‘FIAT MONEY IS ON THE WAY OUT – NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!’ says Peter Macfarlane. Note: this is a snyopsis of an article sent out this past weekend to Q Bytes readers. If you would like to join the free subscription list for Q Bytes, click here.
I’m just back from Singapore, where I attended a very interesting presentation on FATCA given by a major American law firm, intended for private bankers. More on that in future articles, suffice to say that there are no conclusions we can rely on until the IRS publishes the next set of guidelines, that have been promised for next month. So I’ll probably hold off on commenting until then.
Never mind Asia or America, though – the focus this week is fairly and squarely on Europe. With all the news this past week you might think the Euro is ready collapse. Is it? And can we profit from this collapse?
First of all, things are bad. We are not headed for a crisis, recession or depression. We are already deep in one. And yes, things are going to get a lot worse yet.
However, will the Euro collapse by the end of this year as some are predicting? I don’t think so. I would at the moment rate the chances of Greece leaving the Euro at about 50-50. But if Greece leaves the Eurozone, it does not follow that the Eurozone has to collapse. It would actually be strengthened, which might help to prop up the Euro for a bit longer.
I do predict that both the Euro and the Dollar will continue to fall in tandem, but I believe it will be more of the continued, gradual collapse we are seeing now – what I refer to as ‘stealth devaluation.’ Fiat money is on the way out, no question about it.
What we will definitely see is more collapses of large Euro zone banks. And this is where it gets interesting. Because it creates opportunities for sound investments outside fiat money. And remember, times of crisis are often where great fortunes are created.
Some countries on the periphery of Europe, like Ireland and Denmark, have good fundamentals, and relatively efficient, free market and investor-friendly systems of government – but they have been brought down by the excesses of their banks. These relatively small, nimble economies have the potential to be the first to recover from the crisis. Yet right now, you can buy in cheap.
I’m not saying now is necessarily the right time to jump into Europe, but it’s time to start watching. Opportunities could come along very soon, in both real estate and in shares of fundamentally sound companies that have been brought down by bank collapses. You always hear about the investors in bailed-out banks not losing money. What you don’t hear about is the well-run, cash-generating businesses that might have landed in trouble because their agreed bank financing did not come through at the last minute, or because the administrators of bankrupt banks called in loans early, or simply hiked up interest rates where they were unable to call in loans due to contractual terms. Ireland and Denmark have seen a lot of this.
If you’re looking for a historic precedent, who remembers the Icelandic crisis? Iceland, a small, nimble, economy, was brought to its knees by its banks’ excesses, but recovered quickly and is doing pretty well now, thank you! I think Ireland and Denmark are the next ones to watch.
I’m not the only one with this idea. According to an article in Thursday’s Financial Times, it’s hard to get a 5-star hotel room in Dublin these days as US hedge fund ‘vultures’ have moved in in a big way, looking for rich pickings.
Here at Q Wealth we have established connections in Ireland and Denmark, and I’m looking at private equity placements in these markets with some of our Platinum members. These investments will be outside the banking system (off exchange) assets, backed by ownership of real hard assets. There will be exit strategies for launching on financial markets in the future if that looks like something we should do a few years down the road.
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We do currently have a few vacancies on our Platinum Membership programme. Platinum is our exclusive membership level aimed at people who are already sophisticated investors and probably have basic structures like offshore accounts in place – but are looking for the places where they can get the best returns on their investments, in a secure offshore environment. It’s a group of like-minded individuals who follow the Q Wealth philosophy and would like to exchange ideas with Richard, myself and the Q Wealth team via a highly personalized service, with regular phone calls and exclusive meetings.
If you are seriously interested in learning more about Platinum Membership, and the unique benefits it offers (compared also to our Mastermind level) please contact Richard Cawte.