set to receive everything we offer!
I appreciate the kind words, too. Our team wants you to have as many moneymaking ideas as we can provide.
But I’m not sure I agree with your assessment of people who tell us when we’ve fallen short of their expectations.
Yes, there’s a lot of unearned senses of entitlement out there. We occasionally receive letters from folks who feel they deserve to get all of our in-depth research for free.
The vast majority of the negative feedback we receive, however, is constructive criticism. I’ll listen to anyone who has solid thoughts or ideas on how we can improve!
Next up, Debra B. asks the concierge@paradigmpressgroup.com inbox to pass along a message to Jim Rickards and his team:
Wanted to thank you for all the research and knowledge you give your readers every day. I'm so thankful we were able to share this with our nephew. There is hope for our country if we don't back down from sharing the truth!
Jim will be thrilled to hear this, Debra! And I’m glad that your nephew has been absorbing Jim’s wisdom, too — it's fantastic to see our work reaching across generations.
The more people who understand what’s happening to our country and economy, the more likely we’ll see changes for the better!
And finally for today, April G. tells us:
I would like to nominate the “AGI Wars: Musk's Master Plan’’ article as the best article I’ve read this week. I just had the biggest “AHA” moment. It made Elon Musk’s creations all make sense.
I’m glad you enjoyed Chris Campbell’s deep dive into Elon Musk’s mind, April.
It was originally written for Paradigm Mastermind Group… but it received such a positive response that I put it outside our paywall for everyone to read.
So there’s no need to nominate it for Top Article — because it already earned its place in our weekly recap.
When I ask “if you’d like to nominate any of our stories for next week’s ‘Top 3,’” I mean anything you read this week.
It could be the Rude Awakening Sean posted this morning. Or the Morning Reckoning that Greg Guenthner will send tomorrow. Maybe even an update from one of our paid services that will go online Thursday or Friday.
We just like to know which of our stories resonate with you — the ones that are so good, you think everyone should give them a read.
And it shouldn’t be something we’ve already spotlighted as a must-read. I hope that helps!
That wraps up this week’s Reader Forum.
Remember, your feedback is vital to our success… so please email me at concierge@paradigmpressgroup.com.
Questions? I’ll get answers! Comments? Let me hear them! Problems? I’ll try to solve them!
This is YOUR forum!
(And don’t forget, we also have a FREE library of introductory investment guides — covering everything from brokers to stock options — on our Wealth Desk. For customer service issues, please use our contact page.)
Now, here’s what’s happening around the water cooler this week…
The Water Cooler — Upcoming Events and More
If you’re wondering why the sky is falling, here’s our hot take.
It comes down to two things:
- Market uncertainty: We’re actually in a recession and the mainstream didn’t know it! This is something Jim Rickards and our macro-oriented analysts have been saying all along. Look, the markets have been going “up and to the right” for the past 18 months or so. All the major indexes are within a week or two of all-time highs. But underneath the euphoria was a little dose of reality. Unemployment is high, interest rates are high, inflation is high and the lowly middle-classer is feeling the pinch.
- Political uncertainty: “Peak Trump” might be having an impact on the market. The overwhelming positivity from the market and the Trump camp may have climaxed, and that’s leaving the door open for the ONE thing the market doesn’t like: uncertainty. Love it or hate it, we may have an election race on our hands — or at least the perception of one.
Things have gotten so bad that people are starting to think Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will announce an emergency rate cut.
It brings to mind the words of Jim Rickards from our May Whiskey Bar at the Watergate hotel:
If the Fed cuts rates, it’ll be for very bad reasons. It’ll be because we’re in a recession that’s undeniable, that’s getting more severe, that’s going to take the stock market down.
So what’s the “action to take” today?
Keep your head on a swivel; don’t make any rash decisions in this overly emotional time.
And remember, today might not be like yesterday. Every now and then there’s a paradigm shift.