The following is how I have linked what is happening in the world in my mind. First off I am not a financial advisor, your money is yours to control, and what you do with this information is up to you. My opinion might be generalized as I am not an economics professor so things I say are biased.
First off I believe that the United States is going through a period of mass inflation and will crash the stock market in a large degree. Why? You may ask.
First off the united states has been propped up through quantitative easing (i.e. printing money, and lowering interest rates.). During the dot com bubble they went through a very short depression and back to action pushing the stock market back up to previous highs leading to the housing bubble. Of course the political party learned from the dot com bubble and decided to use even more quantitative easing to push the economy again. The United States currently has over 20 trillion dollars in debt, just to give you an idea of where it stands in comparison to other countries, Canada has less then 700 billion.
"http://www.businessinsider.com/us-national-debt-spiked-1-trillion-in-less-than-6-months-2018-2"
"https://www.fraserinstitute.org/blogs/a-really-quick-history-of-canada-s-federal-debt"
What does this mean to the economy, and what will trigger the collapse. Well there are a number of factors,
- Donald Trump is raising interest rates, and creating trade wars by implementing high tariffs on imports
- Wages are not increasing, in fact many people are losing their jobs due to cuts, and slowing economy
- Other countries are moving away from the use of the American Dollar, dumping loads of it back onto American soil
This is like a noose around the necks of all citizens in the United States. Inflation is speeding up and everything is starting to get more expensive, interest rates are rising meaning your mortgage is getting more expensive, people are getting paid the same and may even be fired from their jobs, meaning its harder to make money and/or borrow.
What will happen? Well people will start selling whatever they have to survive (i.e. stocks, houses, cars... etc leading to stock market crash.) That's not enough, with the US dollar losing its purchasing power food is more expensive then ever before; businesses start closing due to lack of sales as people try to conserve whatever they have, more jobs lost. An increase in violence to get the essentials to survive, a banding of militia to fight and over throw the government, and defend themselves from others, leading to a civil war. (I really hope it doesn't get to this but I don't really see any way out of it.) A massive depopulation as people try to flee the warring areas.
What can be done? First off I would suggest figuring out where you could possibly relocate to in the event that my premonitions come true. If you can't leave or have no where to go, form a strong connection within your community, having friends and family who can support each other will make a huge difference. Try to stock up on essentials canned foods, toiletries, and try growing some plants to use as a source of food.
Secondly if you have some savings, make investments that you believe will grow so you will have money. (e.g. gold/silver bars, bitcoin, litecoin, other alts.) This may be your way out if you make the right plays.
Why do I believe these will go up, despite the obvious stock market crash I see coming? Well I look at the news.
https://www.ccn.com/european-banks-soon-hold-bitcoin-admits-ecb-president/ (European banks buying bitcoin)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/british-companies-buy-up-bitcoin-for-ransoms-as-costs-of-attacks-surge (Large British companies buying Bitcoin)
http://bitcoinist.com/bank-of-america-bitcoin-threat-sec-report/ (Banks afraid of Bitcoin)
https://news.goldcore.com/ie/gold-blog/jp-morgan-cornering-silver-market/ (JP Morgan hoarding silver)
https://www.coindesk.com/8-companies-that-have-filed-crypto-patents/ (Huge companies getting crypto patents)
http://fortune.com/2018/03/06/coinbase-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-fund/ (Coinbase introduces ETF for crypto)
What are the arguments against this theory? The common explanation is Bitcoin is in a bubble, its over-hyped it will go down to zero. It has no intrinsic value. What use does digital currency have? Its too hard for people to buy crypto.
(If you can't tell by now I am very crypto biased so take this with a grain of salt)
If its a bubble, and has no intrinsic value, why do I see Canada, Europe, Britain, United States and many more countries looking into them in big ways, I can see major businesses looking at how they can implement and use crypto assets, I see banks fearing the implementation of cryptos and basically telling their investors we can't make money the way we use to.
What use does it have? This is only the beginning, we haven't even scratched the surface of its potential uses, in general block chain has the ability to cut out the middle man, how many different things can you think of where you use a trusted third party to ensure the transaction is safe? Well if you can think of a way to do that same thing but use a block chain instead that is its use.
But its still to difficult for non tech savvy people to buy. Well that will be solved very soon. I see on ramps being created, (with the creation of ETFs, people with big money will now be able to buy into the crypto market without knowing how to make a wallet or create a private key)
So what does this all boil down to. Well I see the crypto asset market growing tremendously. When it reaches 1 trill and maintains that number for a month or two large whales (I'm talking hedge funds with billion dollar portfolios will start investing in big ways) multiplying the market to 5 trill in a couple months (maybe this year 2018). Countries that were previously skeptical if Bitcoin and other alts are here to stay, begin rushing to buy what ever they can, and then FOMO kicks in now people who have no idea how to use a computer start buying with all their money.
When your parents/grandparents who barely know English ask you about Bitcoin and other alts, telling you their friends just made a ton of money of their investment. I will think about selling as that is when we may be in a bubble.
Please let me know your thoughts and up vote if you felt this was informative.