As any longtime reader of mine knows, movies are an extremely important part of my life. And one of my favorite directors, the inimitable John Hughes, died on Aug. 6. He gave us such favorites as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, Home Alone and many others…
What I didn’t realize at the time of his death was that I’d have a chance to tip my hat to him in these very pages — but like I was getting at yesterday with that steak, fate finds a way, doesn’t it?
You don’t even have to believe in it.
I graduated high school in 1986, mere days before the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was released. It was the story of a slick, smooth-talking high school senior in the Chicago area who plays hooky from school on a fine spring day with his girlfriend Sloane, his best friend Cameron, and an ill-fated Ferrari Spyder California…
The movie’s a classic of American film, so purely emblematic of not only the high-school ethos — but of the 1980s themselves — as to be worthy of a time capsule for future generations, or for the citizens and denizens of other worlds.
Anyway, the movie has a special significance for me: When it came out, I was promptly nicknamed “Ferris” by some of my friends. Not being a lawyer — and therefore not sure what the statute of limitations is on certain prosecutable high jinks — I won’t go into exactly why I was given that moniker.
Suffice to say that I deserved it.
What’s funny is that so much time has passed since 1986 that now, as a man of 40, I’ve spent two full days and nights in Chicago and never once remembered that this is Bueller’s town. That is, until the Taipan Publishing Group’s cocktail party tour of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) last night…
A special event organized for all of the attendees of the Taipan Publishing Group’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit, this tour proved to be the highlight of my trip so far — and judging by my conversations with the two busloads of Taipaners who ate, drank, learned and laughed at the true-life floor trading stories of the six veteran traders conducting the tour, it’s been the highlight of many of theirs, too.
If you’ve never been on a trading floor after hours, it’s kind of like the sports-book pit at the biggest casino in Las Vegas…
Times 100.
There are screens and monitors everywhere. From just the one small section that we filed through, I made a rough count of 600 of them. And that’s not even including the 30-foot-high screens that loom over everything displaying endless rows of stock options in plain green type, like high-tech tote boards at horse races or the odds listings for sporting events in Vegas…
I wouldn’t even hazard a guess at how many telephones there were. But it’s in the thousands, I’m sure. Piles and piles of paper debris from just one day’s trading line the floors everywhere you look. Dozens of people are busy sweeping it up and piling it into trash cans just so they can do it all over again tomorrow.
The CBOE is the largest of seven options exchanges in the United States. And nowadays, the vast majority of options trading is done electronically — hence all the computers and screens everywhere. But in a select few “pits” of this exchange, they still trade the old-fashioned way: With a chaos of shouting and scribbled paper slips flying every which way…
At the final stop on this tour, we were positioned in the largest one of these pits in the CBOE — which means it was the largest one in the nation (and probably the world). It looked like a miniature amphitheatre. Steep, stepped and curved so that all positions face downward to the screens and stations at the center. That’s where one of the traders stood, demonstrating the hand signals one might use to complete various trades, the speed and complexity of which would rival any major-league manager’s…
That’s when I had my “Ferris Bueller” moment.
For those that don’t know (or like me, have forgotten), there’s a scene in that movie where Ferris, Sloane and Cameron visit one of Chicago’s exchanges — probably the CBOT, but quite possibly this one. Looking down from the overhead observation windows on the pre-computer mania of daily trading, Cameron hilariously mimics their hand signals…
That’s when I remembered, like a bolt of lighting hitting me, I was in Ferris Bueller’s town. And that I used to BE Ferris Bueller.
But enough nostalgia and talk of my early mid-life crisis. On to more of how this event in Ferris-burg could buy you a Ferrari of your very own to abuse and total…
Pulitzers, Half-Truths and Hurricanes
As promised, here are the high spots from three more of Taipan’s high-octane editors:
MICHAEL ROBINSON — Drivers of Tomorrow’s Technology Market
“If these four companies aren’t healthy, the American economy can’t be healthy…”
That’s exactly how Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and journalist, described four standards of Blue Chip tech investing: Microsoft, HP, Intel and Oracle.
But these four companies aren’t the real story — as the new editor of Taipan’s Breakaway Investor will be quick to tell you…
The real story is the exponential near-future rise of IT (Information Technologies) across all sectors of industry and culture in America and the world. According to Robinson, IT development and implementation is our country’s best hope for a “jobless recovery.”
And he sees lots of dollar signs for those who are positioned right for this boom. A lot of this money is virtually government guaranteed, too:
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Quantum leaps in military IT technology are breeding net-centric warfare, in which data, computing and lightning-fast communication save troops’ lives and multiply American forces in the “battle space”
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The Bush-mandated “3-click solution” — a system by which 95% of the government’s publicly accessible data is accessible by anyone with just three clicks of the mouse — is still in the development stage
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Obama’s $787 stimulus plan earmarks plenty for IT development, enhancement, maintenance and security…
And speaking of security, Robinson points out the incredible market that cyber-security presents — just in the halls of government alone. According to his sources, attacks against American cyber-networks and infrastructure have increase by 15,000% in the last twelve years.
Last year alone, there were 150,000 such attacks — and protecting against them is now a $10 billion-a-year market, and growing exponentially…
As if that’s not enough, the rise of healthcare related IT leaves that in the dust, with an estimated $12 billion annual market. According to Michael, the vast majority of patient records in the U.S. are still paper. The lack of easy electronic access to these costs us as many as 125,000 American lives per year from adverse prescription drug interactions that could be avoided with faster access to more comprehensive patient information.
Regardless of the privacy issues, this system is coming. All you can do is get rich from it, and Michael Robinson can help show you how…
In your CD/MP3 recordings and supporting materials from Taipan’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit, you’ll learn Robinson’s five key industries that’ll boom from governmental IT spending, and more. (Get it all HERE right now.)
And in BreakAway Investor, you’ll learn how to profit from the technology that’s inevitably coming down the pike: How to make big cash from the boom in touch screens, advancements in cellular, night vision, GPS, civilian and military navigation technology, and so much more I can’t even get my head around it…
But now, let me help you get your head around Taipan’s newest editor.
KENT LUCAS — Finding Wealth in the Post-Dollar World
Every editor at Taipan’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit has angles and plays that specifically adapt their investment services to the decline and fall of the dollar we all know is coming…
But Kent Lucas, the new editor of our Safe Haven Investor investment research service, chose to make it the focus of his presentation, and Summit attendees were grateful. His presentation got the perhaps the heartiest applause yet — and that’s saying something, given his esteemed company.
Kent led off by quoting the infamous Ross Perot: “A weak currency is the sign of a weak economy, and a weak economy leads to a weak nation.”
Truer words were never spoken.
Elaborating, Kent cites a recent survey showing that fully two-thirds of 51 leading economists believe that the recession currently afflicting the U.S. will end this fiscal quarter — with most predicting a “U-shaped” recovery, rather than the dreaded “W.”
He also pointed out, in charts, how some key economic data does point to a recovery.
The wild card, he warns, is the U.S. dollar itself…
It seems the beleaguered currency is in a major Catch-22. Stimulus and the infusion of cash into the economy create a greater supply of dollars — yet low interest rate yields create less of a demand for them, from an investing standpoint.
Enter the inflation dragon.
According to Kent:
- Dollar dominance is now ancient history
- Short term, the dollar will fluctuate quite a bit
- Long term, structural support for the buck will erode
- Within three years, severe inflation will set in
Also according to the man himself, you would do well to hedge against this collapse, starting now. And he offers three specific investment recommendations on how to do this...
But there’s tons more. He elaborates on how a weak dollar typically leads to surprisingly higher stock market returns, the relationship between the buck and commodities (and how to use commodities as an inflation hedge), and so much more I can’t keep track of it all. My notes on his talk look like a Jackson Pollock abstract.
The only way to get all of Kent’s profit wisdom is to get your CD/MP3 recordings of Taipan’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit and supporting materials — available right now in limited quantities to first-responders for as little as $79…
But right now, I’ve got to batten the hatches — there’s a hurricane blowing into Chicago.
BRYAN BOTTARELLI — Lies, Half-Truths and Other Absurdities
“Who thinks the market is, uh, manipulated?”
That was Bryan Bottarelli’s opening question to the Summit crowd. All hands go up. Mine too, since it’s something I’ve always suspected…
But even as keen a politico as myself didn’t know that the right of certain individuals in government to rig the market is a codified matter of federal law, signed into effect by Ronald Reagan in March of 1988.
Did you know that? I didn’t.
Called the “Working Group on Financial Markets,” it’s composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Chairman of the SEC, and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Bryan (nicknamed “Hurricane Bottarelli” for his whirlwind approach to, well, everything) revealed this little-known group of lords-of-all-things-financial to a stunned and outraged crowd of Summit attendees, then quickly told us what to do about it…
“Play their game,” he said.
In a nutshell, he told us to suspend disbelief in this — the “most irrational market in modern-day history.” Doing this, he claims, will allows us to see the incredible profit opportunities a cumbersome and corrupt American financial system can offer…
As Co-Editor (with Adam Lass) of Taipan’s supremely successful WaveStrength Options Weekly service and head of the impressively profitable Bottarelli Research, Bryan then proceeded to offer Summit attendees:
- three predicted market moves for the next 6-8 months
- six specific international plays — including stocks, ETFs and currencies
- five specific metals plays aimed at currency imbalances and commodities demand
- four specific foreign and domestic mining investments
- two overlooked small-cap metals picks
- two mainstream financial picks with huge profit histories and potential
- two potentially huge winners in the carbon-credits game
- three ways to leverage infrastructure/tech development into big gains
- Plus five more miscellaneous recommendations aimed at capitalizing on various trends and conditions that are on the horizon – or on our doorsteps…
All in all, that’s 29 specific investments left within easy reach by “Hurricane Bottarelli,” and all custom-tailored to take advantage of the irrational, manipulated market we’re mired in — and all crucial to your bottom line over the next 6-8 months…
Again, they’re right there waiting for you in your CD or MP3 recordings of Taipan’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit (Reserve your copy now).
The longer you wait to get them, the more money you’ll be leaving on the table.
For Sale: Complete Financial Education and Slightly Used Ferrari — $79
I must be Ferris once again. I’m past deadline — and I left 2,000 words in the rearview mirror many paragraphs ago…
But I don’t care.
Like Bueller’s grand one-day Windy City adventure demanded extreme measures in a quest for fun, my own two-day quest for profit — and a proper education about the dollars I spend and the twisted economy I spend them in — demands as full and complete an accounting as I can give it.
My publisher can ground me later — but right now, I’m driving a “borrowed” Ferrari toward the gains and insights of a lifetime. And it’s a helluva fun ride…
Want to come along? It’ll only cost you $79.
Jim Amrhein
Contributing Editor, Taipan Daily
P.S. Again, just in case I wasn’t crystal clear above in my fever to story tell, your CD and/or MP3 recordings of Taipan’s 2009 Global Opportunities Summit include all supporting charts, graphs, visuals and PowerPoint presentations for all featured speakers — no matter whether you choose the $79 MP3s or the $99 CD/MP3s combo pack. Choose which one you want now, while I can still ensure there will be enough copies to go around. Sales have been brisk, so order your copy now…
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