Big Picture

In this week’s edition of The Lifetime Income Series, Jim begins by taking a close look at the “Stretch IRA”, discusses it’s benefits and provisions, and explains why it may prove beneficial in your estate planning process. The next topic is a case study, “A ‘1%-er’ Plans For Retirement”. Jim looks at an example of a high income individual reacting to recent tax increases, and illustrates how people will act if the government changes the rules.

In this week’s Big Picture segment, Jim looks at three different topics. In “Tax Shock”, Jim discusses how the “Fiscal Cliff” is really a “tax cliff”, as it’s not about spending limitations, just tax increases. Spending is still going up, and the government is simply hiding it from the public. In “The Cost of Turkey Day” Jim looks at the cost of putting on a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, and how it compares to prior years. In “The Great Exodus”, Jim foresees a migration by businesses and higher-income taxpayers out of the blue states, as the tax and regulatory burdens continue to get worse. Jim also answers your Q-Calls in this segment.

In this week’s edition of The Lifetime Income Series, Jim looks at a critical challenge for many people in retirement or getting close to retirement. How can they manage to retain their quality of life when interest rates are at historic low levels? Jim looks at some strategies to live comfortably in our current environment of extremely low interest rates.

Jim looks at three important Big Picture topics in this segment. In the first, “Down Payment and the Grand Bargain in 2013”, Jim discusses how the politicians will cut a deal to avoid falling off the “fiscal cliff” next year. Whether it will solve any problems is another matter. In the next topic, “The Debt Super Cycle- the Final Chapter”, Jim discusses how government debt will be resolved voluntarily through a program like Simpson-Bowles, or involuntarily by the markets, whereby the US could wind up looking like Greece. In the last topic, “The IEA World Energy Outlook- fact, fiction or hope”, Jim looks the IEA’s claim that the US will become the world’s largest oil producer by 2020. Jim also answers your Q-Calls in this segment.

In this week’s Lifetime Income Series, Jim looks at three different topics. In “Bad News For Junior” Jim discusses the reports that say Baby Boomers will continue to spend on their lifestyle into old age, thus leaving less for their children. The next topic is a case study, about “a worry-free retirement and a sleep-at-night portfolio”. Lastly, Jim interviews Yolanda York from the Social Security Administration about a full range of questions that Baby Boomers will have about Social Security.

Jim welcomes famed technician Stan Weinstein back to the program. Stan believes U.S. markets have just entered a bear market and says long, intermediate, and short-term trends have turned negative. Also in this segment, Ryan Puplava has the Market Wrap-up, Erik Townsend discusses the commodities markets, and Jim Puplava gives the Fixed Income Report.

In this week’s first Big Picture topic, Jim discusses "A Bridge to Who Knows Where?", focusing on what the election results and fiscal cliff mean for the stock market and the economy.

In this segment of the Big Picture, Jim discusses how recent steps taken in California are the last straw for many business owners, including a personal story of one man's decision to finally leave the state. Secondly, Jim discusses the sad affairs of our nation's infrastructure and how, without any major overhauls or investment, we will simply go from disaster to disaster. 

In this week’s Lifetime Income Series, Jim discusses how to prepare for a disaster—with regards to financial planning in retirement and for the real thing. Special guest, Dr. Paul R Williams, author of When All Plan Fail, discusses the ins-and-outs of disaster preparation as he is currently in New York providing disaster relief to numerous areas.

Jim welcomes renowned technician Louise Yamada this week from New York City. Louise advises caution until the significant macro issues (presidential election and fiscal cliff) are resolved and there is more clarity looking out to 2013. Also in this segment, Ryan Puplava has the Market Wrap-up in this last week before the election, Erik Townsend discusses the commodities markets, and Rob Bernard has the Fixed Income Report.

In this week’s Lifetime Income Series, Jim looks at the critical issues of Medicare and Long-Term Care. Jim illustrates many common concerns through a case study: "Mr. and Mrs. Fear- what are you worried about?" Lastly, given the devastating events this week with Super-Storm Sandy on the East Coast, Jim has a follow-up to his recent report on preparedness for natural disasters.

In this week’s first Big Picture topic, Jim discusses "The Wall of Worry- from Crisis to Catalyst." Jim looks at how once a financial crisis is resolved, it becomes a catalyst, and that is how bull markets begin. Few investors are interested in investing after the emotional toll of a major crisis, but historically that is the best time, as the resolution leads to the next bull market. Jim also answers your Q-Call questions in this segment.

In this segment of the Big Picture, the first topic is: "Gold Stocks−time to reap the rewards." Jim looks at how the gold stocks have underperformed the price of gold, and how this may be about to change for the well-run gold mining companies.

The next Big Picture topic on the advantages of dividend reinvesting and compounding is a take-off on the famous book by Napoleon Hill: "Think and Grow Rich." Jim looks at how dividend investing can save you during long periods of a flat-to-down market. The compounding of dividends over time can make a tremendous difference for those saving for retirement.

Jim welcomes back Dave Nicoski CMT, Director of Research at Vermilion Technical Research, LLC. Dave sees the market continuing to consolidate until the elections, but longer term sees the general uptrend continuing. He sees a break-out in the blue chip stocks, which he believes is very bullish for the market going forward. Dave also notes that Fed intervention has resulted in breakouts in the financial and health care sectors. Also in this segment, Ryan Puplava has his weekly Market Wrap-up, and Rob Bernard the Fixed Income Report. This week, Erik Townsend joins the first hour of the program as a regular contributor, focusing on the commodities markets.

In this week’s first Big Picture segment, Jim looks at the "high frequency business cycle"and explains why for the last three years the business cycle is so much shorter than historic norms. In his next Big Picture, Jim explores "A new bull market? There’s something happening here." Since the markets have been consistently crawling up the "wall of worry" this year, there must be something happening of which most investors are not aware.

Jim is pleased to welcome filmmaker Gerald Molen, co-producer with Dinesh D’Souza of the controversial new film, "2016 – Obama’s America." The film takes audiences on a gripping visual journey into the heart of the world’s most powerful office to reveal the struggle of whether one man's past will redefine America over the next four years. The film examines the question, "If Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?" Jim and Gerald discuss the film, the motivation behind the film, and also play some key clips from the film itself. Jim also takes your Q-calls this segment.

In this week’s edition of The Lifetime Income Series, Jim discusses how to plan for incapacity, specifically looking into disability and long-term care options. In the next topic, Jim interviews Kevin Matsukado, Director of Safety and Security with Palomar Pomerado Health to discuss emergency preparedness at home and how to best plan for the unexpected emergency.

Technician Frank Barbera joins the Financial Sense Newshour for a special visit this week. Frank informs Jim (tongue firmly in cheek) that he is building a new bunker, an "off-shore" island bunker, and equipping it with supplies and fishing nets. On a more serious note, he believes that QE may have reached its effective limit, and advises "ringing the cash register" (taking profits) while you can. He also discussed the possibility that the markets could be facing a deflationary outcome. Also on the program, Ryan Puplava gives his weekly Market Wrap-up and Rob Bernard has the Fixed Income Report.

In the first of the Big Picture segments this week, "Are the LEI’s lying?", Jim looks at conflicting data as most of the ISM and Fed surveys have turned up, but the employment trends are heading down. Because of wide-spread uncertainty caused by the unresolved "fiscal cliff" issues, the indicators show growth in the 4th quarter picking up, but not employment. In the next Big Picture topic on oil prices, Jim discusses why we are paying more at the pump, even if the price per barrel hasn’t changed much in the last few years. Jim sees that the US is now getting oil from more expensive sources, shale oil and deep offshore wells, and the cost to produce this gas has risen as producers struggle to keep up with global demand. Lastly, Jim answers your Q-Calls in this segment.

Jim welcomes David Kelley, founder of The Atlas Society, to the program. David worked extensively with the producers and screenwriters for the new film Atlas Shrugged (part 2). The film, based on Ayn Rand’s famous novel from 1957, was prophetic when it was written, but is even more relevant today in this tumultuous election year.