The other day, I grabbed the opportunity to sit down with the CEO and Chief Investment Officer at U.S. Global Investors Inc. (Nasdaq: GROW), Frank Holmes.
His firm specializes in actively managed equity and bond strategies. And the folks at U.S. Global Investors are highly astute in the metals and mining sectors as well.
Frank and his team wanted to interview me to get my take on where the technology, cannabis, and blockchain sectors are headed. And they've kindly allowed us to publish the piece that resulted from our interview.
It's got some important details about where I see investment opportunities ahead for these industries, so I've decided to re-publish the article here for you today.
Check it out...
Talking Tech with Pulitzer Prize Nominee Michael Robinson
Michael Robinson, chief technology strategist of Money Map Press, is a lot of things: devoted son and father, technologist, avid skier and gun enthusiast, accomplished blues guitarist, and Pulitzer Prize nominee.
Readers of his popular newsletters know him for his mantra, "The road to wealth is paved by tech." As editor of Strategic Tech Investor, Nova-X Report, and Radical Technology Profits, Michael has helped curious investors get in early on small-cap and micro-cap names involved in biotech, defense, cannabis research, and more.
I got to see Michael's presentation at [Money Map Press's] Black Diamond Investment Conference in October and was impressed by his energy, interesting life story, and deep knowledge of niche markets.
FH: Tell us about your start in military tech and biotech.
MAR: I grew up in a military household. My dad was a Marine Corps officer, and later he became the senior military editor at Aviation Week & Space Technology. He was among the earliest to write about the Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars. So as a high schooler, I was exposed to all of these exotic defense technologies – materials, sensors, warheads, and the like – which really gave me a leg up.
My dad and I ran a military high-tech newsletter in the 1980s. This put me in a position to visit Silicon Valley pretty regularly and talk with scientists and CEOs about cutting-edge tech – materials that made battleships and submarines quieter, for example.
As a young auto analyst and reporter, I managed to break some big tech stories because I was willing to look away from the mainstream. The biggest story I did actually led to the firing of two executive vice presidents, which cost the bank close to $80 million. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal ended up having to cover the story, so that helped put me on the map.
I got involved in biotechnology later through my work at what was then the Oakland Tribune. The biotech sector was brand new in the mid-'80s, and I was in California where it was all happening.
FH: You're known to have a strong interest in guns and shooting. Did that come out of your dad's military background?
MAR: I never really thought of it that way. I just love shooting guns. Mostly these days I shoot trap and skeet. I joined the National Rifle Association because I wanted to qualify as a Triple Distinguished Expert in pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Shotgun was the most difficult, I thought.
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The amount of concentration that's required to shoot at a high level really appeals to me. You have to block out all distractions. In that respect, shooting is a lot like investing. One of the things I remind readers and clients is to separate the signal from the noise. You can't become a good shot if you can't block out all the external distractions and things. Similarly, investors must learn to block out short-term market noise before they pull the trigger, so to speak.
FH: Michigan just voted to legalize recreational cannabis, making it the first Midwest state to do so. Is this a tipping point?
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MAR: I think the tipping point probably occurred in 2016, when as many as nine states had cannabis legalization on their ballots. That year is also when we launched our investment report, the Roadmap to Marijuana Millions. All 30 of the stocks we recommended made money. The reason I say that is not to brag about our track record, but to point out that we saw large numbers of new investors coming in, willing to take the risk, wanting to be early and understand the industry.
Michigan, for me, was an affirmation of this critical mass. It's also a reminder of what we need more of to attract institutional investors: initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and up-listings to major exchanges.
Obviously the biggest catalyst would be something out of Washington – an effort to reclassify marijuana off of Schedule I, for instance. I would love to see that happen, as would my dad the Marine Corps officer, but I don't believe the support is there right now.
FH: You recently argued that blockchain technology should not be used for voting, for reasons involving secrecy and anonymity. In what industries do you see its application making the most sense?
MAR: Literally everything. Supply chain management is a huge area that could benefit from blockchain. Look at the oil industry, which still uses this old paper-based system. Companies that have already shown interest in blockchain are BP Plc. (NYSE: BP) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (NYSE: RDS.A), among others.
Counterfeit goods is a problem that runs in the hundreds of billions of dollar every year. Blockchain can help with that. You can use it to tag and identify goods early on, and then they can be tracked with some kind of a distributed ledger.
Or look at financial services. Frank, you've pointed out a number of times before that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon has criticized cryptocurrencies, and yet the bank was quietly investing millions upon millions.
FH: Speaking of cryptocurrencies, they're down significantly this year. Do you think now is a good time to buy, or is more pain ahead?
MAR: I fear about jumping in right now. Are we at the bottom of Bitcoin (BATS: BTC)? I don't know. One thing I do know is that this crypto sell-off may be healthy in the long term. There's been an insane number of initial coin offerings, which have really hurt Bitcoin and Ethereum (BATS: ETH). We need to sweep out some of the smaller coins, because 2,000 cryptos is more than the world can possibly absorb. There has to be a shakeout.
Ultimately, that's going to be a positive for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchain protocols like Ethereum are being used to host a whole other layer of applications, known as "dapps," to allow people to make wagers, play games, and trade on decentralized exchanges and marketplaces.
I believe the Ethereum network, the third largest public blockchain with a market cap of more than $18 billion, has a nearly limitless future.
That's why I've put together a webinar that explains the easiest way to grab a huge chunk of this crypto wealth for yourself.
I'm talking about raking in cash from dozens of cryptocurrencies day after day, week after week.
FH: You work on several newsletters. Can you describe them for our readers and explain what value they bring?
MAR: The main value they bring is making our readers a lot of money.
Nova-X Report focuses on mid-cap stocks and the lower end of large caps. We feel that's a good comfort zone for entry-level investors who are looking for big trends and ways to make money that aren't necessarily household names. We try to get to market early.
Radical Technology Profits is our premium service. It's designed for much more savvy, much more aggressive people. We swing for the fences more than we do with Nova-X. The focus is on any kind of cutting-edge technology – small caps and even some micro caps.
As long as my readers make money, I know I'll do well. I take breaks from time to time, but for the most part I'm up well before dawn, screening charts and looking at articles – anything to make our readers as much money as I can.
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The post What I Told U.S. Global Investors about Tech Investing appeared first on Strategic Tech Investor | Michael A. Robinson.
About the Author
Michael A. Robinson is a 36-year Silicon Valley veteran and one of the top tech and biotech financial analysts working today. That's because, as a consultant, senior adviser, and board member for Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Michael enjoys privileged access to pioneering CEOs, scientists, and high-profile players. And he brings this entire world of Silicon Valley "insiders" right to you...
- He was one of five people involved in early meetings for the $160 billion "cloud" computing phenomenon.
- He was there as Lee Iacocca and Roger Smith, the CEOs of Chrysler and GM, led the robotics revolution that saved the U.S. automotive industry.
- As cyber-security was becoming a focus of national security, Michael was with Dave DeWalt, the CEO of McAfee, right before Intel acquired his company for $7.8 billion.
This all means the entire world is constantly seeking Michael's insight.
In addition to being a regular guest and panelist on CNBC and Fox Business, he is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and reporter. His first book Overdrawn: The Bailout of American Savings warned people about the coming financial collapse - years before the word "bailout" became a household word.
Silicon Valley defense publications vie for his analysis. He's worked for Defense Media Network and Signal Magazine, as well as The New York Times, American Enterprise, and The Wall Street Journal.
And even with decades of experience, Michael believes there has never been a moment in time quite like this.
Right now, medical breakthroughs that once took years to develop are moving at a record speed. And that means we are going to see highly lucrative biotech investment opportunities come in fast and furious.
To help you navigate the historic opportunity in biotech, Michael launched the Bio-Tech Profit Alliance.
His other publications include: Strategic Tech Investor, The Nova-X Report, Bio-Technology Profit Alliance and Nexus-9 Network.