Someone once said that waking up between 3 and 5 AM can be a sign of spiritual awakening.
I’d like to slap that someone in the face. Twice.
The fact is, I’m writing this at 4:30 AM and it’s not because I came to some life-changing, cosmic understanding. I’m simply jet lagged.
I just returned from a fact-finding mission in Orange County, California. I spent three days traveling the Pacific Coast Highway vetting a new recommendation for my Crow’s Nest readers. In order to get there on time, I woke up in the middle of the night, ate a shitty airport breakfast, and was practically molested by the TSA. To complicate matters, I dragged along my two video producers for the trip — which increased those absurd “extra bag” fees exponentially.
They didn’t, however, charge for the bags under my eyes. Lucky me.
Once we arrived in the Golden State, I rented a very expensive car, several hotel rooms, and booked interviews with half-a-dozen experts in the industry I’m researching.
If it sounds exhausting — and expensive — that’s because it is.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way…
Now, I certainly could have read a couple online articles, leafed through some financial reports, and made a phone call or two — and I’m sure our accountants would have appreciated it.
Thankfully, I have the track record to bankroll such extravagant trips.
I repeat this agonizing routine often — perhaps more than any other newsletter writer I know.
Over the past year, I’ve logged 22,430 miles in the air…
In addition to California, I’ve been to Colombia, Copenhagen, Quebec, Mexico, and Washington D.C.
Why do I spend so much time away from my family, friends, and my office?
Because I’ve found that the only way to learn about a prospective investment is to do three things: interrogate, investigate, and probe everyone involved.
I graduated college with a journalism degree, so it tends to come pretty natural to me.
Over the course of my career, I have banked countless hours of interviews, on and off the record. This year alone, I have shared 15 of my interrogations with my readers: over one thousand minutes of tape, boiled down into actionable investment advice.
Why do I put in all of this blood, sweat, and tears?
Because you can never trust anything a company tells you in their press releases. You can rarely extrapolate it from financial reports. And when they do appear on television, it is a dog-and-pony show that is all too well-rehearsed.
All companies lie — it’s in their blood. It’s all about self preservation. And it’s not my job to cast blame.
But it is my job to uncover the truth for my readers. That’s why I fly around the world, meeting everyone I can face-to-face…
When you speak to someone eyeball-to-eyeball, you can actually read their hidden tells. That goes for professional liars, of which I have met hundreds. I like to think I’ve become a bit of an expert — which comes in handy in all sorts of ways, but especially in vetting companies.
I like to think that’s why I have such stellar results.
Here are basic techniques I use to spot a liar…
1) Eye Movement
Do your subject’s eyes dart back and forth? They are usually lying: this is an evolutionary feature that means the person is uncomfortable and is looking for a way to escape.
It is often unconscious. It wouldn’t do CEOs any favors with me if they bolted towards the door midway through an interview. But you would be surprised how often I meet with someone with shifty eyes — I always mark this in my notebook immediately.
When I check back in with the shifty-eyed companies, my skepticism is almost always vindicated.
2) Super Direct Eye Contact
While looking away erratically is a tell-tale sign of lying, so is intense eye contact. This typically means that the person really, really wants you to believe them, so they try and cast some weird spell on you by staring deep into your soul.
It’s creepy and forced. I make a note of this as well, and take whatever they say with heaping grains of salt.
3) Smile! You’re Being Judged
Fake smiles are like pornography — you can’t quite define it, but you know it when you see it.
I’ll give you a hint — it’s all in the mouth.
A real smile lights up an entire face: you get those wrinkles beside your eyes that come from the orbicularis oculi muscles. When people fake a smile, they’ll typically use their cheekbones to pull up their smile and their eyes will be dead cold.
I could go on and on about people touching their faces, pursing their lips, or sweating when it’s winter, but you get the idea. When you take a company’s words at, ahem, face value, you are only getting a pale facsimile of the truth.
So, why should you care?
Because I owe my track record to recognizing traits like these in companies, and so far it has worked out beyond my — and my readers’ — wildest dreams…
My portfolios haven’t ever posted a loss… you heard that right, I’m currently undefeated.
In the past few years, my services have posted gains of:
2015: 68.8%
2016: 349.53%
2017: 324.69%
2018: 70.75%
This year has been no different.
That’s because whenever I investigate a new situation in the investing world — whether it involves a $0.50 stock or a $50 stock…
I do one thing no one else does…
I interrogate, investigate, and probe every player in every situation… CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, directors, comptrollers, institutional investors, salesmen, interns, and janitors.
(You should give janitors more credit, they are some of the most intuitive people in the world)
I’ve interviewed Presidential candidates, governors, congressmen, doctors, millionaires, sports heroes, rock stars…
No one is off limits when it comes to getting the whole story — and now, I want you to get the whole story as well.
Today, I’m going to turn the camera around and give you a chance to interrogate me and see for yourself…
Do you have what it takes?
~~jimmy_signoff~~
