Friday, October 10, 2008

Business World Has Changed, For the Worse


Surviving the Extinction of the 20th Century Business Model

All I have to say is ‘wow, what a difference a month makes.'
(Thanks to the BBC for the great image, but unfortunately it's out of date. It's only about half as big as it should be considering eight banks have been nationalized since - just in the U.K.)
Some of the world's most prestigious, stable and prosperous institutions now look as inconsequential as the logos printed on t-shirts and business cards. That's it. Game over.
And horror stories abound. From The Wall Street Journal's interviews with Lehman brokers who watched their million-dollar portfolios shrink to a size that could barely buy a used Honda, to the local news interviewing business owners on the brink of bankruptcy, the message is coming through loud and clear.
This is certainly the Extinction of the 20th Century business model.
In the next few years, we're going to see some fundamental changes in the way everyone views credit and debt. That's something that no bailout package or Central Bank action can stop.
There's no question; the next few years are going to be a bumpy ride.
But it's not all Doom and Gloom
Amidst all the panic and scare tactics you're getting from the mainstream media, I urge you look outside the squawk box and away from the talking heads. Instead, I ask you to think like my cousin.
You see, my cousin spent the last few years working with a major debt collection firm and he wasn't really happy with his job. He made plenty of money, but it wasn't the career he saw himself spending the rest of his life working.
So this May, as the financial markets started to reach a fever pitch, he quit his job. "Are you INSANE??!!" I howled at him over the phone. I railed him for assuming he'd be able to find a job at all...let alone his dream job...in such an uncertain marketplace.
But then my cousin said something which stuck with me. To my anger he responded,
"Sure the markets are in turmoil and it's rough out there, but I'm only one man. I don't need to worry about everyone making money... just me."
Something about his response really struck a chord. To me, he'd made the wrong decision, yet he was right. And it said something about how any true individual should be reacting.
It's Time to Take Your Financial Future Back from Wall Street
The traditional financial options aren't doing us any justice. And those that continue to stick with the herd will continue to take losses. And, now the game has gotten very serious.
Only determining your own path to individual sovereignty will help you survive this extinction.
It's time to free yourself from market mayhem and start forging a new path. Because this crisis doesn't promise to spare any of your traditional investment opportunities, but through it all, a few new and unique investment strategies will emerge and fare much better.
Take Andrew Lahde for instance. His hedge fund pulled in 1000% returns last year by shorting mortgage lenders. He took advantage of a single opportunity at the perfect time and became a billionaire virtually overnight.
Or good old Warren Buffet. Never one to stick with the herd, he has been very wealthy for quite some time. But in the last 33 days alone he's made US$8 billion and is now the richest man in America.
The Sovereign Strategy for Surviving in a Brave New World
And we've come around to the moral of the story:
Instead of focusing on whether this whole event is ‘good' or ‘bad,' we should be focusing on how the extinction of 20th century business model is going to change the world and affect us personally. We must focus on how we can protect our nest egg in the transition.
So how do we do it? After all, no one knows exactly what's going to happen in the coming months and years. The global shakeup is rocking countries and corporations to their core; and there's really no reference in history that lets us know what to expect from such an event.
The answer is individual sovereignty.
Taking the power of your wealth back from central banks, politicians, and Wall Street brokers. It's common sense. These guys had their chance, they failed, and they don't deserve another one. By diversifying your holdings over different currencies, countries, industries and markets you'll be building a wall between your wealth and the financial whirlwind.
Those of us who have been in the trenches at The Sovereign Society have been expecting an event like this. We knew derivatives were a ticking time-bomb, and we began preparing ourselves and warning as many people as we could as early as 2003. But I am astonished by how brutal this economic restructuring has become for everyone. Not just in America but around the globe.
And as a result of the bloodbath, priorities are rapidly changing. No one's concerned with profit anymore. Now it's just a question of protecting what you have left. And to me, now is the time when the concept of individual sovereignty transitions from theory to an immediate necessity.
Those of us who realize that we must use our own resources to find an end to this mayhem stand the best chance of making it through this mess with their wealth intact.
For years, we have been working to shepherd like-minded people like you though the minefield of big government promises, Wall Street B.S. and the calculated destruction of hard money. But, I know we have do more now so than ever before.
There is a silver lining. It's not too late to save your wealth. Yes, the markets have been brutal, but honestly, we're not out of this yet. And there's definitely reason to believe the markets could fall even further.

No comments: