Publisher’s Note: I want to introduce you to someone I consider a legend in the finance space, Dr. Mark Skousen.

If you haven’t come across Mark’s work before, here’s the short version: he spent three years as an economic analyst at the CIA, has been writing an investment newsletter for nearly 50 years, has taught at Columbia Business School, and was named one of the 20 most influential living economists. Steve Forbes personally awarded him the Triple Crown in Economics in 2018. He’s written more than 25 books. And a university even renamed its business school after him.

In other words, he’s the real deal. Someone who’s been reading economies and markets at the highest level for over half a century.

Right now, Mark is sounding an alarm he doesn’t take lightly. He thinks the U.S. has a dangerous vulnerability in its defense supply chain, specifically in the raw materials that go inside every weapon we build. China controls most of the world’s supply, and Washington is finally starting to spend serious money to fix that.

He’s found five companies he thinks are directly in the path of that spending, and he’s laying it all out tomorrow, June 30 at 2 p.m. ET at the America Reloading Summit. It’s free to attend.

Register right here.

– Stephen Prior

“History repeats itself all the time on Wall Street.” – Edwin Lefevre (quoted in The Maxims of Wall Street, Page 112)

By Dr. Mark Skousen

In the early 1970s, I was a young economic analyst at the CIA.

My job was to read intelligence reports most Americans would never see – and look for vulnerabilities other people were missing.

In October 1973, I watched one of those vulnerabilities turn into a crisis almost overnight.

A group of oil-producing nations cut off supply to the United States. Gas lines stretched for miles, inflation spiked, and the economy stalled.

The cause wasn’t a war or a natural disaster. It was a single supply chain America had quietly depended on for years, with no backup plan.

What struck me, even then, was how visible most vulnerabilities are before a crisis arrives.

The oil embargo wasn’t a surprise to everyone. Analysts had been documenting America’s growing oil dependency for years.

The warnings were there, but the response wasn’t.

That experience taught me something I have never forgotten: The biggest risks are usually the ones that have been visible for a long time.

And I’m seeing a similar pattern play out today.

Only it’s not oil we’re dependent on…

The Pattern That Keeps Repeating

Recent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine burned through American weapons stockpiles faster than the Pentagon ever planned for.

In just the first two months of the latest Iran conflict, the U.S. used up roughly half its Tomahawk missile stockpile, about $6 billion worth of munitions.

And Washington just approved the largest single increase in defense spending in 75 years, pushing the budget to roughly $1.5 trillion.

But there’s a problem…

Almost every modern weapon, from a small drone to a fighter jet, needs certain materials – like rare earth metals – to function.

And China controls roughly 90% of the world’s capacity to process these materials into usable form.

Clearly, that is an issue our government would like to solve fast.

“If America loses its unquestioned military edge, no amount of fiscal austerity can maintain this nation’s economic health,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said. “Our job, in conjunction with Congress, is to stop at nothing… to ensure we deliver on the commander-in-chief’s vision for American defense dominance: a common-sense, America First military. The future of America’s economic and fiscal health depends on it.”

The good news is, starting January 1, 2027, a new Pentagon rule will ban the use of these Chinese-made materials in American weapons systems entirely.

The bad news?

We aren’t prepared to meet current demands.

By the government’s own estimates, the National Defense Stockpile holds only about 42 days of one material that’s critical for defense purposes.

That means our government can increase the defense budget as much as it wants, but nothing gets built if the materials inside those weapons are still controlled by the one country they are meant to deter.

But that’s where the opportunity lies.

The Companies Built to Close the Gap

I like to say that major challenges often lead to major investments.

And those investments can reshape industries for years to come.

So I’ve spent the past several weeks digging through SEC filings, Pentagon contract notices, and earnings transcripts to map out the new supply chain – and find the companies positioned to benefit from our shortage of rare earths.

I found five that I’m excited about – some of them with government contracts already in hand.

And I expect each one to surge higher from the coming government spending surge – and the hunt for alternative sources of critical materials.

There’s more to this story I’d love to share.

I’ll be revealing the full story, including more details about the specific companies I’m watching, at a free online event.

It’s called the America Reloading Summit, and it’ll take place on Tuesday, June 30, at 2 p.m. ET.

The event is entirely free to attend. All we ask is that you reserve your seat.

During this free presentation, I’ll share the historical patterns that have shaped my thinking, explain why I believe America is entering one of its most important periods of modernization in decades, and discuss the areas of the market that I believe deserve investors’ attention right now.

Go here to reserve your spot.

Good investing, AEIOU,

Dr. Mark Skousen
Macroeconomic Strategist, The Oxford Club