Welcome to SNAFU Investing
The Name
SNAFU is a military acronym. It stands for Situation Normal: All Fucked Up.
American GIs coined it during World War II — it came up from the ranks, not down from the officers’ mess. It named the thing every soldier knew and no officer would say out loud: the institution doesn’t work, the people running it know it doesn’t work, and the official story is that everything is fine.
My grandfather never heard the word. He served in the Soviet army — possibly the most SNAFU institution ever assembled — and he didn’t need the acronym, because he lived the condition. Once, left behind in the chaos of a botched engagement, he spent two days in a pond with German patrols within earshot — then walked out at night, steering by the North Star. Not following it; following it would have delivered him straight to the Germans. He used it the way a navigator does: a fixed point to set his own course by. The full story opens the essay this publication launched with.
That’s the star in our logo.
What This Is
SNAFU isn’t just a saltier word for crisis. A crisis is an event: it arrives, everyone sees it, it ends. A snafu is a condition you live in — and in the SNAFU world, nothing works the way it’s supposed to, while everyone pretends it does. The money, the markets, the institutions, the official numbers.
That gap between the pretense and the reality reprices something every day. It’s where most people lose money.
It’s also where the best trades live.
SNAFU Investing is essays and stock recommendations built on that one idea. The essays track the snafus — there’s never a shortage — and what’s coming downstream of them. (The best introduction is that same launch essay — the whole worldview is in there, story and all.) The recommendations are what to actually do about it: specific stocks, mostly in assets nobody can print — gold, silver, uranium, energy — the things that stay true when the paper doesn’t.
Who Writes It
I’m Lau Vegys. I’ve spent nearly two decades in resource markets, most of it in the Casey orbit: I co-wrote research with Lobo Tiggre (Louis James, to longtime Casey readers) and Nomi Prins, and for two and a half years wrote every stock recommendation published by Doug Casey’s Crisis Investing — right here on Substack. I’m a firm believer in skin in the game: my own money has been in these markets the whole time. More on exactly how that works under Plans below.
The results of that work are public — my former shop cites them in its own marketing. The 2025 recommendations averaged +53% by the December review. The precious-metals positions averaged about +140%. Eleven times in 2025, a position doubled and subscribers got an alert to take their original capital off the table. The book included MP Materials (+152%), Almadex (+126%), NexGold (+119%), SIL (+118%), Roxmore (+115%), HydroGraph (+114%), AbraSilver (+105%), and Agnico Eagle (+101%) — and one rare-earths pick, Energy Fuels, that ran to five times the entry. I wrote about how I found that one here.
I say that once, as fact, and move on. Because everything I recommend here goes into the SNAFU portfolio — live, on its own page, always one click away: every entry, every exit, prices updating on their own, wins and losses both, from day one. That’s the record that matters now.
Why did I go independent? That’s a story of its own — I wrote it all down when it happened.
And I practice what I write. The SNAFU worldview isn’t a newsletter angle for me — it’s how my family lives: second residencies, more than one passport in the house, banking that doesn’t depend on any single country’s good behavior. Because if my grandfather’s story taught me one thing, it’s that I never want to find myself in that pond, behind enemy lines, waiting on a clear sky.
How I Invest
A few rules I don’t break:
Never all in. Every recommendation comes with a buy-up-to price and, where it matters, tranche guidance. Positions are sized so that being wrong is survivable — because some of them will be wrong. I laid out the whole sizing philosophy here.
Favor asymmetry. I’m looking for setups where the upside is a multiple and the downside is a fraction — usually in sectors the official story ignores or actively hates. Not every pick is a moonshot; sometimes the job calls for a steady producer that anchors the rest. But the portfolio always leans that way. The Energy Fuels walkthrough shows what I mean, with real numbers.
Put the odds on your side. Asymmetry alone isn’t enough — a lottery ticket is asymmetric too. I want the structural forces already leaning on my side of the trade: policy, supply, incentives. When enough of them line up, the money moving is just a matter of time. That same Energy Fuels walkthrough shows exactly what this looks like in practice.
Take the Free Ride. When a position roughly doubles, I’ll usually tell you to sell enough to recover your original capital and let the rest run. After that, you’re playing with the house’s money. In volatile resource stocks, this is the difference between speculating and gambling.
What You Get
Free subscribers get the essays — at least twice a week, on making sense of the SNAFU world we all live in: money, markets, and everything the official story leaves out.
Paid subscribers get the trades:
New stock recommendations — thesis, valuation, risks, and buy guidance. Most arrive with the monthly issue (the big picture, plus whatever deserves a deep look that month); the rest come as alerts, when an opportunity won't wait for the calendar
Deep-dive special reports — and, twice a year, a full review of every position in the portfolio
The SNAFU portfolio — live prices on its own page, every entry and exit on the record, always one click away
Real-time alerts — profit-taking, Free Rides, and material developments on our positions
Founding Members get everything in the annual plan, plus a direct line to me — your questions about the research and the markets, answered first — and a heads-up, usually the same day, whenever one of our buy levels trades, for those building positions in tranches. (Anything sell-side — exits, profit-taking, Free Rides — reaches everyone at the same time, always.)
Who This Is For
People who suspect the official story is wrong and would rather position for reality than argue with it. People comfortable holding volatile positions for months or years, not days. People who want names, prices, and exits — not just opinions. And the recommendations go wherever the snafus lead — mostly to stocks built on real assets, miners and producers, because that’s where the mispricing lives today. But I keep my hands untied.
It’s not for day traders, dividend collectors, or anyone who panic-sells a 20% dip. In these markets, positions can drop 30% before they triple. If that sentence made your stomach hurt, no hard feelings — stay on the free side and read the essays. You’re welcome here either way.
What Readers Are Saying
Below are a few of the comments and letters that arrived when I announced I was going independent — from people who’d been reading, and profiting from, my work for years and decided to come along. I didn’t solicit a single one.
“You have a fabulous style of writing that makes the reader compelled to read your pieces. I was a print journalist and business writer for over 60 years before retiring. I have seen a lot of bad writing and some very good writing as an editor. You are among the gifted ones.” — Tom, retired business journalist
“Since your recommendations have made me nice profits, I will be very interested in your future service.” — B.K.
“Since I joined a little over a year ago I have finally become comfortable with my investing decisions — and the numbers are there to prove it. I would certainly subscribe to your newsletter with portfolio advice.” — Gilberte H.
“I’ve always found your write-ups and analysis to be in line with my investing philosophy and world view. I look forward to staying with you in your new venture.” — John P.
“As someone in the financial advisory world, I especially respect the importance of independent judgment — and the responsibility that comes with making recommendations to readers who rely on your work. I’m glad to see you stepping into your own venture.” — a financial advisor
to readers who rely on your work. I’m glad to see you stepping into your own venture.” — a financial advisor
“Your articles are consistently some of the most interesting I read each week.” — Devin
“Integrity is invaluable. Insight into how the world really works is the next most valuable thing. I look forward to learning, sharing, and contributing.” — Thomas S.
“It shows integrity and courage when we act upon these things that don’t sit right with us. I’ve told a couple of people I know about your new venture.” — Kerri
Plans
$69 a month, $349 a year, or $499 for Founding Members. Cancel the monthly plan anytime — you won’t be billed again, and your access runs to the end of the month you’ve paid for. Annual subscriptions run their full year.
A word on my own money: I buy every stock I recommend. Never before my subscribers have it — that has always been true. At SNAFU Investing it’s a formal rule: I buy no earlier than three trading days after a recommendation publishes, and I don’t sell while my guidance says hold.
Questions about your subscription: support@snafuinvesting.com
SNAFU Investing is investment research, not personalized financial advice. I don’t know your situation, so I can’t tell you what’s right for it — position sizing, taxes, and allocation are yours to decide, ideally with a qualified advisor. Investing is risky. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. Assume I own the stocks I write about, bought on the schedule above.
