Frightful Flights, Campaign Chronicles, and American Grit

I. Just. Can’t.

Another commercial flight, this time a United Airlines trip from San Francisco to Boston, almost turned into a nightmare scenario when a loose wing panel forced an emergency landing in Denver.

A couple of passengers noticed the panel coming loose. 

Great.

Ahem…

One of them didn’t know if he should alert the stewards. He had to ask Reddit. 

Seriously?!

You’re in a life and death situation and you need to consult an internet message board before doing anything to… I don’t know… SAVE LIVES, including your own?!

Unfortunately, this is a prime example of how dangerously dependent young people are on the web these days… and how they so badly lack the very basic life skills to succeed and be productive members of society. 

This is exactly the problem Charles wrote about in the January issue of The Freeport Investor (members can log in here). With California’s recent minimum-wage increase, young people have effectively been priced out of those early, grunt jobs that help them learn the value of hard work and build character and thick skin. 

This is just another reason robotics, artificial intelligence, and exponential progress are so critical to the continued survival – and future advancement – of this great country. 

And because these industries and technologies are the future, they are also fertile investing grounds, which is why we have several companies in these fields already in our Freeport Investor model portfolio (subscribers can view that here.)

If you’re not a subscriber, fix that here.

There are countless more reasons why investing in the right companies is so important right now. The inevitable move toward technology that can help us get out of our own way is one. Another is that the right investments could help save us from our politicians.

For example, President Biden just relieved 153,000 people of $1.2 billion in student loan debt. This is one of those bittersweet moments. We’re not heartless, here at The Freeport Society. We know life is hard. The job market is tight. College tuition is insanely expensive. A break like this for folks owning $12,000 or less isn’t all that bad. 

But, as Charles wrote a few weeks ago, what does debt relief teach those who get it about personal responsibility and sound financial management? 

For that matter, what does it teach the millions of other indebted students about repaying their loans? 

I’m willing to bet, nothing good. It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to believe some of these folks are now thinking, “Why should I bother paying off this loan? If I wait long enough, it’ll get canceled eventually.”

Of course, I’m speculating… and generalizing. But I have no doubt that the thought has crossed a few thousand minds.

Never mind how this inadvertently punishes those who already sacrificed to pay off their loans… or waited tables and worked multiple side hustles to avoid getting a student loan at all. Those people don’t get handouts.

More cynically, this is all a reelection ploy. Joe Biden and the Democrats… whoever their presidential nominee will be in the end (Louis Navellier believes this shadow candidate will step up in August)… want to hold onto the White House. They’ll pander all they must to do that. 

This nonsense – this noise – detracts from what our leaders should be focusing on… like keeping taxes reasonable or reducing the administrative burden small businesses must face … or encouraging the American entrepreneurial spirit rather than suppressing it.

So what do we do? 

We tune out the noise and we position ourselves to survive and thrive in the Age of Chaos.

Here’s how we helped you do that this week…

Looking Ahead

Next week is chockablock full of Fed commentary and data releases. Nine Federal Reserve presidents are scheduled to speak. And we have the New Home Sales and Case Shiller housing index due out (among many others). The latter will show us the current lack of life in the housing market. The former will show us how soon said life will return to that market. 

Word on the street is that there’s now the possibility of ZERO rate cuts this year!

Regardless of what insights into the economy and consumer we get this coming week – or how the market reacts to any and all of it – there is one thing we know with certainty…

Americans are resilient. 

No matter the challenge, we adapt.

That’s what made this country the powerhouse it is.

And if we lose sight of that fact from time to time, here’s a story to remind us of this truth.

Back in the Great Depression and World War II days, cotton was scarce and expensive. So women improvised. They turned flour bags into rags and towels… and eventually, clothes! 

Thanks to American resourcefulness, sewing and DIY clothing out of sacks not only helped households but also pumped life into the economy and sparked a new era of fashion that lasted until the early 1960s. 

That’s a testament to “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” if ever I heard one.

That’s a wrap on this week.

To life, liberty, and the pursuit of wealth.