An unusual opportunity to profit from low oil prices... Oil inventory is way up... Live from Aspen... The 'tribe' goes to Cabin Bluff... What The Atlas 400 is really about...
We have a special Digest for you today... But before we get to that, we wanted to share an interesting development in the oil markets...
"There's an anomaly in the oil sector today," Stansberry Resource Report analyst Brian Weepie writes. "And it's creating a great opportunity for resource investors."
In today's Growth Stock Wire, Brian discussed how oil production continues to outpace demand, despite falling oil prices, many producers cutting production, and an increase in the amount of oil in storage...
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As he explained, investors can buy crude oil for around $50.48 per barrel today and sell the February 2016 futures contract for nearly $60 per barrel. A year from now, the owner will collect more than $9 per barrel in profit (minus storage costs).
Brian also shared the names of four publicly traded companies that generate significant profits from oil storage. As you might expect, rising oil storage means that these companies haven't suffered from falling oil prices...
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We just received the rest of today's Digest from Gray Zurbruegg, who's currently sitting in the passenger seat of a SnowCat, traversing the backcountry in Aspen.
Gray is the membership services director for The Atlas 400... And he's in Colorado with a handful of members to ski untouched powder for a few days. The crew is traveling around in the giant all-terrain vehicle to access parts of the mountain most folks have never seen. And Aspen is supposed to get several feet of snow this weekend.
It has been a busy year for Atlas, so Gray wanted to update everyone on the club's activities...
Hunters have gathered along the eastern seaboard for thousands of years. These gatherings began for the most simplistic reason – survival. The hunters realized that stalking as a pack was much more effective than wandering alone for days. As time progressed, members of these primitive groups began to specialize in certain tasks, thus creating a more complex organization.
Native Americans were well-known for their cultural structure. For example, the Mocoma and Timucua people occupied large swathes of land in southern Georgia and northern Florida. Both were known for innovative methods in hunting and fishing, largely due to geography.
Historians later discovered that both groups were part of an even larger tribal system... the Seminole nation.
This state of organization is referred to as tribalism. In theory, tribalism is a "way of being" based upon human needs, reciprocal exchange, communication, and cultural commonality. The term implies the possession of a strong shared identity that separates one member of a group from a larger population. Members of a tribe gather to share experience and purpose.
Now, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this...
It's because tribalism is as old as human existence. It's a topic that has been studied and disputed since the word "anthropologist" was invented.
We continue to surround ourselves with people with whom we identify. Most of our peers – the people we interact with the most – have similar interests, share our beliefs, live nearby, or even work for the same company.
While we may no longer wear special dress or call these peer networks "tribes," there's little difference between back then and today. Tribalism is a great way to describe the reason we started The Atlas 400.
Atlas members just returned from our annual trip to Cabin Bluff in southern Georgia... So you can understand why the native tribes and their land are on my mind.
As you may have read in the September 11, 2013 Digest, our days at Cabin Bluff are filled with outdoor activities. We take over the 25,000-acre property for three days. Our members have the opportunity to enjoy world-class quail hunting, wild-boar stalking, saltwater fishing, and golf.
The property sits two and a half miles from any road and gets terrible cell-phone reception... So it's the perfect venue to disconnect, relax, and enjoy time with fellow members.
As we wandered through the fields of tall grass during a quail hunt, I thought about the native hunters. We have both hunted through the same land. We've both fished the same water. And despite doing this hundreds of years apart, both of our "tribes" enjoy the land's bounty.
For many today, tribalism is about exclusion and conformity. But if you really understand it, it's just the opposite. Tribalism is a personal evaluative process. It's about finding a group of individuals with whom you identify and share commonalities.
On our trips, I'm always amazed at how diverse our membership is. At Cabin Bluff, we had members travel from the west coast... up north... and even as far as South Africa.
They all come from various backgrounds and occupy different professions. One member I spent time with told me about his varied past as a software developer, nuclear engineer, and soccer referee. Now, he's designing cutting-edge sound equipment.
The member from South Africa runs one of the continent's largest citrus farms. He's an incredibly fascinating person to speak with. His firsthand accounts of the government transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe and the current sociopolitical climate in South Africa are eye-opening. Plus, he has stories from visiting clients around the world – the Emirates, Europe, and Asia.
But with Atlas, what unites members is not what they do, but how they do it. Our members share several key traits: intelligence, self-reliance, a strong work ethic, and a belief in personal freedom. Members also share an affinity for new experiences and learning.
That's one of the reasons I brought in the Tier One Group to give us a day and a half of tactical shooting instruction. Our instructors were all ex-Special Forces operators. They were the utmost professionals. We shot thousands of rounds and ran various shooting drills and scenarios under their watchful guidance. We learned that there's much more to shooting than aiming a gun and pulling the trigger. Proficient tactical shooting requires concentration, focus, and hours of practice.
Many members were humbled by the experience. They're used to being the best at what they do. The excitement among the group was palpable. You could see the adrenaline rush. It was such a hit that I've been charged with planning an entire weekend of similar activities.
In a world filled with social media and digital networks, it's refreshing to be a part of something real.
On Atlas trips, our members understand the value of slowing down. We turn off our cell phones and close our laptops. We try to be fully present.
And after each trip, members emerge closer due to time and experiences shared.
That's the simple idea behind The Atlas 400: to gather an extraordinary group of people and do extraordinary things.
Like the tribes I mentioned earlier, Atlas is not founded on exclusion. It was created by folks who wanted to surround themselves with people who shared similar interests and like minds. We're looking for people who come into this group with the right attitude. We want folks whose first question is, "How do I add value to the group?"
If you're looking at this as an opportunity to sell insurance to wealthy individuals, this is the wrong group for you. We go to great lengths to make sure our members' intentions are genuine. If you're willing to try and add value to this relationship, the club may be a perfect fit. That's how our current members view it.
We want members who are positive... who see the value of building great relationships with other extraordinary people... and who are willing to help us make it one of the world's best and most exclusive groups.
We aren't looking for a lot of people to join Atlas. We're just looking for the right people.
Thus far, the club has grown one by one. We receive hundreds of applications each year, however, we want to grow a great club. So we refuse to sacrifice quality to grow membership.
This club is for successful people. If you're struggling to make ends meet, Atlas isn't for you. There's a $25,000 initiation fee to join, and our excursions aren't cheap. But if you're at a point in your life where meaning is paramount and you're in a position to enjoy the fruits of your labor, I would urge you to apply.
Our 2015 calendar is full of trips... There's still time to join us on the powder-filled slopes in Aspen... and race Porsches and BMWs during Oktoberfest in Germany. We also host our annual meeting in New York City each May.
As I mentioned, we have an application process to ensure you're a good fit for the club (and vice versa). If you'd like to learn more about this opportunity, click here. We look forward to hearing from you... and to the adventures we'll hopefully share in the future.
New 52-week highs (as of 2/19/15): ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotech Fund (BIB), Cempra (CEMP), WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), PowerShares Buyback Achievers Fund (PKW), PowerShares In today's mailbag, we respond to a subscriber who asks what happens to your investments if the dollar collapses. Send your thoughts to feedback@stansberryresearch.com. "I have always heard that there are no stupid questions, so I hope that this is not perceived as one. In regard to Porter's prediction of the pending collapse of the dollar as the world's currency, what happens to the dollars that you have invested in stocks, bonds, options, etc. at the time of this collapse?
"Does the value of all of your positions drop in relation to the decreased value of the dollar? If so, would it not then be prudent to invest only in the precious metals or foreign currency to hedge against the pending doom of your net worth? Dollars invested in stocks, etc. would then only be worth half or less your initial investment. I realize there are potential gains to be made between now and then, but where do you find the balance? I am new to this game and would like to do my best to limit my mistakes." – Paid-up subscriber Michael Hill
Porter comment: The short answer is simple: The price of something is simply a ratio of items to dollars. If the value of the dollar falls, all other factors being equal, then the price goes up. Note that the value doesn't change, only the price. Since the 1960s, the price of an ounce of gold has moved from around $35 to around $1,200. But the utility – the value – of an ounce of gold hasn't changed an iota.
In regard to equities, all things being equal, a lower value for the dollar means stock prices will move higher. Of course, with stocks, all things are not equal. A sudden, sharp move lower in the dollar (like we saw in '86 and '87) can produce a crash in stock prices because of the risk of much higher yields on bonds. Higher bond yields will pull capital away from equities.
And don't forget that some companies are much better than others at adjusting to the inflation that results from a falling dollar. I've written a lot about which companies fare best during inflation. It's not gold mines. It's capital-efficient firms with the ability to raise prices. Just compare the price of a Hershey bar to the price of gold over the years. Hershey is just as good of a hedge against inflation... and it pays a dividend that will keep growing. Gold is a hedge against a crisis. It's insurance. It's not an investment.
Regards,
Sean Goldsmith
February 20, 2015
