More trouble in Ukraine...

More trouble in Ukraine... Another report from the ground... The End of America is changing where we live and how we shop... Target's biggest jump since 2009... Doc's presentation in Miami Beach...
 

 The unrest in Ukraine continues today...

 

Around 120 trained and armed men occupied the parliament of Ukraine's territory of Crimea as lawmakers met to approve a new cabinet. Crimean Prime Minister Anatoliy Mogilev told television station ATR TV that the men weren't acting aggressively. They're allowing lawmakers to enter the building.

 

Russia's Defense Ministry has reportedly placed fighter jets on alert. This comes one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered surprise drills for 150,000 Russian troops.

 

Ukraine said it would consider any movement by Russian military an act of aggression.

 

The tensions crushed Ukraine's currency (the hryvnia), sending it down to its lowest level since it was introduced in 1996.

 

 S&A Global Contrarian editor Kim Iskyan – an expert on Russian markets – recently shared his thoughts on Ukraine in Digest Premium. Regular Digest readers can also read the February 24 Digest for more on the unrest.

 

 Today, we're sharing insight from a source with close ties to Ukraine. He wishes to remain anonymous as he's still well-connected in the country and owns investments there. (He spoke to several contacts on the ground in the capital city of Kiev for this piece.)

 

The government is using rubber bullets and tear gas to suppress the protestors. It's not working. The protestors in Ukraine are wearing hard hats and gas masks to protect themselves. They are using household chemicals to make Molotov cocktails burn hotter. They are setting tires on fire because they burn longer than wood.   Contrary to the reports you are reading in the major press, this is not a U.S.-funded protest. It is also not a Russian-funded protest. Russia may blame the U.S. publicly, but it privately fears the same outbreak. To fully understand what is going on, you need to understand Ukraine.   Initially, the Ukrainians organized a protest called Euro Maidan (pronounced MY-don). They were upset Prime Minister Yanukovych rejected the European Union's membership offer late last year. The protest was organized in a large open area in central Ukraine called Maidan Square.   Yanukovych's response to the protest was unusual. He ordered police to suppress the event. They used too much force. Police publicly beat several female students. This sent Ukrainians into the streets, where they remain.   The country is controlled by oligarchs who command mafia groups. Average citizens have limited social mobility. Ukrainians have tolerated this because life has been marginally improving, until recently.   The slowdown in emerging economies means contraction. Contraction shows the cracks in any system... and shortens people's fuses. It's no surprise the murder of 80 civilians sparked unrest. Now, the masses have turned on the elite. And the elite are outnumbered.

 

Our source believes change is coming to Ukraine. He believes the country will be split in two, leaving a landlocked nation that resembles Belarus to the north...

 

This new country would include the pro-European Union city of Lviv to the west and hopefully Kiev to the east. East of Kiev and those bordering the Black Sea will become part of Russia. The language and cultural structure of Ukraine makes this split plausible.   Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev was Ukrainian. His native country had always been poor. Joseph Stalin killed more than 3 million Ukrainians by force and starvation in 1932-1933. Khrushchev wanted to help his country. He gave Ukraine the Crimea and resource-rich areas to the east. These portions of Ukraine have always considered themselves Russian.   The portions of Ukraine that could be lost to Russia are resource-rich and a key part of Ukraine's export economy. Russia is Ukraine's largest trading partner, making up more than 70% of current exports. If what remains of the Ukraine is saddled with debt and less export capacity, the country will be marginalized. Russia will have total control of the weaker state. It will use natural gas supplies to apply pressure.

 

Our source notes that since the beginning of 2014, the hryvnia has weakened by 25% against the dollar. Today, its exchange rate sits at 11.25 hryvnia per one U.S. dollar. And it's changing daily...

 

This will continue until it reaches 15:1 or 20:1. The country is out of foreign reserves and has no choice but to devalue its currency to meet obligations.     What's happening in Ukraine isn't unusual. The same pressures are emerging in Venezuela, Congo, Thailand, and Greece. When people have nothing left to lose, they're difficult to suppress and control.   In other words, expect to see more of this in the future. And don't always believe what you read about these uprisings in the mainstream media. To understand these events (and their possible outcomes), you have to understand a country. And trust me, a reporter roaming the streets for a few days doesn't truly understand the culture.

 

 While not nearly as severe as those in Ukraine, Americans are also facing financial pressures of our own... Between high unemployment, increasing payroll taxes, and reduced government-assistance programs, lower-income Americans are feeling the pressure.

 

The government's loose monetary policy has pushed down the value of the U.S. dollar. And low interest rates make it difficult for folks to earn a decent return on their hard-earned cash in the bank.

 

Take a look at this chart of the U.S. median household income, which appeared in the December issue of Stansberry's Investment Advisory...

 

 

 Porter has spent the past several years writing about how quantitative easing will change the financial and societal landscape (perhaps you've seen his presentation on the "End of America"). He believes our government's fiscal recklessness will eventually lead to the end of the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

 

For now, he and his team of researchers have been looking for ways to profit from the decline of the American consumer. They recommended shares of American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) – which rents 20,000 single-family homes – to profit from the millions of Americans who can no longer afford to buy a house.

 

 In the December issue of Stansberry's Investment Advisory, Porter's researchers also explained how people are changing their shopping habits...

 

During the housing boom, subdivisions were built in excess. The average family had two cars, two jobs, and a house that it could not realistically afford.   Now, many people are living closer to city centers. They are driving less. Vehicle-miles traveled in the U.S. plunged from 3.03 billion in 2007 to 2.94 billion in 2011.   The way they shop for basic items is also changing. It has a direct link to how much they drive.   During the housing boom Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target built supercenters as fast as they could. These massive stores were usually placed on the edge of growing areas to serve the new sprawl...   Mike Duke, Wal-Mart's CEO, has noticed a change in his customer base. They still eat the same amount of food... they still buy the same amount of cleaning supplies and have remained loyal to most of their favorite brands. What has changed is where they go to buy these basic necessities.   People are migrating away from supercenter shopping, toward a new breed of smaller discount retailers.

 

 We wrote it, did you buy it? From the March issue of Retirement Millionaire...

 

You don't often get a chance to buy a company that has raised its dividend for 46 straight years after it has fallen 23% in six months. I can't even recall a bargain this good...   In 1962, Target opened its first store in Roseville, Minnesota. What first was a small discount retailer has become one of the biggest major chains in the United States. It's the second-largest retailer in the world, behind Retirement Millionaire portfolio holding Wal-Mart.   Today, Target (TGT) sells a huge variety of products... including food, clothes, furniture, and everyday personal items. You can also find a pharmacy and optical center in many stores.   The problem is that Target made headlines in December when it reported a security breach that exposed the personal information and credit-card numbers of as many as 70 million customers to thieves. It was the second-largest known cyber-attack on a retailer, behind a 2007 attack on the TJX Co. chains T.J. Maxx and Marshall's...   The thing is, the stock was already down from its mid-summer highs of around $73 a share when the security attack was disclosed. That drop mostly reflected the market's response to ongoing challenges Target has faced from its two-year-old buyout of 220 Zeller Canadian chain stores. Getting them converted to Target stores was draining earnings.   The added 11% dip in share price from the data breach is giving us a great opportunity to invest in Target.

 

 Yesterday, Target posted better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter and full-year 2013.

 

Net income for the quarter ended February 1 dropped 46%, from $961 million a year ago to $520 million. Sales fell 5.3% to $21.5 billion.

 

No, the numbers weren't great... But that's the beauty of buying shares of a blue-chip company like Target following a short-term setback – expectations were low going into earnings. So when the company reported $0.81-per-share earnings, beating analyst estimates of $0.79 per share, the stock spiked higher.

 

 And CEO Gregg Steinhafel is working to keep customers coming back after the data breach. Target offered a weekend of 10% discounts in December and a year of free credit monitoring to anyone affected.

 

"We will continue to work tirelessly to win back the confidence of our guests and deliver irresistible merchandise and offers, and we are encouraged that sales trends have improved in recent weeks," he said in a statement.

 

Doc Eifrig's Retirement Millionaire subscribers are up nearly 7% in two weeks on the recommendation.

 

 As we mentioned yesterday, this week in Digest and Digest Premium, we're offering a "sneak peek" at a few of the upcoming Stansberry Society presentations at our first meeting in Miami.

 

Doc is one of the event's featured speakers. One of the topics he's covering is a recent "hot button" issue... and one familiar to Retirement Millionaire subscribers: the future of the health care industry.

 

In short, Doc believes demand for testing and medical devices will boom as the aging Baby Boomer population requires more health care attention. By 2030, Baby Boomers will make up a staggering 19% of the population – an added 32 million elderly people. And the older you are, the more money you are likely to spend on medications... Doc recently noted that "older people use three to four times the amount of prescription drugs as folks under 50."

 

Plus, with the government's new "Obamacare" program, more than 20 million previously uninsured patients will become paying customers of the health care sector. That means more people in the country's hospitals... more medical devices and tests... and more demand for just about everything health care-related.

 

Doc has positioned his subscribers to profit from the boom through high-quality health care companies like drugstore Walgreens and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Retirement Millionaire subscribers are up 110% and 94%, respectively. But remember... this trend is decades-long. There's still plenty of time to profit.

 

 In fairness to Stansberry Society members, we can't reveal Doc's top ways to profit off this long-term trend. (Digest Premium subscribers will get a preview of his presentation below.) But he'll be sharing all the details – and which companies to invest in today to profit – during his presentation in Miami.

 

The event is on Saturday, so it's too late to register to view the presentations in person. But we will be streaming the entire conference online.

 

In addition to Steve and Doc's presentations, the Stansberry Society meeting will feature more than a dozen other speakers. James Altucher will discuss his favorite investment idea... Dr. Richard Smith will show viewers how to double your returns in the market... And a Bitcoin expert will speak on the future of the virtual currency, to name a few. Learn how to gain online access to the Stansberry Society event by clicking here.

 

 

 New 52-week highs (as of 2/26/14): Advent Claymore Convertible Securities Fund (AVK), Cameco (CCJ), C&J Energy Services (CJES), Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO), CVS Caremark (CVS), Denison Mines (DNN), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Fluidigm (FLDM), Integrated Device Technology (IDTI), iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Fund (ITB), Eli Lilly (LLY), PowerShares Buyback Achievers Fund (PKW), Superior Energy Services (SPN), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Cambria Shareholder Yield Fund (SYLD), and Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR).

 

 "One of the important principles I have learned from my subscriptions with Stansberry is the importance of and strategic use of trailing stops. However, I have only seen recommendations to subscribe to a trading service that monitors your stops and sends notifications when they are hit. Way too slow, in my opinion, to preserve your gains or prevent losses. Case in point: I owned an equity which led the DOW for the largest decrease on Feb.26, having fallen 27%.

 

"Because I use an online discount broker that allows trailing stops to be entered into their own internal system and which trigger automatically when they are hit, I ended the day with a 14% gain instead of a catastrophic loss in that stock because I had tightened by stops on this previously winning equity. I urge everyone to utilize such a system. Otherwise you're very likely to get burned, even if you have established trailing stops for yourself, particularly in a sudden drop in the market." – Paid-up subscriber M.K.

 

Goldsmith comment: We're glad your stop loss kicked you out of the trade before you suffered a huge loss... But we always discourage our readers from entering their stops in the market. That's because it's easy for market makers to manipulate the stock price and trigger your stops... It happens all the time.

 

That's why we advocate the use of our corporate affiliate TradeStops, which lets you monitor your stops outside of the market. It will alert you when you stop out of a position. You can learn more about TradeStops here.

 

Regards,

 

Sean Goldsmith

Miami Beach, Florida

February 27, 2014

 

One of Doc Eifrig's favorite ways to profit off the long-term health care boom...

 

As we explain in today's Digest, investors have an opportunity to net big gains through Obamacare and the aging Baby Boomer population.

 

In today's Digest Premium, we reveal one of Dr. David Eifrig's favorite "one click" ways to profit from the sector today...

 

To subscribe to Digest Premium and receive a free hardback copy of Jim Rogers' latest book, click here.

One of Doc Eifrig's favorite ways to profit off the long-term health care boom...
 

 Retirement Millionaire editor Doc Eifrig sent us a sneak peek at his presentation for this weekend's Stansberry Society conference in Miami. As we explain in today's Digest, he'll be presenting on the long-term investment opportunities in health care.

 

 Among the points Doc will make is the idea that some of the basic rationales behind Obamacare are false.

 

For example, many folks believe hospital emergency rooms are packed with people who are poor and uninsured. But Doc notes that a 2008 survey found that the majority of folks without insurance self-treat their conditions, hope their diseases disappear, and are terrified of financial ruin.

 

 So, what will Obamacare do?

 

Doc believes it will add millions of visits to emergency rooms. He also expects it to increase care for people with preexisting conditions... and prevent catastrophic losses. It will also increase the cost and use of all health care. And Doc predicts it will cause good doctors to quit because of sharp drops in reimbursements.

 

 Most important, Doc will show viewers how to profit from the flood of new people coming on board with Obamacare. One of the ways Doc has recommended to Retirement Millionaire subscribers in the past is to buy shares of the SPDR Health Care Select Sector Fund (XLV), a "one click" exchange-traded fund that holds a basket of high-quality health care stocks like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Merck.

 

 In Doc's presentation in Miami, he will also identify more than five other ways to profit from the long-term Obamacare trend. Out of respect to attendees, we can't share these names today. But we are offering a chance to be able to view Doc's presentation online.

 

As we mentioned yesterday, we're streaming the entire Stansberry Society conference online this Saturday. You'll be able to view every speaker's presentation as it happens live. To learn more about the Stansberry Society – and how to gain access to this event live – click here.

 

– Sean Goldsmith

One of Doc Eifrig's favorite ways to profit off the long-term health care boom...

 

As we explain in today's Digest, investors have an opportunity to net big gains through Obamacare and the aging Baby Boomer population.

 

In today's Digest Premium, we reveal one of Dr. David Eifrig's favorite "one click" ways to profit from the sector today...

 

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