How to Listen When Markets Speak

A New York Times bestselling author and leading expert on market risk argues that seismic shifts in the global economy will trigger a multi-trillion-dollar migration of wealth, tracing the fateful decisions that created this crisis-and outlines new rules of investing for the forward-thinking. From Wall Street to the White House, the fantasy of an eventual "return to normal" is still alive and well, nurtured by dangerously outdated theories. But the economic world as we know it-and the rules that govern it-are over. In the coming decade, we'll witness sustained inflation, a series of sovereign and corporate debt crises, and a thundering of capital out of financial assets into hard assets-and few are prepared. Lawrence McDonald got a real-world education in market risk when, as a Lehman Brothers VP, he watched the firm ignore flashing warning signs before its collapse. His analysis led him to identify twenty-one indicators for gauging the health of an economy and detecting early signals of opportunity and danger. In How to Listen When Markets Speak, McDonald unveils his unique predictive models, connecting surprising dots between past, present, and future and outlining actionable trading ideas. Readers will learn:  How disastrous Fed policy will collide with an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape to keep U.S. inflation near 3-5% for the next decade  How growing energy demand, underinvestment in infrastructure, and cozy Russia-Saudi Arabia relations will keep oil prices at historic highs  Why hard assets and rare minerals like lithium and cobalt will outperform growth stocks, U.S. treasuries, and passive investment strategies  Why America will likely lose its position as a global superpower and holder of the world's premier reserve currency, and may be forced to slash Social Security, Medicare, and military spending Rather than merely doomsaying, How to Listen When Markets Speak equips readers to make sense of our current moment, resist reactionary narratives and baseless analysis, and pounce on a new investing playbook.