For those of us who are unconcerned and believe the Federal Reserve when they say inflation is transitory, what is the counter portfolio to profit off this misplaced fear?
This is the conventional position, so I don’t think there’s a great opportunity to be betting for it.
Inflation-protected treasuries are trading with about a 2.5% premium in yield. So if you can buy bonds, and sell inflation-protected bonds, you can make money if the inflation rate is below that.
4-6% per month is not hyperinflation by any definition of hyperinflation that I can find.
You are talking about inflation, albeit maybe really severe inflation.
Also you are off by an order of magnitude regarding where inflation figures are at. As another commenter mentioned, I think you might be misunderstanding that those figures are annualized
I’m fairly confident the parent commenter is just an idiot and misunderstood the “4% YoY” inflation from the latest quarterly report as MoM and is adding a couple extra percentage points because that’s just what inflation truthers do. 5% MoM inflation is a doubling of prices in all categories every 14 months, which is obviously not happening.
Exchange the hyperinflating currency for a currency that is more stable. Any germans in the 1920s that held US dollars were completely immune to inflation of german currency.
There are some really easy ways to protect yourself. Most of these ideas are generally good for periods of high inflation. REAL hyperinflation is so disruptive that nothing is really safe.
I-bonds for small-time investors in the US. They have some nice tax benefits for holders. TIPS for big-time investors.
Global stock index funds. That saves you the trouble of buying and holding foreign currency and they pay dividends while you wait for the inflation apocalypse. Even domestic stocks have a good chance of coming out ahead.
Others have mentioned gold and silver. Those can be bought like stocks with GLD and SLV. Likewise you can buy real estate investment trusts if you aren't in a position to buy actual real estate. Those usually pay nice dividends.
If you're really worried about real hyperinflation, you should go find the best deal on bulk-purchases of every non-perishable thing you intend to use for the next year. You might be surprised at the investment return you get on buying a 5-year's supply of wine or t-shirts.
I could think of two options based on what I’ve read
1. Hold a more stable currency, maybe GBP or JPY. It also means you need earn your salary in those same currencies. Move your other assets like equity etc to the same currency. I don’t think anything can be done about the pension account, unfortunately.
2. Switch to other forms to store value, preferably liquid, such as gold. Assume the hyperinflation will last for 2-3 years and calculate the gold you need to buy.
Though the chances of USD hyper inflation in our lifetime (next 40-50 years) are vanishingly low based on what I have read. USD is still by far the most powerful currency, to an extent that last March there was a global flight to the refuge of USD triggering insane scenarios like negative oil prices and equities tanking.
The next generation, however will have to be prepared for a bipolar currency, USD and CNY.
If housing costs increase as part of inflation, owning a home will leave you better off than renting (whether or not your income is keeping pace with inflation).