Is The Next 2008 Coming? Jim Rickards Thinks So. And He Says That's Good News for the Prepared.
Jim Rickards says the biggest money is made getting ahead of a crash, not riding the boom, and lays out how ordinary investors can do the same
Washington, D.C., Aug. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Every crisis has a small group of people who see it coming and come out richer on the other side. Jim Rickards says the AI bubble will be no different, and that this time, the same kind of move is within reach of ordinary investors. In a new presentation, the former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon explains why he believes the largest gains are made by positioning ahead of a downturn, not by chasing the boom.
The Biggest Fortunes Are Made in the Fall, Not the Boom
Rickards' starting point is a piece of financial history most people overlook. "Getting ahead of a market crash is how some of the biggest fortunes in history have been built," he says.
He points to the last great crisis, when a handful of investors turned the collapse into generational wealth while millions watched their savings evaporate. What set them apart, in his telling, was not luck. "They all saw the crash coming," Rickards says, "and they all placed a very specific type of trade that allowed them to become stupendously wealthy while the stock market cratered." His argument is that the same opportunity is setting up again, and this time the door is not closed to regular people. "I'm going to show you how to do the same," he says.
A Trade Built to Pay Out More the Worse It Gets
The approach Rickards describes is a form of what he calls disaster insurance. Rather than betting on the market to keep rising, it is structured to gain as the market falls, and to pay out more the deeper the decline goes.
Crucially, he notes, it does not require the risky mechanics most people associate with betting against the market. There is no shorting of stocks and no buying on margin, and an investor's risk is limited to what they put in. He reserves the specifics of the trade, including his own projected returns, for the presentation, and he is candid about the stakes involved.
A Rare Chance for the Average Investor
What makes this moment unusual, Rickards argues, is access. "It's very rare that the average investor has the chance to bet against a crisis this big," he says. Historically, the trades that profit from a collapse have been the province of hedge funds and professionals, not everyday savers.
That, in his view, is what has changed. "This could be your chance to get ahead of a crash and take home a massive return of your own," Rickards says. He is careful not to oversell it, echoing a caution he repeats throughout: "all investing comes with risk so never invest more than you can afford to lose." His larger point is that the people who prepare before the turn, rather than react after it, are the ones who tend to come out ahead.
About the Presentation
In his new presentation, Jim Rickards explains why he believes the biggest gains come from getting ahead of a crash, the kind of strategy he says makes that possible for ordinary investors, and the broader case for why he expects the AI bubble to burst.
Jim Rickards' presentation is now available online for free. Click here to watch.
About Jim Rickards and Paradigm Press
Jim Rickards is a former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon. Before opening his research to the public, he provided it only to high-net-worth clients and members of the U.S. intelligence community, and he is known for warning of the 2008 financial crisis before it struck.
Paradigm Press is one of the largest independent financial research publishers in the United States, rated 4.8 stars on Google across more than 1,900 reviews. Free of advertiser influence, it is committed to helping everyday Americans understand and act on the forces shaping their wealth.
Derek Warren Public Relations Manager Paradigm Press Group Email: dwarren@paradigmpressgroup.com
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