The Wealthiest Country in the World Is in Crisis
“300 people and a TV station.”
This is Qatar, according to a common and accurate refrain in the Middle East.
Qatar sits on the world’s largest natural gas field. This has made it the wealthiest country in the world on a per capita basis.
Qatar also hosts the largest and most important US military base in the Middle East. Al Jazeera, the influential international TV network, is based there, too.
Most importantly, this tiny Persian Gulf country is home to one of two “crisis investing” opportunities I’ll tell you about today.
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Qatar recently popped up on the Crisis Investing Value Radar, next to our sweet spot (circled in red in the box below).
Here’s how Value Radar works…
Value Radar Finds the Most Profitable Crisis MarketsValue Radar is a proprietary tool I created to pinpoint the best crisis investing opportunities around the world. Regular readers know that Doug Casey and I are expert “crisis investors.” We invest in markets that are bombed out, hated, and depressed. This lets us buy world-class companies at bargain prices. We often scoop up a dollar’s worth of assets for pennies. Crisis investing is one of the most lucrative and proven strategies. But it forces you to step out of your comfort zone. If you're willing to do that, you have a real shot at extraordinary profits. Value Radar uses key data points from every industry in every major country to pinpoint the crisis markets with the most profit potential. This is where Doug and I look for elite businesses at bargain prices. Value Radar is simple. It looks for two characteristics:
Source: Bloomberg |
Value Radar Opportunity No. 1: Qatar
As you’ve likely heard, Qatar is in crisis.
In June, Saudi Arabia and some of its regional cohorts started a land, sea, and air blockade of Qatar for “supporting terrorism.” They’ve also threatened military action.
The whole situation is a total farce.
The Saudis, of all people, blackballing Qatar for “supporting terrorism” is just too rich.
It’s not a false accusation. Qatar does support Islamic radicals. But Saudi Arabia is without a doubt the world’s largest purveyor of radical Islam.
The real issue is the larger geopolitical story.
Instead of falling in line with the Saudi position that Iran is the source of all evil in the world, Qatar took a slightly more nuanced position. This annoyed the Saudis.
So, the Saudis took a gamble…
They thought pressuring Qatar would make the country fall in line.
So far, that hasn’t happened. In fact, Qatar has actually grown closer to Iran. (The Saudis are terrible strategists.)
We don’t yet know who will win this geopolitical tug of war.
In the meantime, Qatar’s stock market has tanked. That’s why it’s on my Value Radar.
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Value Radar Opportunity No. 2: Poland
Last summer, Value Radar zeroed in on Poland.
So I recommended a Polish investment to subscribers of my monthly advisory, Crisis Investing. (This investment is easily accessible. It trades in New York, like any other US stock.)
At the time, this Polish investment was trading near historic lows.
The Value Radar was spot-on. Since then, it’s been on a tear.
It’s up nearly 50% as of writing.
Recently, the financial publication Barron’s rated Poland the “best emerging stock market of 2017.”
Besides that, Poland is one of the cheapest countries I’ve ever been to.
Doug Casey and I visited last year. A 30-minute taxi ride from the middle of Warsaw to the airport is only $5. You’d be hard-pressed to find an entrée in one of the nicest restaurants for over $15.
Poland does not use the European currency, the euro. It has its own currency, the zloty. This is a big reason why Poland will be relatively unscathed if the euro collapses.
Incidentally, “zloty” means “gold” in Polish. But the currency has no tie to gold. It’s just a paper currency, like the dollar.
Migrants are also manifestly unwelcome in Poland. To Brussel’s great ire, Poland has rejected the EU’s dictates about the migrant crisis.
Poland has dodged two major bullets: the euro currency and the migrant crisis. Those are two big pluses.
The Polish economy appears to be resilient and somewhat insulated from the rest of Europe. Remarkably, Poland’s economy grew in 2008 and 2009. Most countries can’t say that.
I think there’s still plenty of upside left in Poland.
P.S. I've traveled all around the world, conducting “boots on the ground” research to hone in on the most lucrative crisis plays in the resource market. And I’ve found some of the best ways to take advantage of the coming global crisis.
That’s precisely why Casey Research founder Doug Casey and I helped put together what could be the most important video in our company's history.
In this special free video, we reveal the secrets behind our lucrative crisis investing strategy.
You'll also get more details on the crisis moves I've mentioned today. Click here to watch it now.
Until next time,
Nick Giambruno
Senior Editor, International Man
P.S. I've traveled all around the world, conducting “boots on the ground” research to hone in on the most lucrative crisis plays in the resource market. And I’ve found some of the best ways to take advantage of the coming global crisis.
That’s precisely why Casey Research founder Doug Casey and I helped put together what could be the most important video in our company's history.
In this special free video, we reveal the secrets behind our lucrative crisis investing strategy.
You'll also get more details on the crisis moves I've mentioned today. Click here to watch it now.
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Tags: crisis investing, economic collapse, geopolitics, poland, qatar,