For Traders and Asset Managers, Puerto Rico's Tax Incentives Are a No-Brainer

By: Nick Giambruno

Whenever I see the words “life-changing opportunity” or something like that, I immediately dismiss it as a lame gimmick or hyperbole.

And while I am truly reluctant to use those often misused words, I can honestly think of no better way to describe Puerto Rico’s tax incentives for traders, hedge funds, private equity firms, and asset managers of all stripes.

This is truly a life-changing opportunity for them, and that’s not BS.

By the end of this article, you’ll see why.

It’s not for no reason that investment legends like hedge fund manager John Paulson and Nick Prouty have planted their flags there. But you don’t have to be a big name to benefit too. As you’ll see, obtaining Puerto Rico’s tax incentives is really a no-brainer for anyone who makes their living off of capital gains.

But first, you need to understand a few things about the uniquely burdensome American tax code to see why this is such an unparalleled opportunity. Continue reading "For Traders and Asset Managers, Puerto Rico's Tax Incentives Are a No-Brainer"

I Owe My Soul - Why Negative Interest Rates Are Only the First Step

By: Jeff Thomas, International Man

In 1946, an American singer, Merle Travis, recorded a song called "Sixteen Tons." The song told the story of a poor coal miner in Kentucky, who lived in a small coal mining town. The town's economy revolved entirely around the mine.

The mining company owned a "company store," which had a monopoly on the sale of provisions. It charged rates that were designed to use up the weekly paycheque of the miner, so that the miner, in effect, was a slave to the mining company. As the song states,

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

Negative Interest Rates

Let's put the song aside for the moment and have a look at a concept that has been bandied about by the European Central Bank (ECB) for a while now. Since the collapse of the central banks would doom the world (their claim, not mine), it is essential that the banks be saved no matter what else must be sacrificed. Efforts to "save" the situation have been implemented through quantitative easing (QE) and the setting and continuation of low interest rates.

Unfortunately, in spite of record profits by banks and staggering bonuses handed out to senior bank executives, somehow the QE and low interest rates have not created the prosperity desired. The economy is still in the tank. What to do? Continue reading "I Owe My Soul - Why Negative Interest Rates Are Only the First Step"

Americans Can Still Benefit from Tax Havens

By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
–Benjamin Franklin

You are technically a slave when 100% of the fruits of your labor is taxed or otherwise confiscated by force. So, at what percentage are you not a slave?

When you consider the totality of the countless direct and indirect taxes on the local, state, and federal levels, as well as the pernicious effects of inflation, the hidden tax, many of us are at least halfway to 100%. Continue reading "Americans Can Still Benefit from Tax Havens"

A Glimpse into the Coming Collapse

By Jeff Thomas, International Man

Beginning in 1999, we predicted a systemic economic collapse that would take place in the First World and would impact all other economies. We began to list some of the "dominoes" that would fall as the collapse evolved and described that the "Great Unravelling," as we termed it, would take roughly ten years. At that time, we guesstimated that the first two of the dominoes, a real estate crash and subsequent stock market crash in the US, would begin in about 2005.

We were premature in this prediction, as the first of the crashes did not occur until 2007. And, truth be told, we have frequently been incorrect in the timing of the other dominoes. Whilst the actual events have been predicted correctly, our timing has often been incorrect. In every such case, the prediction has been premature.

Sadly, however, the prediction of the events of the collapse have been almost entirely correct. Continue reading "A Glimpse into the Coming Collapse"

Doug Casey on Crisis Investing in Cyprus

By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man

Recently, legendary crisis investor Doug Casey and I put our boots to the ground in Cyprus to search the rubble of one of recent history's most significant financial crises—the financial collapse and bank deposit raid in Cyprus—for incredible bargains. And we found them.

In this newly released video interview below, Doug and I detail the tremendous speculative opportunities available on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. Continue reading "Doug Casey on Crisis Investing in Cyprus"