Finding High-Quality Companies That Can Weather Any Storm
This is the free version of Complete Investor, which provides analysis and insights. Paid subscribers get access to the full issue, including investment recommendations with buy-up-to prices, a real-time portfolio, and more. Click here for details.
Edgar Allen Poe coined the term “gold bug” in his 1843 short story of the same name. “The Gold-Bug” follows the adventures of William Legrand, who discovers a gold-colored beetle on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and believes it to be made of solid gold. The bug leads him on an adventure hunting for buried treasure. By the 1870s, the gold-bug label had been adopted by those who favored using the precious metal as the basis for the U.S. monetary system.
President William McKinley officially backed the U.S. dollar with gold in 1900 – ending a vigorous debate between supporters of gold and backers of silver over which metal would prevail as the exclusive basis for the U.S. currency. Fun side note: L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard Of Oz is widely interpreted as a political allegory for this late-19th-century battle: key symbols include silver shoes (free silver), the yellow brick road (gold standard), the Emerald City (deceptive Washington, D.C.), and characters representing farmers, workers, and politicians like William Jennings Bryan, with "Oz" standing for "ounces" of precious metals.
As the government struggle over monetary issues intensified into the 1896 election, the political rhetoric turned more heated. Eventually, the term “gold bug” became derogatory. Preaching prudence and fiscal responsibility was deemed to be a nutty fringe concept, even back then. The country still maintained the gold standard until President Franklin Roosevelt abandoned it in 1933. President Richard Nixon firmly cut any relation between U.S. greenbacks and gold in August 1971. By retaining a fixed exchange rate of dollars to a hard asset like gold, governments felt too constrained in their ability to enact expansionary policies.
Imagine if those Americans could see the country today.
Perhaps President Franklin Roosevelt felt that his policies would be a temporary fix given the unusual severity of the Great Depression. But once the genie is out of the government-spending bottle, it can never be put back in. Today U.S. national debt is $38.4 trillion… and counting. There is no longer any political party preaching – even whispering – fiscal responsibility, and financial markets appear to have finally taken notice.
The harsh reality is that all this massive deficit spending only ends one way – that is, badly. Gold bugs might have been viewed as being well out of the mainstream years ago, but with gold up 65% in 2025, no one is laughing at the gold bugs now. Of course, gold isn’t the only hard asset flashing warning signs regarding excess government spending. Silver skyrocketed 148% in 2025. That includes a parabolic move in December in which the often-forgotten precious metal surged 27% just in that last month of the year alone.
These moves in gold and silver are happening for a reason, and investors should be taking notice. But this doesn’t mean abandoning the stock market. In fact, far from it, as many stocks can also benefit from inflation or represent good stores of value in volatile times. Sticking with high-quality companies that have attractive valuations and strong free cash flow is an all-weather strategy.
In this issue of Complete Investor, we provide updates on six stocks that fit the bill. The first is an underappreciated land asset poised to capitalize on the data-center boom – and an LNG producer seeking a new path to profits. Another is a leading sports and lifestyle apparel brand in the midst of a turnaround. There is a high-growth international e-commerce retailer that continues to fly under the market’s radar. And also a leading alcohol producer that continues to transform its portfolio of brands. And finally, we look at and still like a well-known transportation company poised to take the next leap to autonomous driving.
Precious metals may be signaling that the government is acting irresponsibly. But that doesn’t mean investors should. So let’s dig into the stocks to find some great values for 2026.
If you don’t have access to the full issue below, click here to subscribe to Porter Stansberry’s Complete Investor.
This content is only available for paid members.
If you are interested in joining Porter & Co. either click the button below now or call our Customer Care team at 888-610-8895.