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Daly Asset Management

Sep 2, 2025 • 16 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

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American investors are living through the most psychologically brutal economic period since 2008.
But it's not a recession causing the damage...
It's the slow-motion wealth destruction that nobody talks about.
Here's what's actually happening to your money:🧵

The economic data tells a story of systematic middle-class erosion disguised as "resilient growth."
Q2 GDP hit 3.0% annualized growth, but that number hides a darker reality.
July job creation collapsed to just 73,000 new positions.
Unemployment ticked up to 4.2%.

Most Americans don't realize they're paying a hidden tax that dwarfs their income gains.
Tariffs have quietly raised the average effective rate from 2.4% to over 18% this year.
That's a systematic transfer of wealth from your paycheck to government coffers.
Let's take a look:

Here's the math that financial advisors won't show you:
The average American household is paying an extra $2,400 annually in tariff costs.
Your grocery bill, furniture, clothing, and household goods all cost more.
But your salary didn't increase by $2,400...

The Yale Budget Lab calculated the real impact:
- Clothing short-term price increase 37%, long-term 17%.
- Household furnishings up 17%.
These aren't temporary spikes.
These are permanent adjustments to your cost of living.
And there's more:

Consumer price inflation sits at 2.6% in July, but that number is meaningless.
Core PCE inflation runs at 3.1%, well above the Fed's 2% target.
The Federal Reserve collected $26.6 billion in tariffs just in June.
Someone has to pay that bill...

Individual investors are feeling the psychological weight.
AAII sentiment survey shows 44.8% bearish readings as of August 20th.
That's 13.8 percentage points above the historical average.
Fear levels haven't been this extreme since early 2025...

The disconnect between official "growth" and lived reality is causing mass investor paralysis.
The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 58.2 in August, down from 61.7.
People know something is wrong.
But here's what the fear is missing:

Extreme bearish sentiment historically signals market bottoms, not tops.
When AAII bearish readings exceeded 61.9% in April 2025, historical patterns show the S&P 500 typically gains about 16% over the following year.
Panic creates opportunities.

The Fed faces an impossible choice between fighting inflation and supporting a slowing economy.
Rate cuts would fuel more inflation.
Rate holds would deepen the economic slowdown.
Either way, traditional investment strategies built on predictable Fed policy are obsolete:

High-fee advisors can't navigate systematic policy-driven cost increases.
Independence matters more than ever.
Smart investors recognize that this isn't a normal business cycle:

This is a structural shift in how the American economy operates.
High tariff costs, persistent inflation, and slow growth create a new baseline.
The old rulebook doesn't work anymore:

Families see their standard of living erode despite working harder.
Investors watch portfolios gain in nominal terms while losing in real terms.
The gap between financial markets and financial reality widens daily.
This creates an opportunity:

When fear dominates and traditional strategies fail, independent investors who understand the new economic reality can build wealth.
Not by following the crowd.
But by recognizing that the crowd is usually wrong at turning points:

Tired of high-fee advisors who underdeliver?
Our FREE weekly newsletter teaches:
- How to spot hidden portfolio fees
- Macro trends Wall Street hides
- Independent investing strategies
Subscribe here for FREE: dalyam.beehiiv.com

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Daly Asset Management

@DalyAManagement

Nov 5, 2025

In 1965, Singapore had nothing.

No resources. No money. No military.

Every economist predicted failure.

Today, its GDP per capita is higher than the US.

Here's Singapore's blueprint economists don't teach (and why it worked):🧵

Think about this: Singapore's GDP per capita in 1965 was $500.

Today? $90,641.

That's an 18,000% increase in 60 years.

They went from third-world poverty to surpassing the United States in wealth per person.

Let's look at the transformation that nobody talks about:

Most people believe economic miracles require natural resources.

The reality? Singapore had nothing. No oil. No minerals. No agricultural land.

Just a tiny island with racial tensions and massive unemployment.

Yet they built something unprecedented.

Let's look at the data:

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Daly Asset Management

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Oct 7, 2025

Japan defies economic logic:

- 235% debt-to-GDP ratio
- 30+ years of stagnation
- Wages down 11% since 1995

Yet no collapse.

Here's how they broke every rule and survived the impossible (and the 5 lessons every investor needs to learn from this):🧵

Japan's government debt hit 1,324 trillion yen in March 2025.

That's 235% of GDP, the highest among all G7 nations.

For context, other major economies average just 118% debt-to-GDP.

Japan has been carrying more than double this load for decades without defaulting.

How?

Most people believe high debt automatically leads to economic collapse.

The reality? Japan has defied every traditional economic model.

Zero hyperinflation. Zero default. Zero currency crisis.

Just persistent, grinding stagnation that conventional theory says shouldn't exist.

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Daly Asset Management

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Sep 19, 2025

A federal lawsuit just exposed the biggest 401(k) scam in history.

$62 million was stolen from workers through hidden fees.

They are destroying your nest egg, and you don't even know it's happening.

Here's how employers legally rob your retirement:🧵

It began when employees noticed something suspicious:

Their 401(k) recordkeeping fees were nearly TRIPLE the market rate.

While other companies paid 0.05% for administration, Lockheed employees paid 0.15%+.

On a $100,000 balance, that's an extra $1,000 annually. Pure theft.

2006-2015: Nine years of legal discovery revealed the systematic exploitation:

Lockheed Martin was:

- Allowing excessive investment fees
- Keeping retirement assets in low-yield State Street accounts
- Choosing providers based on business relationships

The evidence?

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Sep 12, 2025

The U.S. national debt just hit $37.4 trillion.

Politicians are borrowing $66,156 every SECOND just to pay interest on money they already borrowed.

Here's the debt death spiral that will destroy your savings, your retirement, and your children's future (and how to survive):🧵

Think about this: The government is borrowing $21 billion every single day.

That's $875 million every hour.

$14.58 million every minute.

$243,055.56 every second.

Your personal share? $110,020 per person. $283,098 per household.

Most Americans think this is just abstract numbers.

The reality? Interest payments alone now cost $841 billion in just 10 months.

That's more than we spend on the entire Department of Defense.

Here's the math that should terrify every American:

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Daly Asset Management

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Sep 7, 2025

The world's biggest hedge fund just delivered the most embarrassing performance in Wall Street history.

Ray Dalio's $97 billion All Weather fund returned 43% over 10 years.

A simple index portfolio returned 90%.

Here's how ONE mistake exposed the entire industry:

Think about what this means.

Ray Dalio built his reputation predicting the 2008 financial crisis.

Bridgewater Associates manages more money than any hedge fund in history.

Their "All Weather" strategy was supposed to beat traditional portfolios in every environment.

Instead?

They delivered less than half the returns of buying two index funds.

The numbers are devastating:

All Weather fund: 43% total return (2014-2023)
Simple 60/40 portfolio: 90% total return (same period)

A $100,000 investment gap of $47,000 over a decade.

Here's why:

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Sep 5, 2025

$3.7 TRILLION just vanished from China's economy.

30,000 wealthy investors wiped out overnight.

The hidden banking system that powered China's rise for 20 years is collapsing.

Here's what Wall Street isn't telling you about the coming crash:🧵

Think of shadow banks as China's version of private lending.

When regular banks wouldn't lend to risky property developers, these firms stepped in.

They raise money from wealthy individuals and pitch: "We'll pay you 10% annually, guaranteed."

For over a decade it worked:

China's property boom kept rolling.

Developers borrowed billions to build more apartments.

Shadow banks collected their fees and paid investors their promised returns.

Everyone got rich.

Until the music stopped: