Our Freedoms Editor Stops in — Bearing a Gift!

It’s hard to be away from Whiskey.

So many things I want to talk about have come to the fore in just the two short months since my last essay. The Supreme Court decision on the DC gun ban. The Chinese pollution debacle that’s becoming more evident by the day as the Olympics approach. The coming U.S. Presidential election. The slow, years-too-late movement toward more domestic oil drilling. The explosion of SUV and truck sales in Kyoto-exempt Russia and China (oh yes, look it up). And so much more…

Right now, there are exciting new developments on every one of my core beats: Personal liberties, the surveillance state, global warming, guns and personal defense, the outdoors, and the utter corruption of the American political machine and the mainstream media that’s furthering it. Don’t worry, I’m keeping a file on all of it — so I’ll be loaded for bear when the time comes for my double-barreled return to Whiskey & Gunpowder.

Alas, today is not that day. I’m still on hiatus. But I’ve come back with this brief essay to offer you a gesture of gratitude that’s more than just words — one that I specifically asked the publishers of Whiskey & Gunpowder to allow me to extend to you today…

It’s worth exactly $50. Or a few million dollars, depending on how you calculate it.

Setting the Record Straight, Straightaway

First things first…

As you’ll recall, my last Whiskey & Gunpowder articles were a two-part series inviting you to the ninth annual Agora Financial Investment Symposium at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel at one of the most progressive, vibrant, and prosperous cities on the planet: Vancouver, British Columbia.

To recap a bit, that series was a “thank you” as well.

That’s because your voluminous and passionate feedback to my 67 Whiskey articles over three and a half years is the reason I found myself invited (for the second year in a row) to rub elbows at the Symposium with such world-class financial and political thinkers as Bill Bonner, Doug Casey, James Howard Kunstler, and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker — plus fellow Agora Financial luminaries Dan Denning, Byron King, Chris Mayer, Kevin Kerr, and about a million others…

Like world-renowned bestselling financial author and swashbuckling “adventure capitalist” Jim Rogers, for instance.

By all accounts, I have no right sharing oxygen with such folks, much less the stage. And now that I’m back from Vancouver and the exhilarating 2008 Symposium, I must express my thanks to you again — for a very different reason. But before I get into the meat and potatoes of the gift I’ve arranged for you today, I need (as usual) to clear the air about something…

Though the vast majority of those who wrote in to Whiskey & Gunpowder when I announced my indefinite self-suspension were complimentary to my work, dedication, and passion in this forum (even if they didn’t always agree with me), some were less so. Of course, this is to be expected — I pressed a lot of buttons and raised a lot of hackles during my tenure here.

However, a few of these letters questioned the sincerity of my last pair of essays — whining that they were nothing more than a sales pitch for the 2008 Symposium. At least a few people even claimed that they weren’t even written by me, but by some slick copywriter pretending to be me…

To these folks, I say this: Not only did I write those letters myself (you ought to know I’m too arrogant to ever allow my name to be put on something I didn’t write) — but I wasn’t paid one red cent extra for “pitching” the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium to you.

No cut of the profits, no royalties, no nuthin.’

I did it because I wanted all those who’d read my work over the years — love me, hate me, or want to debate me — to be able to shake my hand, flip me off, wag a finger in my face, or tilt a shot-glass with me for perhaps the last time, and in a breathtakingly beautiful and entertaining place.

I also wanted you all to have the same chance I was getting to become stupid-rich on the always prophetic, can’t-get-anywhere-else, money-in-the-bank actionable investing advice from minds you’ll never get a chance to meet face-to-face anywhere else but at the Symposium…

So yeah, I DID write those letters to convince you to sign up for this year’s event.

But not because I got paid to, or because it’s my passion in life to sell you stuff. I did it purely because I believe in the Symposium’s ability to change your life. And like I said two months ago, I wanted to be the one to have brought that power to you — as a reward to those who’ve supported me and as an olive branch to those who despise me…

And today, I’m here to once again offer you something I believe can change your life for the better, no catches or strings attached.

Lost in Truncation

As some of you may know, I was flattered to be asked to cover the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium as the “roving reporter” for The Daily Reckoning. And over the five days I covered the event, I wrote more than 12,500 words to DR readers about the day-to-day goings-on in Vancouver (these dispatches also ran in Whiskey & Gunpowder )…

That’s around 40 single-spaced, typewritten pages — about as long as the body text of a typical master’s thesis. And I probably only covered around ONE THIRD of what there was to report. I tell you this so that you’ll get a sense of the Symposium’s scope and depth…

I also mention it to show you how I could never summarize such an event in the 2,500 words or so of even one of my typically longish Whiskey & Gunpowder essays. And even if I could come close, I know that a lot of what was conveyed by the money wizards that attend and speak at the Symposium would be “lost in truncation.”

So I won’t even try.

Instead, I’ll simply let you know once again that the heart and soul of the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium — every minute of the 16-plus hours worth of general session commentary AND a comprehensive Special Report with all the specific picks and other recommendations from the more than 70 “break out” sessions — is now available on CDs or MP3 recordings.

This is a resource that could literally make you millions of dollars in the next few years. Or save you a few million, as well. And today, you’ll get the last chance at the lowest price on this incredible profit resource. More on this in a minute — right now, I want to go back to the event itself…

The theme of this year’s Symposium was A View From the Peak: Seeking Profits in a Time of Risk and Scarcity. Most every presentation dovetailed into this theme, and the “view” is indeed unnerving. Like I said, I couldn’t come anywhere near giving you a realistic “Readers’ Digest” version of this event — but I can share with you just a few of the invaluable lessons that I took away from it:

• Not only is the world currently at the mercy of multiple commodities and resources peaks — oil, gas, water, etc. — but America in particular faces some crippling peaks of its own: Peak dollars, peak credit, and the most sobering of all to the future of our republic, peak western influence (details on what this means for your money in your Symposium CDs or MP3s)…
• Why Bill Bonner sees the end of the world as we know it: Since FDR, America has been increasingly moving toward a state of nationalization, the death knell of many a republic. Government has now entangled itself in mortgage companies (FNMA and FHLMC), health care (Medicare and Medicaid), and may soon, through bailouts, have its tentacles into banks, airlines, automakers, and more. This “biggest-ever seizure of industry by government” spells the inexorable transformation from a capitalist America to a neo-Socialist state — and eventual decline and demise…
• Four reasons why the resources bull market still has legs — despite what the mainstream pundits say. This, from the man Bill Bonner himself claims “knows more about natural resource investing than anyone I know.” I also discovered, straight from this investing legend’s mouth (he’s made his clients 1880% on their money in just the last seven years ), a few specific resource profit-plays that are set to explode in the near future. Yes, they’ll be on your CDs…
• Seven reasons why farming costs are going through the roof — and not just in America. What’s this mean for food commodities prices? It means that those who play this crisis right stand to make some mind-boggling gains. But according to the Symposium’s acknowledged expert on the topic (you may already know him), making a killing in food-related commodity investment can be tricky. Find out why one particular play that everyone’s into — ethanol — is the kiss of death…
• Why a lot of us (maybe you?) may have lost more money from the modern dollar slide than they would have from a foreclosure or bankruptcy! An expert on the subject shows us why those who foresee a near-term stronger dollar are oblivious to four fundamental crises America faces that will drive the dollar still weaker. He also claims that the U.S. is headed for a rebirth of the 70s: High interest rates, high inflation, and low employment. But there are some easy — yet not intuitive — ways to stop the erosion of assets and investments you hold in U.S. dollars (yep, all on the CDs or MP3s)…
• How government book-cooking has changed the definition of “money” — and why it’s dead wrong. Also from this internationally known authority on the dollar and economics: The real definition of inflation and how The Fed causes it on purpose, how the U.S. rate of true inflation is higher right now than in the 1970s, and how, after adjusting for real-world inflation, any investment that’s not paying you back at least 8.79% right now is losing you money. What can you do? He’s got some specific suggestions…
• Why investing legend and bestselling money author Jim Rogers (Investment Biker, Adventure Capitalist, Hot Commodities ) is hot right now on four particular countries for small-cap stock investment, three kinds of commodities for max gains (and three countries to get them in), two types of Taiwanese companies, and one particular segment of the Japanese stock market. He’s also heavily investing in one kind of Chinese company: Wine makers. Find out why when you listen to the Symposium for yourself…

Again, these are just a few of the high spots I can remember off the top of my head from the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium. To get all the specifics — from people who actually know what they’re talking about instead of from a clueless half-redneck like me — you really need to hear it from their own mouths. Again and again…

And today, I’ve made that a little easier for you. Keep reading.

The Perfect Excuse to Write a Whiskey Essay…

So, what’s this big gift I’m offering, you’re asking me?

Well, if you read any of the dispatches I wrote from the Symposium, you might remember that during the conference itself, the price of these recordings (plus the Special Report on all the picks from 70 or more “break out” sessions) was a low $99 for downloadable MP3s — and just $149 for a complete set of hard CDs…

Or both formats (so you can listen anywhere — at home, in the car, on iPod, etc.) for just $149 combined.

However, since the conference is no longer in session, this price has jumped by $50: To $149 for the MP3s — and $199 for the CDs or the CD/MP3 “dual-media” combo pack…

Now don’t get me wrong, this is still an absurdly cheap bargain for what you’re getting. However, since Agora got its “roving reporter” from the Whiskey family, I thought it was only fair that my readers should get the last crack at the lowest possible price for all the life-changing investment revelations from the 2008 Symposium…

So I asked Greg Grillot (Whiskey’s Managing Editor) to take the matter up with Addison Wiggin, the President and Publisher of Agora Financial. After appropriate consideration, Addison agreed to allow me to extend this special opportunity to you.

And so I write to you today with this one-day offer, only for Whiskey & Gunpowder readers. Here it is once again:

Click on the ordering link at the bottom of this e-Mail TODAY (or click right here now), and you’ll have the chance to buy the complete recordings of the general sessions from the 2008 Agora Financial Investment Symposium for just $99 for MP3 files — or on CD for only $149…

Oh, or BOTH CDs and MP3s for the same $149.

Any way you cut it, that’s $50 in your pocket. Or a few million, maybe.

A Disclosure — and Some Closure…

Now, to make sure that none of you reading this write in to excoriate me for being a “sell-out” or morphing into some sort of pitchman instead of a serious editorialist, I need to make the following disclosure:

I am not, in ANY WAY, receiving one cent of extra money or perks for making this offer to you today. No royalties, no cut of the sales, nothing. I’m getting only the standard (and modest, I might add) fee that I’d get for any other Whiskey & Gunpowder essay…

Also, aside from a room and reimbursement of basic expenses — which I would have received anyway for my participation in the Whiskey Bar panel discussion at this year’s Symposium — my only compensation for my 12,500-word stint as “roving reporter” for The Daily Reckoning was my own free set of CDs/MP3 recordings (and the Special Report) from the 2008 Symposium…

That is it. No loopholes, no BS.

I hope this proves that I really am bringing this opportunity to you today because of how much I believe in the things I’ve learned from the Agora Financial Investment Symposium for two years running…

And that I want to give you something back for putting me in a position where I could learn secrets to protecting and nurturing my money that only a true insider in the contrarian investing world would be able to discover.

I owe that to you, and I’m truly thankful for it.

Also, I want to thank you once again for your support and feedback — and even your derision. Along those lines, I have to close with this…

Thank you so much, all those who approached me at the Symposium. I was overwhelmed by how many people (some of them other speakers!) not only bothered to single me out in the midst of so many superior minds — but who actually remembered various, specific things I’d written, some of them years ago, and wanted to talk about them with me.

Your cordiality, engagement, support, good-natured admonishments (sure, there were a few of these), and especially your urgings that I return to these pages soon brought many fond memories of my time with Whiskey & Gunpowder flooding back to me…

In a word, it touched me — as I hope this small gesture on my part touches you.

Thank you, yet again,

Jim Amrhein
Freedoms Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder
July 31, 2008