According to the Wall Street Journal, the former outfielder, a self-confessed steroid user who helped expose the prevalent use of drugs in professional baseball, has successfully predicted the surge in gold investment and the outcome of the Brexit vote.
Gold
In February, when market analysts were bearish on gold, Canseco tweeted: “With gold minus storage costs becoming greater than cash returns could be a long rally (sic). What else is there, bitcoins? Think about it.”
He also wrote: “Not a surprise but everyone should be in gold.”
Brexit
Two days before the UK surprised markets and voted to leave the European Union on 23 June, Canseco tweeted: “Make no mistake Brexit will crater the UK into recession and the pound will do a 25% faceplant. Capital will flee like its pants are on fire.”
The day after the vote, he tweeted: “Pound is sinking faster than the Spanish Armada.”
Japan
Most recently, Canseco has been concerned about the Japanese central bank’s loose monetary policy, tweeting on 28 July: “Tomorrow dumb BoJ is going to nail the coffin shut on Japan economy with deeper [negative interest rate policy] or heloYen or buying more govt bonds. Nikkei will barf.”
#Canseconomics
Despite many detractors accusing Canseco of using a ghost writer, supporters have taken to tweeting the hashtag #Canseconomics.
One Texas commodities trader told WSJ that he ignores Wall Street analysts, who he views as “incredibly biased”, choosing instead to pay attention to Canseco.
Several news outlets, including Bloomberg, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance, have invited Canseco to talk about his tweets and financial markets. Canseco has reportedly responded that he wants to be paid for any appearance.
To Yahoo Finance, he asked for two first-class tickets, a hotel room with breakfast included, and $10,000 (£7,568, €8,867).
Pro-athlete turned adviser
Should Canseco decide to become a financial analyst or adviser, he will be treading a well-worn path.
Previous former professional US athletes have turned to second careers as financial advisers, having experienced first-hand how easy it can be to earn substantial sums of money during their relatively short careers and either spend or lose it through poor investments.
US network HBO has even created a TV series called ‘Ballers’, starring Dwayne Johnson as a former professional American football player turned financial adviser.
In early August, however, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former American football player for running a $10m investment fraud that promised returns as high as 20%.
