Don't do it...
By David Newman (November 18, 2008)
More bad news continued to pour out in the press over the weekend, but this time it wasn't all just about the U.S...
On Friday, the 15-nation Euro-zone announced that it is officially in a recession. GDP contracted by 0.2% for a second consecutive quarter with Germany and Italy leading the way backwards. France narrowly escaped an "official" recession - two consecutive quarters of negative growth - by the narrowest of margins, posting 0.1% growth.
Now we get the news that Japan's economy - the worlds second largest - shrank in the third quarter, marking its second straight quarterly contraction and sending the nation into its first recession since 2001, as declining overseas demand for its goods hurt export-dependent industries.
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Bailout to Nowhere
By Bob Bauman (November 18, 2008)
If you're familiar with the Sovereign Society, you know that we are blessed with experienced investment and currency experts with enviable track records in their stock and currency picks, even in these tough times.
That expert advice comes from sound personal judgment and - in many cases - firsthand knowledge about the recommendations they make.
Similarly, when we recommend offshore trusts or specific offshore jurisdictions, one of the major factors we consider is local political stability. Not to mention the jurisdiction's form of government and its policies towards free market economics.
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Investment-Grade Corporate Bonds Deserve a Premium
By Eric Roseman (November 18, 2008)
Are investment-grade corporate bonds the new "safe-haven" for investors?
You certainly wouldn't think so following their worst monthly drubbing since 1980 in October. September and October sliced and diced investment-grade debt to levels unseen in more than two decades, with effective yields now at 8% compared to 3.7% for ten-year U.S. T-bonds.
Short-term Treasury bonds have been a magnet since the onset of the credit crisis. They've been drawing safe-haven flows from nervous investors worldwide ahead of redemptions, fund closures and panic selling since mid-September when Lehman Brothers failed. At the same time, investment-grade debt has been smashed.
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