Open Borders Are a Thing of the Past

What was unthinkable throughout the 1990s and the 2000s is now becoming consensus. Americans have found one thing that both the Democrats and the Republicans can agree on – they don’t like China, and want to make sure their own country doesn’t lose out to them in a battle over which world we’re entering: one of freedom and human rights or one of surveillance on citizens and loss of liberties.

Americans didn’t have negative ideas about China to the degree and extent they do today.

Over the past two decades, a growing theme has reached critical mass: While China can produce cheap goods for the consumer, the open markets agenda has contributed greatly to the demise of the middle class.

Today, you’d find very few in America who still see the benefit of outsourcing to the Far East, particularly after Covid-19 and the Hong Kong situation.

Many surveys show that negative opinions about China have grown from 40% to 80% and that positive ones collapsed from 40% to 17%!

This has paved the way for both Democrats and Republicans to firmly continue with their agenda to weaken China and its quest to right an historical wrong and reassert its place as the most important country in the world, which it claims as its natural status.

For now, what we see is Washington pursuing the following:

• Development of hypersonic missiles.
• Putting tariffs on Chinese goods.
• Strengthening the military of Australia and Japan.
• Technological isolation and restriction on selling U.S.-made cutting-edge components to China.

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We also see massive budgets, via the Inflation Reduction Act, going towards development of industry in North America and, because of the shared negative sentiment of the Europeans about China, we see NATO vessels re-designated to the South China Sea.

The prevailing train of thought that open border policy helped to anchor America’s hegemony with the free trade agreements has completely shifted in the other direction.

We clearly see the Biden administration stating that it wants to dominate nano-tech, chips, green energy, bio-medicine, bio-tech and A.I. — all of the fields of endeavor that comprise the 4^th Industrial Revolution and mean that American exceptionalism is back to being front and center.

It’s hard to really get our heads around this monumental shift in priorities, but this is far more crucial to your understanding of current affairs than anything else!

Next up, I want to talk about stocks, because last week, we entered a new bull market and that means that we must review the portfolio.

HERE’s the current portfolio.

In it, there are three companies that I’m actively buying myself:

Endava (DAVA) – this is a software company that mainly engages in creating solutions for large businesses, which have legacy systems that must be modernized. Because many of the clients are banks, the stock has suffered badly and I’m not going to let it pass me by. As long as the price is below $55, I am adding.

Restoration Hardware (RH) – this is one of the best-managed companies in the world. It creates luxury items for the home and we believe that in the coming years, it will start to be recognized as a superior business. When the price is below $280, I am adding more.

Resmed (RMD) – this company is focused on sleep. It is the clear global leader for solving sleep apnea and other issues. When below $220, I am adding more shares of it.

The bull market is on and, despite all rationale to the contrary, I think that the markets will continue rallying.

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Best Regards,

Lior Gantz
President, WealthResearchGroup.com