Extension of Our $1,000,000 Challenge

Last month marked the eighth year we offered a cash reward for anyone who could provide evidence that there was another financial professional who could at least match Mike Stathis' track record in investment forecasting and analysis since 2006. 

Prior to the recent expiration of this $100,000 reward, we also launched a similar contest but raised the stakes to $1,000,000. This offer expired in June 2017. See here.

We are now extending this $1,000,000 challenge effective today, through sometime in 2018 (expiration for this challenge will be determined in an upcoming release).

We are also extending the period covered by this challenge by another year, from late 2006 to October 2017. 

We will release more details regarding this challenge in coming weeks.  See here for the most recent update regarding this challenge. 

We will make all research publications available for analysis for official entries once they have satisfied the basic requirements. Until then, you can begin to analyze Mike Stathis' track record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.  

And if you don't feel sufficiently qualified to perform a proper analysis of forecasting track records or if don't have adequate time to put in all of the work needed for this challenge, feel free to send this to anyone you think might stand a better chance of completing a reasonable entry.

You can even send this to the clowns positioned in the media as "experts" and ask if they would care to enter this challenge.  

Some Background on Our Track Record Challenges

In 2009 we began offering a cash reward to anyone who could provide evidence to refute our claim that Mike Stathis holds the leading investment forecasting track record.

As you might recall, this offer arose from our initiative to demonstrate to the public that the U.S. media engages in blatant censorship in order to achieve its hidden agendas. 

Note that the launch of this challenge had absolutely nothing to do with boasting. It was about waking the public up to the fact that the media intentionally promotes con artists, shills and idiots in order to profit, while pretending to have the audience's best interests in mind. In reality, the media works against its audience and on the side of advertisers. 

We have since devoted an unthinkable amount of time and resources towards proving this claim. Over the course of a decade, Mike has uncovered and explained the various tactics used by the media to control, deceive and defraud its audience. Mike's work in media analysis alone has positioned him as one of the world's top media experts. 

Make no mistake about it. The "experts" you see and hear about in the media are only experts in sales and marketing.  In reality, they are charlatans. 

These charlatans are able to generate large sums of money from the free promotion they receive from the media. And they leverage this opportunity to pitch their books, subscription services, financial services and other products to the retail investment public that has been informed by the media that these "experts" are "smart guys" and "great investors."  

It would be a different matter if these charlatans had good track records or their books actually provided real insight that helped investors. Despite the fact that many investors who fall for the media scam actually think these clowns are spot on with their "insights" and forecasts, the facts speak for themselves. The clowns and charlatans promoted by the media as "experts" are consistently wrong and often clueless. 

So why do so many people fall for the media scam? The sad reality is that in today's world, most people gravitate towards the celebrity-like personna of these "experts." Anyone who receives a good amount of media expoure is able to have this kind of impact on the masses. The reason for this behavior delves into an entirely different topic which I won't bother discussing here. But you should note that this phenomenon is well-known and accounts for the growing trend of positioning Hollywood stars and pop singers and other entertainers as spokesmen for global agendas such as "climate change."

The point is that those who are seduced by this "celebrity status" (as seen by the "experts" in the media) lose their ability to think clearly and objectively. In fact, many of these individuals never possessed this basic skill, which explains why they fell for the media scam to begin with. 

Top Six Questions to Ask BEFORE You Trust Investment "Experts"

The truth of the matter is that the media intentionally features these "experts" in order to make sure its audience is steered into the gutter. This generates higher advertisement revenues from its sponsors, most of which are Wall Street firms and affiliated financial services companies. 

You see, because these "experts" are wrong the majority of time, those who listen to them will eventually lose large sums of money.  This ultimately benefits financial firms which advertise on financial shows and networks that feature these "experts." Thus, if you are one of the sheep that follows the advice or recommendations of the media's "experts" you are going to lose money. Probably a very large amount. It's that simple. 

And once you lose money won't you eventually seek some "professional" assistance? Okay so don't you think those ads and logos you see on those financial programs you watched have been subconsciously imprinted into your mind? In fact, they have. This is all known based on extensive research.

So naturally once you feel a sense of desperation after having suffered huge losses, chances are very high that you're going to contact one of the financial firms you saw advertised or in same way associated with the financial programs you watch.  A similar pattern of behavior plays out with radio and print media. 

And if you are one of the media executives overseeing this scam, could you not charge higher fees for ads? Of course you could, and you do!

After all, this scam causes a larger than normal percentage of the audience to seek out the assistance of financial firms. Therefore, any media show that is able to execute this scam will command top dollar for ad slots.

The only other variable the media executive needs to worry about are ratings. The higher the ratings, the more ad dollars you can demand for ad slots. This is why the financial media bends over backwards to create Hollywood-like productions to ensure the illusion of value has been created before your very eyes.

These productions ensure the full gamet of entertainment has been covered, from babes and boobs to comradery. It's all about creating a "feel-good" production. This is the business of Hollywood. The productions cause the audience to engage more. And the audience becomes more attached and loyalty to these productions due to the emotional stimulation they receive by watching these scam networks.

The media crime bosses who orchestrate this scam make sure cover every angle when they design each production, from the "feel-good" (sexual arousement) response the male audience gets when they see the babes and boobs, to the "feel-good" environment created when the charlatans incite a gambling mentality as they rattle off the "trades of the day."   

But you aren't going to ever get any real investment insight from these productions. It's all cheap entertainment dished out by bimbos and baboons. It's all smoke and mirrors. It's Hollywood. The idea isn't to provide the audience with value. The idea is to keep the audience entertained so they will tune in.

Once they are tuned in their guard is dropped and they confuse cheap entertainment with investment insight. That's when the losses begin.  And unless you are either a very seasoned and sophisticated investors or else you have come across Mike Stathis, you aren't likely to understand this scam.  

Any way you look at you are always going to get screwed from ad-based content. If you need a reminder read this. 

There is no one in the world who has explained this entire ad-based media charade better than Mike Stathis. 

If there is only one thing you take from this presentation hopefully it will be to avoid every so-called "expert" in the financial media. Do not buy their books and do not listen to anything they say unless you want to lose money. The best action would be to avoid the financial media altogether.

In order to demonstrate that the media banned him and to help raise more awareness as to the criminal nature of the media, Mike began by offering $10,000 to the first person who could prove there was a financial professional who could match his investment forecasting track record since late-2006 to current (which was August 2009 at the time).

The main objective was not for Mr. Stathis to boast about his track record but to convince the public of the vital importance of ignoring the media. 

By 2010, after more than one year without any submissions we increased the offer to $50,000.

By August 2011, we raised this amount to $100,000. After more than two years of waiting, we failed to receive even a single submission, so we extended the expiration period several times as we anxiously awaited submissions. See here. 

To this day, after eight years and more than 500,000 views of this offer (which is quite a bit considering MIke has been completely banned so his exposure is virtually nonexistent) we have not received a single entry.  See here. 

In July 2016, as the expiration period of this $100,000 offer was approaching, we extended it once again to 2017. See here. 

A few months earlier (January 2016) we also introduced the sum of $1,000,000 to be awarded to the first person who could provide evidence that another financial professional has a better investment forecasting track record than Mike Stathis, from 2006 through 2016. This offer expired in June 2017. See here.

Now we have extended this $1,000,000 challenge effective immediately.

The period to be analyzed for the $1,000,000 challenge is November 2006 through October 2017. ³

The forecasting research universe and respective time periods for this challenge are as follows:

1) Detailed explanations of the events leading up to and responsible for the real estate collapse and financial crisis (2006 - 2009).

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006)

2) Investment-related forecasts and guidance issued prior to the financial crisis.    

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006) and Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble (2007)

3) Characterization of the long-term issues that have caused the U.S. economy to struggle through an economic recovery (must have been documented prior to 2008). 

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006)

4) Forecasts and predictions related to the aftermath of the collapse of the real estate and financial industries (late 2006-2012). 

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006) and Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble (2007)

5) U.S. stock market forecasts and guidance, as given by the Dow Jones Industrial Average,  the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index (since late 2006).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

6) Identification and discussions of various market and macroeconomic risk factors pertaining to market valuation, performance and risk for the US capital markets, including general macroeconomic forecasts. 

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

7) Chinese stock market forecasts and guidance, denoted by the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (2010).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

8) Indian stock market forecasts and guidance, denoted by the closed-end fund, India Fund (IFN) since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (2010).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

9) Brazilian stock market forecasts and guidance, denoted by the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ), since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (2010).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

10) Identification and discussions of various market and macroeconomic risk factors pertaining to market valuation, performance and risk for the three emerging markets we cover, including general macroeconomic forecasts. 

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

11) Securities analysis and guidance since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (June 2009).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor research publication

12) Precious metals (gold and silver) analysis and trading guidance since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (late 2006).

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006), the Intelligent Investor and the CCPM Forecaster research publications

13) Commodities analysis and trading guidance since official inclusion into our research coverage universe (2010).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor and CCPM Forecaster research publications

14) Foreign currencies analysis and trading guidance since official inclusion into our research (2010).

- this material can be found in the Intelligent Investor and CCPM Forecaster research publications

15) Various macroeconomic forecasts, from interest rates to big picture analysis (since late 2006).  

- this material can be found in the extended version of America's Financial Apocalypse (2006), the Intelligent Investor and the CCPM Forecaster research publications

This challenge pertains to the total summation and breadth of coverage of Mike Stathis' forecasting track record as shown by the above topics.

However, if the forecasting research from the financial professional you wish to enter as a contestant does not cover all of the research topics listed above, we are willing to accept challenges focused on the contestant's track record pertaining to the financial crisis. We will also accept challenges that deal exclusively with U.S. stock market forecasting for the time period listed above.

If you think you know of another financial professional who can beat Mike Stathis' track record, we encourage you to start getting your case prepared. 

Perhaps you'd like to submit Peter Schiff's track record as an entry.

What about Harry Dent? Maybe Jim Rogers or Marc Faber?

How about Jim Rickards? 

Jim Cramer? Doug Kass? Dennis Gartman?

What about Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz?

Nouriel Roubini? Robert Shiller? 

After all, these are the guys who always receive daily promotion as "experts" in the media, so shouldn't they have great track records?

If not, then why are they being aired by the media on a daily basis? 

THIS IS THE $1,000,000 question. 

As previously stated, for this challenge, you will need to have $500,000 in cash ready to transfer to an escrow account tied to official rules, terms and conditions of this challenge in order to be officially entered. We will also escrow $500,000 into the same account tied to the same provisions. 

If you lose the challenge you will forfeit the $500,000 in escrow. But if you win, you will receive $1,000,000 from AVA Investment Analytics ($500,000 from escrow plus the return of your $500,000, plus another $500,000 from AVA Investment Analytics payable within 12 months). 

The results of the challenge will be determined by top third-party consulting firms such as KPMG, McKinsey and others to be determined at a later time.

Why are we requiring contestants to risk losing $500,000 for this challenge?

In order to entertain only the most serious challenges. You see, the fact of the matter is that there are many delusional people out there who think they are right, when the fact is they are wrong. For instance, you still have thousands of individuals who think Peter Schiff has been right with his predictions. We do not have time to waste on submissions from delusional people who think they have excellent logic. In reality, many of these individuals suffer from Dunning-Kruger. Others are likely to suffer from some form of mental illness. Irrespective of their mental illness or sheer ignorance, we will gladly devote the needed time and resources required to prove these individuals wrong if they are willing to risk losing $500,000.

If the contestant wins the challenge, he or she will receive $1,000,000 from AVA Investment Analytics. There will be a legally binding agreement backing it up. 

We will release more details on this challenge in coming weeks. 

NOTE: if you would like to contest my claim that I hold the leading track record in the world since 2006, you should enter my $1 million challenge.

Put your money where your mouth is like I have.  

Otherwise, SHUT UP.

Let's examine some additional facts regarding my track record.

1)  I predicted the financial crisis, its consequences and detailed how and why things would play out as they did more accurately than anyone else in the world. 

2) I hold the world's best investment forecasting track record since 2006. Furthermore, to my knowledge, I am the only financial professional in world history to back their claim of holding the best track record in the world with a monetary reward.  

I have backed this claim by a $100,000 guarantee which was publicly offered on the home page of our website for 6 years. We did not receive a single submission. In January 2016, I increased this amount to a $1 million with some different stipulations in order to only receive serious entries. To this day we received not one single submission.   

3)  I am the only financial professional in the world to have a written record of having been extremely bearish regarding the US economy and stock market prior to the financial crisis (as detailed in my 2006 book America's Financial Apocalypse), who also turned bullish at the bottom and has remained bullish since then.

I also pointed to a collapse in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to 6500 in this 2006 book. No one else in the world made such an accurate prediction. 

4) I am the only financial professional in the world to have written a book (Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble, early 2007) that advised investors to short the sub-prime mortgage stocks, banks and homebuilders. I even provided a mini-shorting tutorial as well as guidance on when to enter these short positions. 

Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble. This is the chapter that shows where Mike recommended shorting Fannie, Freddie, sub-primes, homebuilders, GM, GE, etc.

You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media

5) I am the only financial professional in the world to have written a book that advised investors to short the prime mortgage stocks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble, early 2007).  

Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.

I am also the only person in the world to have accurate predicted in advance that these mortgage giants would require a bailout from the U.S. government (America's Financial Apocalypse, late 2006 and Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble, early 2007). 

6)  The media (both mainstream and alternative) banned me beginning with attempts to get America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression published.  

First let me address a common criticism I've run across regarding having been banned. So how do I know I've been banned? Maybe the media just doesn't know who I am. Maybe I lack the credentials to be cited as a reputable source. Here I will briefly address each of these possibilities (I don't want to derail the main topic of this article so it will be brief).  

I know I have been banned because my company has spent large sums of money and effort contacting hundreds of media firms including every major and several minor radio stations, all major TV and newspaper firms and so on between 2006 and 2010. I was directly involved in this process. I know for a fact that many TV producers know me by name because I have been told this by some who work in the industry. I also have many of the emails that were sent out (some as follow-ups to calls, others as the only point of contact). My credentials far exceed the typical requirements of the media. You can judge for yourself. 

Despite having worked at two of the leading Wall Street investment firms, despite having an educational and research pedigree far exceeding that held by the vast majority of authors in who wrote investment books during that period and since, all publishers opted to not even entertain publishing the book upon review of the proposal.

They even gave me ridiculous excuses such as "there are already too many books published in this genre."

Oh really??

The fact is there has never been a book published like America's Financial Apocalypse. Their claims were clearly bogus. Prior to AFA, there had only been a handful of books published discussing a bear case for the US economy. Furthermore, take a look at the vast number of books that were published on the top since then.

You should note that every single one of these books (in my opinion) is fluff, nonsense and/or baseless fear-mongering designed to pump gold or market the author's investment firm or "newsletter."

Needless to say, these books did not expose the reality as I did in AFA. You should also note that the vast majority of the authors are Jewish. Being Jewish and writing about fluff, pumping gold, and/or fear-mongering while failing to expose the truth points to why these books were published while mine weren't (I published several other books after AFA once I formed my own publishing firm).   

[Even though I formed a real publishing company (I did NOT self-publish) the printing company that controls the production, distribution and administrative activities of my books terminated my account for no apparent reason. The person who terminated the account was a complete prick. And I find the fact that he is Jewish to be relevant.]   

7)  After having been banned by publishers, I experienced the same treatment by the broadcast media, and then by the Internet media. 

I then realized how the game is played. If you are credible, speak the truth, expose criminality of the Jewish Mafia and cannot be bought off, you will be banned by all media, including the publishing industry. So much for America's freedom of speech myth.

The remarkable thing is that when I wrote America's Financial Apocalypse I was not even aware of the Jewish Mafia, so there was obviously no mention of it. I didn't even mention the word "Jew" once. But that didn't matter because in this book I exposed the fraud perpetrated by Wall Street. I exposed the deception and lies by the US government, I exposed the trade disaster, America's healthcare crisis, the poison of political correctness, damaging impact of illegal aliens, and many other things run by the Jewish Mafia. This is why I was banned.

If the American people truly understood the realities they would revolt. I stood positioned as arguably the best positioned individual to expose the full truth and nothing but the full truth. And I did not care one bit about turning my mission into a profit center. This is why I was banned. 

8)  Instead of airing qualified, unbiased and credible experts, the Jewish mafia promoted shills, gatekeepers, con artists, broken clocks, frauds and idiots; guys like Glenn Beck, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Joe the plumber, Donald Trump and countless others.  

The media also promoted complete clowns and fear-mongering broken clock tools as experts; guys like Peter Schiff, Marc Faber, Jim Rogers, Jim Rickards, Harry Dent, and even scum bags from boiler room copywriting shops as experts. In fact, many of the media's "experts" either directly work for copywriting shops or are in sme way affiliated with them as we have previously demonstrated. Combined with their talking head pundit counterparts, these clowns have completely brainwashed the masses. 

The funny thing is that supporters of these clowns still claim that the media was against them or censored them. Such a claim only proves just how stupid these people really are.  It is for this reason that so many Americans remain clueless.  

The media is now positioning Alex Jones into the mainstream scene. This would not be possible a few decades ago. But today, Americans have become so stupid and so brainwashed that it's easy for the Jewish Mafia is exert complete control over their minds using frauds like Alex Jones.

The bottom line is that it is up to each individual who would consider doubting anything I have to say to prove that I am wrong (and please, no individuals with Dunning-Kruger) because I have sufficiently demonstrated my credibility as an unbiased and accomplished financial analyst, investment strategist and critical thinker. Hence, I have earned the benefit of the doubt. My track record speaks for itself. 

Who else is willing to stand by their track record AND back it with $1,000,000?

If you find someone else, let us know but we won't be holding our breath.