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Greetings from Vienna
Alettermock2
Friday, September 22, 2006
Vol. 8 No. 190
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In Today's Letter:
Comment:
Greetings from Vienna
Offshore:
U.S. Discriminates Against Offshore
Wealth:
The Way to Play Oil
Privacy & Rights:
Saying "Osama" = Terrorist?
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Greetings from Vienna
Today's
comment is by Mark Nestmann, Wealth Preservation and Tax Consultant for
The Sovereign Society and President of The Nestmann Group.
Dear A-Letter Reader,
After an absence of nearly a year, this week I returned to my favorite city in the world-Vienna.
It feels like I never left. This city has a timeless
quality-strolling down the ancient streets, it's almost as if you can
hear Mozart, Freud and von Mises whispering to you.
But I didn't come back to Vienna to reflect on its history. I
returned to complete work on a book I'm writing about Austria, and to
check out the progress of renovation of an apartment I recently
purchased through a partnership. While I'm here, I look forward to
taking in all Vienna offers, including one of the world's finest
operas, first-class shopping, outstanding cuisine and hopefully, if the
weather cooperates, long strolls along the Donauinsel, the manmade
island Danube. And of course, practicing my very bad German (although
nearly everyone here speaks at least some English).
And that's just the beginning of what Vienna, and Austria as a
whole, has to offer. Indeed, Austria is one of the world's
best-kept financial secrets, with many mostly-overlooked advantages for
investors. They include:
Ironclad bank secrecy: Austrian law protects your assets
from unauthorized snoops, computer hackers, private investigators,
contingency-fee seeking lawyers-even government officials - from prying
into your private financial affairs. Indeed, Austrian bank accounts are
protected by a law with the same legal status as the Austrian
constitution! Absent evidence that you have committed a serious crime,
Austrian bank secrecy is virtually impenetrable. Compare this to the
United States where even marketing agencies regularly share your
private financial information. In Austria, such conduct would be deemed
criminal and could result in stiff fines or even imprisonment.
Goodbye frivolous lawsuits: If your goal is to protect
assets from frivolous litigation or seizures, Austria has much to
offer. In Austrian courts, for instance, the loser must pay the
winner's legal bills, courts can't award punitive damages in civil
disputes and all relevant documents must be translated into German by
an official translator. And, there is no automatic recognition or
enforcement of U.S. civil judgments.
A truly civilized residential haven: Austria isn't a tax
haven, but living here in my view provides a much more civilized
existence than the hot, steamy "banana republics" in the third world.
The food, culture, health care, and infrastructure are absolutely
first-rate. Austria welcomes qualified long-term immigrants, and after
10 years residence, you'll qualify for Austrian citizenship and
passport, along with the right to live in any EU country. It's also
possible to make a significant investment in an Austrian business in
exchange for "instant" citizenship, but the investment generally
required is very large-US$3 million or more.
Business opportunities in the heart of Europe: Austria sits
in the center of Europe, just west of the rapidly developing countries
that, for nearly half a century, were occupied by the former Soviet
Union. These countries-the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland,
Hungary, among others-are now among the world's fastest-growing
economies. And Austria is cashing in big time, with Austrian
corporations at the forefront of new investments in this region. This
is not only a consequence of geography, but of history. The old
Austrian Habsburg empire, which collapsed in 1918, once included
portions of all these countries. You can cash in as well, by investing
in the Austrian companies that are at the forefront of these economies'
redevelopment.
Affordable real estate: As a consequence of its socialist
past, along with rent controls, real estate prices in Austria are much
more affordable than in other major cities in Europe. A few months,
ago, I purchased a share of two apartments through a real estate
partnership for the equivalent of US$76/square foot. While these
apartments require substantial renovation, the opportunity to purchase
prime residential property for one-fifth to one-tenth the price of
comparable property in other major European cities is a compelling one.
For instance, the approximate value of an apartment, (that hasn't been
renovated), in Geneva, Switzerland (admittedly, an expensive market) is
about US$450 per square foot.
The scope of what Austria offers might surprise you. And I feel
confident these advantages won't vanish anytime soon, either. Unlike so
many other "tax havens," Austria is a rich country and not dependent on
aid from the United States or anywhere else. That gives Austria the
kind of diplomatic clout to protect its status that impoverished island
havens in the Caribbean and South Pacific simply can't match.
MARK NESTMANN, Wealth Preservation & Tax Consultant
on behalf of The Sovereign Society
Vienna, Austria
assetpro@nestmann.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: While Mark Nestmann travels around
Austria doing research for his book, our 40 European Banking Tour
attendees are in Copenhagen today hearing Danish asset protection
secrets and investment ideas. These attendees will head to Vienna and
meet up with Mark this weekend for the Austrian portion of the Banking
Tour. Look for Bob's coming comments live from the Tour in Monday's
A-Letter.
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The Billionaires' Secret
Over
the past few years, an elite group of investors has earned blockbuster
returns, turning many of them into millionaires, multi-millionaires
and, yes, even billionaires. They've done it, at least in part, by
using the world's #1 investment vehicle that makes money whether the
market goes up or down... yet 98% of investors are being left in the
dark.
While some markets have struggled lately, we've been racking up big
gains, including profits of 328% in less than 2 weeks, 180% in 4 weeks
and 487% in 7 weeks.
I've spelled out exactly how in my free special report: "The Billionaires' Secret."
Click here to learn how easily the rich are capturing fabulous profits... and you can too.
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U.S. Discriminates Against Americans Offshore
President
Bush's tax cuts, especially the 2003 rate reductions, moved U.S. tax
policy in the right direction -- down. Lower tax rates encourage thrift
and hard work. But when it comes to taxing Americans overseas,
President Bush has moved in the wrong direction, approving a highly
unfair provision U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) slipped into a tax
bill. Keith Bradsher explains in the International Herald Tribune that
the president wrongly approved a much higher tax burden on overseas
Americans. This discriminatory tax hike discourages productive
Americans from living abroad for work or business. The tax penalty on
expatriates is unique among major developed countries and has no place
in a fair tax system, which should be based on the common-sense
principle of territorial taxation. Efforts are underway in the U.S.
Congress to repeal the Grassley tax.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
LINK: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/01/yourmoney/money.php
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Oil Services = the Best Values in the Now Depressed Energy Patch
These days
everyone is talking about oil stocks. So allow me to repeat my position
on oil services, which I feel is the absolute best oil play for 2007.
Over the last several years, any correction in crude oil has always
resulted in a prime buying opportunity. Although input costs are
soaring for the oil majors, the oil services companies are earning a
fortune - and charging the highest lease rate for rigs and exploration
activity in history. And I can't say this enough: buy the oil-services
sector, not the oil stocks. The TSI Portfolio continues to hold several
oil related investments, including our incredibly profitable Canadian
energy trusts, still paying annual distributions in excess of 10.5%.
But going forward, margins for many of the world's leading oil
companies will face compression as costs continue to bolt higher. The
culprit? The oil services group.
And if you haven't had a chance to read about my latest oil services
recommendation in the latest issue of The Sovereign Individual, please click here to download your issue and read about it right now. If you're not a member of The Sovereign Society, click here to find out how you can join so you can read about not only oil services, but the other 34 recommendations in the portfolio.
ERIC ROSEMAN, Investment Director
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If You Say "Osama" on the Phone, Does That Make You a Terrorist?
Over
the last year, many have debated whether the National Security Agency
wiretapping private citizens without warrants is a legal practice. But
few have questioned whether this is effective. And if it's not
effective, why the NSA is doing it?
Of course, the NSA won't say exactly what it's doing, but it's
believed the NSA uses "data mining" to scan calls and phone records.
The problem is that there simply aren't enough terrorists for data
mining to be effective. Simply searching conversations for words like
"Osama" or "explosives" doesn't cut it. Many non-terrorists use these
words as well, leaving thousands of innocent individuals vulnerable to
classification as possible terrorists. Meanwhile, I would think the
real terrorists are too smart to pepper their conversations with such
inflammatory speech when they want to remain under the radar. And that
makes this whole effort more of a witch-hunt than an effective means of
surveillance.
The NSA surely knows this, yet it persists in its data mining
program, "to find terrorists," in spite of the number of falsely
identified terrorists vastly outnumbering real terrorists. It begs the
question: What then is the real purpose of the warrantless NSA
surveillance?
It's much more plausible the NSA uses data mining to find other
individuals. For instance, a recent CNN poll found that 30% of
Americans believe President George W. Bush should be impeached. If the
NSA is monitoring phone records to identify individuals favoring
impeachment, given the same accuracy and error rates, then the
probability that people are pro-impeachment given that the NSA system
identified them as such would be 98%.
In other words, while warrantless NSA surveillance is almost useless
for identifying terrorists, it's an extremely effective way for the
government to engage in mass political intelligence gathering. Call me
crazy - or even a little paranoid - but that's exactly what I suspect
is really going on.
MARK NESTMANN, Privacy Expert & President of The Nestmann Group
www.nestmann.com
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NYMEX Shocker: $10.8 Billion in Sudden Demand
Could Drive Oil Up 15-54% Starting Any Day Now
According
to a senior energy trader, a sudden wave of demand for 145 million
barrels could flood the markets very soon... This $10.8 billion
explosion could "catch the whole world off guard" while launching a
major rebound rally in a matter of days... Read how this trader expects
to leverage the coming move into a 848% windfall, and how you could
join him...
LINK: http://www.isecureonline.com/Reports/DFT/EDFTG921/
You're Invited to Join Us...
The Permanant Wealth Protection Summit
Dromoland Castle
Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ireland
October 11-15, 2006
Click here for more information.
Offshore Advantage Seminar
A Beginner's Guide to the Offshore World
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
November 8-11
A-Letter Readers: Click here for more information.
Sovereign Society Members: Click here.
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