The Issachar Fund (LIONX) is fully invested and leveraged in: Strategic Income, and High Yield Muni Bond mutual funds and ETFs as of 9/14/17. I have not made any significant changed to the portfolio in the last two weeks. I do not believe that tax free income derived from muni bonds is in jeopardy of being repealed in the Trump tax reform negotiations. However, I stand ready to take action and attempt to manage risk and limit losses. (Portfolio holdings are subject to change at any time and should not be considered investment advice. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns or avoid losses.)
The stock market up-trend that started on 2/11/16 is still in-tack and the market is trading near all-time-highs. The energy sector has rallied nicely off the 8/21/17 low but it is right up against stiff over-head resistance so it will be interesting to see how it responds. The dollar is still trending lower since the high on 1/3/17 which indicates to me that the market does not expect the Fed to raise rates in the near future. A steady dollar decline does conjure up the possibility of impending deflation. I am watching energy and the dollar for signs of a change in market character but so far, so good. I do not expect the Fed to raise rates in December as Texas and Florida recovers from wrath of Harvey and Erma. Rising interest rates typically are not good for bond holders so needless to say, I keep a close eye on rates. According to the founder of The Weather Channel, John Coleman who is a scientist, the government gives about $2.5billion per year to scientists who will support the Global Warming Hypothesis of the Democratic Party. Maybe that is why 97% of the scientific reports support global warning. John said in a CNN interview that 31,000 scientists signed a petition agreeing with him stating that there is no significant evidence that man-made global warning exist today or in the past. Science is about facts and it is not about a consensus. Do you think that the scientists receiving the research money might have a conflict of interest to produce the results desired of the people giving them the money? While Trump tries to “Drain the Swamp”, the Shadow Government and the Deep State (powerful secret groups “pulling the strings” behind the scenes) will certainly put up a fight. I believe these secret groups have been controlling the country since 1962 and they will do everything they can to discredit Trump. John F. Kennedy understood the power of these secret forces and wanted to end them. He fired the CIA Director for not informing him of a covert operation and later John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Term Limits in Congress might get rid of career politicians who are working for big money rather than for the people who elected them. If you want to read more on this, do a Search on Kevin Shipp. The Truth is sometimes hard to Believe. The AAII (individual investors) survey revealed that cash in investor’s portfolios is now at a 17.5 year low. It seems that individual investors are all-in. Mutual fund investors have the highest ratio of stocks vs. money market funds in history. It is higher than it was near the market tops in 2000 and 2007. This was interesting: in the bear market of 1973-75, the Value Line index lost about 80% of its value while S&P 500 stocks had rising quarterly earnings each quarter. Studying stock market history could save you a fortune. That is why I never subscribed to the buy and hold philosophy. I believe that the brain is the best tool we can use to manage risk and limit losses. According to a Fox News Report by William La Jeunesse: North Dakota is now #2 behind Texas in oil production. We used to get 70% of our oil from OPEC and now it is only 34%. Ten years ago we produced only 5 million barrels per day (BPD) and now we have nearly doubled that to 9.6 million and sometime next year we could overtake Saudi Arabia as the #2 producer. In 2005 we imported 12 million BPD of oil and now we are exporting 7 million BPD. 15 years ago we imported 80% of our natural gas and now we are the world’s largest producer. We are exporting our natural gas by pipeline to Canada and Mexico and via tankers to Europe. The US has been the world’s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas for the last five years. OPEC thought that they could put the Shale producers out of business by oversupplying the market and driving down the prices but the shale producers are actually making money at $55/barrel which they thought was impossible. It is so interesting how the free-market run by hard-working entrepreneurs figure out how to do things better and more efficiently than big governments. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 Please click here if you would like to see my 2nd Quarter LIONX Fact Sheet.
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