The Sentinel

The Sentinel Financial Report - February Issue

Our February issue sheds some light on the true state of the economy.  We can examine the GDP figures or we can look more carefully at the rot that underlies the U.S. economy.  The move in stocks the last couple of months has been noteworthy.  What lies ahead for U.S. equities?  The lead story in our issue revolves around the increasing intersection of politics and economics.  In an election year, this collision deserves special attention.

The Sentinel Financial Report - Forecast Issue

How has your portfolio done this year?  Do you want to know how to position yourself in 2012 to protect what you have?  Our readers were able to take advantage of insight into the subtleties of present-day investing.  It is a different world than it was in 2007.  

We cannot guarantee your success but we do provide you with information you need to make informed decisions regarding your investments.  This is the type of information you might use when talking to your broker or financial advisor.  One of our readers mentioned they were going to use our book Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis as a basis for a more in-depth discussion with their advisor.

What did we say in our 2011 Forecast Edition?

"As the economy’s performance continues to disappoint, there will be the formation of groups with polarized views on what needs to happen."  Result - the Occupy movement.

"Expect banks to continue failing in disturbing numbers." Result - between 90 and 100 banks failed.

"The real estate (RE) market is in continued decline." Result - more foreclosures and poor sales.

"The U.S. Dollar in its cash form is still a trusted medium of exchange worldwide." Result - demand for cash is up and U.S. denominated debt (Treasury papers) was in great demand in 2011.

"Expect the rally in precious metals to end in 2011." Result - Silver has fallen hard since its high in late April and gold recently broke lower through an important price level.

"The stock market is setting the stage for the resumption of a multigenerational bear market.  There are too many indicators that suggest a market top is close at hand." Result - stocks made a high near the death of Bin Laden in May and have not seen such levels since.

We give you two ways to take advantage of our publication.  The first offer is a yearly subscription to The Sentinel Financial Report (TSFR).  The other offer is to purchase the 2012 Forecast Edition of TSFR only.  The second offer gives you a chance to sample our publication without a long-term commitment.  We also offer archive versions of our publication.

Customers purchasing our book Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis receive a 20% discount on the yearly subscription price of TSFR.  Just enter the caption found in the book under Figure 8-1 as a coupon code.  

Don't miss out on this special opportunity to purchase TSFR and preview the year ahead.

Escaping Oz forecasts on the mark! 

One theme in the book Escaping Oz dealt with the monetary phenomenon of deflation.  Deflation is little known to most people unless they were alive during the Great Depression.  Escaping Oz made a strong case that the economy's greatest foe will not be inflation, but deflation.  Click on the FAQ  section header on this page for more information on deflation. 

Recently a story in Reuters confirmed the unthinkable for most people - deflation!  To quote an economist in the story,

"You run the models and that all points to deflation.  Without some type of monetary policy help, you would definitely get deflation"

That is an astonishing remark from an economist - an actual admission about the potential for deflation.  What is equally astonishing is the conclusion that more monetary policy help is needed.  If there is one thing you CAN say about the Fed and the U.S. Government is that they have helped in ways that were previously unimaginable.  If all this help still points to deflation, what good is the help doing?

Click HERE to see what others have to say about the book.  Visit the Escaping Oz homepage for more information.  The timeliness of this book cannot be understated.  With crushing debt at both the public and private level, it is vitally important investors understand what the authorities are capable of doing in this financial crisis. 

Why The Sentinel?

You hear the news and wonder what effect the death of terrorism's public enemy #1 (Bin Laden) will have on the stock market or the price of oil.  Market pundits will go to great lengths to tell you why the market has to go up or down.  Just about everyone is convinced big inflation is here.  I'm sure you've heard public officials talking about how well the economy is doing, just look at the Gross Domestic Product figures. 

Do you really understand this and how this affects you?

The Austrian School of Economics illustrates how human behavior is a vital component of understanding financial and economic trends. The stock market, the real estate market, the bond market and other investment categories are greatly affected by the collective mass of behavior.  The anticipation of this behavior reveals market trends.  As an individual investor, your mission is to make sure you are not caught by surprise when the trend changes. 

The sentinel depicted here guards the Knights' Castle in Rhodes.  A Sentinel is a soldier stationed to guard against a surprise attack.  Thus was born the idea of a publication to help investors against suprise attacks on their portfolios. As you protect your investments in a world fraught with misinformation, this publication will be your Sentinel.

The Sentinel's purpose is to educate readers on investment topics and economic trends. Oceans of information are available but how much do readers truly understand? Investment failure is often the result of misunderstood information and an inability to identify changes in trend.  People invest based on what others are doing.  This type of crowd-following can be deadly during trend changes.

Rather than simply telling you what to do, The Sentinel explains the reason for taking specific action. The explanation is given with historical context and contemporary examples. Such an approach applies reasoning to investment action rather than the herding instinct typical to most investors.

 Oliver Wendell Holmes is credited with saying,

"The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."

The ideas presented will be large and you will never think about investments in the same manner.

You have three ways to enjoy our content:

1) Limited content is available to the casual browser. 

2) Additional content is available to site members. Site membership requires a registration process and is free.

3) A subscription service is available for our flagship product, The Sentinel Financial Report. 

4) Individual and archive issues of The Sentinel Financial Report are also available.

Click the "Join Our Site" link above for more detail.