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Welcome From Kirk Spano

Kirk Hello, thank you for taking the time to read my site.

When I began practice in the mid 1990s we were just entering the final run of a great secular bull market in common stocks. It was a great time to invest. However, by late 1998 some of the great voices of finance started to warn us. Jim Rogers, appearing on CNBC for the last time before a three year drive around the world, told us the American stock market was entering bubble territory. His advice, look outside the United States for investments and buy commodities. From 2000 to 2002 Rogers was proven right, as we felt the strains of irrational exuberance and a large stock market crash came, which was followed by huge inflation in commodities, including oil and gold, by the middle of the decade.

From 2003 to 2007 the stock bubble reflated back to its previous highs on the back of massive monetary expansion, household and national debts, and an expanding class of complicated investments called derivatives. Warren Buffet commented that we were "selling the farm to live high on the hog" and creating "financial weapons of mass destruction." From 2007 to early 2009 of course, we saw the largest financial and economic collapses since the Great Depression.

Much of the world finds themselves facing economic challenges not seen in generations. Many stock markets are by all reasonable measurements over a decade into a secular bear market. The recent economic period (2007-2011?) might very well be looked upon by history as the second worst depression since the 1800s. The rebound in stock prices from 2009 to 2012 appears to be the first step towards ending the secular bear market, though volatility and significant corrections are sure to occur in coming years. Economic balance has not reached the world again and significant risks still abound that require further work to overcome.

Recently, due to fears of losing money in the stock market, many investors have been pumping their savings into a new bubble in fixed income. Most of those investors are likely to see another layer of wealth destroyed as inflationary pressures create higher interest rates. Unfortunately for middle class investors, and institutional investors alike, when interest rates rise, it will not be gradual allowing time for escape, but rather some sudden shock that erases value from their accounts, as has happened in the past.

From what I see, the only possibility that the United States avoids the types of problems that Europe is facing today, is that America has a major increase in energy, materials, food and high-end manufacturing export by the end of the decade. Thankfully, America appears to be on that path. Already in 2011, the United States exported fuels for the first time in six decades, agriculture exports grew and high-end manufactured goods exports increased.

In my view, America is not on the verge of a major collapse- we already had that. Rather, America is on the verge of a major boom that lasts decades. As the United States exports more of what the world needs in raw materials, fuel, food and high-end manufactured goods, America should make far more money in the next fifty years than the OPEC nations made exporting energy the past fifty years. Given that the United States population is relatively stable around 330 million, the per capita standard of living should improve across society over time. America's core challenges will be not allowing a very small handful of people to hoard the rewards of America's bounty, not to destroy the environment and to once again create a culture of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

People who engage the opportunities now emerging early, will do very well. Many will become wealthy. Others will secure retirements they weren't certain they would have. Young people will be able to afford education and to raise a family. The opportunities are not just with investing, though those are great. There is work across several key industries and more related industries that offer the potential to succeed and prosper.

As I strive to help people secure their personal freedom, I look to the world's greatest investors for guideposts to the pathway towards that freedom. Over my career, I have developed the greatest level of respect for a group of investors who have been consistently in front of developing trends. Their investment approaches and their methods of reducing risk while maintaining opportunities for strong investment returns are my strongest influences in managing your portfolio, not the sales driven financial industry. It is the lead of people like Warren Buffett, Jim Rogers, Marc Faber, Bill Gross, Julian Robertson, George Soros and other independent minds that I follow.