Trump’s Venezuela End Game

The U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is now just off the coast of Venezuela.

It joins a growing fleet of Naval ships that have been striking Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean…

And over the weekend, the U.S. military presented President Trump with options for striking the South American country. Trump also said he was open to negotiating with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The White House says it’s just trying to stop illegal drugs from entering our country. But our team thinks Trump has another goal in mind — one that will impact your wallet.

They’ve also pinpointed a small group of stocks that could be the biggest beneficiary of Trump’s Venezuelan ambitions.

I’ll tell you more after our Top Stories and the Reader Forum!

Your Top Stories & Analysis of the Week:

• “Buy the Golden Dip in Miners” (Daily Reckoning, Matt Badiali): We recently welcomed a new member to our team, natural resources expert Matt Badiali. And last week he shared his take on the pullback in precious metals prices. He has two big reasons to believe this downturn will be short-lived — giving you a narrow window to go bargain hunting. Matt even names a few undervalued mining companies with strong earnings potential for you to consider.

• “The Trap China Set For America” (Rude Awakening, Sean Ring): The United States and China are fighting for global economic dominance. But as Sean explains, the U.S. economy is outmatched. And for deeper insights, he tapped Jim Rickards’ go-to analyst, Dan Amoss. The pair only see three ways out of this mess — none of them painless. While our team preferred Sean’s “Open Letter to President Trump,” our members chose this one as the most-liked Rude of the week. Read them both and see if you agree!

• “The Market Is Mispricing the Cryptos That Matter” (Altucher’s Investment Network, James Altucher): Wall Street continues to misunderstand cryptocurrencies, as the latest downturn proves. And while James admits there are still plenty of worthless cryptos, there are also a handful that are set to live up to their potential. So his Investment Network members recently learned about specific crypto networks that are solving real-world problems. Since these cryptos could be the biggest winners when things inevitably turn around, I decided to unlock James’ analysis for you.

Remember, we publish tens to HUNDREDS of stories. The write-ups 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 in the Forum today, Karyn R. posted a five-star Google review, telling us:

I’m gaining confidence and valuable knowledge. Paradigm provides detailed step-by-step instructions. I watch less television because I’m too busy learning about the next booming industry. My Paradigm Press subscription has been profitable, empowering, entertaining and fun.

If you’re reading this, Karyn, I’m glad to hear we’re making a real difference in your life.

Delivering top-quality research and reliable profits is one of our top priorities, of course. But I think it’s just as important to make sure everything we send is engaging, too.

After all, not many people want to slog through an endless list of statistics and figures. So our team does their best to go beyond that — bringing you stories and anecdotes that help explain our analysis.

Thank you so much for noticing!

Next, Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence Pro delivered a pair of triple-digit gains last week. That prompted Terri D. to leave us a five-star Google review, adding:

I was able to secure a 480% profit on my [SPDR Gold Trust] GLD Jan 2026 option position. Thanks Paradigm Press for another stellar recommendation.

Congratulations, Terri — and thanks for taking the time to share your experience on Google.

Our team recommended those options back in July — meaning it was a chance to 5x your money in just four months.

I also hope this means you took advantage of Jim’s Newmont Corp. (NEM) recommendation. Those options jumped 465% in five months.

And I expect there are still plenty of similar gains ahead!

While we’re on the subject of Jim, his Strategic Intelligence recently told members to sell their position in Intel Corp. (INTC) — locking in a 68% gain in 13 months.

But as Indira P. points out:

James Altucher recommends buying them. I am at the crossroads. Need clarity.

I hope you’re reading this, Indira, because this is pretty easy to explain!

Jim and James largely agree on what makes a company worth buying. So it’s not surprising they both independently zeroed in on INTC, which has solid assets and all the makings of a good turnaround story.

But they had very different reasons for recommending the company.

James believes Intel’s ability to make next-generation microchips will make it a major player in the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI).

Jim, however, was more interested in the fact that Intel was looking to build its chips in the United States — which would earn it support from Donald Trump.

Just last month, Jim’s prediction came true when the Trump administration announced a nearly $9 billion investment in Intel. And since the stock had delivered a nice gain, it made sense for Jim to recommend selling.

At the same time, the company is just starting production of the chips James has been waiting for. Wall Street investors will want to make sure they deliver as promised before adding more Intel shares to their portfolio.

So James thinks it’s too early to sell.

Who you should listen to depends on your reasons for buying the stock, too. Did you buy because you believed Trump would boost Intel? Or were you more interested in its high-tech potential?

If you’re still not sure, re-read the sell alert from Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence and the latest Intel update in Altucher’s Investment Network. Then decide whose analysis makes the most sense to you!

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 finding a broker to how to trade 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

There’s no question that the United States has a major illegal drug problem.

In fact, in the early days of his administration, Donald Trump tied his tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China to fentanyl entering the country.

But while a lot of illegal drugs come out of Venezuela, they aren’t the biggest supplier to America’s back alleys. So why is Trump singling it out?

Enrique Abeyta, our in-house “Maverick,” thinks he has the answer…

“Venezuela has the largest oil reserves of any country on Earth,” Enrique tells us. “Technically larger than Saudi Arabia.”

But the country’s government has mismanaged its bounty, failing to upgrade the infrastructure necessary to extract and process the crude.

Trump also sanctioned Venezuelan oil exports during his first term, so we receive none of what the country does manage to pump out.

The U.S. president may be looking to change that. He could offer President Maduro a simple deal — stop the drugs. Oh, and let U.S. companies have a crack at your oil reserves.

If that were to happen, the spike in supply would hurt major exporters like Iran and Russia.

Getting Venezuela’s oil network up to speed won’t be cheap or easy, though.

Any company that wants to try will need lots of support from oil services companies like SLB NV (SLB), better known as Schlumberger.

Low oil and gas prices have plagued oil service companies for the last several years.

But our technical analysts say their charts are showing breakout potential.

They also look good on a fundamental level, says Dan Amoss.

“Oil service companies have been in the wilderness since 2014,” Dan tells us. So they’ve had to cut expenses to the bone to stay in business.

If Trump makes a deal with Maduro — or forces him out of office — business at oil services companies like SLB could suddenly pick up.

Higher earnings with rock-bottom costs could send their share prices soaring.

That’s why we’ll be watching the next few days very carefully!