Steve's note: Today's story comes from Tom Dyson, one of the most successful investors I know. He's a British self-made millionaire. And if you've read DailyWealth since the beginning, you know he has shared more essays with us than just about anybody – other than me! Lately, he has traveled the world with nothing but a suitcase. And he's sharing the big reason why – along with what it means for your money...
I left my job two years ago. My ex-wife Kate and I sold all our things. We hit the road with our three kids. We don't have anywhere to live.
We left "the matrix" in another important way, too.
When we left America, we drained our bank accounts and retirement accounts of cash and converted all our savings into gold and silver.
Why did we do this? We don't want to be "in the system" anymore. It's unbalanced and unstable.
When we made our move, I saw a total rejection of saving in favor of debt. I saw efforts to prop up the markets using unsound money and financial engineering... things like quantitative easing ("QE"). And artificially lowered interest rates. And huge government deficits.
That's why for the past two years, we've been sitting on the sidelines in precious metals, until it's safe to return to the financial system.
When it is finally safe, we'll sell all our gold and invest in a select group of stocks. Our money will stay there – I hope – generating bigger and bigger dividends for the rest of our lives.
How will we know when it's safe, though?
Simple. We'll follow the Dow-to-Gold ratio...
The Dow-to-Gold ratio is the ultimate barometer of the financial system's "health."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the aggregated stock price of 30 of the largest, most iconic businesses in the world. Gold is an inert metal. It's the investment equivalent of hiding your money under the floorboards.
By presenting these two as a ratio, I get a barometer.
I've looked through 100 years of stock market history. The last times the system "reset," depending on how bad things got, the ratio went below 5.
On the flip side, when things were ripping – as they were in the late 1990s, for example – the ratio got as high as 41.
Our Dow-to-Gold trade is based on a simple premise...
- You buy stocks when they are cheap relative to gold. That is, when the Dow-to-Gold ratio is below 5.
- You sell stocks when they become expensive – when the Dow-to-Gold ratio rises above 15. At that point, you return to gold.
Over the course of the last 100 years, you would have made only six trades. But you would have also handily beaten a "buy and hold" approach.
The chart below shows it all. And if you look carefully, you'll see a recent reversal...
When we started our travels and arrived in Africa in November 2018, the barometer was above 22. As I write, it's at 13.9.
It's falling again.
I believe this is the start of a longer trend... a signal that the system is going to break soon. Maybe it's starting to break already?
The ratio likes to move in big, clear trends. And once it's in motion, it tends to stay in motion. I speculate that it's about to head much lower...
My hypothesis is that the Dow-to-Gold ratio is now back on its way down... to a level somewhere below 5.
I will hold my gold until then – at which point I'll sell it all and invest the proceeds into the stock market.
But for now, while we wait for the Dow-to-Gold ratio's rendezvous with destiny (as Agora Financial founder Bill Bonner calls it), we remain in our financial "cabin in the woods."
The system still looks to me like the Titanic speeding through an ice field.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the government has gone into hyperdrive trying to "manage" the economy – with more financial engineering, more unsound money, bigger deficits, and more soothing words... except it's unraveling even faster now.
We're sticking with gold and silver.
Regards,
Tom Dyson
Editor's note: This once-in-20-years shake-up will leave the majority of U.S. investors far behind... But you can still protect yourself and profit. Yesterday, Tom shared the whole story of what he's doing with his investments now. He even gave away the details of one of his highest-conviction trades – which you can act on right away. To learn more, watch a replay of his Emergency Investment Summit now.
Further Reading
With the Fed cutting interest rates to all-time lows, history says we can expect a powerful gold bull market. And that means this could be our best opportunity in gold since 2008... Get the full story here: Our Best Opportunity in Gold Since the Last Financial Crisis.
The Fed will do everything in its power to keep the economy afloat in these uncertain times. Recently, Drew McConnell and Ben Morris analyzed what this means for the gold market and shared a one-click way to profit... Read more here: Why Gold Is Set to Soar Above $3,000 per Ounce.
Buying gold can help you grow your long-term wealth. But one precious metal is a much better value right now...
HITTING A NEW ALL-TIME HIGH WHILE FIGHTING COVID-19
Today's company is helping to get a handle on the pandemic...
Even as states across the U.S. open their economies back up, COVID-19 is still spreading. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports around 1.5 million cases total, with more than 90,000 "confirmed and probable" deaths. That means testing is still crucial to curb the outbreak. And today's company is helping with sample collections...
Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is a $135 billion "leader in serving science." It has more than 75,000 employees around the world providing scientific technologies and pharmaceutical services. Its products range from lab equipment to end-to-end drug development solutions... And now, it's providing tools to safely transport patient samples to labs, where they can be tested for coronavirus.
TMO shares are in a long-term uptrend. They soared around 170% over the past five years, including dividends. And they recently hit a new all-time high. As Thermo Fisher keeps supporting the scientific community during this outbreak, that trend should continue...
