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As July 2007 opened, banks and brokerage houses came under increasing

pressure, which I took as a signal that the historic worldwide credit bubble was

coming to an end. In light of the mounting signs of a credit contraction, on July 19th I

sent an issue of The Investor’s Mind titled, “What Is & What Should Never Be,” with the

following note to both our free and paid subscribers:

“Evidence is mounting that we are in the final throes of this worldwide,

credit-fueled bubble. The wobbling dominoes certainly merit the attention

of all investors and advisors.”

While we have seen, and will no doubt continue to see, enormous efforts to try to change

the course of where we are headed, the depletion of half of the Federal Reserve's book

of Treasuries and the severe contractions in the Asset Backed and Structured Invest-

ment Vehicle markets, indicate a change of major significance is at hand.Those who are

only mindful of the major equity index prices or the Fed's decision to lower rates, overlook

the credit crunch occuring within the institutions that fund many of our market operations

and a large part of our economy. Those who deny the systemic risks within our capital

markets and lean instead on central banker's ability to add "liquidity" will soon be forced

to acknowledge what happens when collectively, individuals move away from embracing

debt, to attitudes and actions that seek to REDUCE their exposure to debt, especially

higher risk debt instruments. As investors begin to realize that many complex, exoctic

financial products do not merit the rating they have been given, and that the growth rates

of the same are unsustainable, fear and distrust will replace greed and apathy and, in the

process,will correct such excesses. An obsession with past performance, devoid of

concern for the underlying drivers, is inherent to human nature during secular bull

markets. But if we want to be well-prepared, we must ask, "How have my investements

performed since the credit contraction began, in July 2007, and how should my overall

investment strategy perform in a long-term credit contraction?"

In light of this, I encourage you to consider joining the group of subscribers, who are not

only readers, but are part of The Investor’s Mind. Our subscribers include hedge fund

and institutional managers, retired industry insiders, business owners, and professors,

as well as retail investors from various countries around the world. Why do they sub-

scribe? In short, to gain a better understanding in this period of extraordinary change and

to better navigate the most challenging investment environment any of us have ever seen.

Every investor, manager, trader, business leader, and politician will be forced to deal with

issues that the credit expansion allowed us to deny or at least put off for a “rainy day.”

If you would like to get a taste of The Investor’s Mind before you sign up for a six-month

subscription, scroll down this page to Recent Updates and click on the links under our

latest public article. If you examine the range of subjects covered in

The Investor’s Mind: Anticipating Trends through Lens of History, and Riders on The

Storm: Short Selling in Contrary Winds, you will see that this is not the typical investment

newsletter. If you are convinced that something significant is taking place, I would

encourage you subscribe to The Investoor's Mind. As the aforementioned issues take

their tool on global markets in the months ahead, there will be plenty to think through

if we are to keep ourselves from being swept away along with the crowd.

As each of us assesses our ability to successfully navigate today's markets, consider

Edward Chancellor's words from his book, Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of

Financial Speculation, published in 1999.

       "According to the financial journalist Alexander Dana Noyes, the American stock

        market boom at the beginning of the twentieth century was 'as much a social and

        psychological phenomenon as a financial episode.' "

Since the credit contraction began, in the summer of 2007, our national leaders have

only presented one solution to the public: more government, more spending, and more

debt. At the same time, the general public has shifted towards spending less and

lowering their debts. As any child can see, thesee themes are simply not compatible.

Understanding what is unfolding, is not the challenge. With a little bit of study, it is easy

to assemble how we arrived at this destination in history. The challenge is to have

enough courage to look at difficult scenarios, act accordingly, and deal with the distor-

tions thrown at our thinking and markets as the contraction gains strength.

Read More...

Recent Updates...

A Day of Rest, September 19, 2008, Doug Wakefield with Ben Hill

On Tuesday, the US government stated that in order to “stabilize” the markets, they would

provide an $85 billion loan to the largest insurance company in the world (AIG), the

“collateral” being an 80 percent stake in the company. With the SEC (US) and the FSA

(UK) temporarily suspending short sales of financial companies, it looks like the boys at

the Treasury and Fed demanded that they do their patriotic duty to remove the thorns and

thistles that had grown up to curse the “innocent” financial companies, who, I’m sure,

gave investors no practical reason to want to sell their stocks.

To subscribe to The Investor's Mind, and gain access to our industry research paper,

Riders on the Storm, click here. To view a detailed table of contents for Riders on the

Storm, click here.

To view a summary of the wide variety of subjects covered in The Investor's Mind from

January of 2006 through February of 2008, click here.

The 'Secret' to Retirement Planning, August 20, 2008

Doug Wakefield with Ben Hill

In today’s world, it is common to place individuals in one of two camps. On the one hand,

we see ourselves as “bottom line thinkers,” who, for various reasons, cannot understand

the big picture, while on the other hand, those who delve into philosophical ideas that

impact the whole society, are seen as in absent minded professors who can’t get their

heads out of the clouds. But, if we defer our God given ability to use our own minds to the

“wisdom of the experts” or “social engineers,” should we expect our personal plans to

remain unaltered? For my fifty years, I cannot think of a more profound and practical

time than today for the average person to engage in such discussions.

The Investor's Mind: Update, August 6, 2008, Doug Wakefield with Ben Hill

The cost for a six month subscription to The Investor's Mind has increased. For more

details regarding this change, please download this pdf.

Protecting Giants from Slingshots, July 18,2008, Doug Wakefield and Ben Hill

What should be obvious to anyone at this stage is that while the SEC has always had an

obligation to clean up naked short selling – and I support orderly markets which must

punish illegal activity – a more pertinent issue remains. We are all watching a credit

crisis, and that crisis was fueled, at the root level, by the very players who today demand

special privileges from our market regulators and government leaders.

The Day Free Markets Died, May 20, 2008, Doug Wakefield with Ben Hill

Though our government has increasingly influenced our markets since the creation of

the Federal Reserve in 1913, we have recently reached the point where it would be a

glaringly obvious misnomer to call the markets “free.” And while some aspects of a free

market remain, those who’ve studied the day-to-day operations of our nation’s banking

system and the stock markets’ performances at certain times, would likely come to the

conclusion that, on occasion, the state, through the Fed and certain banks, intervenes to

engineer market bottoms.

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