During the Great Recession, millions of Americans lost their homes. And millions more lost their jobs, hopes, and dreams.

My family almost lost our home. My father hardly slept and became depressed.

I also lost half of my life savings.

My colleague, Brad Thomas, suffered even more. He lost his real estate empire, the tireless work of decades. He even had to move into his in-laws’ home with his family of five kids.

With memories like this still fresh in many Americans’ minds, any whiff of a financial crisis can send investors diving for cover.

Here at Intelligent Income Daily, our goal is to protect our families and yours from this kind of suffering, no matter how crazy the world gets. We want to provide you a road map designed to steer you toward financial freedom.

And to do that, you need to be aware of the facts behind all the noise.

Today I will explain why what we’re seeing in the markets today will not be another Great Recession. In fact, now is the best time to buy certain investments that are immune from the crisis caused by Silicon Valley Bank and others.

That’s why I’ll share an idea that’s beaten down right now… but could triple in the next six years.

Quick Recap

Last week Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th-largest bank in America, failed spectacularly. It went from one of the most dominant names in venture capital banking to a complete collapse in just two days.

Fortunately, the thousands of businesses with their money at SVB will get back every cent.

The FDIC, U.S. Treasury, and Federal Reserve have crafted a package that aims to help those who need it and punishes those who deserve it.

The management team that screwed up so badly is fired.

Shareholders and bondholders who are supposed to shoulder the risks of failure are being wiped out or very close to it.

But depositors – regular people like you and me – who had their savings at SVB? They are getting back all their money.

The guilty have been punished, and the innocent have been protected. And better yet, the government that’s supposed to work for us is now backstopping all banking deposits at all 3,400 FDIC-insured banks and credit unions.

That’s how I feel confident that the trauma of 2008, when almost 160 banks failed, is not going to repeat itself.

But the financial markets are acting like the economy is on fire, and the apocalypse is upon us.

This is where the opportunity for smart investors like you comes in, to profit from all this craziness.

This Is Not Another Great Recession

On Black Monday in October 1987, the S&P 500 fell 20% in a single day, and the Dow 22%.

It was the worst day in stock market history by a wide margin. In fact, during the Great Depression, when stocks fell 86%, the worst day was “just” a 13% decline.

Bonds are supposed to be the ultimate risk-free “flight to safety” asset. When stocks crash, bonds usually soar, and bond yields plummet. During Black Monday, 2-year Treasury yields fell 1% in just three days.

There’s only one other time this phenomenon has happened… This week.

Although the government has just announced a Main Street bank bailout, the bond market is acting as if the economy were collapsing faster than during the Great Recession. It’s trading with the most extreme volatility in 35 years.

In fact, regional banks fell 8% last Thursday and are down over 15% in three days as of the time of this writing.

The world’s supposedly best banks are crashing as if capitalism itself were potentially about to implode. So I do not blame people for panicking.

But the fact of the matter is, this is all an overreaction. The overall financial system isn’t in crisis.

How do I know? Because of the St. Louis Federal Reserve’s Financial Stress index and Chicago Fed’s National Financial Conditions index.

These indexes include over 130 financial metrics, ranging from yield curves to credit spreads to loan delinquency rates. These are all updated every week.

In other words, these two indexes and their component indexes show us the “God’s eye view” of the entire U.S. financial system.

Since each began (St. Louis in 1993 and Chicago in 1973), a reading of 0 has been the average.

During average recessions, the indexes rise to about 1 to 2. During the Great Recession, they soared to between 2 and 8.

Right now, they are all negative, indicating financial stress of every kind is still below average compared to the last 30 to 50 years.

So where does that leave us? At the perfect time to buy while the rest of the world panics.

Right now, one of the world’s safest, oldest, and best-managed banks is a screaming bargain – the lowest it’s traded in years. Plus, I’ll show you how it’s immune from the SVB chaos…

Bank of New York Mellon

I am talking about Bank of New York Mellon (BK), founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury.

BK is an AA-rated custodial bank whose customers are the world’s biggest institutions. They include Fidelity, BlackRock, Vanguard, pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds.

About 75% of its revenue is from fees, and its business model is nothing like most banks. It’s the bank of banks and the plumbing for the global economy.

Over the last 239 years, BK has survived and thrived through:

  • 48 recessions

  • 15 depressions

  • The Great Depression

  • Two world wars

  • Six killer pandemics (including the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed 5% of humanity)

  • Over 23 bear markets (including an 86% market crash)

  • Inflation as high as 22%

  • Interest rates as high as 20%

BK is built to last and will probably outlive us all and our grandchildren.

According to S&P, this bank’s risk management is in the top 8% of all companies on earth. Its risk of going bust in the next 30 years is 0.6%.

Today BK is 25% undervalued and trading at 8.8 times earnings. Here’s what that means for you…

If it grows as expected (10% long-term) and returns to historical fair value, it could return 55% this year… and up to 189% in six years. That’s a 17% annual growth rate.

Even better, BK offers a safe 3.3% dividend – twice as high as the S&P 500.

Now is not the time to let past experiences cloud your judgement. By staying calm and examining the facts, not only can you avoid panic-selling great companies… You can even use this as a rare opportunity to buy incredible values like Bank of New York Mellon.

I have a feeling we won’t see bargain prices like this again for a long time to come. By the time the rest of the financial market catches up with reality, it will be too late.

And the crazy thing is, Bank of New York Mellon isn’t even my favorite banking bargain to buy right now. We have a higher-yielding, higher quality, and faster-growing company that is also trading at a phenomenal discount right now.

For those interested in finding out what that pick is, check out our Fortress Portfolio service by clicking here.

Safe Investing,

Adam Galas
Analyst, Intelligent Income Daily