The one thing we know about the next decade is that it will look nothing like the last one, except perhaps for continued will and unpredictable events, reports Mike Larson.

Just two weeks from today, a new decade will begin. Think about that for a minute. Then think about everything that we’ve witnessed in the economy and the markets over the last 10 years.
These include:

  • The end of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and the start of the longest bull market cycle ever.
  • The original “Flash Crash” in stocks, one that was followed by equally confusing, sudden, and severe short-term crashes in everything from interest rates to short-volatility funds.
  • The most severe threat of a U.S. government debt default in decades, and the massive, short-term market shock it caused.
  • The miraculous rise (then stunning fall) in stocks exposed to the shale oil and natural gas production boom.
  • The emergence of cryptocurrencies, and the huge boom/bust cycle seen in their values.
  • The longest run of zero and/or below-zero interest rates in world history, accompanied by the biggest surge in central bank assets (a.k.a. “money printing”) ever.

We truly have been living in interesting times. But what’s past is past, as they say. And as an investor, your best move is to focus on the future – the next round of major opportunities and major risks that are coming in 2020 and beyond.

Suffice it to say that if you thought the last decade was jam-packed with enormous economic surprises, wild markets swings, and mind-boggling profit opportunities, you haven’t seen anything yet!

Why? Because of the extraordinary asset market imbalances that have been building up, the heightened threat of recession, the increasingly turbulent geopolitical backdrop, the untested, unproven radical monetary and fiscal policies enacted both here and abroad and any number of other factors. They’re likely to make the 2020-2029 stretch decade unlike any we’ve seen before, full of both incredible opportunities and enormous risks.

As for the shorter-term, stocks are looking to finish 2019 on an optimistic note. They’re being helped by another round of effective QE (though the Federal Reserve refuses to call it QE), slightly better Chinese economic data and a sense that the trade tension can has been kicked down the road for a bit.

That’s working out well for several of my Safe Money Report positions, including one in the pharmaceutical space that I just added in November. It was already showing double digit gains earlier this week.

But in general terms, I still believe some of your best opportunities here lie in precious metals and related stocks, dividend-focused names, and lower-risk bonds like U.S. Treasuries. Even as they’ve been correcting for a couple months, the longer-term uptrends look firmly intact.

I see no reason for that to change as the calendar rolls over into 2020. So, invest accordingly!

Join me and dozens of other analysts, money managers and market experts at the Orlando MoneyShow from Feb. 6-8. I have several presentations and a luncheon scheduled and would love to meet and talk markets with you.

You can check the grades on YOUR stocks at the Weiss Ratings website: www.weissratings.com or get specific names, and actionable “buy” and “sell” signals by subscribing here: Subscribe to Safe Money Report here…