In partnership with

THIS knowledge brings comfort in these bewildering times… - June 2024 (#22)

Welcome back dear reader. In light of recent events, your dude Brent has had a few people ask him about a certain book that is really making the rounds right now. I read it a few years ago and it has dramatically changed my thinking and even made me more optimistic… with a little side of futility lol. Allow me to explain…

_{Advertisement}

Steal our best value stock ideas.

PayPal, Disney, and Nike all dropped 50-80% recently from all-time highs.

Are they undervalued? Can they turn around? What’s next? You don’t have time to track every stock, but should you be forced to miss all the best opportunities?

That’s why we scour hundreds of value stock ideas for you. Whenever we find something interesting, we send it straight to your inbox.

Subscribe free to Value Investor Daily with one click so you never miss out on our research again.

Motivation

“I laugh, that there’s a certain kind of cyclical nature of life and that I don’t have to worry because of whatever isn’t there right now, it’s coming back again.”

-Walter Mosley

(Share this on Twitter)

Money

TLDR; EVERYTHING moves in cycles, especially human society. Just because something is bad now does NOT mean it will be worse in the future, in fact it could be better! However things could get much worse at the present…

Ok so the book that I keep getting asked about is called ‘The Fourth Turning.’ The basic premise is that society moves in cycles. Put simply it’s that things get good, people get lazy and corrupt, things get bad, society falls apart, society is reborn, things get good again and so forth. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s basically it. Here’s a simple diagram that illustrates the cycle:

Now here’s why its getting brought up so much. This book was written in 1996 and is basically is foretelling that at the point in history we are at now (the 2020s) that society will basically fall to crap. So of course with everyone looking for answers in these tumultuous times this book, and its ideas, have resurfaced.

Ok, so the honest truth is that I spent half my time reading the book thinking ‘this is such B.S.’ and the other half having my mind blown. I never really did reconcile the two. Can you, using their framework, predict precisely when societies will go through upheaval? I personally kinda doubt it, but its apparent you will sell a lot of books if you claim you can! So there’s that…

HOWEVER, I definitely took one big thing away from it that has really stuck with me and been very comforting. I’ve also talked to others who’ve read it say the same thing after reading it. And that is that the world is NOT linear. Things don’t just get worse and worse forever, nor do they get better and better forever. Everything moves in cycles!

So if you ever find yourself worrying about how bad XYZ will be in 10 or 20 years STOP. Yes housing is unaffordable right now, but that DOES NOT mean it will be forever. Yes our politics is a complete joke right now, but that DOES NOT mean it will be forever. Yes inflation is squeezing household budgets right now but that DOES NOT mean it will forever. Just remember that night is darkest before the dawn and then THINGS GET BETTER! In the meantime buckle up! Because IF the book is right (I’m still not convinced!) the wheels might fall off here soon… so here’s to hoping its not 😀 

FINAL MEMES

_{WARNING: Below button reveals an offensive meme that is intended for you ONLY if you are a horrible person.}

That’s all folks!

Have a question? Reply on this email!

Copyright (C) 2024 Ann Royal Advisors All rights reserved.
The information contained on this Newsletter and any resources available for download through this newsletter are not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice. I am not an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information contained on this newsletter is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.

Question? Comment? Concern? Email me here:
[email protected]