Dear Reader,

A reminder: Starting with this issue, I’ll be publishing this blog once a week, rather than twice. I’m hoping this will allow me to finish a few of the 16 (no lie) books I am almost done writing. Plus, I hope to find a bit of extra time to cover a few more topics, particularly those you seem to like. As you can see, this particular issue is almost twice as long as a “regular” issue. But, hey – just read what piques your interest!

Mark Ford

 

 

Another Great Thanksgiving Celebration in Nicaragua!

After two great weeks enjoying the rugged beauty of the Pacific coastline of Nicaragua, K and I are back in Delray Beach, getting reacquainted with the mesmerizing flatness of the Atlantic coastline.

The grandkids dancing on the beach at Rancho Santana 

For six or seven years now, we’ve wrangled our kids and grandkids down to Rancho Santana to participate in the nearly non-stop fun and games the resort puts on for its guests from mid-November through the new year. And every time I’m there, I have the same thoughts:

* Nicaragua is an extraordinarily beautiful country, with just about every natural ecosystem a nature-lover could want. Mountains, valleys, cliffs and hills, natural springs, streams, and rivers, dozens of gorgeous lakes (including Lake Nicaragua, one of the largest in the Americas), endless acres of farmland, cattle country, and world-class fishing and surfing along the country’s entire western coast.

* The people of Nicaragua are exceptional in many of the best ways a culture of people can be exceptional. I’ve visited more than 80 countries in my time and spent a fair amount of time in more than a dozen. I’ve learned that every country – and especially those with largely native populations – has its own set of personality traits that distinguish its people. I find Nicaraguans exceptional in their fundamental goodness. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s a combination of being ethical and hard-working, welcoming and good natured, optimistic, family-oriented, conservative, and humble. And they like to laugh.

* Notwithstanding the occasional need for a small ($5 to $25) donation to local law enforcement to deal with ill-defined traffic violations, the experience of going about one’s business in Nicaragua is surprisingly free and unencumbered. The government is tough on non-profit entities because they are sensitive to anti-Sandinista ideas and propaganda. But if you are living in Nicaragua to develop businesses and create wealth for the local population, you run into very little of the senseless opposition you sometimes find in the States.

Rancho Santana is really and truly one of the best resort communities in the world. It has become much more than I expected or even hoped it would become. I’m proud to have been a part of its history.

If you’d like to know more about Rancho Santana – maybe check it out for a possible visit – click here.

Florida vs. Every Other State

K and I moved to South Florida in 1982 to take advantage of a job offer I had in the up-and-coming retirement paradise of Boca Raton. But as native New Yorkers, we came down reluctantly. K wasn’t happy about leaving everything comfortable and familiar and no longer being surrounded by family on Long Island. And I saw Florida as a vast cultural and social wasteland, half expecting to be chewing tobacco with rednecks, hunting alligators for food, and taking our kids to places like Monkey Jungle on weekends.

Our fears did not materialize.

Florida, we gradually discovered, was a great place to make intelligent and interesting friends, provide our children with an excellent education, and enjoy the state’s climate and abundant natural sources year-round.

It also turned out to be a land of abundant entrepreneurial and career opportunities, with mostly sensible and bearable state government regulations and an economy that was booming and has kept growing for the last 30 years.

Still, the old prejudices lingered in my subconscious. And when people from LA, NYC – or Paris or London, for that matter – would ask me, in a condescending way, “What is it like to actually live in Florida?” I felt defensive. So, I began to take mental notes on the things about Florida that are good and even unique, comparing and contrasting its benefits and virtues to those of other states.

I haven’t written much about Florida here on the blog. I have, though, no doubt mentioned some of the most obvious things worth boasting about, including the fact that we have coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico… we have lots of sunshine… and we are threatened only by hurricanes, rather than a combination of earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, tropical storms, snowstorms, and massive pollution. Just to mention the geographic advantages.

But there are other good reasons why Florida is a great state to live and work in.

Such as…

Florida Has a Citizen-Friendly Income Tax Policy 

New York and California have the highest state tax rates on the three most important ways that ordinary citizens earn money and gain wealth: capital gains, dividends, and business income. Combined, those taxes can reach more than 13% (on top of federal taxes) for residents of Manhattan. But in Florida, state taxes are zero. Nada.

Whenever I say this to my NYC or LA friends, they respond by claiming that Florida’s property taxes are higher. But I have paid property taxes in NYC and LA. And I know that after you sort through the details and compare apples to apples, the amount of dollars in property taxes you will pay in Florida is about the same (in some cases less) as you’d pay there.

You’d think that, without its own income tax, a state as large and as populous as Florida would have terrible roads, badly working utilities, non-functioning public services, and a complete lack of social support for the poor. None of that is true. On those counts, and just about any others you’d care to research, you’ll find that Florida does very well compared to the rest of the states.

Florida’s citizen-friendly tax policies are substantial and build up over time. Since we moved to Florida in 1982, for example, I’ve “saved” tens of millions of dollars in income taxes alone, compared to what I would have paid in California or New York.

Florida Has a Business-Friendly Government 

Ken Griffin, CEO of the multibillion-dollar hedge fund Citadel, moved his company’s offices from Chicago to Miami last year. After doing business in Florida for 12 months, he publicly predicted that Florida – Miami, in particular – could replace NYC as the world’s new financial mecca. Why? Because, he said, “Miami represents the future of America… with a political environment that encourages growth.” In moving his headquarters to Florida, Griffin is following in the footsteps of Wall Street icons including Carl Icahn and Paul Singer, and Jeff Bezos, who left Seattle and relocated to Miami.

Those are just three of the billionaires that have relocated to Florida recently, bringing with them tens of billions of dollars’ worth of additional business and business income to Florida’s economy. And if I were to include the centi-millionaires and deca-millionaires, the list would be very long indeed.

Florida Has a Reasonable Cost of Living 

California and New York are both near the top of the Statista Cost of Living Index for US states, with a rating of 138 for California and 135 for New York. Florida is not among the cheapest states to live in, but with a rating of 102, it is a bargain compared to them. For, say, an $80,000 a year lifestyle that you could enjoy in Florida, you’d have to pay over $110,000 in New York or California.

Economics as a theory can be complicated and subject to endless debate. But real-life economics, the kind that we all experience every time we pay a bill, is easy to understand and quite powerful in terms of motivating human behavior. It is, in fact, among the reasons why the population of New York has decreased by 2 million while the population of Florida has increased by about the same amount.

As Stephen Moore pointed out in a recent issue of Taki’s Magazine, “These Americans on the move have taken their money and businesses with them. IRS tax return data tells us that some $50 billion have matriculated out of New York in 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, Florida has gained that much net income. The skylines in Miami and even Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale are showing more towering high rises every week. South Floridians are referring to Miami as Wall Street South.”

All of the above seems pretty clear to me. The question I keep asking myself: How much longer can LA and NYC, two of the cities I still feel connected to and wish the best for, continue with policies that are making them unattractive for businesses and ordinary tax-paying citizens?

What are your thoughts on this?

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What If, as New Studies Suggest, the Alarmists Are Right?

Is There Anything to Be Done to Defeat “Post Vaccination Syndrome”?

In the Oct. 20 issue, I talked about spike proteins – projections on the surface of some viruses (including COVID-19) that facilitate the spread of the infection. In response, the body produces antibodies to fight the virus. Once the antibodies are made, the proteins are broken down so the body can get rid of them. The mRNA vaccines work by giving your cells instructions on how to make this protein to fight the virus if you later become infected.

But the spike proteins produced by the COVID vaccines are different than those produced naturally by the body. They don’t break down in a way that allows the body to get rid of them. Which is why, according to some experts, the vaccines have left about 15% of those that have taken them with some sort of medical problem. Click here.

Among the reported negative side effects of the vaccines are the late development of blood clots, myocarditis, and even cardiac arrest as long as two years after the vaccination was given.

So, what can we do to help prevent what is now being called “Post Vaccination Syndrome”?

While the media ignored this news and some government agencies refuted it, concerned scientists have been working on a way to detoxify the body of the “residual” contaminants from the mRNA vaccines. And on Aug. 25, the first detoxification protocol was published in the US medical literature. Click here.

In this clip, Dr. John Campbell explains and evaluates a recent Yale study on the negative side effects of the COVID vaccines. It is the first study I’ve read that used the term Post Vaccination Syndrome.

And if you are up for a technical explanation of the contaminants resulting from the vaccines, click here for the first of a two-part report by Sonia Elijah.

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More Countries Rejecting Leftist Economic Policies 

“First, it was Italy. Then came Finland and Greece. Spain could be next,” says Suzanne Lynch, writing for Politico. “Across Europe, governments are shifting right. In some places, far-right leaders are taking power. In others, more traditional center-right parties are allying with the right-wing fringes once considered untouchable.”

It is hard to deny. In the last year alone, conservatives and even far-right political groups came to power in a surprising number of elections.

Here are two of the most recent upsets…

The Netherlands Swings Back Toward the Center Right 

Geert Wilders 

Geert Wilders has been the victim of numerous death threats and has had to move between safe houses for nearly two decades. In 2009, the British government denied him entry, citing a threat to “community harmony and therefore public security.” And yet, somehow, it looks like he’ll soon be the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Three links to help you better understand him. Click here and here and here.

And Now, Argentina…

Javier Milei 

In Saturday’s issue, I mentioned the surprise victory of Javier Milei, Argentina’s president-elect. Bill Bonner did some fact-checking on what the NYT and other left-tilting media have been saying about him. Click here.

 

Pro-Muslim, Anti-Jewish Prejudice Among Young People in America Is Bigger Than I Thought. And Growing! 

Another disturbing social trend that has surfaced since the beginning of the Hamas-Israeli conflict.

I understand that after decades of being told that Israel is a “colonizer” and an “occupying force” in Gaza, America’s university students would feel that the bombing of Gaza by the IDF is unjustified and even immoral. But what I mistakenly assumed was that these same young people had also been taught about the historical plight of the Jews – that they have been the victims of discrimination, ostracizing, governmental bullying, property confiscation, hate crimes, and, yes, actual genocide for thousands of years. And perhaps that the Jews have been in what is today called Palestine longer than the Muslims. And that Hamas (and Hezbollah and many other Muslim groups) have, as their stated goals, the destruction of Israel and the murder of every Jew on the planet.

Well, no. Apparently not. Because when it comes to hate crimes in America, they think Muslims, not Jews, are the real victims.

According to a WSJ-NORC poll, 44% of young Americans (ages 18 to 34) believe that Muslims in America are “subject to significant discrimination,” while only 33% do for Jews. Broken down by political party, the pro-Muslim, antisemitic sentiment is even greater among those that identify as Democrats. Click here.

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Note: In response to numerous requests, I’m going to be touching on wealth building and investing every week, something I wrote about for years. I’m going to keep it short and simple. Two or three observations or ideas that (a) are not difficult to understand, (b) have obvious wealth-building implications, and (c) might help you avoid unnecessary financial losses and build your net worth carefully and steadily like I did for 40 years.

 

Clip of the Week: Buffett Is Hoarding Cash

Warren Buffett, generally considered the best stock investor of all time, is cashing in his stock in some of America’s biggest companies and moving into cash. According to Porter Stansberry, writing in The Big Secret on Wall Street, the total cash hoard is approaching $160 billion.

Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), hit this record cash balance after selling off shares of three major American businesses, Proctor & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and General Motors (GM).

“Buffett purchased GM in 2012 shortly after it emerged from a government-engineered pseudo-bankruptcy. The unions were paid out about $0.90 of what they were owed, received a slew of preferred shares, and got board seats. The company’s creditors got robbed. They received about $0.10 on the dollar in newly issued equity that sat below the union’s preferred stock in the capital structure.

“Thus, today’s GM is a company born out of a crime. It’s since become a real-time litmus test of modern management theory – the idea that ‘diversity’ is an attribute in corporate boards.

“Today a majority of GM’s board members are women. I’d be willing to bet $100,000 that none of them can change the oil in their cars. Meanwhile, every member of GM’s board (according to the proxy statement) has expertise in ESG issues – the popular acronym for environmental, social, and governance. But only one board member (out of 13) has any automotive-industry experience – and that’s Jonathan McNeill.”

Continue reading Stansberry’s analysis here.

 

Chart of the Week: Will 2024 Be a Good Year for Stocks? 

I’ve heard it said that the stock market does well during election years. I shy away from generalized observations like that because every time I have researched them in the past, the data doesn’t support the claim.

Yet, there is something about such very simple ideas that is attractive.

I found this chart from Wells Fargo. It shows that since 1928 the average return of the stock market has been 10%, while the average return in election years is 11.6%. That’s something. But now look at the range of returns for election years over time: from +43.6% to -37%!

 

Economic Craziness of the Week: Taxing Plastic Bags?

“Baltimore County, MD, is the first county in the state to implement a plastic bag tax at grocery and retail stores,” notes Garrett Baldwin in a recent installment of Postcards from the Florida Republic. “It’s not going over well. The radio hosts are complaining. The cashiers are apologizing.” (And Baldwin reminds us that Baltimore County is the same jurisdiction that enacted a “flush” tax not long ago to save Chesapeake Bay, with a $5 per month fee on sewer bills and a $60 a year fee for septic tank owners.)

The idea of a tax on plastic bags is to reduce the use of fossil fuels by forcing consumers to switch to reusable bags. (It’s estimated that about 12 million barrels of petroleum a year are used in the manufacture of plastic bags in the US.) But if it’s going to have any effect at all, it’s going to be minimal, experts say, because the petroleum used to make a half-ounce plastic bag is only a fraction of the petroleum used to produce the three to five pounds of purchased products those reusable bags usually contain.

In the same article, Baldwin mentioned a fact about oil and gas taxes that I’d never heard before. It helped me understand why federal, state, and even local governments like them so much. According to him, Maryland has a gas tax of 47 cents per gallon, 100% of which flows into the state coffers, while the oil industry, after locating, extracting, refining, and delivering that gas to Maryland, nets about 10 cents.

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The 10 Greatest Opening Scenes in Movie History

Spend a half-hour with these clips. It will make you richer. Then, if you want to, rank them yourself by whatever criteria matters to you.

My main criterion is emotional engagement. On that score, I rank the greatness of these opening scenes almost in the reverse order of Far Out Magazine’s… although I’d probably put The Godfather at #1. Click here.

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Quick Bites: Race Relations… Weight-Loss Drugs… Tricky Words

Paul Kix and his family 

What Changed? Paul Kix is a journalist. His wife is Black. He’s White. When they got married in 1972, his progressive friends cheered. Now they are questioning his ability to parent his own biracial children. Click here.

The Truth Behind the Hype. A few weeks ago, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study suggesting that the weight-loss drug semaglutide (trade names Wegovy and Ozempic) had an unexpected benefit: It improved cardiovascular health independently of weight loss. The finding was widely reported. But, says Dr. Peter Attia, there’s a simple – and mundane – explanation for this apparent “miracle.” Click here.

A Tricky Vocabulary Quiz. I got 22 out of 25 on this one. But as someone that has published a book on unusual words, I should have done better! Click here.

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From AM: Now I’m in Charge. Help! 

“I recently took over the management of a small family-run enterprise. Although I have had the privilege of working for the company in the past, I am now faced with the challenge of steering it forward…. I am reaching out to seek your guidance and expertise. If you have any insights that might be beneficial in formulating an effective sales strategy for our niche, I would be grateful.”

My Response: I don’t take new clients, but I’d be happy to provide you with suggestions in this forum (my blog), as it can be useful to other readers. But before I can do that, I need you to be more specific in terms of your primary challenges and how you are approaching them.

 

From TQ: Thanks! 

“Just a short note to say thank you for all the wisdom you’ve shared. I’ve saved a lot of your articles, and they still give me a lot of value.”

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His Friends Agree: George Clooney’s a Class Act!

You may have heard this story about George Clooney’s special “thank you” dinner for his 14 “closest friends.” If you haven’t, you should read this account of it. It’s touching. And pretty funny… if you read to the very end! Click here.

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