OTW #52: A great place to work...and invest?, Treasuries more volatile than gold, and more.
Important financial stories to check out over the weekend
Hi Antagonist readers,
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1. Thank you and welcome!
We’ve had a surge of new subscribers over the last month. Thank you and welcome!
One new reader suggested that I summarize the benefits of upgrading from a free subscription to a premium membership. I always appreciate readers’ suggestions. So, on that note:
You can find a short summary of the two subscription options via the upgrade page.
You can read the full benefits of each option on the Antagonist Research website.
2. Treasuries are more volatile than gold.
provided this startling chart from Tavi Costa:Costa added this commentary on X/Twitter.:
Looking back at 2023, this is among the most relevant charts for investors to navigate the next investment cycle.
It is undeniably crucial to understand that Treasuries are no longer the safest alternative.
In fact:
For the first time in 45 years, US Treasuries now have higher downside volatility than gold.
The shifting dynamics of capital moving away from crowded equity and fixed-income holdings, as investors seek new investment opportunities, could have profound implications in financial markets.
This is where gold, commodities, and overall hard assets are poised to play a significant role during this transitional phase from traditional 60/40 portfolios.
Antagonist’s take
In the Dec. 2nd edition of OTW, I explained how the traditional 60% stock/40% bond portfolio no longer provides the safety or returns it once did.
I also shared must-read research from Brian Livingston. If you have a traditional retirement portfolio or invest in target-date funds, this is one of the most important articles you’ll ever read. It can save you tens of thousands of dollars…or more!
3. A great place to work…and invest?
In his Substack,
, offered an interesting way to find stock ideas:Every year, job-search website Glassdoor announces its list of Best Places to Work (BPTW).
A few years back, Glassdoor shared the above chart showing that a $1,000 investment into the BPTW companies (green line below) would have dramatically outperformed the broad S&P 500 (blue line) from 2008 through the end of 2019…
In short, during this period, the initial $1,000 stake in the BPTW winners would have generated a 553% return, more than double the return of the S&P 500, which was up 258%.
Latter also provided a summary of the publicly traded companies in the top 25 of this year’s BPTW winners.
You can read Latter’s full post here.
Antagonist’s take
One of the many challenges of investing is finding an edge. A business’ fundamentals are available to everyone. So are technical charts.
If everyone has the same info, how do you gain an advantage over the market?
That’s where alternative data comes in. Latter’s post is a great example of that.
I’m definitely not saying that you should rush out and blindly buy every stock on the BPTW list (Latter isn’t saying that either), but this is a one way to narrow your list of companies to research.
4. Another great research source.
If you’re a long-time reader of The Antagonist, you know that I’m a big fan of the Macro Voices podcast. Host
does a superb job of inviting guests from a variety of perspectives and topics. His weekly podcast has helped me identify dozens of market trends and investments.In addition to the podcast, Townsend just launched a Substack,
. I highly recommend subscribing.Antagonist’s take
If you’re a premium Antagonist member, you’ve already indirectly profited from Townsend’s work as well.
The top performer in our Blend Portfolio is a uranium holding that is up 90% in just 6 months!
Another one of our uranium positions is up 18% in just 2 months. Both positions’ performances are significantly outperforming the S&P 500.
Most of what I’ve learned about uranium, the industry, and investing in the commodity is due to Townsend and his guests.
If you’re interested in a uranium crash course, check out episodes 5-8 of Townsend’s Energy Transition Crisis docuseries. Also, check out the latest Macro Voices episode, which is devoted to investing in uranium.
Last thing...
To limit the length of Over the Weekend to 5 minutes, I can only highlight a few stories.
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Thank you for reading, and have a great weekend!
Jason Milton
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