| July 19, 2014 | | | | | | | |  | | | | "You're Safe in Nicaragua" Is an Understatement | | | | | - Can you name a better time to be a U.S. Border Patrol officer? Neither can we...
- Serious readers wanted: Your invitation to come down to Nicaragua in February with Addison and Pete...
- Then, we republish yet another Bill Bonner dispatch from Rancho Santana… this one from 2000, right as the Ranch development was getting into full swing...
| | | | | | | | | | | | TV Host Caught Using Underground Income Scheme Two simple words could be the key to $10,000 in your pocket every month, for life. In a free special report, former TV personality Neil George teaches you a strategy he -- as well as probably hundreds of other Wall Street insiders -- personally used to retire at the age of 35. It's easy to get into (you could start today) and very lucrative. Incredibly though, hardly anyone outside of Wall Street even knows the technique tied to these two simple words. | | | | | | | | | | | Baltimore, Maryland
July 19, 2014
"If what you stated about Nicaragua is true, why do we see so many desperate refugees from the country streaming through Mexico to cross illegally into the U.S.?"
-- A reader who emailed us on June 29 while we were at Rancho Santana Peter Coyne, gazing southwestward...
What a time to be a U.S. Border Patrol agent, huh?
There are Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans galore!
But no Nicaraguans…
That's curious. Just why aren't UAC fleeing to the U.S. from Nicaragua, dear reader?
We want to know. We're starting to think the Nicaraguans see something they don't like about the U.S. That'd be our cue for getting outta here.
"UAC," by the way, is a press-peddled acronym that stands for unaccompanied children. Specifically, the illegal immigrant kind. They're all over in place in towns like McAllen, Texas.
Jana Winter from Fox News describes it well:  Life jackets of all sizes and the occasional punctured raft are strewn along the banks of the Rio Grande, just south of Mission, Texas, where a relentless onslaught of illegal immigrants eagerly surrender to beleaguered Border Patrol agents around the clock…
"Illegal immigrants of all ages, including many unaccompanied children, run to them to surrender. They are piled into the back of Border Patrol vehicles and taken to a makeshift staging area in Rincon Village, where a large Border Patrol bus waits to transport them to McAllen's Border Patrol facility.
"You're going to be out here a long time," little Fernando, one of the UAC who came to McAllen from El Salvador, told a border agent. "There are thousands of us."
Thousands of little Fernandos… all with dark, dust-brushed faces and tousled black hair.
Some from Guatemala, some from Honduras and some from El Salvador… but few, if any, from Nicaragua.
There, the little Fernandos are all accompanied and accounted for in their shacks. While visiting Rancho Santana last month, we saw them with our own eyes in Rivas, Limon and Granada, to name a few places.
But what's Rivas got that McAllen doesn't?
Nicaragua is poor… and the United States is rich. Surely, Nicaraguan boys can hold their hands out as aptly as Honduran ones can.
No, dear reader. Something tells us these UAC have little to do with money.
Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, made the case on Wednesday: If U.S. policy was the main reason why there is a sudden surge of UAC, it should also pull UAC from Nicaragua. This suggests that other factors like the high levels of violence and strong family connections are the main reasons why UAC from the Northern Triangle [of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala] are coming and why Nicaraguan UAC are absent.
Nicaragua has a much lower homicide rate than El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. According to the United Nations, there has been a dramatic increase in murder rates across Central America since 2006 -- except in Nicaragua. Here's a visual to drive the point: "But why the heck are you telling me about this?" we practically hear you mumbling dryly.
Because, like the reader quote we began this episode with, you might get the impression that Nicaraguans are fleeing to the U.S.
And… furthermore… you might think that means Nicaragua isn't safe. So our point is, if that's you, you're wrong.
We want you to know that so you don't let it keep you from signing up to come with me and Addison to Rancho Santana from Feb. 4-8. You're invited to Nicaragua to see the place with us firsthand. We call the get-together a "Chill Weekend." | The last "Chill Weekend" we held was nearly two years ago -- so it's about time we held another one. | The last "Chill Weekend" we held was nearly two years ago -- so it's about time we held another one.
There will be plenty of time to roam around… relax, ask one-on-one questions or grab a drink with me and Addison. As fun as it is, though, we'd like it only if serious readers reach out. Ones who are actually interested in diversifying into the foreign real estate we have and joining our like-minded community.
To learn more, simply send an email to marcb@ranchosantana.com right now. He'll be able to give you all the information you need and help you decide if the trip will be the right fit for you.
Be sure to mention that Pete from The Daily Reckoning sent you. I told the folks when I was down there last that I'd put you in touch, so they're expecting you.
After you've emailed Marc, we've decided to republish yet another Nicaraguan classique by Bill Bonner for your enjoyment. This time, Bill's ranch dispatch is from the year 2000, just when things were getting started down there.
We hope you enjoy it... | | | | | | | | | | | |
Unless you buy organic, there's a 99% chance this particular food is contaminated with pesticides… toxins that have been linked to birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, Parkinson's disease, autism, and diabetes.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Work and Play in Nicaragua | | | | by Bill Bonner | | | | |  |
We sat on the terrace of Antonio's house…listening to the waves on the beach below and eating lobster that had been pulled out of the ocean just in front of us.Antonio's family had owned the property and raised cattle and horses on it.
After we showed him what we were doing, he decided to join us. He bought one of the best lots and built a house. It has three bedrooms and a roof made of palm leaves. The bedrooms are airconditioned, but the main section of the house is completely open -- looking out over a pool and the ocean behind it. The temperature is never too cold and never too hot -- with the help of the sea breeze -- so you can spend your time outside comfortably.
Antonio's mother had come over to supervise the meal. She added a touch of femininity to the all-male group. But after she left, the whiskey and cigars came out…and the talk turned to the most popular subject among ambitious, middle-aged, Type-A males -- money.
Money is a curious subject. We were all there because we had some money and wanted to make more. But what made the place nice had nothing to do with money. The sea breeze takes no account of your personal balance sheet when it rushes by. The ocean was just as blue to a pauper as it was to a George Soros or Ted Turner. The sun was just as bright. Even penniless Nicaraguans ate the lobster they fished out of the sea -- or maybe the red snapper we had the next day. | "Work is play for mortal stakes is the deed ever really done for heaven and the future's sakes." | We wanted what the locals already had -- to sit around, enjoy the beautiful place, drink beer, talk. But we could not afford it. Leisure time is too expensive. Their time is cheap, because there is little market for it. Ours is so valuable that we have little available to do what we want.
But you don't make money so you can enjoy life. You make money so you can feel good about yourself, that is…feel superior to other people. And that means you have to give up many of the good things in life. You have to work, instead of play.
But the real trick is to turn work into play…for only when "work is play for mortal stakes is the deed ever really done for heaven and the future's sakes."
…to quote Robert Frost…
This project in Nicaragua has been both work and play. My partners are already designing the homes they will build. I have one in mind, too -- but it is in a section of dramatic cliffs…which is still unavailable for building. And we are already making money.
When we first came to Nicaragua a couple of years ago, the Pacific Coast was almost untouched. We thought it was inevitable that it would soon become developed. It is too close to the United States…and too beautiful to be ignored. So we decided to do our own development -- creating a place we could sell and a place that we would like ourselves. Work and play.
I mentioned a piece of property we bought in Baltimore. The price in real terms on that property went down over the last 100 years by at least 80%. But while property values in Baltimore were falling, they were rising on the California coast. In the early part of the century, the "New York Times" carried an ad for a bungalow on the beach in Malibu, California. It was for sale, if I recall correctly, for $6,000.
How much is it worth today?
I don't know, but I will bet that it is worth many times that amount. He spent 29 soul-crushing years behind the walls of the most feared and despised agency in the United States -- the IRS -- discovering every tax secret and investment strategy known to man. Until one day he vanished… Thanks to one little known discovery he made at the agency…he suddenly walked out and took an early retirement. Ever since, he's dedicated his life to exposing this secret the IRS would prefer you didn't know. A lot of people hate this man… but you'll love him after you SEE THIS. There is no reason that I can think of why the trend should not intensify. There are more people with more time and money on their hands. And they like living on attractive beaches. There are few more attractive beaches than those in Nicaragua.
And, unlike the "realestate" on the World Wide Web, the property cannot be reproduced or rendered obsolete. What's more, the political and logistical obstacles have now been removed.
Adam Smith refers to the computer leasing stocks which blasted off in "The Great Garbage Market of 1968." These companies leased computers and were thought to be on the threshold of explosive growth. Computers at the time were the big mainframe machines that cost millions of dollars.
It was thought that companies would not be able to buy them. So, computer leasing seemed like a can't- lose formula. The only question was which company would get the "territory" first. The "first mover advantage" would be not just great, but decisive. Earnings were supposed to double each year for a decade.
What happened?
Well, the territory disappeared.
The mainframes became much cheaper, and small, cheap computers eventually took the market away. But even before that, the earnings of the computer leasing companies turned out to have been vastly overstated. A moment of truth arrived when investors realized that their expectations could never be met. The stocks fell. Many of them went to zero. | So far, there is no indication that people will tire of good oceanfront property. | The trends and fashions of real land can change direction, too. But so far, there is no indication that people will tire of good oceanfront property.
Our results have been very satisfying. Others have realized that the land was under-priced. It is moving up. Almost everyone who sees the property wants to buy. One of my partners bought another two lots from the rest of us while we were down there. But since he had fallen off a horse earlier in the day and may have hit his head, I cannot take this as a reliable indicator. Still, it is a good sign I think; we are becoming reluctant to part with the land.
And we are being very careful to develop in a way that will enhance the beauty of the place, rather than destroy it.
I went walking along the beach in the morning. It is amazing how many different shapes a short stretch of beach can take. At one point, the waves crash against the rocks and a spray comes shooting up through a blowhole, as if a whale had made his way right beneath you. I came across a couple of local men fishing.
"Hola!" I said, in my best imitation of a person who spoke Spanish.
"Buenas dias," they replied, clipping off the "s." They fished for a living. But they seemed to enjoy it. Work was play for them, too.
Regards,
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning
Ouzilly, France
February 8, 2000
P.S. Marc Brown is the man to contact if you are interested in joining us in Nicaragua. His email address is marcb@ranchosantana.com. Tell him you read The Daily Reckoning and he'll give you any information you're interested in. | | | | | | |  Bill Bonner is the founder of Agora Inc. and cofounder of The Daily Reckoning. He is also a three-time New York Times best selling author. | | | | | | | BE SURE TO ADD dr@dailyreckoning.com to your address book.
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