Whiskey & Gunpowder
"Indiana" and the Anarchist — Two Money Titans Speak There were fireworks in Canada last night — in more ways than one… Every summer, Vancouver hosts an international fireworks competition called the "Celebration of Light." And each year, the week of the Agora Financial Investment Symposium coincides with at least one (and sometimes as many as three) of these elaborate displays sponsored by participating nations. Every one of these is a spectacular show set to music in the sky above the picturesque English Bay. Last year, I accompanied Agora Financial Reserve members on a special, exclusive harbor cruise the evening of China's distinctive and unique display. It was memorable, for all involved. Last night, it was Canada's turn to wow the world with its pyrotechnics. An estimated crowd of 400,000 were on hand for the display. Some of the Agora Financial and Everbank dignitaries and guests had exclusive seats to the event — at the posh Boathouse Restaurant overlooking the bay. The food and fireworks there were incredible… That's what I was told, anyway. You see, after the free-form, hour-plus, anything-can-happen oratorical fireworks of the Symposium's Whiskey Bar event in the Fairmont Hotel's British-Columbia Auditorium last night, I needed something a little smaller-scale and quieter than a night of explosions among a half-million people. I'd had quite enough excitement and potentially incendiary action on the stage with Doug Casey, James Kunstler, and Agorans Byron King, Dan Amoss, Chris Mayer, and the inimitable and unpredictable Greg Grillot… So instead of following the throngs and the hustle-bustle West of the hotel toward English Bay, I high-tailed it East, toward the hip, swanky, yet reasonably-priced Cactus Club restaurant — where the food is delicious, and so is the, umm, scenery. You Meet the Nicest People at the Symposium All set for a night on my own, I exited the elevator and was threading my way through the bustling lobby toward the Burrard Street exit. However, 10 feet inside the heavy, glass-and-brass doors, I stopped for a brief chat with a group of five Symposium attendees — three men and two women, all about my age. They'd gotten a few laughs out of some of my brief comments during the Whiskey Bar event. One of them, a smiley and outgoing fellow asked in a thick-ish European accent asked if I wanted to join them for dinner… They all seemed so friendly and eager to chat that it took me about an eighth of a second to give them my answer: "I know the perfect place!" In three short blocks, we arrived at the Cactus Club and were seated temporarily at a small, round table in the too-cool-for-school chrome, glass and brushed-aluminum bar. Through small talk, we got know each other over pints of beer and glasses of wine. All five of these fine folks were from vastly different places and backgrounds… The outspoken, affable man who'd solicited my company was from Poland, now living in Massachusetts. Another fellow with warm eyes, thick curly salt-and-pepper hair, a quiet demeanor and heavy Gallic accent was a native of France, currently living in Belgium. One of the women, a trim, genial and laid-back blonde, was from California — the other, a reserved yet engaging brunette with an intense gaze and a guileless manner, was born in the Dakotas, residing in Minneapolis. The last man, surely the youngest among us, was an extremely pleasant, witty fellow with thick, dark hair and a quick, toothy smile. He was from San Jose, Costa Rica, if I'm not mistaken. Only three of these people had known each other before the start of the 2008 Symposium. They'd just kind of formed a loose association of new friends — each from incredibly diverse backgrounds — joined by a common quest for greater wealth and asset protection… After a drink at the bar, we were led to a dimly lit, lounge-ish, burgundy-leather upholstered, semicircular booth with a large, black table. Being that I was at a fine restaurant in one of the most progressive culinary cities in North America — noted for its seafood (naturally) — I of course skimmed right over the tuna tataki and ordered the full rack of Jack Daniels' ribs. Hey, I had a craving, alright? I hadn't had BBQ in two whole days. Dinner was marvelous. Great food, quality company, and lively conversation about the day's speakers, currency, inflation, the markets, investing, the following days' headliners (like Jim Rogers and Doug Casey), and a myriad of other topics. The party continued after dinner, too — three of the six of us were still going strong at 1:00 A.M. in Doolin's Irish Pub on Granville Street. My point is this: All kinds of people, from all kinds of places and all walks of life, make the trip to Vancouver for the Agora Financial Investment Symposium. Universally, it seems, they're friendly and eager to get acquainted. They talk amongst themselves, compare notes and tips, and learn from each other. And if a boorish Neanderthal loner like me can end up with five new friends in the span of an evening, imagine what could happen for you at next year's event… Aside from learning the keys to getting ridiculously rich, I mean. The Original "Adventure Capitalist" Dishes to a Packed House It'd be a tough decision to pick one "best day" within the four-day 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium. Bill Bonner's opening and closing-day comments are always pure thought-provoking genius. And Rick Rule's presentations are perennially funny and incredibly informative (and potentially lucrative). The Whiskey Bar event is delightfully unpredictable. Even James Howard Kunstler's speeches — though hackle-raising to me — are much anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed… But if I had a gun to my head, I'd have to say that today's lineup is the one I'm going to enjoy most. And if the buzz and bustle of the morning crowd is any indication, I'm far from alone in that opinion. Why? Because today is when Jim Rogers, the original "Indiana Jones" of investing comes to the Symposium for the first time ever. As many of you may know, the Alabama-born, Yale- and Oxford-educated Rogers is co-founder of the legendary Quantum Fund. He's also the originator of the Rogers International Commodity Index — which has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 900% over the last decade. Aside from this, he's the author of four New York Times business bestsellers: Investment Biker, Adventure Capitalist, Hot Commodities, and A Bull in China… His presentation, called Political, Social, and Economic Observations from a Three-Year Guinness World Record, 245,000-Kilometer Drive Through 116 Countries, ranged far and wide, across many topics — not the least of which were many personal stories and anecdotes from that incredible cross-world journey. It also included far more tips, quotes, insights, and specific profit recommendations than my pen could keep up with. Luckily for you, his entire speech is available as part of a complete set of CDs (or MP3s) of the 2008 Symposium — details on how to get it at a huge discount are below… Among the bits of Rogers wisdom my pen and brain could keep up with are these: The Rise of China — according to Rogers, few investors (or politicians) understand the true significance of China. He maintains that, like the U.K. of the 19th century and the U.S. of the 20th, China will be the preeminent nation on Earth in the 21st century. And not only in production, but also in consumption. Case in point: The average Chinese middle-class citizen saves or invests 35% of their income. The average American, only 2%. Why is this? Because the Chinese aspire to the luxury and lifestyle that we Westerners take for granted. And soon, they're going to be able to buy it. Rogers walks like he talks, living in bilingual (English and Chinese) Singapore and educating his two young daughters to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese. His single best piece of advice for Americans: Learn Chinese, and teach it to your children and grandchildren… The Fall of the Dollar — According to Rogers (and lots of the big thinkers here at the Symposium ), the United States' monetary system is "out of control." In fact, he strongly maintains that it's the official policy of The Fed to debase the dollar. Currently, America owes various creditor nations the world over more than $13 trillion. And that number increases by $1 trillion every 15 months. Rogers states that he has as little of his money as possible in the U.S. dollar, a currency he calls "horribly flawed." On the other side of the coin, so to speak, Rogers has succeeded in finding several relatively stable currencies in which to hold his assets. He named about a dozen of them rapid-fire, but I was too busy furiously taking notes on his comments about how crappy the U.S. dollar is that I could only remember one: The Canadian dollar. It's a good thing I'm getting my own copy of the 2008 Symposium recordings to help me remember what he said — and convert what lucre I have into these recommendations… Again, I was furiously scribbling all this down during his speech. I'd hesitate to get too specific with his involved investing recommendations here — for fear that I'm leaving out some crucial detail or that I misread something from my own chicken-scratch… However, what I DO have in my notes (and what you'll learn precisely if you pony up as little as $149 for the recordings ) are these things:
About the only other thing I know I got down — and know I got right — in my notes is this: Rogers is actively investing in Chinese wine companies! Yep, according to the "investment biker," middle-class Chinese — all 500 million or so of them — are just starting to drink wine… Also in your CD or MP3 copies of the 2008 Symposium recordings, you'll hear why Rogers…
All in all, Rogers' speech alone is worth the pittance you'll spend on your advance copies of the CD and/or MP3 recordings of the Agora Financial Investment Symposium — especially now that you've got a chance to get them at as much as 33% OFF! But Rogers isn't the only firebrand speaker from this Thursday at the Symposium… Investing Advice from Hunter S. Thompson's Anarchic Reincarnation? What can I say about the irascible, one-of-a-kind bestselling author and globetrotting expatriate investing demi-God Doug Casey? I've seen him speak four or five times now, and I can honestly say that today's ranting, rambling, yet dead-on-the-money delivery was the best I've seen from him yet. I'm telling you, "America's favorite anarchist" was in rare form today… I'm not even going to try to summarize his, uh, presentation. To do so would be to sully and short-change it. I'll just say that it began with a fearless act of blatant defiance of the law! What I will do, however, is share with you the following quotes from his rabble-rousing speech, which are as close to verbatim as I could scribble them down: On the disappearing American identity —
On regulatory agencies —
On governmental authority —
On the end of America —
On our leaders (and misleaders) —
On Americans —
I called him "America's favorite anarchist" before, but the more I see of him over the years, the more I think he's the heir apparent to Hunter S. Thompson… Only smarter, richer, and way more understandable. If nothing else, the sheer entertainment and shock value of Casey's rousing speech at the 2008 Symposium is worth the price of the CD/MP3 sets. I'm telling you, it's priceless stuff. Get you copies of the recordings today (at a significant discount, mind you), and discover these other Casey gems:
Last but not least, you've simply got to pony up and tune in to find out why you shouldn't vote this coming November, why Obama's going to win, and the hilarious explanation for why Casey himself has never held a real job… Catch that same priceless anecdote (anarch-dote?) now, in this clip from the 2007 Symposium: One final note on Casey — a personal one: For the second year in a row, he shook my hand and said he liked reading my Whiskey & Gunpowder articles. Highest compliments I've ever received… Oh, would you look at this? I'm already more than 500 words longer than I should be, and I haven't gotten to half of what I wanted to tell you about today's sessions! A Sorry Substitute for the Real Thing at Only $149… Look, it should be obvious to all of you now that one man with a pen and a computer can't possibly even scratch the surface of this event… I'm filling up 2,500-3,000 words every day with only three or four of the high spots — and that's out of a dozen or more daily "general session" speakers! This doesn't even include the "break-out" sessions, where almost all the actionable profit advice is coming from. Just today, for instance, there were 25 of these ultra-specific sessions… And there are more than 70 over the four days of the 2008 Symposium. That's why I can't possibly do justice to this event in these daily dispatches: Because there are only 24 hours in a day — and I can't be four places at once every afternoon from lunch until nighttime! Remember, though: Every one of these specific, actionable investment tips, recommendations, and "disclosures" — perhaps hundreds of them in total — are yours, in detail, in a Special Report that's yours FREE with the purchase of any version of the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium recordings: CD, MP3, or both… Just to reiterate the deal for those who haven't been tuning in all week: Because these dispatches from the 2008 Symposium run the day after they're written, you've got until no later the Monday, July 28 to snap yourself a complete set of this event's recordings for only $99 for MP3 files — and just $149 for the CDs… Or the CD/MP3 Combo Package for That Same $149! This "dual-media" package can accommodate you any way you feel like listening: In the car, on you I-Pod — even from your computer. A reminder: After the last of these "roving reporter" dispatches gets delivered to your inbox (Monday), the prices on these recordings — and the Special Report that comes with them — jumps up to $149 for the MP3 version only and $199 for the CDs or the CD/MP3 dual-media package… So click here to order your copies now for as much as at 33% off! I promise, I'll get to the rest of today's highlights — plus all the best from tomorrow — on Monday, the last of these notes from gorgeous Vancouver and the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium. That'll be your last chance to score your copy of the recordings of this event at a serious savings… Gotta go now, though. I'm due down on the conference level for the Agora Financial Reserve's Special Event: A champagne-and-dessert reception — followed by a two-hour concert by the renowned California Guitar Trio… I wonder if I'll run into any of my new friends from last night there? Until Monday, |
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