The loss of liberty in my lifetime.

The loss of liberty in my lifetime has been tremendous. 

Im 56, a US citizen and when I was a kid in the 80s you could open an offshore account in the Caribbean or Channel Islands (Sark) Isle of Man, Switzerland, Austria just to name a few place with a photo copy of your passport and certified almost anywhere and a thousand bucks to ten thousand dollars and have a foreign currency account and buy gold coins to be stored at the bank in an envelope. 

It was even possible to open the account with a few hundred bucks equivalent in local currency.

I remember you could buy Austrian shillings bonds for I think a few thousand bucks, and a few gold coins for under a thousand bucks, gold back then was three hundred and changs in the ninties I believe. 

Now its a different story, banks in Europe dont want North Americans as clients, unless you deposit 250,000 minimum usually they want 1 million USD and up. The cost of compliance at banks for US clients just isnt worth the hassle anymore.

Anyhow North Americans cant easily diversify their assets overseas very easily anymore. 

It makes it impossible to hide assets from creditors or Uncle Sam for lower income North Americans. Gold coins held in your own possession is about it or held oversees is about it.

The loss of liberty is tremendous. I believe thats why more middle class North Americans are migrating overseas to Asia and Latin America and even places in Russia to escape the heavy hand of US government and its policies that may not be good for Americans, like rising inflation and cost of living. 

I sometimes wonder if this is why we see more men in the US dropping out of the workforce and living homeless on the streets.

I still remember when you could get a cash paying job, thats mostly impossible unless your an illegal immigrant.

It seems if your North American and want liberty you need to migrate overseas or live in one of the US territorys, like Saipan. 

Much of US law doesn't get enforcement in US territorys like Saipan, so I can see why a few North Americans are choosing that place. I sometimes wonder if its possible to hide assets their, I doubt it.

I wonder if US creditors can reach out and touch you their, it would be interesting to find out. For the record I have no creditors. 

I cant really add much more but the loss of liberty in North America has really changed the culture in a bad way and if we are to keep our prosperity we will need to change the culture or more young people will leave, like the older generations have and taking their wisdom and knowledge. 

As this wisdom leaves it cant really come back and thats the sad thing. 

What Americans built up over hundred of years could be gone.

Thanks for reading. 

Another beautiful day in Alamogordo, NM

I got up this morning at about 7am, had a pretty goid rest last night and decided to shower and go to Micky Ds for a small coffee, which in August 2026 costs 1,09 which isnt to bad, at Starbucks it would be over 3 bucks now for a small coffee. 

I am surprised more people arent inside, but I guess people dont get up eary.

In Xela, Guatemala at 6am there would be people inside early, Guatemalans can get up early, unlike in Mexico where I think they open at 9am or so.

Anyhow I am just thinking about the past and how I lived in Guatemala and Mexico. 

Lately I been watching videos on YouTube on all the homeless people I seem to see on YouTube who have channels documenting there homeless journey in life.

Its interesting to see how many people get Adsense revenue from there YouTube channel and are able to fund their life style despite being homeless. 

The second thing I notice on YouTube is Simplify asset management and the chap who runs FOXY thats the symbol for the ETF that invests in foreign currency and gets yield or "carry" from their currency trades.

Many people dont seem to realize you can get a yield or carry from investing in foreign currency, which I guess surprises me.

When I was a kid and involved in the gold bug movement, there was a segment of people who invested offshore, put there money in banks offshore and invested in foreign currency and got a spread or yield on their deposit. 

Yiska bank did that in Denmark, I have spelled the name of the bank right, I cant remember the name of that bank but they were popular for FX trades that got yields or carry and it was a popular bank for North Americans.

I remember some years their trades would get a 30 to 50% move all in return. 

Anyhow Simply now has an ETF FOXY that does essentially similiar type trades and all you have to invest is one share and the carry is more than 8% and many investors seem to not trust the way the money gets the yield, which surprises me.

Anyhow its nice seeing Simplify asset management able to explain the benefits of the ETF on various influencers YouTube channels. What a world we live in now.

You can be down in your luck homeless, have a YouTube channel and various sales funnels to get money, invest in FOXY and get a monthly check or direct deposit in your bank from FOXY and a check from Adsense and be on your business all while homeless, times have changed. 

Of course I suggest you get your direct deposits while you sit in your crib in Northern Mexico, or somewhere in Cambodia, or better yet Manila where things are a bit less costly than the US and enjoy your gains their.

Of course the worlds a big place, you could ride the trains in Eastern Europe or Russia and do similiar but your ATM card doesnt work as well in Russia so youll need a deposit account in Georgia, the country to do this now.

Anyhow just a few thoughts while I sip my coffee at Micky Ds. 

Thanks for reading. 

Another nice day in Alamogordo, NM

Its another nice day in Alamogordo, NM and not as hot as its been the last few weeks.

I actually feel better now that I have been able to get medical care and medication.

I might be able to go back to work, although in Alamogordo not many are highering now.

If I'm lucky, I might be able to get all or mostly all my bills paid from June 18th when I was hurt on the job and rushed to the hospital for  five day stay. 

Workmans comp woulnt pay or cover it, I can sue if I want but if the government pays through medicaid ill let it go.

Medical bills in the US are getting outrageous and many cant pay or refuse to pay and its getting harder for hospitals to get the courts to make people pay.

I think as the US empire winds down more states in the US will make it more difficult for medical creditors or and creditors to take money out of your bank or sieze your assets including ERISA assets, houses ect.....I see Texas and Florida and Wyoming are leading to states to redide where creditors have a tough time seizing income or assets 

I see Alaska is not falling behind either.

I believe in the future more states will have more rights than others and that will dri e migration to those places.

I believe the Northern Marianas Islands will fall into that category too.

As more North Americans learn about the tax benefits of Saipan it will lead a small segment of people to relocate their.

Whats nice about the Northern Mariananas islands is that most Americans dont even know where they are or have even heard of them.

I like Saipan the best but it may not be for everyone.

Thanks for reading. 

I miss Alaska.

I notice when I get up in the morning, I still have images of Seward, Alaska in my head.

I worked in Seward for about six months last year and when I wasn't working, id hike in the mountains and pass by streams full of salmon. It was nice seeing the ocean come up against the mountains. 

Other times I would ride the bike into town and park it, lock it up and get a coffee at the bakery, which was owned I believe by a Thai lady. If I remember right she had Thai women work their and a few Filipinas.

They had good coffee and bakery items. The memory is nice.

After id get the coffee id walk to the waterfront and watch all the boats,and the big tourist ships come in.

It was nice walking around the waterfront and seeing all the tourists from around the world walking around same as me looking at the sights.

They had a sea museum if I remember right, or aquarium. 

The cool thing was the campsites which were on the waterfront where you could camp in a tent ot camper and start a fire and cook oustside and visit with other people.

Anyhow the memories of that experience was nice. 

The weather wasnt bad either, reminded me of Seattle, Washington. 

As I recall there was even a few homeless people their at least in the summer.

In the town and countryside there were nice houses, campsites ect...a few bars and cafes to eat at too.

In the country was where Pacific Seafood was at, at least their old location was there and the bunkhouse was more in the sticks.

Although when I left last year they were transferring everything to a new location. 

As Im not their anymore they chose not to invite me, I still miss the work despite all the issues their.

Share markets. 

Last week share prices were up same with gold.

Many emerging markets corrected and were up on Friday, I believe on Monday the markets will rally and gold will continue up.

Dividend shares, and ETFs continue to go up, same with infrastructure ETFs ect, even the overseas infrastructure projects continue to rally.

I think inflation will continue to be stubborn and stay a little elevated but in time the Fed will lower rates.

Im not sure I like bonds now except to short the long end of the curve.

There may come a time to invest in bonds long term just not now.

Some bond proxies like reit maybe ok but Utes not now.

Infrastructure projects probably are my favorite income play now then some Reits especially the ones overseas. 

Thats it for now.

Thanks for reading.

The stock market rally expands.

The share market rally in the US continues to expand.  The rally in emerging markets continues to rally.

Same with dividend shares, and value shares. 

Anyhow i was up this morning and it was nice to see share prices up.

E.B Tucker. 

I read the latest issue of E.B. Tucker s news letter. 

I get the free version, and read the latest issue.

As usual it was good, as he says most people would be better of spending there extra money on living a good life instead of listening to other people online and speculating in stock tips they dont really understand. 

He even talked about a manufacturer of tennis racquets thats publicly traded in I believe Japan. 

There are interesting opportunities like that now in Japan that no one buys or owns that quietly pay out dividends and slowly double over time.

Anyway it was nice reading his letter, its rare to read stuff thats not AI written that makes any sense nowdays. 

Its also rare to read stuff that suggests you live a good life and stop chasing money. 

He even talks about health sometimes, not many people really care about that either and family too.

Our culture has changed over the years.

Thanks for reading. 

The reflation continues.

The reflation continues. Well the inflation numbers came out this morning and inflation was better than expected and we are getting a stock market rally.

I believe inflation will stay higher than most people believe and in a month or two inflation numbers will start trending up, possibly after the Fed lowers interest rates.

With lower inflation expectations, id guess this will give the Fed permission to lower rates, and take pressure off funding the deficit at these high rates.

The corporations would like lower rates to fund there expansions.

I think inflation will still be a problem for the K shaped economy, especially if you are in the bottom K where resentment is going up and by quite a bit.

At least for now shares are up and you can add tech ETFs to your Reits, your insurance ETFs, and small cap dividend ETFs, and your larger cap ones too.

The economy is expanding despite this recent slowdown at least in North America.

Not much to add, have fewer shorts and more longs.

I forgot to mention, at least for now if the Fed lowers interest rates, that may put pressure on the US Dollar, so gold, silver, etherium, foreign currency may rally from here for awhile. Gold may go up and stay up no matter what happens. 

The trust in US Treasurys are in decline around the world and many people continue to buy and own gold coins.

If we get a deflation, I expect gold to trend down but many will not sell for fear of a world wide reflation.

Thanks for reading. 

Good day in markets.

It was a good day in markets today. They were mostly down, I had a few shorts and longs that worked well.

I was up 10 or so basis points by the end of the close.

I think tomorrow maybe a rally, despite the ongoing wars and inflation issues. 

It seems we are in new times and markets are readjusting to these issues. 

I continue to believe inflation will tick down but long term will remain high.

I think the world readjusting to higher inflation and wars and slower growth will lead to higher commoditys and probably higher gold prices. 

We live in interesting times.

Thanks for reading. 

Reirecheap.asia/ Escape to Thailand (JC/Nat) Retire the channel?

JC and Nat made there latest update video on there channel EscapetoThailand.com, I believe is there channel.

They may stop content on there channel because of lack of interest. 

There is maybe a fifty persent chance the keep the channel. 

JC said the channel may not create enough income to pay the bills associated with the channel. 

I have always believed they have one of the best channels on living in Thailand, and Asia in general. 

More than ten years ago I believe I started watching Retire Cheap Asia while I was still working for Electrolux in St. Cloud Minnesota.

I believe JC has commented on the decline of information on Thailand subjects and he has commented on the negative comments he gets from other channels he has.

He has also said its harder to collect money from PayPal and send it to Thailand. 

I believe thats why many channels not related to travel are shutting down. 

Payment processing is getting more difficult to do if you live outside of North America and complying with new and growing regulations in Thailand and other countries makes it more difficult and may not be worth people's time if they cant get compisated.

I believe this is sought by governments to keep people from fleeing unpopular situations and living in other countries. I mean governments dont like the tax cows leaving, like inthe UK and Europe. 

Anyways im sad to hear this news but JC hasnt decided to shut the channel down. 

But he has multiple online and offline business and I believe income from Social Security so may not want more business hassles with little compensation. 

I believe we will continue to see these trends. AI has really created opportunities and bad outcomes for many people and the AI trend is just starting. 

Thanks for reading. 

More consensus intrest rates will go down.

There appears to be more consensus that interest rates in the US will go down. As more data comes in that inflation maybe coming down interest rates will probably be lowered.

I would guess that will lead to a lower dollar, at least for awhile. 

Which will probably lead to higher gold prices, and maybe higher silver prices.

Etherium has started trending up, and Solana maybe getting ready to start trending, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a rally there at least for awhile. 

There seems to be a growing consensus that the wars will continue despite not being popular with the public, so long term id guess inflation will be higher despite the current down tick in prices 

I continue to believe AI technology will roll on creating a two tiered economy that many will benefit from and many will be left behind.

So we may get a short term rally in bonds long term we may continue to see a bear market. 

Thats it for now.

Joe Blogs latest video, Seattles Pike Place market

I just saw Joe Blogs latest video in Seattle, Wa, he just came down from Vancouver, Canada I believe and made a video of Pikes Place Market and the waterfront in Seattle. 

If you dont know Joe Blogs is a British chap who makes videos on current events in Russia, China ect and investments I think.

He is on holiday I believe and chose to visit the Pacific Northwest. 

Its been nice seeing his videos of Canada in Vancouver and in Seattle where I grew up. The scenery in his video is beautiful, its shows Seattle how I remember it, lots of coffee houses, restaurants for seafood, the Pikes Place Market where you can buy all kinds of junk then stop off at Starbucks for a coffee, I did that in the late 80s. Of course things have changed. 

I saw in his video the place where you store you junk, the storage place, I cant remember the name.

I Joe Blogs video it shows all the people walking around and shows how Seattle and Vancouver are pretty Asian now.

I remember how Seattle was changing as a kid, and Vancouver,Canada was almost 50% Asian or Chinese, I cant remember. 

Theres a lot of Vietnamese their now too.

My co worker in Alaska was Vietnamese and from Seattle. 

Anyhow Joes video was nice to see and the previous ones he made too.

Anyhow you can search for Joe Blogs channel on YouTube. 

Thanks for reading. 

Thought of the day. "Protecting the Pile"@hedgeeye

I just got done listening to the latest @hedgeeye podcast, I watched it on YouTube. 

It had all the HAM asset managers on it, even David Salem. 

They talked about "Recourse Wars" concerning national recources in Africa, in this case copper and colbalt were mentioned. 

They also talked about the current wars we are in with Russia and Iran and how we are not treating our allies well.

Which led to talk on slowly rising oil prices and that might lead to oil shares rising and the people who supply them, ticker OIH.

It was an interesting conversation on these topics plus the over investment in AI tech and the consequences from it.

One of the HAM portfolio managers was coming in from Kenya, I believe. 

Its nice that hedge eye has a wide diverse set of managers managing your money if you choose that direction. 

I believe our politicians and policy makers are making bad decisions on our behalf and may lead to a weaker dollar and rising gold prices. Even with a strong dollar I think we may see higher gold prices.

Thanks for reading. 

Another mixed day in the markets.

The day in the markets isnt over yet. When the market opened many of my shorts were down and in quite a bit of profit, so I covered quite a bit, and some were up so added to my shorts.

Many dividend ETFs were down a little so I added their.

Took profit on quite a few long trades.

I think the economy will expand a little but still expect a slow down in many tech shares and layoffs from many of those companies. 

I still expect interest rates to go up a little, and similiar with gold.

Im not sure if the gold rally will last, only time will tell.

As far as the Iran war, im not sure about that either. I expect the US will walk away from it.

The war in Russia/Ukraine, Im not sure about that either. I am guessing the US will support them in words but im not sure we even have the missiles to give them.

Im not sure about Europe, it seems the young doesn't support the EUs stance on the war either.

It seems like we may have a decade of rising inflation, sinking share prices and similiar with bonds.

Thats it for now. Thanks for reading. 

Clean up day.

I sold a lot of my low performers (Shares)

Its painful to admit mistakes, and costly too. Not to mention the margin costs.

Anyways I brought my margin down quite a bit.

Time will tell if this was the right decision. I got caught not stopping out of some shorts. 

I also stopped out of other shorts not working. 

I dont like the margin costs when I get down to 80% I prefer to stay at 90% or higher.

Anyhow I expect the rally to continue and even the wars so not sure how this will work out accept that inflation will stay higher than many expect, and interest could go up soon before they come down. 

I expect gold to start performing well, probably oil shares too.

I expect reits to slowly climb higher, same with dividend paying shares, like SCHD, SCHY, and their competitors like HDV ect.

Emerging market shares are taking off too.

Thanks for reading.