If you’re anything like me – someone who is fascinated with strange places and curious about unique opportunities in hidden locales – you probably spent a lot of time as a kid looking at maps.
My dad gave me a National Geographic map book as a birthday present one year, which really aided in my addiction. I still look through the same exact book today, and even share my ‘map obsession’ with my own kids.
I usually look at coastlines in tropical zones, where warm waves can be found. That’s originally how I got involved in international investing – by finding remote real estate near great surf spots.
But there can be great surf in cold areas too. Places like Russia, Alaska, and even Greenland.
Source: Pretty cool video of surfing waves in Greenland from calving glaciers.
Now, I’m no cold-wave-connoisseur, but there’s something about remote beautiful adventure that makes Greenland very enticing. And looking on most maps, the adventure-potential for Greenland looks massive!
However, this size illusion is thanks to the Mercator projection which distorts the size and distance of areas, especially those farther from the equator.
The real size of Greenland is much smaller – about 4.5 times smaller than the United States.
But this size discrepancy doesn’t change the importance of this huge land mass. That’s why Donald Trump is so interested in forming a tight bond with this autonomous territory of Denmark.
In addition to hosting the United State’s northern most military base (Pituffik Space Base), the United States wants Greenland for two more huge reasons: resources and location.
Greenland’s Strategic Arctic Location
The first reason why Trump wants to warm up to Greenland is blatantly obvious – location.
Source: The Arctic Institute
Greenland’s location creates pinch-points for nearly every single arctic shipping route. This means that whoever controls Greenland can play a significant role in allowing what and who can navigate in the region.
This is especially relevant today, as northern shipping routes are becoming more trafficked by all nations – especially China and Russia.
For the United States, the possibility that a major shipping lane could be controlled by an adversary is simply out of the question. One only needs to look at the piracy that has occurred near the Suez canal or the Strait of Malacca for examples of what could go wrong.
Of course, for the United States, having control over Greenland is also about maintaining US global supremacy.
And part of that supremacy has to do with more than just shipping…
Rare Earth Metals in Greenland
Most investors assume that Greenland is rich with oil and gas, but that’s not the only natural resource that is drawing US attention…
Rare earth metals, also known as rare earth elements (REE), are used in a variety of cases which include alloys, glasses, magnets, and electronics. Those last two use cases, magnets and electronics, are especially important for high tech industries such as defense.
For the United States, access and supply of rare earth metals is a matter of national security. That’s why Greenland’s potential supply could be extremely strategic.
For investors, who understand what this means, there could be ENORMOUS gains for those who get in early.
Amazingly, there are already publicly listed companies which you can invest in right now.
My good friend Swen Lorenz published an entire report on one company that is positioned to take advantage of this exact situation. You can download it here – it’s a monster report that is totally free (really, no catch).
