“The Forthcoming Launch of the book, ‘TANGIBLE, How Physical Assets Can Protect You From The Coming Stock Meltdown And The Decline of The Middle Class‘coincides with record highs in the stock market.”

In the midst of the current unjustifiably bloated state of asset market valuations, there has never been a more important time for middle-income Americans to be invested in real goods.

2017-Jul-18 — /EPR Network/ — The stock and bond markets’ seeming strength provides a narrative that all is well, the S&P and global stock markets just closed at record highs – and most busy Americans are ill-prepared to argue otherwise, especially in the face of a mainstream media continually touting the benefits of jumping into what is an alarmingly overvalued market. In fact, a story today in Bloomberg hyped opportunities for investment gains thru investing $10,000 in global equity and bond markets. However, experience has shown that every time financial markets were characterized by similar levels of disconnection from fundamentals, whenever enthusiasm’s substituted for analysis and a general sense of euphoria’s held sway, market crashes and loss of wealth have ensued. Contrary to being times to go along with the herd, these have instead been opportunities to pivot from financial into real assets.

Unfortunately, most people never seriously consider buying an undervalued investment or any asset outside the mainstream because they’ve been conditioned to believe in markets’ unequalled ability to generate wealth enhancing returns. Legions in the middle class have been brainwashed, handing over their power to a financial elite with dual loyalties, in the false belief that markets will never correct. Most remain invested in the market out of fear of missing out on performance. Here’s the thing – the metrics of the stock market, including revenue and earnings growth, earnings quality, and leverage levels have not satisfied the conditions for the market’s continuing to he held for quite some time. And yet, investors continue to buy in.

The decades’ long decline in middle class incomes accelerated with the 2000 and 2008 market crashes, clipping the groups’ wealth by 28% between 2001 and 2013, and yet 71% of household assets remain in financial assets. Despite the ongoing decimation of the middle class, nonetheless, when it comes to their financial portfolios there’s a general sense of complacency and an unbroken reliance upon the guidance of brokers and financial advisors to protect and grow their money, the money they’ve set aside for emergencies, and retirement. “TANGIBLE: How Physical Assets Can Protect You from the Coming Stock Meltdown and the Decline of the Middle Class” will explore the intersection of the decline of middle-income Americans and impending financial implosion, and puts forth a solution for the truly perilous state of financial insecurity in which the American middle class finds itself.

From one perspective, the current valuations of the equity and bond markets when juxtaposed against the state of underlying fundamentals fit the classic definition of a confidence game. Having reduced interest rates to historic lows, the idea behind the Fed’s quantitative easing programs was that investors would have no choice but to jump into equities, no matter the valuation, as returns on investment grade bond yields fail to satisfy. The resulting asset bubbles promoted a wealth effect and the ‘feeling’ among investors that all was well, and, ultimately, the general dismissal by most of pesky fundamentals.

However, the frequency of financial black swans has dramatically increased with two major implosions in the last seventeen years. Clearly, financial assets alone aren’t getting it done. The middle class is unprepared for an additional financial crisis and it is doubtful they could survive the cataclysm built into the current disconnect between valuations and fundamentals.

Many have opined that the events of 2008 and the subsequent losses, including jobs and income, were unpredictable. That’s nonsense. There were a myriad of red flags at the time, just as had existed prior to the dotcom bust of 2000, and, just as exist today. The problem was that no one paid attention, and certainly, no one urged investors to alter their behavior with a view toward self-preservation via assets with the characteristic of being a store-of-value. It was and is groupthink consensus run amok.

Failing to act in the face of such a disconnect is to speculate, and speculation is a clear invitation to risk – by understanding financial markets’ current risk configurations and sub-optimal return characteristics, along with the demonstrated and long-standing safe haven status of tangibles, investors will be empowered to look beyond the financial assets which have been positioned as the only game in town, and motivated to pivot into real assets.

The book, by a former small cap value portfolio manager and expert on alternative assets, is written from the perspective of an investment manager who recognizes the imbalances in today’s financial asset markets.The author, Cappy Price, is a consultant on alternative assets and a veteran portfolio manager who specialized in small cap value stocks, ultimately spearheading William Blair & Co’s development of a value franchise for institutional and mutual fund investors as a co-founder and co-manager of the Value Discovery Fund and separate institutional accounts. Her career has centered around identifying material disparities between price and intrinsic value.

Most recently, Ms. Price was heard in a series of interviews on NPR’s Morning Edition with Uri Berliner discussing alternative assets. Other media exposure includes interviews with the Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg News, and Black Enterprise. Ms. Price was also the featured speaker at former Congressman Danny Davis’ 28th Annual 7th Congressional District
High School Art Competition.

cpriceconsulting@gmail.com
312.203.0644
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cappyprice

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