Dave Lashmet's 1,000% Winner in the 'Race for a Cure'

More cases, fewer deaths... What's really happening today... We're stuck with COVID-19 for a while... Dave Lashmet's 1,000% winner in the 'Race for a Cure'... The biggest return in Stansberry Research history... A 1,000% winner does not come around often... Get Dave's COVID-19 'War Chest' picks now...

A lot of eyes are watching the rising number of U.S. COVID-19 cases today...

You'll hear the mainstream media talk about more than 2.5 million infected people and more than 125,000 deaths in the country. Maybe they'll even throw up that body count graphic on the right side of the screen if they're feeling extra anxiety-provoking.

The illnesses and loss of lives are real, sad, and distressing. But using one or two numbers to accurately describe what's going on in every pocket and corner of our massive country isn't quite nuanced for most of us.

We're a huge nation of more than 320 million people, governed by 50 different state governments... which have each handled this whole pandemic a little bit differently. It's just like how each one of us behaves a little bit differently and handles the virus differently from each other.

It matters who you are...

Some people can walk around with the virus and not even know they have it. Others can get sick and die within a few days. And you'll also find all kinds of cases in between... with the backdrop that young, fit, and healthy folks stand a better chance against the virus than those who are older, obese, or have pre-existing breathing, heart, or liver conditions.

It matters where you are, too...

Clusters of the virus have spread around nursing homes, jails, and meat-processing plants – all indoor facilities where people must be in close quarters on a daily basis to go about normal business. And at least 85 cases have been recently linked to one bar in East Lansing, Michigan.

When you're outdoors – like on a farm or out running or walking – things don't seem nearly as dire. But in a city, where density is harder to avoid, life can be a little bit more unsettling.

And it matters who else you interact with...

One thing we know for sure – COVID-19 is as easily spread as bad breath. As we wrote in the May 27 Digest, citing research and analysis from our Stansberry Venture Technology editor Dave Lashmet, you can get the virus simply by talking to someone with it.

This is all to say, let's take a closer look at what's really happening right now...

For big-picture context, we'll start with charts that you've probably seen elsewhere.

First, the total number of new cases in the U.S. is rising...

Meanwhile, the number of new deaths in the U.S. is still going down...

Overall, if you prefer a healthy, pandemic-free world, this is good news... The continued trend down in new deaths – despite new "hotspots," "record infections," and almost 600,000 new tests each day over the past week – is important.

As we learned back in March, in places that were hard hit with the virus initially – like New York – new death numbers from COVID-19 lagged new cases by at least a week or so, as people got sick, then were admitted to the hospital.

That same "lag" hasn't appeared in the overall trend yet this time, even as new cases started to rise significantly two weeks ago. Again, that's good news.

But this divergence – much like what happens with stock market data – doesn't tell the entire story about your state, city, or town. This is, as we'll call it, a "local global" issue.

A few places today are doing much worse than others...

Two months ago, people in Arizona told us that hospitals were actually furloughing staff since the lockdowns were preventing normal business from happening – like moneymaking surgeries – all while the number of COVID-19 cases was low and had never gotten out of control.

At the time, the sounds of this dynamic leaned toward being evidence for the "government overreacted" camp. But today, the coronavirus-related numbers in Arizona are trending closer to what many other states experienced in the early days of the virus reaching our shores.

At the same time, the New York metro area – once a ghost town – looks "fine" today.

Meanwhile, states like Texas and Florida have recently hit the pause button on their reopening plans as case numbers have ticked up. As we'll show you, these places aren't doing as "bad" as it may seem, but they certainly aren't trending in the virus-free direction.

There's no easy way to summarize the trend on a national basis. But to take the most relevant look possible, we again go to our colleague Dave Lashmet, who continues to explain the science behind COVID-19 as well as anyone else we've seen.

This is his specialty...

Dave suggested we check out the University of Minnesota's state-by-state COVID-19 tracker. (You can play around with the same tool right here.)

Below, we compare the data from new "hotspots" in Texas, Florida, and Arizona with the unfortunate poster-child for the outbreak, New York, and our home state of Maryland, where we've lived out this pandemic...

In short, more often than since the outbreak began, folks in the new "hotspots" are being admitted to the hospital. The numbers in Arizona today are worse than they've ever been here in Maryland, for instance...

In Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country, many hospitals have reached full capacity in their intensive care units ("ICUs").

And remember, the economy-stopping lockdowns were justified by officials who primarily warned about hospital systems being overrun. So hospitalization numbers is an important metric to track when considering the impacts on health and the economy.

But interestingly, deaths in these new hotspots haven't accordingly risen at scale.

Aside from Arizona's 79 reported deaths on June 24 – a new all-time spike that reflected some retroactive labeling – deaths in Texas and California have yet to hit new highs even after new infections started trending upward recently.

So the overall death number in the U.S. compared to new cases continues to fall.

We'll leave the discussion and speculation about why that is for another time, but the topics include...

We certainly know more about the virus now. Are people getting "less" virus in them because they're wearing masks? Or social distancing? Or avoiding large indoor gatherings? Do hospitals know how to treat it better? Are younger, healthier people the ones getting sick? And thus, they're dying less?

(Related, Retirement Millionaire editor Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig and senior analyst Matt Weinschenk covered a lot of these topics in their latest COVID-19 special briefing last week. If you missed it, you can watch it for free right here.)

Again, it's good news that these are even questions at this point... compared with February and early March, when most people knew nothing about what was happening.

But the broader point is that we won't be getting rid of COVID-19 for a while...

First off, it looks like the "first wave" might not have crested through the entire country yet.

And we can't be sure what a "second wave" may look like in places that have seemingly already put the first wave in the background – or frankly, if it will happen at all.

But as we've said before, this virus isn't just disappearing from the planet tomorrow... as long as people are walking free, as we Americans rightfully enjoy doing.

No wonder, in addition to the still-raging argument about the effectiveness of masks, a lot of folks – Wall Street types included – are obsessed about the possibility of a vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, most recently said one could be ready by the end of the year.

Yes, a vaccine will end this all! Right?

Maybe. Or it will at least hopefully provide some effective immunity to the disease for some period of time. That's assuming people want to get the shot and it's available to them. And it also depends if they can afford it, if it costs something.

That's a lot of collective teamwork that needs to happen. We can only hope that it does.

In any case, the 'Race for a Cure' continues...

We last reported on the work being done on a COVID-19 cure in the May 27 Digest... and noted that this will take some time. Something like a free COVID-19 shot will probably not be available "tomorrow, next month, or maybe even next year," we said.

And we cited Dave, who said, "There's only three ways to confront [COVID-19]: social distance in the open air, masks indoors, or a vaccine."

The longer this all drags on, the more important a vaccine seems to be if the world wants to beat the virus and people want to shake hands like we did in the good ol' days of 2019.

Our collective behavior sure hasn't stopped the spread totally. Nor did Sweden's failed experiment to "just let everybody get it."

The World Health Organization says 16 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are currently in clinical trials. And the companies and governments involved in these potential treatments are jockeying for position.

Just today, the Chinese government said it has approved a vaccine to give to its military only for the next year.

Here in the U.S., the government has stepped in with "at risk" money for several companies for trials and development of treatments.

Just last week, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it was giving $71 million to Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO)...

Specifically, the Department of Defense ("DoD") is giving the company money to scale-up its vaccine delivery technology, an indication that the development of the vaccine itself is going well, too.

The news sent Inovio's share price skyrocketing early last week, doubling to more than $30 per share. And Dave's Venture Technology subscribers, who are familiar with the name, were along for the fun ride.

You see, Dave recommended Inovio to his Venture Technology subscribers in June 2019, when the small-cap biotech stock traded for less than $3 per share.

To date, that's a 10X return... the biggest in Stansberry Research history!

(Subscribers who followed Dave's advice since the beginning of the recommendation currently enjoy a "mere" 604% gain because Dave had recommended they take some of their profits off the table in January. And you won't see Dave's picks in our "Top 10 Open Recommendations" chart at the end of this Digest because we keep most of these names exclusive to his subscribers.)

To be fair, Dave didn't predict this precise COVID-19 pandemic playing out exactly how it has when recommending the company. (Who could have known that?) But he did get close – and certainly laid out the threats from similar viruses and diseases.

Dave recommended Inovio as a speculative play primarily because of its groundbreaking work in vaccines for many diseases, including Ebola and Lassa fever.

Lassa is an animal-borne (carried by rats), highly contagious, viral illness that kills thousands of people in West Africa each year. Sounds kind of familiar...

And as Dave wrote last summer, Inovio was the company best-positioned to develop and quickly deliver an effective vaccine for an outbreak of these kinds of diseases.

He even said, "We need this type of fast-acting vaccine for national security." More from Dave in the June 2019 issue of Venture Technology...

The good news is that Inovio is decades ahead of its rivals in vaccine technology and genetics. This inventiveness is backed by patents, which grant Inovio global monopolies.

In particular, Inovio owns 100% global commercial rights to DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies ("DMAbs") that it can add to its vaccines...

DMAbs are the genetic formula for an antibody that specifically targets the same bug as the vaccine. So when this formula is added to the vaccine, you get protection within days to face an epidemic.

This is exactly why the DoD just gave Inovio more than $70 million. That's almost a third of the $240 million that Inovio was worth back when Dave made the recommendation. Today, it's valued at roughly $5 billion.

As Dave wrote to subscribers in an alert on Friday, when he recommended that they sell half of their existing position for 1,000% gains...

You see, Inovio's vaccines require specialized equipment for delivery. So if Inovio's vaccine proves effective and safe in human clinical testing, it will face bottlenecks in getting vaccines into people.

That's why the DoD is throwing cash toward manufacturing more devices.

Big kudos to Dave on this recommendation...

A 1,000% gain, much less in only a year, does not come around often, if ever. But honestly, we're not surprised that this massive success came from Dave, who is an expert in this early-stage biotech space.

If investing in the type of small companies that few people have heard of yet, but that can deliver you 3x... 5x... or even 10x returns over the long term sounds interesting to you, we encourage you to check out Dave's work.

We haven't come across anyone who has a deeper understanding or can better explain the intersection of science, early-stage companies, and the economy. There's a reason he was the first analyst our founder Porter Stansberry hired when he started Stansberry Research more than 20 years ago.

Porter was actually a student of Dave's back when Dave was a college professor. For the uninitiated, Dave spent 10 years teaching and writing about medicine and technology at major research universities. And he has done follow-up research at some of the most important facilities in North America.

We're fortunate to bring his research today to subscribers.

Inovio is just part of Dave's COVID-19 'War Chest'...

The great thing is, he also has several positions with double-digit gains in the Venture Technology portfolio already that still have more room to run...

A COVID-19 rapid-test company has doubled in value... An N95 mask company is up around 30%... And a COVID-19 antibody-treatment company is well within "buy" range today.

Plus, he just added another drug company to the model portfolio and is eying another one involved in a last-ditch "save the COVID-19 ICU patient" drug...

As we said back in May, we don't think you'll find a more comprehensive and insightful explanation of the science behind COVID-19... the fight against it... AND the companies that may stand to profit than in Dave's issues of Venture Technology.

Click here right now to learn more about a subscription today, if you don't have one already. Again, kudos to Dave for finding and making this all-time winning pick. And more important, congratulations to his subscribers who are enjoying these record gains today.

The Four "C's" to Help Stop the Spread

As some areas of the U.S. struggle to contain the coronavirus, Health & Wealth Bulletin's Amanda Cuocci shares guidance that can help states as they look to reopen following pandemic-related lockdowns.

Click here to watch this video right now. And for more free video content, subscribe to our Stansberry Research YouTube channel... and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

New 52-week highs (as of 6/26/20): Alamos Gold (AGI), Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trust (CEF), DB Gold Double Long ETN (DGP), DocuSign (DOCU), Electronic Arts (EA), SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Match Group (MTCH), NetEase (NTES), Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), and Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX).

In today's mailbag, feedback on rising food prices, Dan Ferris' Friday Digest, True Wealth editor Dr. Steve Sjuggerud's Masters Series essay from Sunday, and thoughts on gold from Gold Stock Analyst editor John Doody. Do you have a comment or question? Send it to feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

"I own a pizzeria in the Chicago area, and about 6 weeks ago we started seeing price increases in Beef, then Pork & Chicken and finally Cheese. It hasn't stopped, just yesterday cheese went up another $.10 a pound.

"Before Covid-19 we paid $1.80 to $2.30 a pound for our pizza cheese and yesterday the price was $3.05 a pound. We raised our prices on any item with meat. If cheese continues to cost more we will be forced to increase our pizza prices." – Paid-up subscriber Dennis C.

"For Dan Ferris, You are one of my Stansberry gurus. I have a few. I want you to know that I read this piece twice. One of the reasons I subscribed years ago is because of Porter's End of America 2000. It made complete sense to me.

"You can't keep printing money and expect the outcome to be good. The last couple of years I have been buying gold on and off. In October I started buying regularly. Not because anyone told me but because you could see the handwriting on the wall.

"We are in the process of looking to buy another house to add to our portfolio. After all why would you not want to pay it off with cheaper dollars? We have also been working on buying farmland. Hard assets are definitely the right direction to go at this time.

"I want to thank you for your advice over the years. When I started you were doing Retirement Millionaire. Ancient days my friend. LOL After all the years I decided to become an Alliance member year before last. I have paid for it with profits made from my Stansberry gurus. Thanks a million." – Stansberry Alliance member Jeff S.

"Re: Sjuggerud's Sunday Digest piece on stubbornness paying off in real estate, especially real estate development, couldn't be more true.

"We develop apartments on college campuses and dealing with fragmented land ownership requires stubbornness in spades. So, I especially appreciated this part of Steve's Digest today 6/28:

They had it listed at a ridiculous price. And I wanted to lowball them. But I knew that would be a problem. Getting three banks' boards to agree to a low sale price was going to be a lot of work.

I could have given up, knowing the difficulty I'd encounter. But I didn't... I'd learned by this point, from my years of real estate investing, that I was willing to be stubborn.

Believe it or not, stubbornness plays a large role in real estate investing. You have to be willing to see a deal that others won't... And then, you have to be stubborn enough to see it through.

When I was selling my first home, I didn't have that stubbornness ingrained in me. I wish I had... But it's a lesson I learned from selling that house for too little.

Now, more than 20 years later, I've learned to be plenty stubborn.

So, I went into this deal knowing it would be a chore... if I could get it done at all. Three banks owning one property would be complicated. But I also knew I would be stubborn enough to see it through...

– Paid-up subscriber Stephen B.

"I love gold right now!... I want to commit more money to GOLD. I love John Doody's insight but is it too late with the last run in the gold sector?" – Paid-up subscriber Fredrik H

John Doody comment: I expect this gold bull market to at least repeat its 123% gain from the U.S. government's monetary and fiscal policy responses to the 2008 financial crash. That gain this time would put gold above $3,000 per ounce. And this time, the government is doing more... Once the new money is created in the system, it's never removed.

As my colleague Garrett Goggin pointed out in the last Silver Stock Analyst, the Federal Reserve's balance sheet has exploded by 12 times in this millennium to $7.2 trillion. And that's before the additional stimulus that's likely coming.

Bull markets die when there's no one left to buy. We are far from that, as the financial news seldom mentions gold. And while there are fewer cocktail parties now for anecdotal evidence, I'll bet gold would not be a popular discussion topic.

Impatience is the enemy of most investors. Longtime market participants have a saying that applies here: "Be right and sit tight." You know you are right, so sit tight with the Gold Stock Analyst Top 10.

All the best,

Corey McLaughlin
Baltimore, Maryland
June 29, 2020