The Most Important Gold News in Nearly a Decade

'The most important gold news in nearly a decade'... Japan unleashes massive new stimulus... Why more quantitative easing could follow... Oil plunges to three-month lows... Two oil giants call the bottom... Apple shares surge... A win in the 'war on business'...

In Friday's Digest, Porter hinted that his team was preparing a new research report on the new bull market in precious metals.

This morning, he finally shared the details...

In short, Porter no longer expects that gold will be the best-performing asset over the next six to 12 months.

Don't panic. He isn't changing his prediction of a historic "bull mania" in gold over the next several years.

Instead, due to some important recent developments, he says this bull market has officially entered its second phase.

While gold's rally is likely to accelerate, another asset could soar even more. History suggests it could dramatically outperform gold going forward... and gains of 500%... 1,500%... or even 2,500% are possible.

Porter and his team are convinced that gains like these are not only possible... they're incredibly likely. In fact, this opportunity is so big that Porter is changing the name of his flagship precious metals publication. (Click here to find out why.)

So if you don't already have a 5%-10% position in precious metals...

If you feel like you may have missed out on the gold rally...

If you're concerned that it's too late to get in...

Or even if you're already invested in gold, but you want to diversify your precious metal positions...

This may be your last chance to do so before "Phase TWO" of this rally starts in earnest.

To take advantage of this incredible indicator, Porter plans to release a series of new recommendations next week. It will include a handful of his favorite ways to profit from this second-phase asset... including two brand-new recommendations we've never released before.

To learn more about this urgent opportunity – including how you can be among the first to receive Porter's brand-new recommendations next week – click here now. (This link does not go to a long video.)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a massive new stimulus package this morning...

Abe said the plan consists of 28 trillion yen ($265 billion) in stimulus – including 13 trillion yen in "fiscal measures," which likely entail government spending and loan programs, according to news service Reuters.

This package represents nearly 6% of the entire Japanese economy... and is far larger than the 10- to 20-trillion-yen packages most analysts expected. As Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities noted to Reuters...

The amount is so large that the stimulus package is bound to have a big economic impact. It is impossible to spend this much money in one extra budget, so this may take place over the next few years.

But the size of the package wasn't the only surprise... Abe wasn't expected to reveal a plan until Friday, the same day the Bank of Japan ("BoJ") is expected to announce its latest monetary-policy decision.

According to recent reports, Abe's advisers have been urging BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to increase the bank's easing programs. But several BoJ officials have begun to question whether additional easing is wise. As the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend...

They note that monetary policy is already extremely accommodative, with bond yields and interest rates at or near record lows, and express doubts that additional easing would make fiscal stimulus much more effective...

They also question the need to act now. The worst of the market turmoil that followed the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union appears to have passed, they said, and extra easing risks leaving the BoJ short of options in cases of future market disruptions.

Today's early stimulus announcement followed a notable front-page story in the Nikkei, Japan's top financial newspaper. As Bloomberg explained this morning...

It reported that BoJ officials were said to be leaning toward more easing, without specifying where the information was obtained. Unnamed government officials were cited opposing the BoJ going further into negative rates, and the Nikkei said stock purchases alone were seen as insufficient – implying more purchases of the bonds that fund government spending.

Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe BoJ officials have suddenly changed their minds. But it sure looks like Abe is trying to force the central bank's hand. Don't be surprised if the BoJ "unexpectedly" expands its quantitative-easing program on Friday.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil – the U.S. benchmark for prices – plunged 3% to three-month lows below $42 per barrel today.

The declines followed news that both oil and gasoline stockpiles unexpectedly surged last week, during what is typically the peak summer driving season.

U.S. oil companies appear to be ramping up production again, too. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. drillers added 15 active rigs last week, the fourth straight weekly increase. As Bjarne Schieldrop – commodities analyst for SEB bank – told the Journal, this could be a bearish sign for prices in the near term...

"The revival in rig count mirrors what happened to the oil price rally in 2015," which ended in late June and cut oil prices by half during the eight-month collapse that followed, Mr. Schieldrop said. "We had expected to see some delayed reaction in the return of shale oil due to elevated debt levels, but the data is telling a different story."

Despite concerns of rising supplies, the world's two biggest oil-services companies are calling the bottom in prices...

Last week, Halliburton (HAL) and Schlumberger (SLB) reported second-quarter results. Both reported larger-than-expected losses, and both expect weakness in the sector to continue until at least the first quarter of next year.

But both companies also believe the worst is now over.

Halliburton CEO David Lesar shared his thoughts during the company's conference call on Wednesday...

Despite these continuing headwinds, based on the recent improvements to North American activity, I believe that the second quarter will mark the trough for our earnings...

I can summarize this market in one sentence: Today our customers are thinking about growing their businesses again, rather than being focused on survival.

You can't underestimate the positive change in attitude that we are seeing in our North American customers. In almost every case, they're talking about adding rigs, buying assets, or doing something value accretive. In short, they are getting back to business.

Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard echoed those comments on his conference call on Friday...

In the second quarter, market conditions worsened further in most parts of our global operations, but in spite of the continuing headwinds, we now appear to have reached the bottom of the cycle.

Again, we should note that these firms don't believe the sector is on the verge of a new boom phase.

They believe the worst of the crash is over, but oil prices are likely to remain weak until at least early next year.

Elsewhere in the market, shares of consumer-electronics giant Apple (AAPL) surged nearly 7% today on better-than expected earnings results...

The company said it shipped 40 million iPhones, 10 million iPads, and 4 million Macs in the latest quarter – helping ease investor concerns that iPhone and iPad demand had hit a wall.

Apple CEO Tim Cook reported on the earnings call that the company added millions of first-time smartphone buyers in the June quarter... So-called "switchers" – folks who change out a non-Apple phone to an iPhone – accounted for the highest percentage of quarterly iPhone sales the company has ever measured.

The company's services division – which includes its App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud services – was another highlight, growing 19% to a quarterly record of $6 billion. In the last year, revenue from the division is up nearly $4 billion to $23.1 billion. The company expects the division will be "the size of a Fortune 100 company by next year."

Regular Digest readers know that several Stansberry Research analysts... as well as Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) investment managers, hedge-fund manager David Einhorn, and billionaire George Soros... are bullish on Apple.

In the May 17 Digest, we highlighted our colleague Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's May 13 issue of Retirement Trader. In the issue, Doc explained why Apple was worth hundreds of billions more, even with near-zero growth...

No rational investor bought Apple with expectations of fast-growing revenue and earnings. Rather, he bought it for the cash flow and the yield. The folks who are selling because of this earnings report – and driving the price down – are reactionaries. They are selling on headlines. And they will regret it.

There's no reasonable explanation for why Apple isn't worth more than its current valuation.

Since Doc published that Retirement Trader issue, AAPL shares are up around 15%. Congrats to Doc and his subscribers for a great call.

Finally, beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) just upped its offer for competitor SABMiller (SAB.L).

AB InBev raised its cash offer to 45 pounds, or about $59 per share – an increase of one pound from its previous offer. The move was meant to appease shareholders of London-based SABMiller, as the pound has fallen sharply after Britain's "Brexit" vote to leave the European Union.

However, Reuters points out that the value of the cash offer in dollars has fallen by 14% since AB InBev first agreed to the megamerger... And the higher offer only narrows that gap to a 12% decline.

This leaves SABMiller shareholders in a difficult situation. The revised offer is still worth far less than the original agreement. Yet if they push for a better offer and BUD walks away, SAB shares would likely be worth even less.

SAB's board is reportedly consulting with shareholders over whether the revised offer is "acceptable" and is expected to issue a final recommendation in the next few days.

In the meantime, AB InBev already received merger approval from U.S. regulators last week.

The Justice Department is requiring the company to sell SABMiller's stake in MillerCoors beer, as well as refrain from any practices that would limit the ability of distributers to sell beer from smaller craft and import brewers. But we would still count this as a win for business in the U.S. government's "war on business," which we've been following for several months now. As we noted last week...

According to data firm Dealogic, more than $600 billion in deals have been called off in the U.S. this year... up from $378 billion just two months ago. That's by far the largest number of deal cancellations in a single year in history. In fact, it's nearly double the previous full-year record – and we're only halfway through the year.

The next and final antitrust regulatory hurdle for AB InBev is Chinese regulators.

AB InBev has been a longtime World Dominator recommendation of Dan Ferris' Extreme Value service. Here's what Dan wrote when the deal was announced last year...

I know the Brazilians' playbook. As soon as the transaction closes, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito and his team from Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital will start trimming the fat, just like they did when they took over Budweiser. The Busch family and its management suddenly forfeited their tickets to St. Louis Cardinals games, gave up fancy corporate jet travel, and probably sacrificed a dozen other perks.

Every time these guys have taken over a new company, they've trimmed the fat and expanded the profit margins. They saw how the global beer industry had become lazy, and his team set about taking it over so they could make it leaner and more profitable.

Extreme Value subscribers are up nearly 190% since Dan first recommended shares. Congrats to Dan on another great World Dominator recommendation.

New 52-week highs (as of 7/26/16): Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Cisco (CSCO), First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (FEMS), iShares Core S&P Small-Cap Fund (IJR), Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Regions Financial – Series B (RF-PB).

In today's mailbag, subscribers comment on the upcoming election and the public pension crisis... a suggestion for a new Stansberry "indicator"... and several recommendations for financial gifts for grandchildren. What do you think? We'd love to hear from you at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

"I read today's Digest and mailbag. Like most Americans, I can tell that something is VERY wrong simply by the feeling in my bones. And watching this year's election play out only proves that something is amiss. I especially liked Bill H's comments in the mailbag, and his message that it does not matter who is president. I believe this to be completely true. A message that can be taken from this is to skip voting this year.

"I had once believed this too, but have come to a different point of view. The trouble with not voting is that 'they' think that you do not care, and assume that whomever it is that wins the election has a much larger mandate than he/she really does. The other approach is to vote 'against' a candidate by voting for the lesser of two evils. The trouble with this approach is that much like the not voting example, the vote you cast is taken to be what you actually want, and this gives the machine the assumption that you approve of whomever it is for whom you voted. It is for this reason that I vote in EVERY election, and I vote for the candidate that I actually want in office.

"I consider myself to be a libertarian, and thus I vote for Libertarian candidates. But voters should vote for the candidate that best represents their views regardless of how much of a long-shot that candidate may be. Over the years, the Democratic and Republican candidates have been getting a lesser and lesser share of the votes, and the Republican candidates have been gaining with each election cycle. And membership roles within the Libertarian party have been steadily growing for the past decade, and the Republican membership has shrunk every year during that same time period, and with the exception of 2008, the Democratic party membership has also declined during the same time period.

"Does any of this matter? I have no idea. Maybe Bill H has even more wisdom than even he professes, but voting for what we want is our one form of real protest every election cycle, and we should capitalize on it." – Paid-up subscriber Joe J.

"I fully understand the reasons [public pensions use] 20-year average returns, but that system was predicated on minimizing the minor vagaries effect on the long term trend. Interest rates are no longer minor effects. I would like to see the 20-year average along with a 5 year average for the last five years as well as single year numbers for the same last 5 years. I suspect these numbers would scare the s**t out of those awaiting retirement since there seems to be no change in sight (25 points won't help anyone looking for pension growth)." – Paid-up subscriber John H.

"Just had a reflection on the 'Fire Porter' controversy. I see the complaints of some Stansberry readers about Porter's pessimism as mirroring the level of 'investor exuberance' – that is, as the market appears to be on a steady climb, these readers devalue Porter's advice. This suggests that we may have a new seat-of-the-pants indicator for a market top, in the number of readers complaining that Porter's advice doesn't seem to apply to the present situation.

"I hope someone will take the time to research the ratio between cancellations by dissatisfied customers and the bull/bear market status – might make interesting reading. Porter, thanks for your continuing effort to tell-it-like-it-is; with advice from several of the Stansberry analysts, my portfolio is in Much Better Shape than it had been pre-Stansberry." – Paid-up subscriber Steve C.

"Dear Subscriber Mark M., give your grandchildren the gift of Stansberry Research subscriptions." – Paid-up subscriber Sally E.

"Dear Stansberry gang, PAYING SCHOOL OR COLLEGE TUITION is easily the best financial gift for grandchildren. No, I don't have any, but picked this up from well-off friends who used it. You can write the check for your grandchild's school or university WITHOUT having to pay gift tax OR declare it against the annual gift limit for Grandma and Grandpa.

"I know some smart folk have soured on the value of college education, but I still stick up for it. My years studying for BA and MBA shaped every aspect of my life for the better. My Jewish parents shared the traditional reverence for learning, but especially drilled into me its strategic value for a long-persecuted people; 'What you've got in your head you can always take with you.' A good education remains a great long-term investment. A person can certainly see this in the Stansberry research team." – Paid-up subscriber Deborah W.

"My wife and I are both about 70. Growing up in the mid 20th century our parents had little or nothing to invest. Then during the last quarter of that century when we were raising three kids we had little or nothing to invest so guess how much discussion there was about the market at the dinner tables. Somehow we managed to set enough aside through 401k and IRA accounts so we were able to retire. But it wasn't until we joined Stansberry Research that we really started to learn about investing.

"Now that we have picked up some valuable lessons from Porter, Steve, Matt et al, we thought that giving the grandkids cash, stocks or whatever would not help them learn about investing. So instead, beginning with our oldest grandchild who turns 13 next month, we will give him control over a portion of our retirement account's gains, dividends, etc. for 5 years until he turns 18. Using a TradeStops portfolio of investments we set up to start for our grandson, he will have control over 25 stocks we own. He will accrue all gains and dividends annually which we will transfer to a UGTM account for him. Losses will not reduce anything he has accrued but will have to be offset before he earns any additional gains. Dividends will be accrued as earned without regard to price fluctuations.

"Our goal is to teach him, his siblings and cousins about diversity, buying value at reasonable prices, the miracle of compounding, using limit orders, minimizing fees, etc. There is just so much to learn and giving them an early understanding about investments is something I wish I had had to avoid making bad investment decisions. I've made bad investments. Some of my kids have made bad investments. Maybe I can help my grandkids minimize bad investment decisions with what I have learned from Stansberry Research." – Paid-up subscriber Joe F.

Regards,

Justin Brill
Baltimore, Maryland
July 27, 2016