The Clues, The Clues
Six years ago I was fortunate enough to be sailing around the South China Sea as part of a marine archaeological expedition in search of Manila galleons, the largest treasure ships ever to sail the oceans.
Several like-minded dealers and I were funding a search of a specific vessel that sunk in 1572 carrying 3,000,000 silver “pieces of eight” and nearly 50,000, gold Doubloons.
The significance? Possibly as much as $1 Billion, conservatively $500,000,000.
Sadly, we never found the mother lode, but the experience was priceless and worth every cent of the $250,000 it has cost me to date. ( The crew are still out there as I pen this missive) From this sum, more than $100,000 was spent on research- The Clues, The Clues.
The odds of actually locating the mother lode are far greater than locating the proverbial needle in a haystack. However, my opinion was and still is, that unless you look you will never find anything. It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved.
In the words of the legendary treasure hunter Mel Fisher: “Today is the Day”.
The reason that I share this with you is that today is today, tomorrow never comes. Tomorrow is a blank page that we all get to write afresh. Nobody can accurately predict what events will greet us when we awake.
On October 28th 1929 who could have thought that the next day, would forever be known as Black Tuesday and spawn a new economic expression: Depression
On Sunday October 17, 1987, who could have predicted stock markets would fall 22% before breakfast?
Returning to my adventures six years ago, a major storm blew into the South China Sea calling a premature end to our search. For the first time in 3 months, I was able to check into a hotel. I had a real bed, air conditioning and cable television: 200 channels with nothing on.
As I lay there surfing the channels I came across a French network and saw what I thought was a very strange film. It showed one of the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York on fire.
I quickly switched to CNN just in time to see a second plane strike the towers.
Who could have known?
Well, as we now know, quite a few people. The clues were there.
Tom Clancy the author had written a book, a FBI field agent had made a report, the department of defence had been practising an emergency scramble of fighters, and the CIA, well as we know from Iraq, they know nothing. According to conspiracy theorists the president and vice president were also in the loop.
Obviously, the exact date and time were elusive, but the clues pointed to a spectacular event, which simple precautions could have prevented. September 11th will forever be known as the day when the lives of every single man woman and child on this planet changed.
This is why it reminds me of today, Thursday July 26th 2007. The entire world agrees that we are experiencing the greatest period of prosperity ever. Stock markets, the most common measure of prosperity continue to rise, property prices are offensive, and unemployment is pretty much the lowest it has ever been.
We are convinced that the summer of 2007 will go down as the beginning of the end. And here is why:
“The Greatest Economic Boom Ever: Enjoy It While It Lasts” So says US treasury secretary and former Goldman Sachs banker Hank Paulson: For the full article, as published in Fortune magazine click here Click Here
$100 BILLION SUB PRIME LOSSES:Federal Reserve Chairman, and Ex Goldman Sachs Banker Ben Bernanke: Click Here
Not sure what all the fuss is about? Don’t be embarrassed, neither did I until I read this: Click Here
If history is our guide the recent turbulence in stock markets, treasury bonds, housing and credit markets is just a blip. Possibly a healthy, short-term correction.
However, if this is the case, it means that THE BIG ONE has yet to come.
Considering we have had a period of prosperity unprecedented in history, could the following crash also be unprecedented?
All the staff at Signature Rarities work under my direct supervision. It is not there job to tell you what the risk is to your financial future. That is up to you to calculate using your own personal benchmarks.
Our work at Signature Rarities is not to convince you to put all your money into “old coins.” Our job is to locate for you what represents a tangible asset of last resort. A safety net for you and you family.
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