The Case for $1 Million Bitcoin
More highlights from the Stansberry Conference in Vegas... John Doody shares his tips for investing in gold stocks... The case for $1 million bitcoin... Dennis Miller's outstanding keynote speech... A gripping 'fireside chat' with a famed short-seller...
The action continued at a feverish pace deep into the evening...
As we mentioned in yesterday's Digest, we're at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas this week for our annual Stansberry Conference.
Yesterday, we highlighted the presentations from Empire Financial Research founder Whitney Tilson and our own Steve Sjuggerud, who discussed the upside potential in a small-cap gold stock.
But 'Sjug' wasn't the only one with a bullish argument for gold on the first day...
Attendees also heard from Gold Stock Analyst editor and longtime gold bull John Doody.
Regular Digest readers should be familiar with John's work. Porter recently called his newsletter "a must-read for every gold-mining executive and investment analyst over the past 25 years."
John's audited track record speaks for itself...
This year alone, his gold-stock recommendations are up 49% – far outpacing the benchmark S&P 500 Index (up 17%), gold (up 29%), and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ("XAU", up 34%). In fact, dating back to 2001, John's Gold Stock Analyst portfolio has returned 841%... outperforming the XAU by more than 10 times in that span.
During his presentation, John "pulled back the curtain"... giving attendees a glimpse of his approach to investing in precious metals stocks.
As John explained, his team analyzes around 50 gold stocks and 25 silver stocks. They look for companies that are undervalued relative to the industry based on current production levels and what the companies have in the development pipeline.
John highlighted the key metrics he uses to value these companies, and explained why you'd be foolish to own fewer than 10 gold stocks. He also cautioned attendees against going "all in" on a single gold stock and discussed the merits of diversifying your gold holdings between producers, developers, royalty companies, and explorers.
Later in the day, Crypto Capital editor Eric Wade made the case for bitcoin going to $1 million...
Yes, you read that right: $1 million.
Eric argued that the Federal Reserve's ability to create an infinite supply of money is going to push the price of bitcoin – which has a finite supply and remains out of the government's reach – to unimaginable heights.
Unlike the Fed, all of the inflation bitcoin will ever experience is preplanned. Eric noted that bitcoin has a lower daily production than gold... and even diamonds.
But bitcoin's appeal isn't due simply to scarcity... In the same way the Internet led to the invention of digital goods and services, Eric says bitcoin ushered in an era of digital goods that can't be copied, paving the way for other cryptocurrencies – including ethereum, another one of his favorites.
Though it won't be a straight move higher, Eric believes bitcoin's appeal will become more widespread among investors and speculators.
Eric also shared a speculative recommendation with the crowd... This little-known crypto is trading for less than $3 today. But he believes its value in the financial-services industry and limited supply will push its price to $10 within a year and as much as 1,000% in two years.
This morning, the audience was treated to a fascinating 'fireside chat' between Marc Cohodes and Grant Williams...
Williams – the author of financial newsletter Things That Make You Go Hmmm... and co-founder of Real Vision media group – is a regular presenter at our annual conference.
And Cohodes is a renowned short-seller with an incredible, multidecade-long history of exposing literally hundreds of frauds in the market.
But unlike many other short-sellers who are motivated by the potential profits in a successful short, Cohodes says he doesn't do it for the money. As he told the crowd...
I have an intense and deep hatred for people who try to rip others off with their hard-earned money, and/or take advantage of people who, for lack of a better word, don't know any better.
Cohodes noted his disdain for subprime lending, as well as what he called "subprime education" (for-profit schools) and "subprime travel" (timeshares).
When asked about his successful short sale of doughnut chain Krispy Kreme in the early 2000s, Cohodes said he suspected that franchisees were fudging the numbers. Through his connections, he learned that the company was paying people to stand in lines for new store openings. Shortly thereafter, Krispy Kreme's stock plunged from nearly $50 a share in 2003 to around $5 just two years later.
Cohodes had the crowd laughing throughout the talk with anecdotes like his "wig indicator." He says if he sees a CEO wearing a good old-fashioned wig, he drops everything he's doing and sells the stock short. "If I'm not 14 out of 15, I think I'm 16 out of 14," he joked. "It works every single time."
Cohodes also said the downside in being known for his previous short sales is that he now has zero margin of error. "The problem is, when you're the champ, every time you step in the ring, your prior work doesn't matter," he said, "because [skeptics] think, 'this time is different.'"
The conversation eventually turned to the fraud Cohodes exposed in Canada's housing market a few years ago...
As Cohodes explained, at the time, the average household income in Vancouver was around $72,000 in Canadian dollars... but the median home price was $1.1 million. "Who in their right mind would pay 14 times their household income to buy a house?" Cohodes said. He heard through the grapevine that Chinese gangs were laundering drug money through the Vancouver housing market.
So Cohodes headed up to Vancouver to do some "boots on the ground" research... And he noticed something odd: Homes were owned but unoccupied. Later, he ran into a couple who told him they earned $225,000 a year but couldn't even think about buying a house in Vancouver.
In early 2017, Cohodes zeroed in on Canadian mortgage giant Home Capital, which he thought was committing fraud. The stock fell 60% in a single trading session just months after Cohodes went public with his thesis... It eventually fell as much as 80%. As he concluded...
I don't see things through a mainstream lens. I always think, "What's the scam here?" Because when things go way up for no reason, there's a rip-off element behind it. You see hard-working people, who play by the rules, get caught in the undertow, and I just hate it. It makes me want to rail and speak out against it.
Of course, conference attendees didn't just hear about several actionable stock ideas...
Yesterday after lunch, keynote speaker and famed comedian Dennis Miller laid out a 10-point plan to Make America Get Along ("MAGA") that was worth the price of admission alone.
The crowd also heard a fascinating speech from astronaut Garrett Reisman – who discussed the future of space travel and talked about his current role at Elon Musk's aerospace firm, SpaceX – and a brief presentation from health guru Param Dedhia, who Steve says changed his life.
As we mentioned yesterday, if you didn't join us in Vegas this year, it isn't too late to get in on the action...
For the next few days, you can sign up for streaming access to this year's conference without ever having to leave home... and at a steep discount to what others paid to attend in person.
By doing so today, you'll be able to watch every presentation as often as you'd like for the next month. Click here to get started – and claim your free gift that's valued at $399.
New 52-week highs (as of 10/7/19): New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU).
In today's mailbag: At least one reader enjoyed the first day of this year's conference. Did you? If so, we'd love to hear about your favorite presentations. Send your thoughts, comments, and observations to feedback@stansberryresearch.com.
"The first day [of this year's conference was] very good – especially Garrett Reisman, Diana Henriques, Dennis Miller & Dan Ferris..." – Paid-up Stansberry Alliance member T.S.
"Hi, I am unable to join the $399 conference livestream, but would be interested in purchasing a DVD or similar online recast afterwards of the presentations. I am an existing subscriber, so hopefully you are planning to offer something specific for us. Thanks in advance for your reply." – Paid-up subscriber Anthony I.
Brill comment: Hi Anthony. Unfortunately, we aren't able to offer DVDs of this year's event. However, signing up for our livestream also gives you a full 30 days of access to high-definition videos of all of this year's presentations that you can watch and re-watch as often as you'd like. As Sam said above, you can learn more right here.
Regards,
Sam Latter
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 8, 2019