Dear Reader,
Happy Friday.
Today is Friday, January 30th.
Before we get into the markets, a quick personal note.
My 10-year-old Teddy has a basketball game this weekend, and watching kids grow through team sports never gets old.
Last year he focused on defense — doing the hard job no one wants to do. This year, he's calling for the ball, getting open, and stepping into a bigger role. It's a great reminder that growth often comes right after discomfort.
Now, let's talk about something much bigger.
Yesterday, BlackRock — the world's largest asset manager with over $13 trillion under management — quietly dropped a bombshell.
They said investors can no longer rely on bonds for portfolio safety.
That should make you stop and reread that sentence.
For decades, bonds were supposed to be the stabilizer — the ballast — in a portfolio. When stocks fell, bonds were supposed to protect you. That was the foundation of the classic 60/40 portfolio.
BlackRock is now saying that era is over.
Their warning is simple but profound:
Rising government debt and stubborn inflation pressures have broken bonds' role as a safe haven.
In plain English, they're telling investors that long-term bonds are now a source of risk — not protection.
And they didn't just say it. They acted on it.
Since December 2025, BlackRock has been reducing exposure to long-dated U.S. Treasuries.
Why?
Because we're entering an environment of "higher for longer" interest rates, driven by massive government borrowing, fiscal deficits, and policy volatility.
And this is where understanding bond math matters.
Long-duration bonds — 20- and 30-year Treasuries — are extremely sensitive to interest rates. When rates rise, bond prices fall. It's a seesaw. The longer the duration, the harder the drop.
BlackRock's Jean Boivin put it bluntly:
In today's environment, bonds no longer provide the same level of portfolio protection.
If you want proof, look no further than the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Over the past five years, it's down roughly 47%.
Adjust for inflation, and the real purchasing-power loss is closer to 70%.
That's not "safe." That's destructive.
And look — when traditional safety assets like bonds fail us, it forces us to look where real active opportunity still exists.
That's why some of our VIP members have been using a little-known strategy used for decades by Wall-Street elites to generate consistent income no matter what direction the broader market is moving.
I don't want to go into too much detail here.
I try to keep my morning message short and to the point.
But I'll give you all the necessary info on how YOU can copy this Wall Street strategy here.
So what's driving this erosion?
We've been talking about it here for years.
The U.S. is issuing massive amounts of debt. Foreign buyers aren't showing up the way they used to. Supply overwhelms demand. And instead of letting rates rise naturally, the Fed steps in — buying debt, printing money, and suppressing yields.
That keeps rates lower than they otherwise would be… but at the cost of long-term purchasing power.
This isn't partisan.
Trump added $7.4 trillion in his first term.
Biden added $7.2 trillion.
And projections suggest Trump's second term could add a similar amount.
Fiscal discipline isn't coming from Washington.
It's coming from the market.
So what do I do with my own money?
I avoid long-term bonds entirely.
Instead, I park cash in short-term Treasury money-market funds — instruments that hold 30-, 60-, and 90-day government debt. You earn roughly 3.5%, avoid duration risk, and keep flexibility.
Short duration means less volatility.
It also means optionality.
And if the market pitches an opportunity across the plate… I can swing.
Even Warren Buffett is doing something similar — sitting on enormous piles of short-term Treasuries rather than locking up capital for decades at fixed rates that inflation can quietly destroy.
Long bonds simply aren't paying enough to justify the risk.
You're being promised fixed dollars… while those dollars are being diluted.
That's the real danger.
The market is now doing what politicians won't: imposing discipline.
So be careful where you look for "safety."
That's all I have for today.
Have a wonderful weekend — I'll see you Monday.
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