I never cease to be impressed with the readers of this newsletter.

I was reminded of this once again in Portland, Ore, a few months ago.

Readers seem to fall into three categories.

1) Entrepreneurs whose businesses become so successful that they are throwing off plenty of excess cash to invest. This leads them to an online search (they are also technically very savvy) that brought them to my newsletter.

One of my Portland guests runs a manufacturing business that builds drones. In five years his gross revenues have rocketed from $400,000 a year to $40 million, and he says the best has yet to come.

Two years ago, the Federal Aviation Administration predicted that there would be 1,500 drones in the air by 2020. Today, there are 220,000.

Interestingly, he says he is now besieged by constant foreign takeover offers. These are from European and Asian firms that have gone ex growth and are desperately searching for new profit streams at any cost. So far, he has rebuffed all comers.

2) Financial advisors who have been following my long-term macro and trading advice and who have also become very successful. Winning financial advisors always have new clients and cash coming, which they need to know how to invest.

3) Young men and women in 20s and 30s who dropped out of the mainstream economy and taught themselves to become professional full-time traders.

Perhaps several hundred earn a full-time living just off of my own Trade Alerts. This business has taken a quantum leap with my introduction of the Mad Hedge Technology Letter.

My first-hand observations of the economy in no way indicate that it is in no way performing at a suboptimal 2.5% GDP growth rate.

Airplanes going anywhere are all full. The airports are packed. The cost of overnight parking in San Francisco has risen by 100%. The free electric charging stations, of which there are now 50, are always full.

My favorite Pendleton store in Portland no longer has sales. It’s full price for everything everywhere now. People have plenty of money to spend.

Stores are stocking more expensive, higher margin profits and offering imaginative displays.

Placing your goods on worn-out industrial heavy machines is a popular approach in Portland. I spend more time analyzing the machines than the goods for sale.

The irony is rich.

Restaurants are more expensive, too, always are full, and are also making the grab for higher margins. They now offer food that is gluten free, locally gown and “artisanal.”

When I ordered a steak I was informed that it was hormone- and preservative-free. I asked if I could have one WITH hormones and preservatives, as they put hair on my chest and preserve me as well.

No wonder everyone thinks I’m weird.

Of course, the ultimate expression of this strategy can be found in Portland’s burgeoning marijuana industry.

Huge billboards along the freeways offer “organic” pot by the kilo. It seems they, too, are seeking that 30% markup that Whole Foods and Costco (COST) reap from organic groceries.

Yet there is evidence also of the failed America, the people got left behind. At one stoplight I encountered a family of four holding a big sign in the pouring rain pleading, “We need money.”

They had recently been evicted from their home. All had serious health problems and were morbidly obese. They looked legit. Maybe it was a health care induced bankruptcy?

I asked no questions, made no judgments, and gave them $20. They reacted like they had won the lottery.

The country clearly is not perfect.
 

Here it is mid-March, and Apple is already closing in on my 2018 target of $200. Indeed, with a market capitalization today of $930 billion, Apple is on the verge of becoming the world's first $1 trillion publicly traded company.

And here's the really great thing about this year for Apple bulls. If you had the right cajones you had a chance to load the boat just above $150 only five weeks ago.

If you did, as I begged, pleaded, and beseeched you to do, your Apple trade earned a handy 22.33% at today's $183.50 high.

Now for the good news. The best is yet to come. In fact, there are ten reasons why Apple shares should hit my lofty target sometime this year.

1) Share buy backs are first and foremost. With $280 worth of cash in the bank abroad, and two thirds of that committed to buy back Apple stock, shareholders essentially have a free put option.

Indeed, you could see the company's invisible hand in the marketplace during the recent correction, soaking up shares at every opportunity. We won't learn the true numbers until the next quarterly earnings report on May 1.

2) Valuation is still the overwhelming factor driving institutions into Apple stock. With a price earnings multiple of 18X and a dividend yield of 1.40%, Apple is trading not only at a discount to the main market, but a discount to most of tech as well. No one ever got fired for buying Apple, at least not recently.

3) Apple's sales are as good as ever. The expected draw down in between new phone launches is proving less than expected. All of the channel checks suggesting a bigger drop have proven unfounded.

4) The rest of technology is on fire. Even if Apple were stumbling now, which it isn't, it would get dragged up by the meteoric moves seen in the rest of the FANG's.

5) The administration's nixing of the Broadcom (AVGO) takeover of QUALCOMM (QCOM), protects the principal supply of propriety chips for Apple phone safe from foreign interference. Broadcom could have chopped the research budget or transferred crucial technology to foreign competitors.

6) Apple is broadening its product lines, shifting to a new business model that delivers multiple new phones at the same time. This will include low priced models that will compete in new markets like India, as well as go head to head with the market share leaders, Samsung. This will increase market share and profitability.

7) While Apple possesses only 8% of the global cell phone market, it accounts for a staggering 92% of cell phone profits. Apple effectively has a monopoly on cell phone profits.

8) Their new lease program promises to deliver a faster upgrade cycle that will allow higher premium prices for their products and demand more phones. That will bring larger profits.

9) Apple continues to inexorably move into new products and services. While the company was late with the HomePod to compete against Amazon's (AMZN) Alexa and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Home, integration with the rest of the Apple ecosystem will enable the company to have the last laugh. Watch out for Apple Pay. Health care is another big target area.

10) Standards of living are rising worldwide. And guess what the first thing a newly enriched middle class does around the planet? They dump their Samsung Galaxies and Google Androids and join the IPhone club for the enhanced status alone.

I Hear Apple is Diversifying