Daily Highlights | Venue | Speakers | Past Themes | Exihibitors | Schedule

Dear Reader,

“Your life sucks!” Mauldin yelled...

That’s a context-free highlight (one of the tamer ones) from the unhinged free-for-all event we’ve all come to know as the Whiskey Bar, which went down last night at the Fairmont’s British Columbia Ballroom.

For 2011, this rogues gallery consisted of Agora Financial talents Chris Mayer, Byron King, and Patrick Cox and Eric Fry (as MC), Whiskey & Gunpowder’s Gary Gibson, plus invited Symposium speakers John Mauldin, Barry Ritholtz -- and the inimitable Whiskey Bar staple, Doug Casey.

As one of the charter Editors of W&G, this event holds special meaning for me -- since I had the good fortune of sharing the stage with some of these same characters in 2007 and 2008.

And it’s true, I found myself practically jumping out of my seat to interject at various points. I was dying to give Mr. Mauldin in particular both barrels about one thing he said. Who cares if he’s rich, brilliant, and writes for the New York Times -- I still think he’s dead wrong about oil...

But I’m here to observe and report, not participate. Besides, Eric took care of it for me, though in a slightly less kinetic way than I would have.

What can I say? He has a rapier wit -- mine’s a Louisville Slugger.

It happened around 16 minutes into the event -- which had warmed up with a lot of laughs as MC Fry asked everyone to share their favorite movie, philosopher, and cocktail (Byron took the laugh prize, with Patton, Patton, and Molotov)...

But then it got down to the nitty-gritty of issues and investment plays for the future. Mauldin was almost three minutes (I timed it) into a rambling monologue about the pace of technological change in the world, when he tossed in this grenade:

“Who cares about peak oil? We won’t be using the stuff. The world is going to change so much faster than you can possibly...”

That’s when Fry -- in a priceless piece of comic timing -- deftly interjected: “Byron, how are those next-generation solar Boeing planes coming along?”

Huge laughs.

Of course, Byron had a different take. The right one, if you ask me...

“It’s going to take decades or generations, in my view, for these things to change. It took probably 75 years for the incandescent light bulb to become the world standard... It took 100 years for steam-powered electric generating turbines to become a standard feature around the...”

“WRONG!” Mauldin thundered.

His evidence: “Fourteen million i-Pads were sold this year. The adoption curve for technology is on such a ramp-up... You’re going back to a model that was SO 1980s.”

Hmmm. I know these guys are brilliant -- and I’m just a gun-toting rube who eats too few vegetables...

But I’m having a hard time understanding how the widespread adoption of the computer interface equivalent of the touch-tone phone equates to a new world standard of energy that’ll obsolete hydrocarbons...

That was just the beginning, though.

Thinking about gold?

Gary says you should buy nickels instead. “Give the bank $100, they give you back $120 in metal.”  A fringe benefit: “If you have $10,000 worth of nickels in your house, whoever breaks in won’t get away with more than like forty bucks.”

Priceless. I could never truly do this event justice in print -- so I’m just going to hit you with some of the juicier sound bites from the discussion. I won’t even attribute them. But if you’re sharp and know the players here, you can probably guess:

“I don’t want to give you a rant on fascism -- it would offend too many Americans... The U.S. is unquestionably a fascist state.”

“I just want to know when my cholesterol-eating nano-bot will be here...”

“You’re going to be able to take this technology, put it on a drone, and blow the crap out of people with turbans on their heads in Afghanistan.”

“They already attached it to a Roomba, and weaponized the Roomba...”

“The most dangerous job in the world today is the #3 man in the Taliban... You’ll notice whenever some senior guy in the Taliban is killed, it’s always the #3 guy.”

“The market’s an idiot... The markets don’t know Jack.”

“All these Hitler-like dogs... all these sociopaths have very acceptable social veneers.”

“Tuscany is not a country.”

“All these damn countries cover the Earth like a skin disease.”

“...You-know-who is going to sell off the whole Strategic Petroleum Reserve...”

“I advocate the active default on the U.S. debt.”

“The situation’s hopeless -- but it’s not serious.”

“Immortality may suck, and it’s not worth it.”

“People are going to die, because of these a**holes from Chicago.”

“The average American is such is whipped dog... If the American people weren’t such wussies, they’d storm into Washington and they’d replicate the execution of Mussolini on every lamppost...”

I think it was the best (and funniest) Whiskey Bar event I’ve ever seen. And like I said, I could never do it justice in print.

But you can hear it all for yourself in the CD/MP recordings of the Symposium -- I’ll show you how to get ‘em below.

Before I do that, though, let me cut you in on some highlights from the stunning array of seminars I was able to attend today...

CHRIS MAYER

This is the one I was waiting for, above all others.

I just love the way Chris thinks about money and investing. And his presentations are always really funny and chock full of info and picks.

His You Can’t Make This Stuff Up seminar this year was no different.

Mayer kicked it off with a selection of the most hilariously off-kilter, screwball, and just plain nutty clippings from the government, Wall Street, so-called industry leaders, and the major media over the last year. Here are just a few of these...

From Bloomberg, 8/6/10:

Christina Romer, who chairs the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the U.S. needs stronger job growth to lower the nation’s unemployment rate.

Really? Stronger job growth? Now why didn’t I think of that?

From the USDA, 4/6/11, regarding their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):

It is estimated that at least 8,900 full-time equivalent jobs are created from $1 billion of SNAP benefits.

$112,359 to create one job? Sounds about right for the U.S. government...

From Newsweek, 11/5/10:

The renewed willingness and confidence to spend money we don’t have is vital to the continuing recovery.

I here I thought that credit-card mentality is what necessitated the recovery!

And this gem, from the Wall Street Journal on 7/1/11:

"If we can figure out how to pass our costs to our customers, we'd have a very successful company..." (American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey)

After some laughs at these and others, Mayer got down to brass tacks. To explain the reasons why Wall Street and rank and file investors continue to get burned in the markets, Mayer turned to some basic psychology.

As it turns out, analysts aren’t objective -- they’re across-the-board optimistic.

Research shows that when analysts were off the mark on predicting market returns, only 23% of the time had they underestimated returns...

Yet they’d overestimated returns a whopping 79% of the time. These findings stayed consistent in bull markets and bear.

Other research reveals a very interesting correlation between the amount of information humans use to make decisions -- and the accuracy of those decisions.

As it turns out, beyond a few basic facts, additional information has NO valid association with the accuracy of decisions we make. In fact, some evidence suggests that our ability to make correct decisions goes down with more information...

However, additional information has a profound affect on our confidence in those decisions. But confidence does not equal accuracy.

Mix it all together, and you get this:

“You can’t rely on forecasts at all,” says Chris. He likens them to a Rorschach Test: “We see what we want to see...  as a species, we’re very optimistic.”

But one doesn’t need to be an optimist to see the merits of the four stocks he went on to reveal. The facts and numbers behind them are pretty hard for rational humans to see in any way but greedy.

I can’t reveal them here (it wouldn’t be fair to paying show attendees)...

But you can get the complete rundown on them -- names, tickers, company details, the works -- in your CD or MP3 Symposium recordings. And there are even more Mayer picks in your FREE companion guide with all of our speakers’ specific recommendations for this year.

You’ll get a shot at ordering these at a significant discount below.

Now, let’s move on to another speaker I was eagerly awaiting...

GARY SHAPIRO

Gary’s presentation, The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream, surprised me the most of any I’ve seen so far.

That’s because I expected it to basically be a cheerleading session for the latest and greatest techno-gadgetry -- since Gary’s the President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association...

And “trons” just aren’t what floats my boat.

As long as I don’t have rabbit-ears on my TV, my phone doesn’t have a dial on it, and my computer monitor’s not monochrome green-and-black, I don’t pay much attention to electronics.

But I DO pay attention to things like American entrepreneurship, innovation, government waste, cluelessness, and corruption...

And these things were the underpinnings of Gary’s presentation.

Sure, he revealed four coming mega-trends in consumer electronics he sees coming down the pike. For the tron-o-philes, they are:

• The utilization of spectra formerly reserved for traditional broadcast TV to eliminate the “wireless wait” that plagues PDA, smart-phone and tablet computer users in many areas

• The adaptation of automobiles for all manner of informational applications, and for sophisticated technologies like auto-pilot and collision avoidance and learning GPS systems

• Electronic, integrated home health-care and diagnostic devices

• Advancements in “sensing” technologies -- from automatic light switches and appliances, air quality sensors, security systems, home aid devices and more

But the heart of his presentation was an expose of what American government is doing wrong -- and how they’re killing our ability to compete and innovate with their waste, corruption, overspending, and flawed policy.

Like the fact that 48% of people in America receive some kind of check from the government...

Like the fact that we keep extended and enhancing unemployment, even though studies show that it’s the tendency of people who are in the system to stay in it until it’s exhausted...

Like the fact that we’re failing to foster free trade, and the immigration of the best and brightest minds -- which is what made our nation great.

Though Gary’s are strong words of warning, he’s definitely in the fight camp. And his advice to us isn’t to “buy more Blu-rays” or “get plugged in” or any of the things you’d expect from the President of a major consumer electronics lobby...

Instead, he says simply: “Hold your politicians accountable.”

Damn right.

Now, speaking of accounting...

EGON VON GREYERZ

Everyone told me not to miss this guy. “Great” and “informative” is what they said about his speeches in years’ past...

But they failed to mention “horrifying.”

Trust me, as a long-time Agoran, I’ve seen my share of doom and gloom. It usually doesn’t even phase me to hear this stuff anymore -- not even the fact that it’s all coming true.

Water off a duck’s back, you know?

So perhaps the most descriptive thing I could say about Egon von Greyerz’ presentation -- Return to the Dark Years: Will the Inevitable Consequences of 100 Years of Money Printing and Credit Creation be Hyperinflation, World Economic and Financial Collapse? -- is this:

It made me come more or less unglued with fear.

Seriously, I was so transfixed in horror at the nightmare scenario that Egon proved is coming with more graphs, charts, numbers and analysis than I thought could fit in 50 minutes, that I barely took notes. Thankfully, his seminar was the last one before lunch, and I had time immediately afterward to get some of these things on paper...

It all started just a few seconds in, when Egon cut loose with this statement:

“There are three kinds of money: Money which is already worthless, money that will become worthless (with a picture of a $US100 bill), and there’s real money, gold.”

Clearly, von Greyerz isn’t in the Bernanke “Gold isn’t money” camp.

While we’re on Bernanke, I’ve never seen anyone put what “Helicopter Ben” is doing into more stark perspective than what Egon did at the beginning of his speech...

According to von Greyerz, 100,000 average Americans would have to work the next 330 years at today’s average salary to pay off what Bernanke and company have added to the national debt this year alone.

Even more frightening than that are the REAL facts behind inflation. Using multiple charts and graphs, Egon shows us how U.S. debt has increased every year since 1960 (the 1990s “surplus” was fiction, he says)...

How the debt ceiling has been increased 78 times since then...

And how, starting in 1800, it took the U.S. dollar until 1967 to double from inflation. But since 1971, when Nixon abandoned the Gold Standard, dollar inflation has skyrocketed, whether the government’s reporting it or not.

“Nixon should not have been impeached for Watergate,” say Von Greyerz. “He should have been shot for abolishing the Gold Standard.”

Over the last century, every single currency on Earth has declined between 97% and 99% against gold, says von Greyerz. The U.S. dollar is one of the worst offenders among major economies. According to Egon, the buck has lost 84% of its value just since 1999!

What’s that mean?

It means we’re up the creek, that’s what it means...

“These unfunded liabilities will never be paid in normal money,” von Greyerz warns. “I can absolutely guarantee: Your pensions will not be paid, you will not have Medicare. There will not be enough money...”

Like I said above: Horrifying.

How can you do safeguard against this, you’re asking?

Well, you can buy physical gold, and store it safely. But that’s easier said than done...

Fortunately, von Greyerz has the answer to that problem. His firm is among the world’s best at brokering and storing clients’ privately owned gold in special, tax-free vaults underneath Zurich airport.

More details on this are in your CD/MP3 recordings of the 2011 Symposium -- and in the special companion report with the specific investment recommendations of all of this year’s speakers.

After Egon’s presentation, the words of an acknowledged anarchist will be downright soothing....

DOUG CASEY

There’s only one Doug Casey. And that’s more than enough for most people.

But one thing’s for certain about him: He’s a big draw.

His seminar on Thursday morning was standing room only, with people crowding in long after it began, sitting on stairs, leaning along the walls -- even sitting on the floor for a chance to hear the legend...

And “the legend” did not disappoint.

According to the Symposium schedule, Case was supposed to deliver a seminar called The Greater Depression is the Least of Your Worries.

But soon after he took the podium, he went completely off script, saying, “What I want to talk about now is terrorism. Terrorism is something everybody talks about, and thinks they know about -- but I don’t think they really do.”

He kicked off his presentation by contrasting the various definitions of terrorism according to the FBI and FEMA (which Casey calls “stupid”) with his own definition, which is:

A tactic employed more for psychological purposes than for physical damage, intended to de-legitimize the state, often by getting it to overreact.”

Casey went on to say that both the French and American revolutions were steeped in acts of terrorism...

And interestingly enough, according to Doug, resulted in less freedom for citizens of the resulting republic. But that was a digression. Remember, this was more or less improvised.

Casey’s larger point, which he built up using several historical examples, is this:

Terrorism is like shrimp.

Say what?

Turns out, Doug was making reference to how many ways shrimp can be prepared (as described by Bubba in the movie Forrest Gump) -- and with new ways hitting the scene with regularity. Just like terrorism...

“How do you recognize it?” asks Casey. “It’s constantly evolving and mutating...”
 
Also, there’s the problem of perspective. What’s terrorism to one nation is heroism to another. He uses the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut as an example. “If 250 Islamic soldiers were in New York,” says Casey, “I would hope some American would do the same to them.”

Yet according to most modern definitions, it would be considered terrorism to do so. Casey’s point, if I understand it correctly, is that whether or not a thing is an act of terrorism or heroism depends on which foot the shoe is on.

Beyond such philosophical ruminations, however, is the underlying truth (no matter what your definition of the term is) that terrorism is a very effective tactic.

According to Casey, the capital cost of terrorism is close to zero. But the costs to victim states -- both in sustaining it and fighting it -- are enormous...

Examples: An IED in Iraq costs virtually nothing, yet the U.S. humvee and crew it blows up are worth millions in training, insurance, and outfitting.

Same with an RPG and a U.S. tank -- or a SAM and an F-16.

A Muslim teen with a $200 AK-47 who trades his life for a U.S. serviceman the government has spent a million dollars training, insuring, transporting and equipping is pulling down a return on investment of 500,000%...

And that’s the whole point of terrorism. To disrupt and bankrupt. To demoralize and monopolize. To win by absorbing a vastly disproportionate amount of your opponent’s time, money, thought, energy, and resources.

By that measure, the U.S. is losing the War on Terror it began the better part of a decade ago.

What’s the solution?

It’s simple, Doug says. It’s a national policy called “Mind your own business.” Don’t occupy other nations. And don’t bully them around with your foreign policy...

So what’s the investing takeaway from all this terror talk?

Your guess is as good as mine.

“Let me tell you the problem with investment advice,” Casey said, as he began to wrap things up. “Everybody’s got an opinion... Buy this, sell that... But if you don’t understand the context of the world you’re living in, you’re gonna be roadkill.”

There’s a lesson in there somewhere, I just know it.

Maybe you can figure it out from his full presentation (I’ve only hit a few of the high spots here) -- available now as CD or MP3 recordings of this prestigious event.

And at 16 minutes until my midnight deadline for this piece, I’ve got just enough time to give you the ordering specifics once more. Here they are...

Only 2 Business Days Left To Order

By the time you read this, it’ll be mid-day or afternoon on Friday...

And by midnight on Tuesday night -- just two more business days -- your chance to get the complete CD or MP3 recordings of the 2011 Agora Financial Investment Symposium at 33% OFF will be gone.

Once more, here are the specifics: For just $99, you’ll get complete digital, downloadable MP3 files of every marquis speaker’s presentation...

And for $149, you’ll get them all on CDs, in a special, durable and portable box set...

OR YOU CAN GET THEM BOTH FOR THE SAME $149 PRICE.

Click Here to Choose Your
Preferred Media Option Now

But again, you can only get these invaluable recordings at the best possible price for two more business days after this one.

So move fast -- order now and get it out of the way before the weekend. If you miss your chance on Tuesday, you’ll be kicking yourself when the price goes up...

Oops, 12:02AM. Gotta run. More to come tomorrow.

Jim Amrhein
Roving Reporter

P.S. Remember, whichever option you choose (CD, MP3, of both), you’ll also get the complete report of all the specific investment picks our key speakers revealed in their special afternoon “breakout” sessions. These picks are the same ones conference attendees paid huge money and traveled thousands of miles to get -- and you can have them FREE, along with your order for these 2011 Symposium recordings...

Click Here to Choose Your
Preferred Media Option Now

Daily Highlights | Venue | Speakers | Past Themes | Exihibitors | Schedule

Dear Reader,

Not to boast, but I can pack for any trip, to anywhere, in 15 minutes or less. Really. I once packed for a 17-day Zimbabwe safari in that amount of time...

There’s only one problem: I always forget just ONE THING.

Usually, it’s something petty, like sunglasses. Other times, it’s something major. For instance, when I came to Vancouver to cover the Agora Financial Investment Symposium event in 2008, it was my passport.

That little fiasco cost me a missed flight and a speeding ticket for 82 MPH.

This time, what I forgot to bring wasn’t that serious. But here’s how it managed to make an imbecile out of me nonetheless...

Being still on Baltimore’s biorhythms, I was wide awake by 6AM Pacific time this morning. Antsy about it being opening day of the 2011 Symposium, I decided to reconnect with the one-of-a-kind Vancouver vibe by visiting my favorite spot in nearby Stanley Park.

So I dressed for a workout (shorts and a T-shirt), wolfed down some breakfast at the restaurant in the Fairmount’s lobby, and hit the already bustling Georgia Avenue for the trek down to the waterfront...

And was freezing within 10 steps. In late July!

It was in the mid-50s, I’m betting, with gray, misty skies and a biting breeze. And I hadn’t packed a jacket — nor even anything with long sleeves, except dress shirts for attending the Symposium.

Being too early to buy something to wear, I decided to tough it out. The bike rental shop at the mouth of Stanley Park opened at 8AM, and by a few minutes past, I was rolling along the scenic path around the perimeter of the 1000-acre preserve.

There’s a place along that path which, at least for me, perfectly embodies the spirit of Vancouver. In my entire life, I’ve never seen such a magnificent juxtaposition of mankind’s achievements AND the splendor and resilience of nature in one eyeful than at this particular point.

Within this one awesome panorama can be seen:

The understated grandeur of Stanley Park’s rock-strewn, weedy shore and its enormous elms, firs and cedars — which seemingly give birth to...

The mile-long feat of physics that is the Lions Gate Bridge to North Vancouver, where hundreds of buildings, apartments and homes meld organically into...

The green slopes and cloud-enshrouded peaks of the breathtaking North Shore Mountains and dramatic, wooded bluffs and promontories of Lynn Canyon...

Which spills its cool mists down onto the chartreuse mineral hillocks, steel edifices, girders, chutes, and conveyors of the North Vancouver Sulphur Works...

Which fronts the pristine Burrard Inlet, where cormorants and other water-birds, seals — even occasionally whales and orcas — can be seen.

Finally, to the right, the whole scene is framed by the incredible spectacle of the sleek high-rises and mirrored glass buildings of the Vancouver waterfront.

It’s both depressing and inspiring to be in the midst of such a shining example of harmony between man’s machines and materials — and the timeless resolve of nature to survive and thrive. If only more cities did it this way.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why didn’t I just take a picture?

That’s the “imbecile” part.

You see, I did take pictures of this stark, yet regal scene. And they looked OK on the 1.5-inch screen of my point-and-shoot digi-cam...

But when I offloaded them onto my PC for this story, every one of them was blurred in one way or another — from my uncontrollable shivering after riding to the spot.

For real, I was practically blue-lipped from the wind and cold air. After returning the bike, it took me 20 minutes in a hot shower to get back to 98.6 at the Fairmount.

And it’s a good thing I did, because the opening day of the 2011 Agora Financial Fight or Flight Investment Symposium was not to be missed...

Something Different In the Air

The vibe at these things is always electric. The air positively crackles with it, especially on day one...

But I’ve been to enough of these events now — and during distinctly different economic conditions — that I’m starting to be able to classify one kind of pre-Symposium “electricity” from another.

In 2007, at the Rim of Fire conference about investing in the new Asian-centric era, the U.S. markets were at peak bubble. And the vibe seemed to me to be more or less pure greed. People wanted to know what the next big, hot thing was going to be. The notion that they could soon lose more than half their assets in the market (or that their homes might plummet in value) wasn’t really on the radar, even though many of AF’s biggest voices had warned of it for years...

But it was there 12 months later, at 2008’s View From the Peak Symposium. A slight nervousness, a shade of doubt. Yet there was still quite a bit of bullishness — many seemed convinced that the market’s fall-off since its high in the fall of 2007 was a “blip” or “correction,” as Washington was so fond of saying at the time. People were still looking to quickly bounce back, and were actively searching for the profit vehicles to help them do it.

Now, however, the vibe seems altogether different.

There seems a kind of nervous indecision in the air, along with more than a small whiff of outrage. People know they’ve been had — and they’re not sure whom to believe, or what to do. There’s more passionate debate, more earnest and intense dialogue.

The cacophony at tonight’s cocktail-and-hors d’oeuvres reception in the Fairmount’s posh Pacific Ballroom was louder than I’ve ever seen it. But I didn’t hear much laughter, unlike in past years. Folks know the situation’s serious — even grave. They seem to be seeking answers and the truth as much as recommendations...

And if today’s powerhouse lineup of speakers is any indication, answers and truth are what we’re all going to get.

Here are the five seminars I took in today, on both our behalves:

ADDISON WIGGIN

AF’s “Chief” Wiggin always has a flair for putting the big picture into perspective — and for calling a spade a spade.

“There are certain things that the government cannot do for us,” says Wiggin, briefly expounding on some of the causes of the current U.S. debt malaise. “They cannot innovate, they cannot compete in the marketplace... yet they continuously promise that they can.” Something’s gotta give, says Wiggin.

But is revolution the answer, as an increasing number of people are wondering aloud these days?

Addison’s come up with a great way of answering that question, using the lens of history (in typical Wiggin form). As a history buff myself, his comparison between the causes and purposes of both the American and French revolutions made me consider in a whole new way whether or not “we, the people” should ponder revolt ...

I can’t really do his contrast of the two wars justice, since I was scribbling notes on his speech just as fast as my fat fingers could write them. Which wasn’t fast enough.

But believe me, I’ll be revisiting his comments just as soon as I receive my own box set of the CD recordings of this year’s Symposium. I found his words quite thought provoking at times — and even a little incendiary — for opening comments. He really set a serious tone for the whole shebang.

That’s a good thing, in my opinion.

We’re in a serious pickle here in the U.S. of A. And we need serious thinkers to help us figure out whether to fight to make things better, or to take flight — which according to Wiggin, Americans have a long history of doing.

His revelations might surprise you. As would those of the mind-boggling visionary who followed him...

JUAN ENRIQUEZ

On paper, Enriquez is listed as the CEO of Biotechonomy LLC, billed as a “life sciences research and investment firm” in the official Symposium program...

But after hearing him speak, I’d equate him to a hybrid of Bill Gates and Isaac Asimov — a superstar businessman whose “business” is the future of humanity.

That’s a comparison he’d probably see the irony in, since a huge part of his speech dealt with the possibility (actually, the reality) of the creation of an “upgrade” of the human species through genetics.

Except that instead of it happening the way it has happened on 26 prior occasions in the history of humanity — through evolution and natural selection of superior genes...

Enriquez says the time’s right for it to happen in the lab.

“Why should there be a single species of human?” he asks.

After all, at one point in the past, there were as many as six naturally evolved human species walking the Earth at the same time. What really puts his question in a new perspective is the fact that the DNA of modern humans and that of Neanderthal Man differs by only .001%.

According to Juan, advancements in human (and animal) genome mapping have made the genetic comparison of large numbers of people feasible and fast...

Which means that we’re on the verge on being able to isolate minute differences between individual genome sequences that could be incorporated into the next generation “upgrade” of the human species. We’re already starting to pinpoint certain desirable or exceptional genes, too. Like the “ACE” gene that’s common to ALL people who’ve shown the ability to climb to extreme heights (like 8000 meters or more) without auxiliary oxygen...

Or the “577R” gene that’s common to every Olympics-class athlete ever tested in certain sports categories related to extreme physical power. And this is just the tip of the turnip, folks.

I thought I knew a good bit about the direction in which we’re headed in the genetic engineering department. I’ve written articles on the subject, in fact...

But the clearly mega-genius Enriquez exposes me for the near ignoramus I must be on the subject — 80% of the stuff he talked about was either completely off my radar, or beyond my ability to grasp right off the bat.

That’s why you can bet that I’ll be listening to his comments over and over again, once I get hold of my recordings of this event. I’ve only summarized about a tenth of what Juan got into in his 50-minute time slot. Most of it just dumbfounded me.

One thing’s not beyond my capacity, though: The fact that incredible wealth is in store for early-movers who see and understand the ramifications of the newest developments in genetics and stem cells...

In fact, Enriquez names five such companies in his speech — and they’re names you wouldn’t associate with the “life sciences.” Check out the CD/MP3 recordings for all the specifics.

And speaking of life and science, Agora’s own resident expert on such things was on tap next...

PATRICK COX

Patrick’s presentation surprised and delighted me this year — and not just because it included big-screen shots of Salma Hayek, Angeline Jolie, and other super-hot women in scant dress and seductive poses...

But because it unexpectedly combined two things I love to think and talk about: Economic/political philosophy, and the future of science and medicine.

As a political science major in college, I found it like a stroll down memory lane to hear Cox quoting Aristotle, Smith, Jefferson, and others — and adding in Hayek (Friedrich, not Salma), Schumpeter, too...

And all toward points I readily agree with: That freedom is the engine of wealth.

More specifically: The freedom to innovate without needless interference from government. Cox’s exploration of how higher technology affects the business cycle dovetails perfectly with Schumpeter’s long-ago assertion that capitalism is a force of “creative destruction” — that true innovation in any field creates wealth by destroying obsolete or less effective technologies.

Cox’s speech traveled far afield of this framework, though.

His description of sweeping, innovation-driven “Phoenix events” and their relation to Moore’s Law (the theory that most technologies double in capability roughly every two years) carries some significant ramifications for the very near future, especially in the realm of age-related deterioration and life extension.

For instance, Cox claims that there’s now a cure for many types of inflammation.

Not a “treatment” or “therapy” or “relief of symptoms” for inflammation. But an outright cure.

Patrick doesn’t care if you don’t believe him. But he claims to have tested this new substance himself — and he lays out a compelling case for it...

Characterizing this development as a key example of a “Phoenix Event,” Cox predicts that it’ll become so widely implemented, so soon, that the cost of health care as a whole will actually come down because of it.

Like with Juan Enriquez, I can’t possibly do justice in this limited forum to even a fraction of the ground Cox covered in his presentation. My deadlines on these dispatches are simply too tight to allow me much more copy that what I’ve dedicated here.

But you can get the full presentation — and discover the three specific companies he thinks are poised to explode on “phoenix event” technologies — by simply grabbing your own set of CD and/or MP3 recordings of this year’s Fight or Flight Symposium.

Speaking of tight deadlines, I’ve got less than an hour before mine. And I’ve still got two more speakers to briefly cover for you. Here’s the next one right now...

DOUG CLAYTON

Doug’s the CEO of Leopard Capital, an investment firm with offices in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Hong Kong and other exotic locales.

I’ve never seen him speak before — but I’ll sure never fail to remember him if I ever see him at a future conference or investing event...

That’s because he blew me away with his insights on four “sunrise economies” (what many investors call “frontier markets”) that nobody’s looking at.

But I’ll guarantee you: Everyone in attendance at Doug’s speech at this year’s Agora Financial Investment Symposium is going to be looking at them now.

The nations in question are Bangladesh, Haiti, Cambodia, and Ethiopia. And about the only thing they all have in common is that they’re recovering from recent impoverishment (usually at the hands of their own governments).

I know what you’re thinking — because it’s the same thing I was thinking when he said those names: “Say what?!?”

Now, however, I’m saying, “Why didn’t I think of that before?”

That’s because Doug laid out the case for investing in these nations so clearly and convincingly, I’m left with no legitimate objections to the idea...

Together, these four countries are 94% as large as the U.S. in population — but their combined economies are around 1% the size.

Each of them has low cost labor (in an era when China’s not so cheap anymore), the bulk of their mineral resources still in the ground, and are very early in their current economic cycles.

Beyond these factors, Doug outlined four inarguable reasons why the time may be NOW to invest in these and other frontier markets...

And three specific investment classes to look into within these markets.

He’s also got some advice on how to go about investing in these nations — plus why you shouldn’t watch TV or listen to your broker about them!

With just 36 minutes to deadline, I can’t go into any more detail about Doug’s extraordinary recommendations now. Besides, with this kind of frontier market investing, you need to get all the facts yourself, so you can make a fully informed decision.

That’s why getting your own copy (either CDs or MP3s — or both) of these event recordings is a no-brainer. Especially for as little as the $99 you could get them for right now.

I’ll repeat the ordering details for you in a moment, right after I give a quick introductory mention to one of the Symposium’s perennial favorites...

RICK RULE

It just wouldn’t feel right to cover the high spots of opening day at the Agora Financial Investment Symposium without mentioning Rick Rule, one of the events most consistently high-rated and beloved speakers...

I’m going to be covering Rick more fully later in the week, but I wanted to share with you, among other things, this priceless quote from his speech this afternoon:

“The biggest investment risk that you face is really easy to locate,” says Rick “It’s to the left of your right ear, and the right of your left ear...”

That’s a great way of characterizing fear, in my opinion.

It’s this fear that keeps us from capitalizing on events and circumstances worldwide that can have a profound effect on your investments — especially the type of money plays that Rick specializes in: Commodities.

Specifically, the “Bull Case for Commodities” that Rick sees shaping the foreseeable future of that investment class...

In his presentation, Rick lays out numerous compelling arguments for a sustained bull run in resources — none of these reasons more persuasive than this one:

Three billion people in emerging or developing economies aspire to the same standard of living that you and I have, right now...

That’s going to take a lot of “stuff” to make happen. And a lot of commodities to make that stuff. Not only things like silver and Rare Earth minerals for electronics, steel and concrete and copper for building — but foodstuffs as well.

According to Rule, when economies grow from depressed to developing, one of the first things that increases dramatically is individual caloric intake. That represents a huge opportunity for gains in food and agricultural commodities of all types: Wheat, corn, potash, sulphur, etc...

And let’s not forget oil. A scary statistic, from Rick:

Currently, China’s per-capita oil consumption is around 3% of U.S. per-capita consumption. If that Chinese consumption figure increases to, say, 17% as much per capita as the U.S., they’d be consuming all the oil produced on Earth.

Again, I don’t have time or space to cover nearly all of what Rick revealed about the commodities boom he sees coming...

But I promise you: His perspectives on the resource markets alone are MORE than worth the price of the event recordings. Here are those details once more...

Deciding What To Circle

Eleven minutes to deadline. So here’s the deal, once again:

Right now, you can get digital, downloadable MP3 audio recordings of the 2011 Agora Financial Fight or Flight Investment Symposium for just $99...

Or a boxed set of CD recordings for only $149.

Or better yet, you can get them BOTH for the same $149.

Click Here to Choose Your
Preferred Media Option Now

Remember, this is 33% OFF the price others will pay for these recordings starting next Tuesday. It doesn’t pay to wait.

If you want the FULL scoop on everything about the Symposium that could help make you rich, help protect what riches you have — or help you decide whether to circle the wagons or circle the globe...

You’d best order your own copies of this event’s recordings right now.

I’ll be around tomorrow to fill you in on even more of the goings-on.

Until then,

Jim Amrhein
Roving Reporter
2011 Agora Financial Investment Symposium

P.S. Some folks weren’t clear on this after yesterday’s dispatch, so just to clarify: The price is the SAME $149 whether you order CDs only — or the dual-media pack of CDs and MP3 digital files. There’s literally no downside to getting them both... Again, it’s all in your Symposium recordings, available to you now in both CD and MP3 formats, starting as low as $99.

Click Here to Choose Your
Preferred Media Option Now