The $100K Challenge September 27, 2015

Steve McDonald: Hi, everybody. I'm Steve McDonald. This is your Market Wake-Up Call. Our guests this week are Alex Green and Julia Guth, and they're here to talk about all the volatility in the market and a new challenge for the club's editors. And Alex, I understand there's a little bit to talk about with your Trump comments from this past week. Is that right? Alex Green: Yeah, I wrote a column about some of his views about American business that were trending high on Google the other day, Google News. Steve McDonald: Yeah, well, I'm sure - Julia Guth: It was an Investment U column. Steve McDonald: I'm sure some of our Members are going to be very happy that that's not the topic today. Alex Green: I'm sure. Steve McDonald: All right. The market is all over the place, and many analysts I'm reading are, you know, going to cash. What are you recommending right now, Alex? How do people deal with this market? Alex Green: Well, certainly not by running to cash. That's a reactive thing, not a proactive action to take, and you know, all this volatility actually has an upside. According to Bloomberg, investor sentiment has fallen at the fastest pace since Fed Chairman Paul Volcker pushed short-term interest rates above 20% in the early '80s. The VIX, the volatility index and so-called fear gauge, has jumped, put prices are soaring, valuations have contracted, and professional investors are the most bearish they've been in three decades. Now, that sounds ugly, but it's actually fantastic news in that since 1963, the S&P 500 has gained an average of 11% in the year after newsletter writers were as pessimistic as they are now. So history shows that investors are not scared and worried at market tops, and all this volatility actually has an upside. Steve McDonald: Okay, then Julia, that brings up the point about the Club's new challenge, the $100,000 Challenge. Can you talk about what this is and how it's going to benefit our Members? Julia Guth: Yes. As publisher, I am challenging the editors because I am a little bit more pessimistic that it's going to be tough to, in this market and in the coming year, to repeat some of the amazing successes we've had, both with our short-term plays and our trading services. We've had a number of quadruple-digit winners this past year... as well as our longer-term plays in the newsletters where we’ve regularly gotten double and triple digits in the recent years. I think it's going to be tougher. So the $100,000 Challenge is for the editors to each pick their one favorite play where they could take a $10,000 investment and turn it into $100,000. And it may be short term, it may be long term. It will be up to the editors, but I'm looking forward to their one pick, and I know the Members are too, because they often ask the editors at our seminars, “If you could pick one stock or one strategy for my kids, grandkids or for the short term where you think we could make a lot of money quickly, what would it be?” So I'm challenging the editors to do that very same thing, and you'll be hearing more about it. Steve McDonald: Okay, Alex, with that in mind, I know you don't have your stock picked yet because we've got a couple more weeks to come up with them, but are there any sectors that you're favoring in this market? Alex Green: Yeah. I think that in an uncertain time like this, an investor should put a premium on a high degree of certainty. And if you think about it, if the economic weakness in Europe, Japan and other parts of the world comes to the United States, a lot of areas that have done well will not do well - retailers, manufacturers, finance companies. These would all find it to be a much tougher environment in an economic downturn. But there are some areas that will thrive regardless of whether the economy's expanding or contracting, and that's where I'm focusing my attention right now. Let me give you a perfect example: medical technology. If someone needs surgery or needs an urgent treatment, they don't wait for the economy to recover, they go get it done. And so companies that are making new medical devices and are at the cutting edge of healthcare still have a lot of growth potential no matter what the economy does. So I'm finding that there's fabulous innovations going on in this sector and almost certainly my pick is going to be one of the top most exciting medical device or technology companies. Steve McDonald: Okay, great. Well, to get in on this challenge, check out the information below. And as always, Alex, Julia, thanks so much for being with us today. Julia Guth: Thank you, Steve. Alex Green: Thanks, Steve. Steve McDonald: My pleasure. And for everybody here at the Market Wake-Up Call, I'm Steve McDonald. Thanks for being a part of us. We'll see you next week. [End of Audio]