Taking Off for the 2022 Mad Hedge World Tour
By the time you read this, I will be on a Lockheed C5 A Galaxy escorting 100 Javelin missiles to RAF Lakenheath in England.
From there, I have no idea where the anti-tank missiles are headed. The largest plane in the US Air Force won’t offer the comfortable first class accommodations that I’m used to. But I can’t argue with the price: it’s free.
It was only weeks ago that I received an early morning phone call from a familiar number in Washington DC. At age 70, I was expecting to get a mandatory retirement and a “Job well done.”
Not for me.
Instead, I received a promotion to Major in the United States Marine Corps and was asked how soon could I get to North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels, Belgium? I answered, “As soon as I get rid of this Covid thing.”
It turns out that suddenly, so many people now want to be America’s friends that we have a shortage of senior people on our side to meet them. So senior people like me all over the country are getting called up and pressed into duty.
Instead of fine dining in London and the best wurst and wines in Switzerland, I’m going to be eating army food for my summer vacation. At least it will be French army food. That has to be some kind of improvement.
I will be expounding on my global view to the top generals at NATO. I’ll outline the long-term consequences of the Ukraine War. I’ll also be meeting with individual NATO members as well as future potential ones.
I still hope to eventually end up at my chalet in Zermatt, Switzerland where I traditionally restart my year and have not visited in three years. Weather permitting, I will climb the 14,692-foot Matterhorn again. Is it seven times this year, or eight?
Otherwise, I’ll rejoin Zermatt Search and Rescue again visiting old friends and pulling lost Americans off of Alpine slopes. It seems I’m the only one up there who has a sense of humor.
I have worked the hardest in my life the past year, and it is time for a break. I have also put myself through the most grueling training regimen ever, hiking 2,000 miles in torrential rains and snowshoeing another 600, all with a 50-pound pack. Covid took a lot out of me.
Every year, it seems to get harder to keep the calendar at bay.
Getting out into the real world and soaking up new data and opinions is invaluable in shaping my own global view, and your performance benefits from it.
I will be traveling with my laptop and keeping touch with the markets. While 18th century Internet service is passable, the bandwidth can be snail-like. So, unless I see something extraordinary, I will cut back on new Trade Alerts.
After running up a 50% profit so far in 2022, I deserve a break. I am risking over trading. I need to spend some time alone on a mountaintop, communing with the spirits, attempting to discover the new long-term market trends through the mist.
While on the road, I will continue writing my newsletter, giving you my daily dose of market insight. I will also be re-running some of my favorite research pieces from the past when my travel schedule does not allow Internet access.
This is to expose my thousands of new subscribers to the golden oldies, and to remind the legacy readers who have since forgotten them.
I will be back in San Francisco in early August, glued to my screens once again for another year of toil in the salt mines. In the meantime, please feel free to email me.
Mad Hedge Technology Letter author Arthur Henry will be working straight through the summer. No rest for the wicked!
In the meantime, I shall be raising a glass to all of you at dinner, the loyal readers of The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader. Salute! Prost! Kampai, and Cheers! Thanks for making this letter a huge success!
If you want to take the opportunity to meet me in person, please find my strategy luncheon schedule below. To purchase tickets for the luncheons, please go to my online store and click on the country and city of your choice.
Wednesday, June 29, 12:00 PM London, England
Friday, July 22, 3:00 PM Zermatt, Switzerland
Thursday, July 28, 12:00 PM Venice Italy
I look forward to seeing you there, and thanks for supporting my research.
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
Now Which One of These is for Belgium?