Today’s letter is multi-dimensional and focuses on many subjects that require our immediate attention.

On the 20^th, two days ago, I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a six-hour drive. I discovered the force of long drives some years ago, crossing the entire state of Colorado in 12 hours into Lake Tahoe, CA, when many ideas began to formulate in my mind, non-productive behavioral patterns started to unchain themselves from my character, and a sense of purpose entered my heart.

Long drives out in open nature have always caused me to re-evaluate life, think from a higher perspective, and have the guts to make necessary changes, without procrastination.

They put things in the right order and help balance priorities.

That same evening, my wife and I went to the Hollywood Bowl to watch Andrea Bocelli perform. He is one of the most recognized opera singers to ever live. The doctors advised his parents to abort him, since they predicted medical issues, while he was in the womb, yet his mother, full of pure love, decided to go through labor. He was born with eye disease, eventually going completely blind at age 12. This great voice, which can draw 18,000 people to a concert, isn’t capable of seeing the adoration from the audience, which is his curse.

Being blind is tragic because it takes away one of the basic five senses – many blind individuals find it extremely difficult to go through life successfully on the financial front, yet Andrea Bocelli is worth north of $45M, thanks to focusing on his one-of-a-kind voice.

You must focus on your rare talent or work extremely hard to develop one – this is the way to reach the highest brackets of income, enjoy financial independence, and truly live. Financial freedom is unrestricted use of all things and experiences that can benefit you. 

The second lesson, which came out of the concert, is that of leveraging the power of key relationships. Bocelli hardly performs alone – either a 50-strong choir, in the background, a violinist, or a complementing singer accompany him, all to enhance the beauty of the song.

Leverage partnerships. Start at home, with your parents and siblings – make them your ally. Make your husband or wife your biggest cheerleader; venture into the world and find your key partners, who you can trust and build businesses, enterprises, or just network with. They will give you honest feedback, enhance your decision-making process, and keep you in check.

Defuse bombs; don’t look at areas you must improve at and delay any further. Andrea Bocelli knows his weaknesses fully and lives with them, not ignoring them, but focusing on his strengths.

One asset, which has a number of strengths, is now in free fall – cryptocurrencies, which made us millions last year, are simply cracking wide-open in front of us. Their strengths are not being accentuated, only their weakness, in the form of not being properly regulated yet, creating a cloud of doubt over them and, of course, the fact that they don’t generate income, making them totally speculative.

Conserve your capital, then – if mistakes were made, chop their heads off, because, as investors, we must be forward-looking and forward thinking. Huge losses create residue and weigh on our psyche, which will disturb us in the future.

What I want you to focus on, as you struggle on the path to riches, is your enduring competitive advantages.

When I just started investing, one of the first books I read was “Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond.”

In the book, which includes a case study of WD-40, it showed clearly what is the moat, the franchise brand value, which some companies possess that allows them to generate monstrous cash flows, without patents or government restrictions on their competition – customers simply prefer them.

We all know the WD-40 lubricant, but this book allowed me to make WD-40 my second investment, back in 2001, when I bought my first stocks.

This has been a huge winner for me in the past 17 years, and it is centered around the philosophy of Peter Lynch – simplify investments to things around you that you understand in less than 30 seconds.

I went to local stores, which sold the product and spoke to the owners. They explained to me that it was like Coca-Cola – customers see it and pick one up – “Everyone has a can in their home,” they said, so I looked at their growth opportunities and realized it was a superior investment, due to their international expansion plans.

Competitive advantage, on a personal level, could be in the form of a higher degree of patience with clients, which will make you a fit for the hospitality sector. Character strengths are not to be understated. A well-developed decision-making capability will prepare you for CEO roles. Being incredibly flexible will make you an ideal marketer, where zigging and zagging is essential.

Focus on simple and “boring” investments with the overwhelming majority of your portfolio, so that speculations become your added layer, a way for you to access potentially life-changing opportunities without plowing into them, like a Las Vegas rookie, but carefully managing an accumulation plan, as they fluctuate with volatility.

In 2018 alone, I’ve invested 40% of my income in Dividend-Raising stocks – that’s four out of every ten dollars I made. Next week, I’ll show you which stock I’ve made the crown jewel of my Legacy Portfolio. This will be the first time I reveal a company from my personal treasure trove.

Indeed, going forward, every 60 days, I’ll share with you exactly which Wealth Stocks I’m investing in, as our inbox has been flooded with this request.

Lastly, Globalive Tech (TSX-V: LIVE & US: LVVEF), the Mega-IPO we profiled last week, is experiencing IPO-hiccups, which is perfectly normal for a tech company. This occurs when market makers are looking to position with the stock for the lowest possible price, so they deliberately do everything possible to apply downward pressure and build a bigger personal position. This is bullish, as it allows us to build an even more significant allocation at a better price.

Make sure you give this company full attention over the weekend – take a close, hard look at their video library as well, as this 30-second clip of Globalive Tech, led by founder/CEO, Anthony Lacavera, is ringing the opening bell at the Toronto stock exchange this week!

Best Regards,

Lior Gantz
President, WealthResearchGroup.com