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Global Markets

Here's the Real Danger from Deutsche Bank

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In 2008, just before Lehman Brothers' balance sheet collapsed and a furious employee punched CEO Dick Fuld square in the face, then-New York Fed President Timothy Geithner had a big idea…

Take the big, failing U.S. banks, and sell them for pennies on the dollar to the larger, somewhat healthier banks.

Make these institutions larger, and they could absorb all the toxic balance sheets – and save the global financial system from calamity.

That was the theory, at any rate. We all know how it worked out in the end: Counter-party risk froze the global credit markets and sent the financial system into a tailspin.

Congress failed to grasp what would happen to a financial system that lacked sufficient liquidity to function – like a brain running low on oxygen – before it passed the $787 billion stimulus of 2009. Two more rounds of quantitative easing, courtesy of an "independent" Fed, would follow.

Of course, the "real" costs are virtually incalculable – incalculable costs that are still, a decade later, being borne by the middle class and working people of this country.

That's nothing I'd care to live through again, and yet here we are: staring down the barrel of a disaster brewing in Europe that could jump the Atlantic in minutes...

Bitcoin

21 Billion Reasons Why Blockchain Investors Have a Great Year Ahead of Them

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I hope you had the chance to catch my recent interview with legendary investor Frank Holmes. We talked about the need for investors to look beyond struggling cryptocurrencies to understand the enormous potential of the blockchain – the technology "underneath" that makes crypto work. 

What kind of potential? Well, I believe – conservatively – that the technology could impact some $8 trillion in global transactions

See, the world's total GDP runs at around $80 trillion a year. And blockchain tech could eventually underpin all of that buying and selling.

But I'm only assuming blockchain grabs a 10% market share of systems that have been archaic and outdated for years now.

Here's the thing. As amazing as it sounds, trillions of dollars in trade each year still relies on rickety, less-than-totally-secure computer networks and, in some cases, even paper contracts!

Thanks in part to blockchain technology, that's all about to change. In a big way.

That's why today, I want to show you four industries where blockchain technology could add security and transparency – and greatly reduce business costs.

To be clear: I think this could boost bottom lines to the tune of $21 billion in 2019 alone – another conservative estimate – for the innovative firms using this technology.

This is the kind of "strategic info" that could make you look smart at your office Christmas party or next family gathering.

Better yet, put it to use wisely, and it could help you pinpoint your next few triple-digit winners – and that'll be even more fun to share with friends and family.

So check it out...