Editor’s note: the following is an extract from this weekend’s Q Bytes newsletter. If you would like a free, no-obligation, no-spam subscription to Q Bytes, please click here.

This morning I got up bright and early to write Q Bytes, only to be hit by computer problems and spend the next two hours trying in vain to fix a video driver issue. Of course I have my secure laptop – mainly used for e-mail – as backup, but when writing I like to use my big monitor, the one on which I cannot now fix the resolution.

This problem reinforced the extent to which we rely on technology in our day-to-day lives. The vulnerability. The world we live in is all interconnected, at many levels… We all know that technology is not foolproof. And even more ominously, we all know that technology includes an on-off switch that somebody controls.

For example: What if the networks used for ATM machines and credit/debit card payments went down, even for a day or two? Can you imagine the panic? I think the chances of this actually happening sometime in the not too distant future are pretty high, all things considered. It may be due to technical problems, or a cyber attack… or it may simply be a conscious decision by those with access to the on-off button.

I remember a few years ago when Northern Rock Bank collapsed in the UK, millions of pounds were transferred out via internet banking during the night by desperate account holders until the system ‘mysteriously collapsed.’ This was one bank, very small in the global scheme of things. I wonder how that would pan out on a bigger scale… like a run on the dollar, if China decided to stop supporting Bernanke’s printing press?

Financial markets are particularly at risk. After the events of September 11, 2001, financial markets were shut down for several days. If a catastrophe of similar proportions, natural or man made, were to hit the USA, it’s a safe bet that the same thing would happen again – a so-called ‘bank holiday.’  Even a purely electronic catastrophe could hit the financial markets. Brokerage accounts would of course be blocked. Where would that leave all those people who have bought gold through the stock markets as a ‘safe haven’?

And for those who worry about how to avoid gold confiscation, similar to what happened in the 1930s… if you were the government, would it be easier to go round door-to-door hunting down physical gold for confiscation… or would you just switch off the stock exchange and seize something like the SPDR GLD ETF? There’s $58 billion dollars right there in just one company…

A seizure of financial assets would be politically unpopular. An “emergency equities sales tax,” however, presented as a windfall tax on evil speculators who have brought the country to its knees, might be more palatable for the masses. Forcing people to put their retirement funds into government bonds or state pension plans (empty promises) for ‘security reasons’ would be seen as protection for the masses. We’ve already seen this exact technique used in France, Hungary and Argentina.

Going back to the technology, our systems are so delicate these days because they rely on the internet. Even a decade ago this was not the case. Now, everything from your TV and home heating system, to the checkout at your local store could stop functioning if there was no internet. I consider all this interconnection a huge risk. The world is getting more fragile all the time. We are living in strange times where anything could happen.

You might think I am very pessimistic. But that’s not the case. I just like to analyze risks, do my best to minimize them, then carry on with enjoying the good things in life. That is where we at Q Wealth differ from conspiracy theorists, survivalists or ‘preppers.’

Preppers might want to build a backup internet system using ham radio data transmissions. They might fill up their basements with canned and dried foods. That’s a perfectly valid option, but I would be more inclined to make sure if there was a major catastrophe, I could be sure of getting quickly to a second home in another country with a well-stocked wine cellar, from where I could safely manage my investments in farmland and physical precious metals that don’t depend on stock markets or internet.

Knowing that I have my family taken care of, enough assets protected in the best offshore banks, the right residencies and second citizenships in place, rather than leaving any of this to chance or conventional wisdom, allows me to sleep soundly at night.

Beyond that, and more excitingly, we are investors and speculators at heart – we know how to manage risk. That is what we do best. And all this uncertainty going on in the world is actually a  fantastic opportunity – probably a once-in-lifetime chance to generate real, long term wealth. As long as you understand the risks, you can not only prepare for them, but turn things around to your financial benefit.

This is our philosophy at Q Wealth. Security – with an investing and financial focus. If you’d like to hear more, the first thing to do is become a full member. The second thing you should do, once you are a member, is interact with our office. We have some great people who have access to little-known practical solutions to protect and grow your wealth in a secure offshore environment. A lot of it’s written up, but even more is in our heads, and everyone at Q Wealth can point you in the right directions.

HONG KONG EVENT EARLY BIRD SIGN-UP

This leads me right in to our next point, the Q Wealth Symposium, taking place in Hong Kong this October. We had a couple of very successful conference calls on this topic this past week, and many astute readers have already signed up, taking advantage of our early bird bonus.

However, if you missed the calls for any reason, don’t worry, you still have a chance…

You should plan to be in Hong Kong for three days: October 21 and 22 will be ‘classroom’ style presentations and discussions, whereas on the 23rd the presenters and others will be available for informal meetings. For example, we will have bank representatives from our best offshore banks on the spot, so if you bring the right documents with you you’ll be able to get your offshore bank account number then and there. This will be your opportunity to open a multi currency account or a non-dollar-denominated private bank account. You will be able to meet international private bankers at the event.

We’ll be covering topics like banking and secure investing, gold and silver purchase and storage (including gold storage in the Singapore free zone), and second residencies and passports, in a lot of detail. You’ll have a chance to meet the presenters as well as other like-minded individuals to exchange ideas. You can expect to leave this event having joined the dots… in other words, with a detailed road-map of where you want to get to and the specific practical steps you need to take to get there.

If you’re looking for information on how to protect assets in your retirement nest-egg, pass on value using trusts and foundations to the next generation, start a new international business, or take advantage of offshore investment opportunities in the new economy, this event is for you.

There’s a good reason why we have chosen to hold this event in Hong Kong, the obvious platform for investing in China. You’ll learn about how to buy or invest in Chinese currency, yuan renminbi, for example. But it’s not a Hong Kong centric event. We’ll also be talking about practical banking, investing and residence opportunities in places like Switzerland and Singapore, Panama and Latin America.

Until the end of May we are offering a substantial early bird discount, and I would encourage you to sign up now as places are limited. If you have any specific questions, please email Fredrick on events@qwealthreport.com – or to sign up go to our Events Page.

“…as with any other ETF, you don‘t really OWN the physical precious metals in storage. You only have a CLAIM to the metals held in storage. Therefore, your investment depends on the financial health of a bank.”

“While I don’t want to make too big a deal about it, there have been clear signs of late that the U.S. government is taking an unhealthy interest in your gold.”

A couple of very informative articles have come my way recently from trusted sources. These help to address the constant questions we get here at Q Wealth about how to invest in gold.

ETFs like the GLD ETF or the ZKB Gold ETF, as well as so-called ‘digital’ gold like GoldMoney and BullionVault, certainly serve a purpose for those who want to speculate in gold, offering easy in and easy out terms.

They are NOT, however, suitable investments for those looking at gold and silver as long term capital preservation hedges. Ask yourself this question: if you are buying gold because you don’t trust the financial system, why would you buy gold within that very same financial system? Or, as our Swiss friend Frank Suess puts it:

How you invest in gold or silver depends very much on your belief system and your objectives. If you are not concerned about the current economic climate and the state of the international financial system, then you may be much less critical of HOW you invest in gold.

Frank, who will be giving a few presentations at our event in Ireland at the end of this month, has written an excellent article on the subject, in his free Mountain Vision newsletter. He specifically gives Ten Reasons Why You Should Avoid the GLD ETF. If you have money in that ETF, you definitely need to read this.

A lot of people apparently trust ZKB’s Swiss gold ETF more, because of its Swiss pedigree and the venerable institution that is backing it. However, Frank has gone through this ETF’s prospectus with a fine tooth comb too, finding a section published only in German that can be summarized as follows:

The fund may be suspended temporarily at the discretion of the fund´s managers if gold trading in New York is interrupted for some reason; if a political, economic, military, monetary or other emergency (this pretty much covers it all) occurs; if a lot of redemptions are placed, which might in turn harm the interests of the other investors in the fund.

Hmmm…  not much ‘safe haven’ there then.

If this has got you scared, then Frank has a solution: the Global Gold program that offers real, physical non-bank secure allocated gold storage. Details of it are here, and if you would like further advise on the matter we strongly recommend you get in touch with Global Gold. Contact the Q Wealth offices and we will be happy to refer you through to our personal contact there, Scott Schamber.

I mentioned another source too, and that is Casey Research, one of our own preferred information sources. They get asked every day about gold confiscation rumours. Will the US government confiscate privately owned gold as they did back after the great depression?

David Galland, Managing Director of Casey Research, writes:

While I don’t want to make too big a deal about it, there have been clear signs of late that the U.S. government is taking an unhealthy interest in your gold.

He writes about the possible introduction of a Value Added Tax in the USA, and something even more scary: a regulation slipped quietly into the Obamacare legislation,requiring  coin dealers – and all businesses, for that matter – to report any purchases of $600 or more from anyone… including clients selling back their gold.

I also suggest you read David’s article (that you can find by clicking here) because of the point he makes about how some unscrupulous coin dealers are cashing in on the rush to hard money by selling illiquid collectors’ coins instead of the bullion coins, such as those offered by Global Gold, that people should be getting into.

I hope you find these reference sources as useful as I did. If you have any comments or feedback, please remember that you can post comments on this blog. Up until now not many people have used this facility, but we would like to encourage more interaction and feedback. So please tell us what you think!

“In the years leading up to mid-2007 keen observers noted dangerous leverage in the US debt markets and some predicted that the bubble would pop. Predictions like this were contrarian while the market was rising, and they were ridiculed. But then when the bubble did pop, those same contrarians became nearly household names as network TV invited them on to explain their predictions.”

So begins a lengthy and informative article by blogger FOFOA, in which he claims that the coming devaluation of the dollar will be sprung on us without warning. If you have time, I recommend you read it (here is the link)

Your editor is in partial agreement with FOFOA. Indeed, I would say the devaluation of the dollar is already well underway. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people are currently living in a world of illusion… just this week, against all odds, the stock market rose again. When people see a rise in the nominal value of their investments, they believe they are making money. But they are wrong. Few take in that the cost of living is rising disproportionately higher… so they are actually losing. This is the fundamental strategy behind what I call the stealth devaluation of the dollar. The purchasing power of the dollar has fallen drastically since the Second World War, with a notable increase in the velocity of the fall in the last couple of years.

Another informed and respected commentator on the collapse of the dollar is John Rubino, who recently interviewed yours truly for an article on offshore banking and asset protection. In recent comments he refers to some news passed on by veteran newsletter writers Harry Schultz and Bob Chapman, that verges on what I would call a conspiracy theory…. or does it? You decide! The story goes like this:

“Some US embassies worldwide are being advised to purchase massive amounts of local currencies; enough to last them a year. Some embassies are being sent enormous amounts of US cash to purchase currencies from those govts, quietly. But not £’s. Inside the State Dept there is a sense of sadness & foreboding that ‘something’ is about to happen, unknown re a date-just that within 180 days, but could be 120-150 days.”

Bob quotes another source that “Panasonic has told their people to be back in Japan by Sept 09.”

Harry Schultz’s remarkable take on the situation:

“My HSL suspicion is that the elite plan another FDR style “bank holiday” of indefinite length, perhaps very soon, to let the insiders sort-out the bank mess which is getting more out of their control every day. Insiders want/need to impose new bank rules. Widespread nationalization could result, already under way. It could also lead to a formal US$ devaluation, as FDR did by revaluing gold (& then confiscating it). But devalue against what? The euro? Doubtful. Gold? Maybe. Or vs. the IMF basket of currencies (which seems more likely)-& much in the news recently.

Any kind of bank holiday will push the US$ lower, which may be a bonus benefit to their ongoing scenario of letting the $ fall. Such a fall would get the devaluation they want without having to declare it. In sum, the insiders want more bank & system control, fewer banks & a lower US$. A bank holiday would suit all their needs.”

So there is the question. Can we expect a sudden dollar devaluation, complete with suspension of markets and a so-called ‘bank holiday’? Or will we see the stealth devaluation of the dollar continue to accelerate?

My bet is on the latter. Why would politicians and those in power risk the wrath of the people by devaluing the dollar so explicitly from one day to the next, when they have successfully got away so long with devaluing the dollar on the quiet with few people noticing. But of course I may be wrong, and the situation may be even more out of control than I think.

Either way, I’m not sitting waiting for it to happen, and you shouldn’t either! If you are properly prepared, such a collapse would be a huge profit opportunity. But you would not be able to rely on usual market mechanisms… we have to consider that the stock markets and financial system might be completely suspended. It happened in the aftermath of 9/11, but it hasn’t yet happened during this global financial crisis. Never say never!

My advice is that markets are a nice convenient way of speculating play money for short term gains, but every serious investor needs to keep wealth outside the financial system too. That may be in your own business (if it is resilient) or it may be in real estate (people will always need places to live) or it may be by stashing gold bullion in an offshore safe deposit box.

The Q Wealth Report is here to advise you on all these options and more. If you haven’t yet read our free five-day e-mail course The Secrets of the Super Rich, I would urge you to sign up for it now. As I said, it is absolutely free and without obligation. I think you will find it an eye-opener!