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This is Mark Skousen, America’s Economist, with your Forecasts & Strategies hotline, where we offer independent advice for today’s worldly philosophers. Today’s date is Monday, April 28, 2025. Welcome aboard.
Final Call: If you live in Southern California, come meet Steve Forbes, chairman and editor in chief of Forbes magazine, who will speak at Chapman University tomorrow, April 29, from 4:00-5:30 p.m. at the Sandhu Conference Center on campus at 571 North Center St., Orange, California 92867.
Steve Forbes and Mark Skousen holding a gold coin.
He’s coming to receive the annual Doti-Spogli Free EnterPRIZE, which includes five American eagle gold coins (now valued at over $17,000) and a bust of Adam Smith.
Both Jim Doti and Ron Spogli will be there, as well as other VIPs from the board and the public.
Mr. Forbes will give a 20-minute talk, followed by a Q&A session with me and the audience. Hope you can make it. To reserve a space, go to Dean’s Leadership Lecture Series Featuring Steve Forbes.
See you there.
Now here’s the financial news:
Wall Street recovered last week, and now we have half of our stocks and funds (seven) in positive territory for the year.
Our top performer remains Kinross Gold (KGC, $14.60, 0.8% yield), now ahead 57%.
After briefly hitting a record $3,500 an ounce last week (100 times its price of $35 an ounce in 1970), gold took a breather from its torrid pace. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD, $307) is ahead 16% this year, far ahead of the S&P 500 Index Fund (SPY, $551, 1.3% yield), which is off 5%.
Short-term Treasuries and money market funds are now paying 4.2% a year. I read that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway now owns almost 5% of the entire U.S. treasury bill market, more even than the Federal Reserve.
But imagine if Buffett had bought gold instead as a safe haven. Alas, he has an aversion to gold, although he has bought some shares in Barrick Gold.
Enterprise Products: ‘One of the Top Five Best Investments’
With oil prices down to $61 a barrel, my midstream companies are the safe way to make money in energy.
The Williams Companies (WMB, $59, 3.4% yield) focuses on natural gas pipelines, and is ahead 10% year to date.
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD, $31.30, 6.9% yield) is now better than breakeven.
Motley Fool considers it one of its top five stocks to invest in today. One of its analysts writes: “EPD isn’t completely immune to the market’s gyrations. However, this midstream energy leader is more resilient than most stocks. Even during the worst crises for the oil and gas industry over the past two decades, Enterprise was able to deliver solid cash flow per unit.
“I predict that Enterprise Products Partners will benefit from increased demand for the natural gas and natural gas liquids that flow through its pipelines, thanks to a significant artificial intelligence (AI) tailwind.”
Flying Five Stocks Are Moving Up
Three of our Flying Five stocks are profitable, and the other two are moving back up: Goldman Sachs (GS, $550.65, 2.2% yield), which is selling for only 11.8 times earnings, and Caterpillar (CAT, $309.70, 1.8% yield).
Walmart Inc. (WMT, 95.69, 1% yield) is ahead 6% this year. It saw its operating income grow almost 10% in the past quarter, while gaining market share across countries. It has maintained low prices, despite the tariffs, and is becoming more convenient to shop at through ecommerce. Global advertising grew 27% to $4.4 billion, and global membership income increased 21% over the past year. Same-day delivery capabilities now reach 93% of U.S. households.
Drug giant Amgen Inc. (AMGN, $283.45, 3.4% yield) has over 10 blockbuster drugs. It is approaching a double-digit-percentage gain. Its leading weight loss candidate, MariTide, is doing better than expected, and its asthma medicine, Tezspire, is highly successful. The drugmaker also markets the only FDA-approved medicine for thyroid eye disease, Tepezza.
Since initiating a dividend in 2011, the company has increased its payouts by 750%. Its forward yield tops 3.5%.
International Business Machines (IBM, $232.87, 2.9% yield) is ahead nearly 7% this year, and doing better than most technology stocks this year due to its advances in AI development. It also just announced a modest $150 billion investment in U.S. quantum computer manufacturing over the next five years.
The World’s Most Controversial Libertarian, Ross Ulbricht, Pardoned by Trump, to Speak at FreedomFest!
I am thrilled to announce that Ross Ulbricht will join us as a keynote speaker at FreedomFest 2025 in Palm Springs, California, June 11-14!
Who is Ross Ulbricht? He is the libertarian most famous for founding and operating the controversial online “Silk Road” marketplace from 2011-13, the “dark web” that allowed individuals to sell any product they wished anonymously through Bitcoin. That attracted a lot of illegal drug dealing that resulted in his high-profile conviction in criminal drug dealing and money laundering.
“I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity,” Ulbricht said at his sentencing in May 2015.
Worst Violation of the Eighth Amendment Ever!
In the past, individuals convicted of computer crimes got no more than 10 years in prison. Shockingly, federal judge Katherine Forrest, an Obama-appointee, sentenced Ulbricht to a double life in prison plus 40 years without the possibility of a parole.
Considering that many convicted murders and rapists get off with much lighter sentences, libertarians decried the sentence as outrageously excessive. (The mainstream press only said he received a “life sentence.”)
We don’t condone what Ross did, but the punishment should fit the crime.
Congressman Thomas Massie said the sentence “was probably the biggest violation of the eighth amendment of the Constitution ever” (for “cruel and unusual punishment”). Watch his short one-minute statement here: Rep. Thomas Massie explains why Ross Ulbricht’s sentence should be commuted. #freeross.
His mother, Lyn Ulbricht, and other libertarians began a “Free Ross” campaign, speaking at FreedomFest and the Libertarian Party conventions.
After spending 10 years in prison, he finally received a historic pardon from President Donald Trump, who called the sentence “ridiculous.”
Recovering from 10 years in federal prison can take its toll, but Ross Ulbricht is now prepared to speak publicly about his ordeal.
He has chosen FreedomFest, June 11-14 in Palm Springs, to make his first appearance in person before a libertarian audience to tell his story.
As one attendee wrote me, “Congrats! You really pulled off a shocker with Ross Ulbricht!”
We will also hear from his mother, Lyn Ulbricht, who worked tirelessly to free her son.
FreedomFest attendees will have the chance to hear and meet Ross and Lyn Ulbricht in person at this year’s big show, as well as many other great speakers.
To register, go to www.freedomfest.com, or call Hayley at 1-855-850-3733, ext. 202. Save $100 by using the code EAGLE.
Until next Monday, this is Mark Skousen, saying so long, fellow free-marketeers, and remember, AEIOU.
