Property in Japan is considered a depreciating asset, like a car. When young people inherit property in Japan, it is seen as a burden because of the costs of upkeep or demolition. Arson by the owner to escape tax and insurance fees is a real problem.

On Friday, I ask Nigel Farage about whether the mess in Afghanistan would lead to a repeat of Europe’s 2015 refugee crisis. He said something which shocked me about the connection between that crisis and Brexit.

The US joins the Soviet Union, the British Empire, and a long list of ancient powers that were bested by this unforgiving country at the centre of the world. Is the sun now setting on America’s superpower status, just as it was for the Soviet Union?

BROUGHTON, EDINBURGH – Well, the results are in from Monday’s poll… And I must say, I’m a little surprised: A lot of oil bulls out there – nearly three quarters of respondents. And there I was thinking I had a…

BROUGHTON, EDINBURGH – They called them the Seven Sisters. Seven companies which ruled the world. It all began in August 1928, at a castle called Achnacarry. It’s in the Highlands, near Ben Nevis – about half an hour’s drive from…

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – The Suez Canal traffic jam is easing. The Ever Given is free at last, and not only of its recently earned nickname the “Never Given Way”… In recent issues of this letter (Beached in particular) we’ve pondered…

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – The energy sector has been a hotbed of market unrest over the past year: a constantly evolving, volatile warzone enriching and ruining investors in equal measure. Last April negative oil prices busted on to the scene for…

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – The beached whale ain’t budging. The Ever Given remains stubbornly lodged in the middle of the Suez Canal. And the traffic jam is now close to some 240 vessels long… And that’s just in the jam itself….

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – We examined the spectacle of the Ever Given yesterday, the 200,000 tonne container vessel blocking the Suez Canal. As of this morning, it remains wedged in place, creating a traffic jam in global trade 150 vessels long…

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – I took a wander downtown the other evening. I needed some fresh air, and I was curious to see how the high street is looking like these days. We’re all pretty used to the sight of desolate…

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – “I make the biggest efforts possible to not support the Chinese economy in any way. Supporting the economy is supporting the CCP. It’s crazy more people in the world are not standing up against this.” So says…

As I write to you, the Electoral College has just convened to officially hand Joe Biden the presidency. But while one leader may have been swept out of office, the status quo remains unshaken. For a special holiday issue, the…

In 2000, founder of our parent company Bill Bonner issued his “Trade of the Decade” idea. And in this conversation with Bonner Private Research member Chris Mayer, Dan Denning picks his mind about the different layers of unconventional thinking that…

I was lucky to escape the second “official” lockdown with my little escapade to Stockholm. But I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying in the UK, so long as the lockdowns persist. I’ve a mind to seek my fortune…

BUXTON BREWERY CELLAR, DERBYSHIRE – Is this chart a fifth full, or a fifth empty? Look there, on the bottom right – is this cause for optimism, or pessimism? Source: The Market Ear The city that never sleeps is looking…

THE BELL, STAFFORDSHIRE – “It all sounds a bit like the man who jumped off the top of a skyscraper and said as he passed each floor on the way down ~ ‘So far, so good’…” A reader responds to…

Election Day will officially be held on Tuesday 3rd November in America. But actually, every day is Election Day from now until then. Early voting has already kicked off in several key “battleground” states – contests that will deal a…

William Dahl of Southbank Investment Daily here, stepping in for Boaz today. Not only am I honoured to do so, but I also can’t think of a better week to make the case for my own thesis on the US…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – First, the jobs report on Friday showed a big collapse in hiring. The official numbers showed 20,000 new jobs added in February, a far cry from the 170,000 that were expected. Then, the Atlanta Fed said projected…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – Stocks ended last week on a low note, after a jobs report showed the smallest gains since 2017. Larry Kudlow – the president’s director of the National Economic Council – was on TV almost immediately explaining how…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – A Washington Post headline caught our eye on the weekend: “Trump to slash spending” At last! Our eyes lit up. Our pulse raced. Finally, the Great Disruptor was disrupting something that really matters. Slash spending! Cut the budget! Fire…

LA PAMPA GRANDE, ARGENTINA – Comes word that the Democrats are up to more mischief. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) was expected to introduce a new tax bill earlier this week. The senator says his bill would tax the sale of…

Boaz Shoshan is putting the finishing touches on this month’s Zero Hour Alert this morning. So I’m back in the hot seat at Capital & Conflict. But you know what, this morning I really don’t need to give you much…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – The news is full of absurdities, trivialities, and just plain dumb things. But some of them are revealing. But we interrupt our dot connecting with a brief travel update. We’re visiting a neighboring farm (6 hours’ drive…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – “It’s amazing that any of us survived at all,” said Natalio, sitting in the back seat of our truck, holding on to the passenger grip above the seat to cushion the bumps and turns, as he recalled…

“Of all the weapons in the vast Soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947, more commonly known as the AK-47 or Kalashnikov. It’s the world’s most popular assault rifle, a weapon all fighters love. An…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – Mike Pence told the crowd at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) that “we will never be a socialist country.” What was that? A prediction? Or just political BS? Already, America’s medical system – 17% of the economy…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – What a week! Cohen, Kim, Powell, Xi, Putin – We could barely keep up with the excitement. But, strangely, investors were blasé… It didn’t matter to them that the president’s own lawyer accused him of impeachable offenses…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – We made two bold predictions, about a year ago. Today, we make another one.

I’ve no edge when it comes to India-Pakistan relations, so I’ve no insight as to how the two countries will behave now that violence has erupted between them. All I know is, 1: You’ll be able to cut the atmosphere…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – “Is he okay?” “We don’t know yet.” “But he’s at home?” “Yes, the doctor said there was nothing they could do.” Ranching, especially out here, far from hospitals… doctors… or even roads… is a risky business. Yesterday,…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – Politics – whether local or national – is always a con game. And the con generally increases with the scale. The bigger the “we,” the bigger the swindle.

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – With the Dow once again over 26,000, we have to wonder… Are stocks really in a bear market? We thought we passed the peak in October. If so, we can look forward to a long bear market…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – Warning: The following may not be suitable for today’s namby-pamby, panty-waisted, gluten-fearing audiences. Cattle Drive Yesterday was the roundup. We set out on horseback early in the morning. But the gauchos were way ahead of us. We…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – Let’s see, Dear Reader, what were we talking about? We are on a walkabout… looking at others in order to see ourselves. And, oh yes… the gist of the last few days’ conversation was that you should…

GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – We are a-wandering… searching high and low… looking for ourselves. Yes, that is what travel is all about: trying to find out who you are.

$22 trillion and QE4EVA… The inflation temptation and gold or government bonds?… Flow towers, victory gardens, and boltholes… NEW PLYMOUTH, TARANAKI – The Fed is going to make this sucker blow. That’s what I found myself thinking this morning, looking…

Editor’s Note: Today, something a bit different for Diary readers. Recently, Bill attended an invitation-only meeting at our nation’s capital. Dan Denning, Bill’s right-hand man on The Bill Bonner Letter, was also in attendance. The stated purpose: Discuss the coming financial crisis and how…

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

PARIS – We begin with kvetches. Complaints. Grumbles. From dear readers… Anyone who opposes Trump is anti-American. – G.M. Listen, you are smart enough to know that if you keep banging the president, a lot of us are leaving. You…

PARIS – We live in an Era of Busted Dreams (EBD). Yesterday, we looked at one of them – the banged-up hope that Donald J. Trump might turn things around. It seems more and more unlikely. First, because he doesn’t…

PARIS – This week, the threads come together… the lines converge… the dots connect… The State of the Union… The Republicans and Democrats… “Us vs. Them”… Our own wobbly “us”… …and the coming financial catastrophe.

A physician cannot heal the sick if he is ignorant of the causes of certain conditions of the body, nor can a statesman help his fellow citizens if he cannot follow how, why or by what process each event had…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – We warned readers. This week would require a little extra effort. We are challenging one of our most deeply held instincts – the drive to take sides. As expected, many readers sided against your editor yesterday. They were…

It’s a wonder you’ve managed to keep your business going with such a fervent Republican bias. Apparently, you don’t want to have Democrats among your members. I’ve just started and already I’m beginning to question why I bothered. I couldn’t…

Our “Blueprint for Cold War II” series last week was timely. On Thursday, we outlined the risks to investors should the US pull out of a certain missile non-proliferation treaty with Russia. On Friday, it pulled out of it, and…

“Money, capital, has a life of its own. It’s a force of the nature. Like gravity. Like the oceans. It flows where it wants to flow. This whole thing with the Arabs and gold is inevitable – we’re just going…

RANCHO SANTANA – Last week went by so fast! Stocks got a big boost on Wednesday, on news of an impending trade deal with China. Then too, Jerome Powell announced that if anything was going to ruin the party on…

RANCHO SANTANA, NICARAGUA – We cannot remember, understand, or keep track of complicated investment tactics. We have to keep it simple. In our Grand Strategic Plan, we buy stocks when they are cheap relative to gold; when they are not…

A return to the dark days of the first Cold War, constant threat of nuclear annihilation included, is not exactly a pleasant prospect. So before I conclude this three-part series on why I think that’s coming (and how to profit…

RANCHO SANTANA, NICARAGUA – We got here yesterday, after the usual travel indignities. What we like about Ol’ Billy, our daughter’s blind dog, is the way he bears his afflictions with grace, which is the best any of us can…

Today we continue with our Cold War II thesis. If you want to know why a sequel to the Cuban Missile Crisis is coming and you didn’t read yesterday’s letter, click here to read it. The final part of this…

I’m currently drafting a report for the Capital & Conflict website to attract new readers. But I thought I’d share it in the daily letter to begin with – after all, you lot signed up first! Some of this briefing…

DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA – Americans seem to be getting on board the “tax the rich” train faster than they can sell tickets for it. We thought it would take at least a couple of years… and a recession… to bring…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – “Soldiers revolt…” “Millions on verge of starvation…” “Biggest mass exodus in history of the Americas…” What a glorious show! Right before our eyes… a real-life, real-time experiment… …all the conceits… the pretensions… the balderdash… the claptrap… …all…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – It pays to be one of the elite. Not only do you ride in first class and live in a better zip code, you get richer, too. Bloomberg is on the story: David Rubenstein has doubled his…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – We spent the weekend as a seeing eye human. Our daughter asked us to dog-sit. What are parents for? And the dog in question, a golden retriever, had gone blind. Ol’ Billy would take a little extra…

It’s time for the global elite to reassure each other that they’re still in charge, and that everything will be all right. Yes dear reader, it’s time for Davos, the annual globalist gathering. Central bankers, economists, multinational businessmen, politicos and…

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, markets closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bill will resume his regularly scheduled dot-connecting tomorrow. Today, we invite you to enjoy something a bit different… Below, a guest essay from master trader Jeff Clark….

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The intellectuals are laying the groundwork. That is, they’re digging the foundations for an extraordinary structure – a tower of debt higher than any ever seen in world history. The primary architect? Paul Krugman? Jerome Powell? Joseph…

“But what about the pension funds?” the man across the table asked me. We were having dinner in a restaurant overlooking the Thames, a view tarnished only by the scaffolding cocooning Westminster. I had just outlined my theory that as…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – We are on our way to the future. Not that we know what will happen, but we’ve been looking at the broad patterns of history. Most likely, they will repeat themselves… and surprise everyone. Over the last…

The January issue of Zero Hour Alert went out last week. It’s all about how China is amping up its navy, and the risks this poses to financial markets as China looks to control financial markets. While the expansion of…

Credo quia absurdum (I believe because it is absurd). – Tertullian You can’t make this stuff up. – Unknown BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Stocks went nowhere on Monday. Congress and the White House didn’t get anywhere, either, in their attempts to…

For those who live inside a myth, it seems a self-evident fact. – John Gray BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – We began the weekend in hushed anticipation of an approaching snowstorm. All week long, the weathermen had been warning us we’d get…

[The] future has arrived, and it is nothing less than a new cold war. … this situation will last decades and will only get worse, whatever this or that trade deal is struck between smiling Chinese and American presidents in…

BALTIMORE – The Donald goes to “The Wall” and the debate goes on. POTUS visited America’s southern border towns, trying to drum up support for his long-promised border wall. Meanwhile, as we saw last week, so far, we’re losing ground…

James here, editor of Exponential Energy Fortunes. Boaz is away today and has asked me to fill in. So today, we turn our attention to the future of oil markets… and how the rapid rollout of electric vehicles is depriving…

BALTIMORE – In his talks with Democrat leaders on Wednesday, POTUS apparently lost his temper. He slammed his hand down on the table and walked out. The subject was money – $5.7 billion, to be precise – the money requested…

Nick Hubble here. I wasn’t quite finished with you on Monday, so Boaz Shoshan let me elbow back in with more today. Two days ago I showed you how the high priests of Europe’s monetary experiment are abandoning ship. The…

BALTIMORE – A big, new danger appeared in Congress this month: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the newest representative of New York’s 14th district. At 29, she is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress; she will doubtless be there for decades to…

BALTIMORE – Stocks advanced a little on Monday. Investors were said to be hopeful about the upcoming trade talks with the Chinese. With a little luck, President Trump will talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the ongoing trade war….

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Wow… another big up day for the Dow on Friday. The index had climbed 747 points, or 3.3%, by the time the closing bell rang. Analysts credited a strong jobs market and a weak Fed. The Bureau…

Way back in 2012 (remember then?), a Danish policeman ordered some Cuban cigars from Germany. It was a perfectly legal and above-board bank transaction, but the money he paid – roughly £16,500 – disappeared. Why? The answer is simple, but…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – On Tuesday, we awoke to the sound of sirens. After a week at the family farm, we had come back to the city for New Year’s Eve. But hardly had the new year begun when the echoes…

Editor’s Note: Happy New Year from Bill Bonner and the team at Bonner & Partners. A new year is here. We are happy to have you on board. Expect to continue to receive Bill’s trademark wit and insights straight to…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Well, we were wrong. We figured the Fed would pause now. Instead, it went ahead with its rate hike and suggested it would pause in 2019. This was widely expected by the markets, if not by us….

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The last leaves are falling from the trees. And the last days of December are counting down, like the quiet moments before an execution. Friday, the Dow fell nearly another 500 points. From Bloomberg: Investors rushed out…

DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA – We’re down in Florida to meet a new grandchild. It’s a different world down here – different from Ireland, Maryland, France, Argentina… our usual haunts. Florida is flat. And barely above sea level. If the North…

Theresa May wrestles on in the mud of No. 10. The value of the pound has taken a return flight to where it was on 10 December before the no confidence commotion, this short act of the play now concluded….

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – A fight with the Fed one week. A trade war with China the next. And now, it’s a war with the Democrats. Donald J. Trump knows how to keep the cameras rolling. From Bloomberg: President Donald Trump…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Monday’s trading was inconclusive, like an argument between a husband and wife that has been going on for years. Sellers opened with an attack that sent the Dow down 500 points. Buyers defended themselves… forcing the Dow…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Whatever good was done by the Trump/Xi trade war truce in Buenos Aires was likely undone by what was done in Vancouver Airport earlier this month. Bogeyman Program The U.S. stock market warmed to the idea of…

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

BALTIMORE – Well, it didn’t take investors long… In less than 24 hours, they figured out that the trade war was fake and the “incredible” deal between President T. and the Chinese at the G20 summit was fake, too. JPMorgan…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The historic powwow at the G20 in Buenos Aires last weekend could turn out to produce some positive results. At least the Chinese and the Americans are thrashing around. Maybe they’ll knock down a trade barrier or…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The show went on! And, as we predicted, The Donald claimed victory… and stocks went up. When we left you previously, Mr. Trump was on Air Force One. He was on his way to the G20 in…

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The stock market continued with a modest bounce on Tuesday… but America’s automotive giant, General Motors, sank into the mud. The proximate cause was a tweet by President T., who threatened to remove federal subsidies to GM’s…

Yesterday I took advantage of our newly refurbished studio to interview Nick Hubble on his new book, How the Euro Dies – look out for it later this week. With any luck I’ll be recording an episode of The Gold…

BALTIMORE – We spent a delightful, long Thanksgiving weekend in the country, entertaining children and grandchildren. Not once did we open our laptop computer or look at the headlines. But now, it is another workweek, and we’re back on the…

By Bill Bonner November 22, 2018 Editor’s Note: As Bill writes his daily articles from the US, this post has been published a day behind. For Thanksgiving, Bill shares some little-known details around the American holiday. Dour Puritans… Thanksgiving during the Civil War……

In Cold War II, where will the UK stand? To whom will Britannia pledge her trident: the US, or China? A quick recap. My thesis that Cold War II will occur runs as follows: to remain a superpower, the US…

Thy love afar is spite at home. – Ralph Waldo Emerson BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Another week. This one should be slow… with many people off for Thanksgiving. But you never know. The old-timers say the days before a holiday are…

“Just remember that Mr Market will coax everybody back into the pool before he tosses the toaster oven in.” – Dave Collum, financial commentator/chemistry professor Collum’s metaphor is somewhat crude, but he makes a good point – the death of…

DUBLIN – We’re in Dublin… en route to the USA for the holidays. Dublin is a vibrant, lively city. Not especially elegant, unlike Paris… and not especially dynamic, unlike London… Nor is it especially huge and imposing, like New York…

What I’ve learned at the Federal Reserve is a new language which is called “Fed speak.” You soon learn to mumble with great incoherence. – Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan DUBLIN – Alan Greenspan is alive and well. Aged…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – “The whole thing is a giant fraud,” was perhaps too much for an unprepared audience to take on. Your editor, in trying to explain why the U.S. money is “fake,” had perhaps bitten off more than he…

How long must we benefit from something… before we take it for granted? A week? A year? A decade? Stock prices are built on many layers of our assumptions. Investors assume many conditions will stay the same or will move…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – The muffled bells began tolling at precisely 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. And then, the poppies began to fall. St. Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny was marking the end of…

I used to try to get things done by saying “please.” Now, I dynamite ‘em out of my path. Former senator from Louisiana, Huey Long YOUGHAL, IRELAND – Friday morning, an Associated Press headline caught our eye. “Conservatives agitate for…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – Wednesday was a big day for the U.S. stock market. October was forgiven. And forgotten. All is well, because the president and the new Democrat majority in the House are going to work together… …to rip off…

ARDMORE, IRELAND – On Tuesday, the voters spoke. The media – eager to attract eyeballs for their paid advertisers – spun the story as if it were the most important thing to happen since Adam ate the apple. But what…

If you thought the last two years of American politics were entertaining, the next two will be spectacular. The Democrats have taken the lower house of US Congress. But Republicans gained seats in the Senate. Which ruined the Democrats’ narrative…

[Editor’s note: because Bill is usually writing from the US, we don’t publish his copy until the day after he’s written it. So if you’re a bit confused as to why he’s predicting events that have already happened, that’s why.]…

Christmas cannot come early enough for General Electric ($GE).   While Oxford Street may be getting its Christmas lights switched on today, the festive mood has yet to bleed into global stockmarkets. GE in particular could really use some eggnog…

Do your remember Donald Trump’s upset win over Hillary Clinton? Of course you do. But do you remember the financial market fallout? Business Insider laid it out nicely at the time: US stock futures are plunging as well. As of…

POITOU, FRANCE – What America most lacks is cynicism. People listen to a news conference without laughing. They read the headlines without even guffawing. They believe their “warriors” are protecting them abroad. At home, they think their elected officials have…

November 1, 2018 I once was what you are, and what I am, you also will be. – Memento mori epitaph from The Holy Trinity, a fresco by Masaccio POITOU, FRANCE – We came back to France to celebrate the…

My object in living is to unite My avocation and my vocation As my two eyes make one in sight. Only where love and need are one, And the work is play for mortal stakes, Is the deed ever really…

October 30, 2018 YOUGHAL, IRELAND – Back in Ireland for a few days, we take up an agreeable routine. We read and write in the morning. In the afternoon, we lay stone, closing the open gable ends of our old…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – A wonderfully fraudulent confrontation is setting up… On one side is Donald J. Trump, pretending that he has “already made America great again” and blaming the Fed for ruining his beautiful work. He wants the Fed to…

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – As expected, the Dow bounced back last Thursday. The index was up 400 points. But this morning opened with another downdraft. Maybe the bubble and the pin have found each other. Maybe they haven’t. TBD… Fall Guy…

DUBLIN – Trading on Wall Street began on Tuesday with a thud. Earnings were reported. And the Street was not happy. The Dow sold off by 500 points, recovering some of the loss during the course of the day. More…

WATERFORD, IRELAND – First, a news flash: Donald Trump is proposing another tax cut. “Huh?” wondered Washington and the media. “How are we going to pay for government? The deficit is already out of control.” “The Donald works in mysterious…