Issue #58, Volume #2
By Joining Porter’s Million-Dollar Mission
This is Porter’s Daily Journal, a free e-letter from Porter & Co. that provides unfiltered insights on markets, the economy, and life to help readers become better investors. It includes weekday editions and two weekend editions… and is free to all subscribers.
Editor’s Note: Next week, Porter will launch one of the most audacious investment projects of his decades-long career. What he says could potentially create more wealth for his readers than anything he’s ever done before. For more details about his million-dollar mission – and how you can be a part of it – click here.
| Stock markets are extremely volatile… Foreign governments are selling U.S. Treasuries… The days of American exceptionalism are over… Time-tested methods to profit in times of uncertainty… Joining Porter’s million-dollar mission… |
We warned readers that Trump’s economic policies – love them or hate them – would likely precipitate a rocky road in the stock market.
And they have.
We are not surprised that U.S. stocks posted their worst quarter since 2022. Beginning in late February, the S&P 500 dropped 20% in a matter of weeks.
And we are also not surprised that the market rallied back, wiping out all those losses, and now sits in positive territory for the year.
And it’s anyone’s guess where the market will go next… another 20% drop when tariffs settle in higher than the market anticipates… or it will go up as the trade war with China and other nations seems to settle in a place that Wall Street loves.
But what’s even more troubling about the economy than the wild fluctuations in share prices is the crumbling of the foundation that has been holding it up since the middle of the 1900s.
The U.S. has benefitted from an era of relatively low interest rates, strong foreign investment in U.S. assets, and a dominant U.S. dollar at the center of the global financial system. While markets in China, Europe, and elsewhere have matured, for as long as anyone reading this can remember, U.S. stocks have been the biggest winners – providing the best returns of any asset class in any market in the world. This, in turn, attracted foreign investment that propelled the economy forward, helping us keep inflation low and bond yields appealing.
But now, this long period of financial exceptionalism is coming to an end.
For the first time in more than 50 years, foreign investors are selling, not buying, U.S. Treasury bonds… and instead they are loading up on gold in record amounts. If this situation holds, we could be in for an entire decade of what we so far have seen in 2025… volatility and share prices that leave investors with trepidation and paltry returns.
To be clear… President Trump’s erratic behavior on tariffs isn’t the cause of America’s demise. The real cause traces back to what Porter first began writing about in his End Of America documentary, back in 2011. That is, runaway government deficits leading to an unsustainable debt burden that would culminate in a crisis of confidence in U.S. financial assets.
The decline has been in the works, and manifested itself early this week when the final of the three major credit-rating agencies downgraded U.S. creditworthiness. Now the American financial system is rapidly approaching the status of an insolvent third-world economy. The national debt is $36 trillion, with annual budget deficits running at 7% of GDP. The U.S. now spends $1 trillion a year on interest – which is more than the entire Defense Department budget.
And it seems that no one in control of the government checkbook is doing anything to end the bipartisan spending spree… Even Elon Musk, tasked with slashing away at the huge deficit, had to leave Washington with his mission not accomplished.
People are uncertain about what’s next… will tariffs stay or go, with government spending go up or down… will Trump’s policies help or hurt? No one knows.
That uncertainty is why volatility is here to stay. In the first few months of 2025, we’ve seen tremendous back-and-forth price movements, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). The VIX surged from a soft reading of 16 in late March to a full-blown panic level of 60 in early April. A reading above 20 suggests turbulence ahead.
Most investors attempting to trade during these market oscillations are getting dizzy. Each week brings a new source of headline-driven volatility. Depression-era tariff rates announced one day, followed by trade deals and temporary tariff relief the next. Bonds rallying on a tame inflation reading one week, followed by another plunge when America’s credit rating is downgraded the next.
We’ve entered a new financial reordering. Every day, the rules change.
In this new era of volatility, buy-and-hold investing is dead. And taking the lead role are active trading strategies designed to limit risk, and turn volatility into opportunity.
Don’t worry… We’re not leading readers into a world of day trading and betting on meme stocks. Instead, Porter wants to show you how to take calculated risks on the handful of reliable trading strategies we’ve seen work time and time again through uncertain market environments. And we draw upon the expert analysts on our team who have spent thousands of hours mastering their respective niches.
This includes things like distressed debt, biotech, short-selling, and options trading.
This has been a long time coming for Porter… But finally The Trading Club is here.
And at the heart of The Trading Club is what Porter calls his million-dollar mission.
He’s going to attempt to turn $100,000 into $1,000,000, and he wants to invite you to join him for the ride.
The Trading Club is unlike anything he’s ever done before. It’s your chance to jump in the trenches with Porter and see everything we’re doing in real time, with real money on the line.
Nothing held back.
Every trade we make, every decision, every win, every loss… you’ll be with us every step of the way – and it will all be laid out, step-by-step, so you can follow along with your own money if you want to.
And there couldn’t be a more opportune time for this…
Because of what we said above, what’s unfolding in the markets right now is going to be a historic window of both opportunity and risk for investors.
Which is why we are extending a very special invitation for you to become part of Porter & Co.’s Trading Club. If you’re serious about growing your wealth, you’ll RSVP immediately.
Because starting on May 29, with our first batch of trades, we’re going to be capitalizing on the unprecedented market uncertainty to generate potentially massive wealth.
What we can tell you is that Porter would not have launched his million-dollar mission if he didn’t think the odds were heavily stacked in our favor. To learn more about The Trading Club, watch this video.
Three Things To Know Before We Go…
1. You’re not voting your way out of this chart. The national debt has grown under every U.S. president, regardless of political party, for decades. And that is set to continue during President Donald Trump’s second term. Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) initially promised to cut $2 trillion in wasteful spending, but have since admitted this figure is likely to total a couple hundred billion bucks at best. Meanwhile, the president is pushing Congress to pass his “big, beautiful bill,” which is expected to add trillions in new deficit spending over the next several years. Make no mistake… the spending will never stop.
2. The bond market sees U.S. as a rising credit risk. The bond market’s protection mechanism against default risk, known as credit default swaps (“CDS”), which pay off in the event of a default, is flashing warning signs about U.S. Treasuries. The chart below shows CDS prices for U.S. Treasuries anticipating a six-level credit downgrade from their current AA+ rating down to BBB+ – that’s just three notches above a “junk” rating. Uncle Sam is facing a revolt from the bond market.
3. Buy-now, pay-never. Klarna – the second largest “buy-now, pay-later” company – offers a debit card that profits when consumers miss payments. By partnering with retailers like Chipotle and DoorDash, Klarna earns a cut when it facilitates a sale – or when penalty payments kick in due to delinquency. If you’re splitting a burrito purchase into four biweekly payments, it’s a sign you can’t afford the burrito. But now Klarna is feeling the pinch too – its credit losses hit $136 million in Q1, up 17% year-on-year as consumer distress mounts.
And One More Thing… Poll Results
On Monday, Porter constructed a portfolio called Better Than Berkshire, using publicly traded stocks that are analogous to Berkshire’s holdings. So we asked readers which portfolio would have a better return one year from now.
And… 95% of survey takers think Porter & Co.’s Better Than Berkshire Index will outperform shares of Berkshire Hathaway over the next year.
Tell us what you think: [email protected]
Good investing,
Porter & Co.
Stevenson, Maryland
Please note: The investments in our “Porter & Co. Top Positions” should not be considered current recommendations. These positions are the best performers across our publications – and the securities listed may (or may not) be above the current buy-up-to price. To learn more, visit the current portfolio page of the relevant service, here. To gain access or to learn more about our current portfolios, call Lance James, our Director of Customer Care, at 888-610-8895 or internationally at +1 443-815-4447.