Editor's note: We could be in the early stages of a brand-new, massive bull market...

One that Steve Sjuggerud says could return 500% or even 1,000% if things play out correctly.

In today's Masters Series essay – excerpted from a brand-new special report – Steve looks back at what these bull markets have looked like in the past... and explains why the coming boom could be the biggest one in history...

The Ultimate Cyclical Asset

By Steve Sjuggerud

If one thing is certain, it's that commodity prices will soar and crash.

It's what happens. It's happened for years and years. And it's not going to stop any time soon.

Commodities are the ultimate cyclical asset. And getting on the right side of the trade means making massive profits.

Like I said yesterday, commodities have had four major bull markets since the early 1970s. You can see them in the chart below...

Now, commodities have seen some up and downs outside of these major bull moves. But they pale in comparison to what happens when commodity prices really get going...

The first of these booms started in 1970. This was a relentless move higher, fueled by the inflation of the 1970s. It lasted four years and led to more than 400% gains. Take a look...

Notice that commodities didn't experience many hiccups at all during this bull market. It was a one-way trade good for hundreds-of-percent profits.

Here's the thing, though... Cyclical assets like commodities boom AND bust. And commodities suffered a fantastic bust after this boom.

From 1974 to 1977, prices fell by more than a third in just a few years. It was a brutal decline. But it set up the next commodity bull market...

Not surprisingly, the 1970s inflation also fueled this boom. Prices soared from 1977 to 1980. This time, commodities ended up jumping more than 150% in a little more than three years.

Individual commodities jumped even more than that... Silver jumped nearly 700% from trough to peak during this period. Sugar prices jumped more than 500%.

Investors who positioned themselves correctly made huge gains in this stretch. But they needed to know what to buy, when to buy it, and when to get out. Because like we saw with the first example, commodities entered a major bust after this boom.

This time, commodities fell around 30% and became "dead money" for years. If you had invested at the 1980 peak, you wouldn't have broken even until 1985. Ouch.

Then, in 1986, the next boom got underway... It was one of the most powerful we've seen, good for nearly 300% upside. And as you can see, it was another one-way march higher...

That's nearly 300% upside in just over four years. And that's for a broad basket of commodities. We're talking about a collection of a few dozen commodities – from oil to copper.

If you narrowed your focus, the right investments soared dramatically higher in this span... It's not unusual to see commodity companies soar 1,000% or more during these kinds of booms. And that's what we're counting on this time around...

But again, the bust always follows the boom. After their rise through the late 1980s, commodities spent nearly a decade going nowhere... They eventually lost a third of their value.

Imagine that... owning an asset for nearly a decade and LOSING money. It's crazy to think about... But it happens regularly in the commodity markets. It's completely normal.

As we've seen... the good thing about it is what happens after a bust. And the 1990s bust set up one of the greatest booms in history...

Instead of a lost decade, we witnessed a near decade-long boom in commodities from 1998 to 2008... ending in gains of nearly 500%. Take a look...

Now, commodities suffered a few bumps along the way. Prices fell more than 25% a couple times during this boom... from 2000 to 2002, and then again from 2005 to 2007.

Still, that volatility was a small price to pay for the long-term gains. Commodities spent nine years soaring. And investors who took advantage profited handsomely.

It was a fantastic period to invest in commodities and related businesses. It might have been the best boom we've ever seen... until now.

Why is today's opportunity so good? Why are we so excited? Why did we drop everything and devote ourselves to this opportunity in the commodity markets?

Simply put, because we've never seen a commodity bust like the one we're coming out of...

Prices have never fallen this far... for this long. We've never seen a boom start off such a low base.

As we said earlier, commodity prices fell as much as 80% from their 2008 peak. Remember the last three booms we just talked about? They all started with prices down less than 50%. And only the 1990s bust lasted close to the same length as the latest one.

All of that means that the coming boom could be bigger than any we've ever seen before.

That's why we're so excited. And it's why we're launching a brand-new product to take advantage of it. We're happy to have you along for the ride...

All right. Easy. Let's do it. Let's buy commodities!

It's not quite that simple. Investing in commodities is ripe with pitfalls. Most simple commodity investments are completely broken. And they can mean losing money even if you're right on the big idea.

Instead, we've found a better way to invest in commodities. This idea flips the issues that simple commodity investments have on their head. And throughout history, it has dramatically outperformed...

We're also not just investing in commodities themselves. We're putting the majority of our investment dollars into commodity businesses – what I call the "Masters of the Universe."

Between our "smart" way to invest in commodities and our Masters of the Universe, we'll have several shots at triple-digit gains in the coming years. And I wouldn't be surprised if we end up locking in gains as high as 300% – even 500% – if things go right.

That's what is possible in the coming commodity boom. And it's why we want to put our money to work right now.

Good investing,

Steve Sjuggerud

Editor's note: Today, commodities are one of the few asset classes you can buy at 1990s prices. And Steve is so bullish on them that he's hosting a live 2018 Commodity Investing Summit on Thursday, June 21 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. He'll tell you everything you need to know about this coming boom... including the name (and ticker) of one of his favorite commodity investments today. If he's right – and this is the start of the greatest bull market in commodities we've ever seen – you can't afford to miss this free event. Click here to learn more.