This Fourth of July holiday, the markets are, of course, closed. And hopefully, you're taking a well-deserved break to celebrate with friends and family.
So this is the perfect time to talk about something I know has been on a lot of folks' minds...
What happens next?
I've gotten emails from a number of our Members - Pam, Ryan, Jim, Jane, Mia, Hao, Ronaldo, and more - you know who you are - asking, "Where do we go from here?"
Well, that depends on a number of what I call "wild cards."
Right now, there's simply so much headline risk that you have to be prepared for a big move in either direction - up or down!
There are lots of these wild cards in play (or waiting to go into play): North Korea, Trump's pending meeting with Russia, a trade war with China, the European Union and Brexit, the Fed, immigration, earnings... anything can and perhaps will come into play as journalists try to create screaming, sensationalistic headlines to draw a reaction from the public.
Now, contrary to what a lot of folks think instinctively, this is not a bad thing.
Remember what we do every day: We identify the world's best investment opportunities, and we invest accordingly.
And guess what: If the markets are going nowhere, there aren't any opportunities.
That's why we want the markets to "go somewhere" - there's plenty of profit potential. Up or down, it matters not a bit; what matters is that you're prepared.
So I want you to do two things...
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How Every Investor Should Prepare for "What's Next"
First... to get ready for rising markets, I want you to be "in to win."
This means following the Unstoppable Trends we talk about all the time in my Total Wealth research, because they're backed by trillions of dollars, and there's little or nothing politicians in Washington or anywhere else can do to thwart them.
Start the Countdown: In just FIVE days, you could have a fat check for $23,441 in your mailbox. And the best part is, it's just one short phone call away. Over 80% of eligible seniors may be entitled to this cash. Are you one of them?
We want to align our money with must-have companies that supply must-own products and must-use services - and that have tested, quality leadership.
And we'll want to use constant risk management, bolstered by unwavering discipline, to capture profits as the market hands them to us using trailing stops and the "free trade" model we pioneered.
That brings us right to my second point: Make sure your trailing stops are in place to control downside risk. Your goal is to stop small losses from becoming catastrophic portfolio killers.
Forget about the notion that this is a one-and-done activity. Your goal is to live again to fight another day. You can always re-enter the stocks you want to when things calm down... and I might add, often at far lower prices - something I love to do.
If you want to trade aggressively, right now is the time to start nibbling into the specialized inverse funds we talk about frequently, like Ryder Inverse S&P 500 Inverse Fund (MUTF: RYURX) or its ETF cousin, the ProShares Short S&P 500 (NYSE Arca: SH).
What's more, to maximize upside, aggressive traders will want to consider purchasing put options on individual stocks or the indexes themselves.
At the end of the day, I know this takes a while to sink in. What we're talking about isn't necessarily a natural thing to think about, but is most definitely profitable.
Editor's Note: Keith publishes his free Total Wealth research, packed with stock recommendations, superior investing strategies, and the hard-won insight that comes from more than three decades of experience in the global markets. You can click right here, and you'll be automatically subscribed at no charge - ever.
Social Security Accounting Errors Leaves Tens of Thousands Underpaid
If you're looking for another reason to be upset with the government, look no further... Audits done by the Office of the Inspector General found that errors by SSA employees have resulted in 33 years of underpaid benefits to tens of thousands of Americans.
Imagine how impactful one minor mistake can be in your everyday life; take that multiplied by 33 years... No wonder research found that Social Security recipients are leaving an estimated $25 billion dollars in the pockets of the U.S. government every year.
That is the equivalent of $825 billion dollars within that same timeframe...
Denise Felton, for example, recently found out she was underpaid $56,255 in Social Security due to the same type of miscalculations.
I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not going to sit and let the government keep another cent of my hard-earned cash.
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About the Author
Keith is a seasoned market analyst and professional trader with more than 37 years of global experience. He is one of very few experts to correctly see both the dot.bomb crisis and the ongoing financial crisis coming ahead of time - and one of even fewer to help millions of investors around the world successfully navigate them both. Forbes hailed him as a "Market Visionary." He is a regular on FOX Business News and Yahoo! Finance, and his observations have been featured in Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, and MarketWatch. Keith previously led The Money Map Report, Money Map's flagship newsletter, as Chief Investment Strategist, from 20007 to 2020. Keith holds a BS in management and finance from Skidmore College and an MS in international finance (with a focus on Japanese business science) from Chaminade University. He regularly travels the world in search of investment opportunities others don't yet see or understand.