A Cash-Producing Strategy Made for Fearful Times

Black Monday revisited... What Doc remembers about Wall Street that day… The trading strategy he learned to love… If you're worried today, listen up... When fear rises, this thrives… 211 winning trades in a row – and counting…

Today was far from Black Monday...

The major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 up nearly 1%, though there was some volatility throughout the trading day. But 36 years and a few months ago, on a Monday in the markets, panic struck Wall Street.

Stansberry Research partner Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig was there, working on a trading desk in New York City at the investment firm Goldman Sachs. He had a front-row seat on October 19, 1987, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost $500 billion, 23% of its value, in one day.

Back then, Doc – now the editor of our Retirement Millionaire, Income Intelligence, Prosperity Investor, and Retirement Trader newsletters – was less than two years removed from earning his MBA and was part of the elite "derivatives" team at Goldman.

This group created sophisticated investment vehicles for clients and other traders at the firm who wanted to hedge risk – or take advantage of opportunities they saw.

Amid the chaos of Black Monday and the days that followed, Doc and his colleagues were tasked with "trying to keep the world stable and, of course, make money," as folks began to fear nothing short of another Great Depression. As Doc recalled a few years ago to his Retirement Trader subscribers...

Every decision seemed like the most important one of our lives. And no one had any confidence in what would happen next.

At one point, we watched futures on Japan's Nikkei stock index drop below 10,000, only to see them shoot back up to 18,000 moments later.

When we had a spare minute, a friend and I would take an occasional stroll through the financial district to clear our heads. We wondered if we would have to dodge people jumping from window ledges.

Nobody plunged to their death when Doc and his friend wandered around Wall Street, but it was a scary time in the financial world.

Doc learned a lot from the unique experience working through one of the country's biggest market crashes...

First, as Doc likes to say when he recalls going for these walks around New York City, he noticed that people in the "real world" didn't seem all that concerned with what was going on in the markets. Wall Street may have felt fear, but not everyone else.

People were shopping, strolling through Central Park, and laughing over dinner. "They may have seen a headline that the market had a bad day," Doc has said, "but it didn't mean much to them." It was a nice reality check.

Secondly, and for those who were intimately involved in the markets like Doc and were concerned, Doc learned a trading strategy that he still employs today... This particular strategy was tailor-made for times of market fear, and beyond, to protect and make money, no matter what's going on in the world.

So if you're worried today, listen up...

Stocks have been (mostly) rallying since October, but fears persist... about higher inflation sticking around and about the threat of an escalating war in the Middle East, an already two-year-long war in Eastern Europe, and concern about more trouble in Southeast Asia.

And, of course, there is a seemingly consequential presidential election coming up in November in the U.S., and plenty of concerns on Main Street. Doc still takes plenty of walks and chats with real people to know this well. As he says today...

It's clear that right now our country is on edge. The division, stress, and fear... I'm sure you've sensed it yourself. I do, every time I meet with coworkers, talk to an Uber driver, or overhear conversations at a restaurant.

Put it all together and I (Corey McLaughlin) know enough folks see risks – one way or another – to the stock market and economy today as well as their way of life in general.

Lately, the benchmark S&P 500 is off roughly 5% from its most recent high in March. And suddenly more prognosticators in the financial media, and maybe even you, are worried about what might be coming for the market next. Because nobody knows for sure.

If you're holding shares of high-quality companies that will reward you no matter what, have "chaos" hedges like gold in your portfolio, and keep cash on hand to pounce on opportunities that come up, you're likely in good shape.

But the trading strategy Doc learned to love in 1987 and that he has used since then could be a nice addition to your portfolio. Depending on your investing goals and timeline, it might even lead to you completely giving up on merely owning stocks ever again. As Doc says...

After seeing how incredibly effective it performed during that crisis, I've used it with my own money ever since.

It's part of the reason he hasn't felt insecure about his own retirement – of which he has already had a few... first from Wall Street. Sick of hypocrisy in the industry and with enough money already, he left in the mid-1990s to go to medical school and became a board-eligible eye surgeon.

Along the way, he helped start a small biotech company that was sold to a major pharmaceutical company for $125 million in 2008. Then he left medicine for similar reasons as he came to believe that Big Medicine has a lot of the same problems as Big Finance.

Doc eventually began sharing financial and health advice directly with people through Stansberry Research, and we're grateful. Today, Doc also runs his own wine business, a passion of his that began as a younger man in California.

Through it all – and through good and bad times in the stock market – Doc has believed in this trading strategy...

A strategy that thrives on anxiety...

As Doc will tell you, times like Black Monday were a disaster for some. Fortunes were lost, but here's the other side of the story. "Believe it or not, many fortunes were also made," he says, and the strategy that Doc found conviction in nearly 40 years ago is still thriving.

He talks about it in his brand-new free presentation right here.

I don't want to give away the details, but we've talked about the framework of this strategy before: It is about selling options – rather than buying them like most people do, looking to juice returns (and taking on more risk in the process).

We know the word "options" scares a lot of people...

However, when you sell options the (right) way Doc recommends, it's a beautiful thing. Depending on the amount of capital you have available to put to work, you can collect hundreds or thousands of dollars up front on stocks you'd love to own... and do it over and over again with less risk.

It makes too much sense to be popular, though it should be...

Stansberry Alliance members and Doc's Retirement Trader subscribers already have access to this strategy and Doc's recommendations. But if you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, you should check it out. As Doc says...

Over the past four decades, through seven different presidents, two U.S.-led wars, a world-changing pandemic, not to mention more stock crashes, rallies, bull, and bear markets than I can count... and even with all of the fear, confusion, and uncertainty we see across America today, I've never once been worried about my money or retirement, not today and not for the last 37 years.

In fact, I believe in this approach so much that since 2010, I've shown over 100,000 Stansberry readers how they can also use it to stop agonizing about the direction of the stock market, the state of the economy, the results of the next election, and practically anything else that used to keep them up at night worrying about their money.

Without a doubt, this has become the most successful strategy we publish.

About that...

Right now, using this strategy in his Retirement Trader advisory, Doc is riding a winning streak of 211 trades that began in 2020. He has generated roughly 20% annualized returns in each of the past three years.

And we've heard from plenty of happy subscribers lately, and over the years. Doc's current win streak has smashed his previous-high 137-trading record from when he first launched this approach to the public at Stansberry Research back in 2010.

We're going to share more about this strategy in the Digest this week.

Why now?...

When volatility picks up and investors get more fearful – like Doc expects them to through the rest of 2024 – you can make even more money by selling options. These are the insurance-like "premiums" Doc described in the Masters Series over the weekend.

The reason Doc and his team are bringing it to light again right now is because it's tailor-made for times of market "fear" – which it seems is a feature of the market, and certainly the headlines today. As Doc says...

If you're feeling frustrated or even paralyzed over what to do next, it's not your fault. And you're definitely not alone. It's no wonder Americans have $6 trillion in cash sitting on the sidelines, not being invested, and not growing in any meaningful way at all.

After all, if you're not sure who or what to trust right now, how could you possibly know the best way to grow your money? It almost feels like we're stuck in a hopeless landscape of rising prices, toxic politicians, and an American Dream that feels increasingly out of reach.

Now, unfortunately, I can't tell you when everything will start to feel okay again. No one can... but what I can do is help you take a big step toward getting to that point by giving you the opportunity for some confidence and peace of mind when it comes to your money.

If you don't already have access to Doc's Retirement Trader and want to learn more, now's a perfect time. Click here to learn more details about Doc's favorite trading strategy and how you can get started for 60% off the usual cost, plus claim $2,500 in special bonuses.

And, again, if you're an Alliance member and still haven't yet checked out Doc's strategy, be sure to do so right away. You can find his latest issues, instructions on how to get started trading, and portfolio recommendations right here.

New 52-week highs (as of 4/19/24): ABB (ABBNY), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), American Express (AXP), Aya Gold & Silver (AYASF), Kinross Gold (KGC), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM), SilverCrest Metals (SILV), and United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI).

In today's mailbag, feedback on Dan Ferris' Friday Digest about his 2024 election "prediction"... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

"Great job Dan! Corresponds to my philosophy since the mid-1980s. Select great companies & hold for the compounding effect." – Subscriber R.G.

"Finally, a voice of reason in the shouting of 24-hour news outlets. Great article that hopefully will get some folks off the ledge..." – Subscriber Jim M.

"Dan Ferris is always an insightful writer. My first Stansberry newsletter purchase was his Extreme Value. His comments on keeping investments and politics separate from one's investment management are wise.

"The celebration of uninterrupted transitions rings hollow to me. [January 6, 2021] was a day of insurrection no matter how some want to sugarcoat it. Yes, in the end, it was unsuccessful [but] January 6 was not peaceful." – Subscriber Frank A.

All the best,

Corey McLaughlin
Baltimore, Maryland
April 22, 2024