The Deep Woods: This. Is. Not. Funny.

You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive our free e-letter The Deep Woods, or you purchased a product or service from its publisher, Eagle Financial Publications. [The Deep Woods] [Successful Investing]( [Bullseye Stock Trader]( [About Jim]( In This Issue: • This. Is. Not. Funny. • ETF Talk: Playing the Long Game with this Long Duration Bond Fund • A Case of Cognitive Dire Straits • A Playwright on Assassination This. Is. Not. Funny. by Jim Woods Editor, [Successful Investing]( and [Bullseye Stock Trader]( 07/17/2024 Sponsored Content [New Study Says Thursday Is The Best Day To Trade TSLA Shares]( Thanks to a new discovery linked to shares of Tesla, regular folks can now target year's worth of Tesla returns in six days or less. The next opportunity is scheduled for this Thursday. [Click here for details]( This. Is. Not. Funny. “Jim, where were you when former President Trump was nearly assassinated?” That’s the question a friend asked over the weekend. Interestingly, the answer is quite memorable, as I was about to go on stage to deliver a talk on how to be a successful investor at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. In fact, I heard about the shooting, and Trump’s narrow escape from finality, a few minutes before taking the stage. Feeling as though I had to address the orange elephant in the room, I told the crowd about the incident. At first, there was incredulity, and a sense that perhaps I had initiated a bad joke. But there was nothing funny about this incident, and I don’t jest about matters of this nature. Fortunately for the entire world, the assassination attempt failed, with an obviously incompetent shooter missing his target from 140 meters away. And speaking as a U.S. Army-trained expert marksman, a shot with an AR-style rifle from an elevated position at this distance is about as easy as it gets. I mean, even newbie infantry recruits have to hit multiple bullseyes at 150 meters just to make it through basic training. Yet, aside from observation, and relief, that the shooter was incompetent, another reaction I had was to note the incredible presence of mind Trump displayed in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. I mean, love him or hate him, one must acknowledge that the man displayed the incredible ability to stage manage this event perfectly. By raising his fist into the air and shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, blood streaming down the side of his face, the world has been left with an indelible and iconic image of resolve and strength, and that, I suspect, has all but cemented his victory in November. Now, in the aftermath of this ghastly assassination attempt, I was corresponding with my friend and The Deep Woods guest columnist Brandon Brison, Creative Director at advertising and marketing firm CDMG, Inc. As he always does, Brandon shared with me his insightful thoughts on this situation. In fact, the thoughts were so insightful, I wanted to share them with you today. So, here is my good friend, colleague and thoughtful human, Brandon Brison, with an insight we call… This. Is. Not. Funny. I keep a fairly politically diverse group of friends. As such, I am used to (mostly) good-natured debate and argument over politicians, principles, laws, the future of our country and so on. I was not prepared for the joy and glee with which some of my circle greeted the news of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13. And I was genuinely astonished that the only dismay they felt was that the assassin missed. When I went online to get more information on the shooting, I was almost overwhelmed with memes, jokes, twits and other social media detritus clogging up the online discourse around the attempted assassination of Trump. I shut my computer, turned off my phone and, knowing President Trump was safe for the time being, decided to abide by the 48-hour Rule of Major News. For those two days that I intentionally avoided the breathless news cycle and waited for the facts to rise above the hysteria and conspiracies, I reflected on the utter lack of seriousness with which a certain contingency was treating that civilizational inch between restless order and outright chaos. I’m not sure how we got to a point in our societal conversation where politically motivated murders are considered a laughing matter… especially in the immediate aftermath. Whether you love Donald Trump, hate him or you’re one of the vanishingly few people who are indifferent to him… if you are a rational person, you must be able to comprehend that the natural consequence of his death by an assassin’s bullet would be violence, bloody violence. The only conclusion I can come up with, for the mystery of why people are openly cheering for the assassination of a presidential candidate, is that we have been blessed by peace for so long that the consequences of political violence are too abstract for modern audiences to grasp. We have apparently become an unserious people with an inability to recognize that we live in a world with actual, real-world consequences. For too many people, their only point of reference for last Saturday’s shocking act is the latest episode of Game of Thrones… a titillation, a one-hour dopamine hit that can be turned off if it gets too real or you get too bored. Those of us who choose to live in reality are surrounded by adults who live in a world of pretending -- that assassinations don’t have consequences, that destroying the engines of the economy will create prosperity, that freedom can be mandated by indifferent psychopaths in a swamp on the Eastern Coast of the United States. For those pretending people who need it spelled out… when murdering your political enemies becomes acceptable, bad, BAD things are soon to follow. It doesn’t matter what you think about the personality of the person targeted. Politics exist because debate is a preferable proxy for tribal violence. As ugly as it can get “making the sausage” and finding political solutions to apparently intractable issues, using persuasion, logic and reason to lead a society works to the benefit of every single person in that society. When you remove the “proxy” aspect… when you move from the realm of the mind to the realm of raw force… the only possible outcome is warfare, oppression, genocide. And -- even if your side “wins” -- no one comes out the other side unscathed. Though I have never personally experienced war in my homeland, I once dated a Bosnian woman who, as I was getting to know her, told me a lot of stories from the civil war there. Like the story of her father’s best friend taking a bullet to the head on their doorstep. Their neighbor getting executed for informing on the wrong person. Women raped and shot in the middle of the street. Parents selling their daughters into prostitution for an MRE. This. Is. Not. Funny. To be crystal clear, I’m not the type who thinks violence is forever off the table. Many things are worth fighting for. And some things are worth dying for. But I tell you, if I ever have to pick up arms to defend my family, it will be mournfully and with a realistic idea of the world to come. Hopefully that day will never arrive, in my lifetime or my children’s lifetimes or their children’s lifetimes. I hope that we can somehow continue to muddle through the next few centuries or longer on the power of mean words, harsh rhetoric, gritty debate and ugly unity so future generations can live in relative prosperity and peace. If the weekend’s assassination attempt has any silver lining, I hope that it causes every single person in this nation to stop for a second and reflect on how close we came to a civilization-fracturing event. And I hope that the people smugly celebrating the failed assassin realize how colossally stupid their first take was and sober up to the realities of the world as it actually is -- not the “Made for TV” version. If we as a culture don’t take steps to fix this discourse, the next time those people wail “But it was just a joke!” could very well be as the communists they’re cheering on put them up against the wall, because the usefulness of their idiocy has finally worn out. [China’s Global Conspiracy to Destroy the American Dollar]( China is nearing the end of its 40-year plan to dominate the world’s economy. Only one obstacle remains: The U.S. dollar. But not for long... because China has enlisted many co-conspirators to sink the dollar: Russia, India, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and even Canada. And – no surprise – the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants to jump in to help China win. This means China now has the power to crush the dollar almost overnight... and bankrupt America. But there’s still time to protect the money and retirement of investors. [Click here now to find out how... before it’s too late.]( ETF Talk: Playing the Long Game with This Long Duration Bond Fund In a world full of uncertainties, paired with violence and unrest, having your hard-earned money invested in something you can rely on is not only important, but it is vital. With a recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and war raging in several countries that the United States has vested interest in, there are many potential factors that weigh on the economy. The potential volatility of the market is at the forefront for many Americans. Investors want a saving grace that earns money for the long term, locking in gains for the future. As a polymath with an aptitude for history, time has proven that stability is a quality that should not be underestimated when deciding where to put your money. The featured exchange-traded fund (ETF) this week is categorized as a Long Government ETF. The United States has been using bonds dating back to the American Revolution. But with this ETF, investors are getting exposure to the long side of the U.S. market, which is a different type of investment than our ancestors could access. Long-Term Government Bond ETFs focus on debt sponsored by the U.S. government or associated agencies. They can include, but are not limited to, treasuries, mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS), along with other types of debt. Long-term bonds generally have maturities beyond 10 years. The First Trust Long Duration Opportunities ETF (LGOV) seeks to generate current income with a focus on preservation of capital. Chart courtesy of [www.stockcharts.com]( In normal market conditions, this fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio of investment-grade debt securities guaranteed or issued by the U.S. government, government agencies, publicly issued U.S. Treasury securities, mortgage-related securities and other government-sponsored entities. Additionally, this fund may invest in ETFs that principally invest in these types of securities. The ETF has over $470 million in net assets. Plus, 96.3% of its assets are allocated in U.S. bonds. Bonds are a loan to a company or government, which in this case is the United States, making them likely to be less volatile than stocks. In the current state of affairs, this is something investors are looking to more and more, especially with inflation. While investing always carries risk, and this asset class is not exempt from that, the fact that this ETF it is backed by the U.S. government helps to minimize this risk. The U.S. government is unlikely to default on its debt, which helps to ease investors’ concerns when weighing the pros and cons of long government ETFs. As always, I’m happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to [email me](mailto:askjim@successfuletfinvesting.com). You may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk. [[Important] Read Before Markets Open]( Do you feel like you could be better informed about upcoming market trends? Heading straight towards the next Fed meeting, anything could happen. So, it's crucial that you plan now and weigh the best decisions for your future. This next complimentary class will help you do that. We’ll cover the biggest movers in the market, and also… - S&P and major indices forecasts - NVDA tracker - Options strategies - Who’s poised to break out next Don’t miss this next session. This market is about to present some enormous opportunities, so [be sure to attend this live market forecasting session.]( In case you missed it… A Case of Cognitive Dire Straits After watching the recent debate between President Biden and former President Trump, I was left truly dumbfounded. First, Donald Trump managed to be relatively calm and collected, traits not usually associated with the former president. Yet for Mr. Biden, well, I found myself astonished by the man’s obvious mental meltdown. Anyone who viewed that debate with even a scintilla of objectivity was compelled by reality to conclude that President Biden lacks the mental acuity and corresponding verbal facility to be the leader of the free world. Indeed, the Biden debate performance was more like witnessing a failed neurological exam than it was an exposition of policy positions. Now, I do not make this observation with any pleasure. And while I am not a supporter of the president, it actually pained me to see a man clearly in cognitive dire straits. Because, at the very low-bar minimum, you would think that having intact cognition is a requirement of what can easily be argued is the most important job in the world. Sadly, this case of cognitive dire straits is one of Father Time’s cruelest jokes. Physical decline (and particularly cognitive decline) will befall us all, if we’re lucky enough to live that long. Yet, be that as it may, it is painfully obvious that President Biden is not up to the job the American people elected him to do nearly four years ago. At one point, however, Joe Biden was a different man. I know this, because in August 2008, I spent some five hours sitting next to the man on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. He was then Senator Biden, and even back then, he did display a few signs of, shall we say, unusual behavior. And while that behavior didn’t resemble anything near the kind of cognitive decline America witnessed at the debate, it was, I think, quite revealing as to his approach to life. Given the recent headlines regarding the president, I thought I would republish my reflections on this 2008 plane ride, so that you can read about what I witnessed on that memorable flight. So, please enjoy my reflections in the following 2008 article, titled: ‘We All Scream for Ice Scream: A Joe Biden Tale’ You can tell a lot about a man by the way he eats. Some men like to sit down to a meal, take their time and savor each and every morsel of food and drink. People like this tend to be thoughtful, meticulous, confident and in many cases, hedonistic. How do I know this? Well, I’ve been known to spend more time than most getting through a multi-course, wine-paired meal. Still, other men like to dig right into their prize, attacking the meal with fervor and a literal hunger for life that reveals their carpe-diem approach to the world. This type of person tends to be decisive, purposeful, driven and a born leader. My favorite example of this type of eater is my good friend and fellow investment guru Doug Fabian. But what do you say about a man who eats his meal in reverse order? That thought has plagued me ever since I sat next to Sen. Joe Biden on a flight from Washington, D.C. to my hometown of Los Angeles, California. Sen. Biden was on his way to L.A. for an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” while I was returning home from my annual pilgrimage to the nation’s capital for a meeting with friends, publishers and people from some of my favorite think tanks. After exchanging pleasantries with the senior senator from Delaware, Biden wasted no time in digging right into his criticisms of the war in Iraq, and what he perceived to be the folly of the Bush administration. I expected nothing less from the senator, as he’s known for his outspoken critiques and his shoot-from-the-hip commentary. What I didn’t expect was a lesson in how to eat a meal backwards. Now, since I had the benefit of first-class seating accommodation during this journey, the flight attendants were very conscientious when it came to serving what was a surprisingly tasty meal. The first course was a salad with Italian dressing, which was followed by a main course of a plump, well-seasoned chicken breast and a side of rice. The best part of the meal for me was the dessert, which was a generous scoop of gourmet chocolate ice cream. I ate my meal with my usual casualness, and in the aforementioned order. Sen. Biden, however, took a different path. Biden accepted the salad, but he put it aside and saved it for later. When the main course came, he politely rejected it. But when the ice cream came, Biden’s fervent personality really came out. He emphatically asked for a serving, although he had not yet eaten any food. Biden ate his ice cream while we discussed Kevin Phillips’ book “American Theocracy,” the then-latest critique of the Bush administration’s religious overtones. After eating the ice cream, Biden pulled out a hefty ham sandwich from his briefcase and consumed it in a deliberate and determined fashion. Once the sandwich disappeared, the senator turned to the only remaining bit of food left on his tray table, the salad. As I watched this reverse-order meal consumption, a thought occurred to me: Is this why the federal government is so screwed up? Is Sen. Biden’s backwards approach to a meal indicative of what’s wrong with Washington? Does this backwards eating pattern explain why the government does everything less efficiently and less effectively than the private sector? Given my theories on discerning knowledge of a person based on how they eat, what was I to make of Sen. Biden’s meal habits? The only logical conclusion is that Biden looks at the world -- shall we say -- differently from the rest of us. And while there is nothing wrong with a little different perspective on things, I don’t think I want someone a heartbeat away from the presidency who eats his ice cream first. The next thing you know is that person will advocate raising taxes to stimulate the economy, negotiating with our ideological enemies as a means of portraying strength and railing against judges who think interpreting the Constitution is the only proper function of the courts. Wait a second… that’s what Biden wants? I knew there was a reason why he ate the ice cream first. ***************************************************************** A Playwright on Assassination “Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.” --George Bernard Shaw Given the events of over the weekend, is there anything else that needs to be added to Shaw’s thoughts on this matter? Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. [Click here](mailto:askjim@successfuletfinvesting.com) to ask Jim. In the name of the best within us, [Jim Woods] Jim Woods Editor, Successful Investing & Bullseye Stock Trader About Jim Woods: [Jim Woods]Jim Woods has more than 25 years experience in the markets, as a stock broker, hedge fund money manager, author, speaker and independent analyst. 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