Pretty darn insightful. But despite all appearances to the contrary, Doug’s insights do not depend on prophetic powers. What Doug does is the real deal – a combination of good old-fashioned hard work, a profound knowledge of history and economic principles, and an unfailing instinct for lucrative investments.

Once you understand the big picture, the trends Doug continues to spot will seem so obvious to you that you’ll wonder how anyone could NOT see the writing on the wall.

But make no mistake: even highly acclaimed economists and financial pundits, let alone the investing masses, often have no clue what’s really going on.

Here are a few more examples where Doug succeeded by going against mainstream consensus:

• On March 22, 2006, when the gold price was hovering around $550, Doug went on the record saying he was convinced gold were “on the verge of its next big move up, a move I believe will surprise everyone.”
  
  Two weeks later, gold had climbed up to $640.60 – and closed out the year at an average price of $629.79.
  
  Ever since, we have never seen gold below $600 again.
• In August 2004, Doug published an all-uranium edition of his flagship newsletter. At that time, “the other yellow metal” was selling for $18 a pound. A few months later, it was on its trajectory to the moon – eventually topping out at $136/lb in 2007. One of Doug’s recommendations, Paladin Resources, a uranium junior, went from A$0.08 at recommendation to A$4.86… an unbelievable 5,975% gain.
• Just three months later, Doug predicted that the U.S. dollar, which had been in a continuous slump since summer, would see a comeback very soon. At the time, the dollar was valued 0.74 against the euro. Only one week later, it roared back to life – taking most mainstream investors by surprise.

These mega-picks have continued into the present. But Doug is no longer the lone caller in the desert that he used to be. After more than 20 years of flying solo, he gathered America’s best and brightest around him – a group consisting of three top experts in their own right.

Let’s look at the team that has provided outstanding gains for thousands of investors…

The Trend Hunters

This group of brilliant minds is another testament to Doug’s ability of “sniffing out” the best of the best. Together they form the editorial team of Casey Research’s monthly trend advisory, The Casey Report.

 Bud Conrad
Senior Market Strategist
Bud is the data-crunching genius and analytical brain of the Casey Report team. Convinced that a chart says more than a thousand words, he spends late nights exposing the man behind the curtain the government doesn’t want us to pay attention to. Educated at two Ivy League colleges – Yale and Harvard – Bud has been a futures investor for nearly three decades and a full-time investor for more than one. If you’re lucky, you may run into him at Golden Gate University, where he teaches graduate courses in investing.


Terry Coxon
Economist, Editor
Terry Coxon is the man with the big-picture plan. Well versed in the ins and outs of economic theory, he knows that Situation A combined with Catalyst B will inevitably result in Consequence C. Terry is the author of two books, one of which – Inflation-Proofing Your Investments – he co-authored with the late Harry Browne, a legendary free-market libertarian writer and twice-presidential candidate. For more than two decades, he served as the president of the Permanent Portfolio Fund he founded, a mutual fund that invests in precious metals as well as top stocks for 2011 and bonds.


David Galland
Managing Editor
Aside from being one of Doug Casey’s closest confidants, David Galland is the managing director of Casey Research and the managing editor of The Casey Report, providing razor-sharp insight into the economy and markets with a libertarian slant. He has extensive experience in the financial world – from years of running the famous New Orleans Investment Conference, to co-founding EverBank, one of the greatest and most solid successes in online financial services. Being exceptionally gifted in getting startups off the ground, he was also a founding partner and director of the Blanchard Group of Mutual Funds.


Doug Casey
Guru in Residence
If you have seen or listened to Doug live, you know why there’s standing room only when he speaks at investment conferences all over North America. Not only has he become a living legend for his keen observations of the markets and his instinct for emerging trends, he is also famous – or should we say, infamous – for speaking his mind with few if any thoughts wasted on political correctness.

Doug literally wrote the book on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: “Crisis Investing” spent multiple weeks as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980 with 438,640 copies sold. As such, it surpassed even big-caliber names like “Free to Choose” by Milton Friedman, “The Real War” by Richard Nixon, and “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan.

A true cosmopolitan, Doug has pitched tents in various places around the world – from Aspen, Colorado, to Salta, Argentina, to Auckland, New Zealand – and is a great proponent of diversifying one’s assets internationally.

Together, this team of financial heavyweights has been vastly successful in finding emerging, big-picture trends in the economy and markets, as well as unique opportunities to profit from them. And with their help, you can learn to do the same...

Making Fortunes in Times of Crisis

Doug likes to point out that any crisis holds danger as well as opportunity. One can kill you, the other can make you rich.

The general consensus is that in severe economic downturns like the one we’re currently in, investors lose their shirts. But what few realize is that the very same crises – recessions, depressions – are also those periods in history when the foundations for great fortunes are laid.

In the heyday of 2007, when home prices peaked and people equaled out-of-control consumer spending with a healthy economy, Doug and his team already saw financial disaster on the horizon.

Of course, back then barely anyone was listening, and mainstream investors laughingly called them gloom- and doomsayers.

But some investors were having the last laugh: those subscribers of The Casey Report who followed the editors’ recommendation to short bond insurer MBIA, one of the companies standing squarely in the way of the banking avalanche that was about to thunder downhill.

Doug’s team advised to short MBIA when the stock traded at $61.92. By January 2008, only four months later, the share price had collapsed to $8.55.

On July 1, 2008, MBIA traded at $4.18… a 93.3% gain for Casey Report subscribers within 10 months.

In November 2008, the Casey Report editors told subscribers to buy the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), then trading at $21.01. At the beginning of October 2009, GDX stood at $47.76 – for a 127.3% return in less than a year.

After a long and very eye-opening Casey Report interview with real estate entrepreneur Andy Miller, Doug and his team recommended shorting real estate investment trust Emcor (EME), closing the position with a quick two-month gain of 87% for subscribers.

Another short, Corus Bank (CORS), a bank with heavy exposure to the condominium market, provided a similar fast-blast gain of 90% within two months.

If you’re wondering whether it’s too late to invest in or short the top stocks mentioned – yes, that particular train has left the station. But the market is an organic being, moving and changing all the time… and every month, The Casey Report presents new opportunities to profit.

Recently, for example, the editors have shifted more of their attention to political events in the U.S. and abroad. That’s because governments everywhere have, in the wake of the subprime debacle, begun to take a much more active role in the economy (some would call it market manipulation).

Today’s new regulation can determine tomorrow’s “ten-bagger” – a best stock winner multiplying its share price by ten – as well as tomorrow’s mega-loser going from 60 to zero within seconds. In both cases, you get handsome returns if you play it right.

And playing it right has never been easier than today.

Make the Trend Your Friend…with The Casey Report

The Casey Report has been created specifically for investors looking to take advantage of the markets’ most powerful trends – seeking out opportunities that can double or triple their initial investment in a 12- to 24-month time frame. You’ve seen a few of the results in the examples above.

But that’s not all. Unlike other newsletters that give recommendations without elaborating on the whys and hows, The Casey Report strives to give you a better understanding of the complex machinations of the markets and the overall economy.

An education that will not only invigorate your cocktail parties but also turn you into a proficient investor who is miles ahead of the crowd.

As an additional benefit, The Casey Report’s features include not only in-depth analysis from our own investment pros but also from our network of experts, some of whom enjoy downright celebrity status:

• In January 2009, presidential candidate Ron Paul asked “What’s Next?” sharing his thoughts on where the United States is headed and what needs to be done to heal the economy.
• One month later, Bud Conrad and David Galland dissected the Anatomy of Japan’s Lost Decade, taking a close look at the Japanese experience for lessons that might help predict what lies ahead for the United States.
• In March, Doug Casey mused in Street Fighting Man about social instability during the current crisis, followed by his May article End of the Nation-State, a development he very much looks forward to.
• In June, Neil Howe, bestselling author and renowned authority on generations, described what it will be like going Into the Fourth Turning and why history keeps repeating itself.
• In the next issue, the head of strategic planning of one of America’s Ivy League business schools recommended to Bet on Stuff, making his argument for another mega-boom in commodities.
• In August, independent real estate specialist Andy Miller gave us a Real Estate Reality Check, explaining why commercial real estate is the next domino to fall and why it will make the subprime crash look like a drop in the bucket.
• And in September, the “Mariner” talked under condition of anonymity about Inside Shipping as an indicator that speaks volumes about the state of the economy.

Tons of valuable information just in the course of a few months… information that could have helped you catch the big trends-in-the-making.

Don’t worry, though -- it’s not too late.

If you become a subscriber to The Casey Report today, you will get immediate access to the current issue, as well as all archived issues, of our newsletter.

It’s a virtual treasure trove of information – an online course, if you will, in big-picture economics and the dire consequences of government meddling, money printing, and sky-high debt. Consequences that nevertheless, if you understand them, can help you make money instead of losing it.

But we only want you to make a commitment if you are 100% in love with our publication.

Therefore, you have our iron-clad guarantee that you will get a full refund of your money if you cancel your subscription within 90 days. No questions asked.

That gives you 90 days to...
...read the current edition of The Casey Report
...browse all archived issues and read the above-
mentioned articles
...access subscribers-only special reports
...search the Casey Research Knowledge Base, a
helpful Q&A about investing
...and follow our current investment
recommendations.

That’s 3 full months to take advantage of all our actionable intelligence – with no obligation to stick around.

We are convinced that you’ll simply love The Casey Report. But if you don’t, no hard feelings, because we want happy subscribers.

The full retail price of The Casey Report is $349 for one year’s service.

And when you consider all the insights, recommendations, and direction you’ll get from just one issue of the newsletter, $349 would be a bargain.

But you won’t even have to pay that much.

Come on board now and enjoy everything The Casey Report has to offer you and your portfolio… for only $279 per year. That’s a 20% savings over the retail price.

Plus, if you act now, you can lock in your pricing for as long as you remain a subscriber.

If you decide not to stay with TCR, simply contact us – by email, phone, mail, or carrier pigeon – anytime during your three-month trial, and we’ll refund every penny of the money you paid.

Even after 90 days… if you decide that The Casey Report is not right for you as an investor, you’ll still get a pro-rated refund based on the balance of your subscription.

A real life E.F. Hutton, the grandfatherly Buffet is still the best brand in the business.

But then again, there aren't many investors in the world that can turn $1200 from a paper route into one of the greatest fortunes of all time. In that regard, Buffett's reputation came the old fashioned way: he earned it.

The reasons behind this iconic image, however, are two-fold, since Buffett is not exactly your run-of-the-mill billionaire.

Instead, he's an American everyman that not only exudes common sense, but dines primarily on hamburgers, chips, and Cherry Coke.

But buried beneath that cuddly, down-home exterior is something else entirely: the cold and calculating mind of man who is quick to make decisions and has a serious nose for money — a market shark if there ever was one.

And the larger truth is that if you really want to know something about the road ahead, it pays to listen to someone that has been there before.

That's true now more than ever as investors wrestle with the ghosts of the Great Depression and ponder the possibility of a double-dip recession.

Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Shareholders

Every year, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) releases Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Shareholder's and investors everywhere are eager to hear what the "Oracle of Omaha" has to say.

With that in mind, here are a few of the highlights...

Warren Buffett on Bailouts:

We will never become dependent on the kindness of strangers. Too-big-to-fail is not a fallback position at Berkshire. Instead, we will always arrange our affairs so that any requirements for cash we may conceivably have will be dwarfed by our own liquidity.

When the financial system went into cardiac arrest in September 2008, Berkshire was a supplier of liquidity and capital to the system, not a supplicant. The $20 billion-plus of cash equivalent assets that we customarily hold is earning a pittance at present. But we sleep well.

Warren Buffett on His Biggest Mistake:

And now a painful confession: Last year your chairman closed the book on a very expensive business fiasco entirely of his own making.

For many years I had struggled to think of side products that we could offer our millions of loyal GEICO customers. Unfortunately, I finally succeeded, coming up with a brilliant insight that we should market our own credit card... We got business all right — but of the wrong type.

Our pre-tax losses from credit-card operations came to about $6.3 million before I finally woke up. We then sold our $98 million portfolio of troubled receivables for 55¢ on the dollar, losing an additional $44 million.

Warren Buffett on Utilities and Railroads:

We see a "social compact" existing between the public and our railroad business, just as is the case with our utilities. If either side shirks its obligations, both sides will inevitably suffer. It is inconceivable that our country will realize anything close to its full economic potential without its possessing first-class electricity and railroad systems. We will do our part to see that they exist.

Overall, we expect this regulated sector to deliver significantly increased earnings over time, albeit at the cost of our investing many tens — yes, tens — of billions of dollars of incremental equity capital.

Warren Buffett on Construction:

Every business we own that is connected to residential and commercial construction suffered severely in 2009. Combined pre-tax earnings of Shaw, Johns Manville, Acme Brick, and MiTek were $227 million, an 82.5% decline from $1.295 billion in 2006, when construction activity was booming. These businesses continue to bump along the bottom, though their competitive positions remain undented.

Warren Buffett on Housing:

The industry is in shambles for two reasons, the first of which must be lived with if the U.S. economy is to recover. This reason concerns U.S. housing starts (including apartment units). In 2009, starts were 554,000, by far the lowest number in the 50 years for which we have data. Paradoxically, this is good news.

People thought it was good news a few years back when housing starts — the supply side of the picture — were running about two million annually. But household formations — the demand side — only amounted to about 1.2 million. After a few years of such imbalances, the country unsurprisingly ended up with far too many houses.

There were three ways to cure this overhang: (1) blow up a lot of houses, a tactic similar to the destruction of autos that occurred with the "cash-for-clunkers" program; (2) speed up household formations by, say, encouraging teenagers to cohabitate, a program not likely to suffer from a lack of volunteers or; (3) reduce new housing starts to a number far below the rate of household formations.

Our country has wisely selected the third option, which means that within a year or so residential housing problems should largely be behind us...

Warren Buffett on Corporate and Municipal Bonds:

We told you last year that very unusual conditions then existed in the corporate and municipal bond markets and that these securities were ridiculously cheap relative to U.S. Treasuries. We backed this view with some purchases, but I should have done far more. Big opportunities come infrequently. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.

As for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, they received a whole lot more than just some folksy wisdom. Bouncing back from a tough 2008, Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger guided the company to another great year.

On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway reported that net earnings ballooned 61% last year to $5,193 per share, while the company's book value jumped by 20% to a record high.

Meanwhile, Berkshire's Class A shares — which fell to almost $70,000 a year ago — have rebounded to over $123,000.today, boasting a net gain of 75%.

In true Buffett fashion, he shrugs off the risks of what has been a pretty busy year for the stock investment icon.

"Most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10, and 20 years from now," Buffett wrote in the New York Times. "If you wait for the robins, spring will be over.''

This time the story probably won't be much different; in a way, it is almost like he has seen this movie before.

After all, they don't call him the Oracle of Omaha for nothing...

When he speaks, people listen.

All thanks to one of North America's greatest gold secrets.

It all goes back to the summer of 1860, when a single discovery made by a man known as Captain E.D. Pierce triggered a rush that put Central Idaho on the map.

The early success stories that came out of this region were the sorts of fairy tales that poor prospectors told their children at bedtime:

• Like the one about a miner named Peter 'Baboon' Bablanie, who harvested over 1,200 ounces all by himself — a haul worth $1.35 million in today's dollars...
• Or the mine that produced $140,000 of gold — worth $3.3 million today — in a single day's work.

Of course, these early successes were short-lived.

In fact, due to rising production costs and falling prices, most mining operations in Idaho were out of the gold business entirely by the mid-20th century...

...Turning instead to silver and other metals for safe, reliable returns.

That all changed — in a big way — when the economic world was flipped on its head.

But as gold recently touched and even exceeded $1,200/ounce, mass demand triggered a gold rush of a magnitude unheard of for a century and a half.

And just like the first time, the prospectors were quick to jump on the opportunity.

Only this time, instead of pickaxes and tin pans, they took to the foothills with high explosives and ground-penetrating radar.

One such prospector — a 3-year-old mining company worth around $27 million — laid claim to a site which everyone had assumed was depleted back in the 1950s.

Turns out, everyone was wrong...

And within just a few months, this outfit made the discovery of a lifetime: a massive deposit of gold that has since been dubbed the 'Boise Basin.'

With over 600,000 ounces on the property, this $27 million company's assets now exceed $727 million.

That's almost 27 times the company's total value... which means that at today's share price of right around 45 cents, investors like you are buying gold at an equivalent of $50.17 per ounce!

It's the newest profit opportunity from a portfolio that's delivered gains on 22 out of 23 recommendations.

But for a recommendation this big, it'll only be a matter of days, perhaps hours, before the mainstream media gets a hold of the story — closing this exclusive window of opportunity.

In the next few minutes, I'll tell you all you need to know about a gold play that has the potential to outpace gold's own rate of growth by a factor of 9.5...

... And how recently published results from a battery of core tests — the first of several to take place in the next few weeks — have already given investors 47% gains in a single day of trading!

But first, I must explain why now is the most opportune time to buy the most precious of metals...

The Biggest Gold Rush Since the Civil War

It's happening right before our eyes.

The price of gold is on a mad tear, as it reached and then smashed through the $1,000/ounce milestone.

But in reality, this is still nowhere near the top of where gold has been — even in recent history.

And experts like Jim Rogers and John Paulson agree... There's only one place where it's going, and that's higher.

Now, the forces behind gold's historic rise are probably not news to you...

In all likelihood, you probably read about them almost every day in the papers, or you hear about them from the talking heads on TV.

But right now, more than any other time in modern history, knowing how and when to act on these trends is absolutely critical to the state of your wealth.

4 Ironclad Reasons why the rush to buy has never been stronger

In all, there are some 158,000 tons (4.8 billion ounces) in the world. That equates to just 0.7 ounces per person.

But now more than ever, the world's leading economies are using gold to hedge against the rapidly dropping dollar.

In short, they're doing the same thing that private investors are doing to protect their wealth, only they're buying more of it — much more.

• China: Has increased its gold reserves 76% since 2003.
• India: With 25,000 tons already in reserve, India's gold demand has doubled in the last 20 years.
• Russia: The world's third biggest holder of gold has increased its reserves by 9% since March 2009.

With all this increase in demand, prices have been doing what they always do...

... Going up and up, creating even more demand in the process.

But here's the snag...

For every ounce that's taken out of the ground, gold becomes harder and harder to find.

# 2. Increasing Rarity = Increasing Production Cost

Since 2003, the production cost of gold has gone from about $185 per ounce to $500 today.

That's a 171% increase.

Which means that during that six-year period between 2003 and 2009, the cost of gold production has outpaced inflation by a factor of 10.2 to 1!

And just as the case is with any finite resource, the more that we deplete the world's gold deposits...

... the harder it is to find more of it.

... the more it costs to produce.

Especially now that Reasons 3 and 4 have sent demand from the private sector towards an all-time high.

# 3. A Weakening Dollar

With each dollar of debt the U.S. takes on, the greenback loses its strength.

And as you know, anyone interested in maintaining their wealth will buy gold to hedge against the effects of this debt.

The point being that gold maintains its purchasing value.

Here's what I mean:

In 1930, an ounce of gold (worth $20) would have bought you a nice three-piece suit.

Today, that same ounce (worth over $1,100), would also buy you a nice three-piece suit...

What would $20 cash buy you today?

You see the point... and it brings me to the last reason.

# 4. In Uncertain times, It's Still the Safest Investment

The oldest reason may still be the most popular.

Immune to the rise and fall of industrial sectors and commercial trends, gold is always an asset, never a liability, and maintains its value regardless of what happens on the market.

It's why the price of gold has steadily increased for the last decade:

Now let me tell you about the junior mining company that can take gold's gains...

And turn them into profits you'll be enjoying for years to come.

No Ordinary Gold Investment

With unprecedented demand sending prices higher and higher everyday, the world's savviest investors are scrambling for faster and more innovative ways to make fortunes from gold.

Today, that sends the most successful investors to one place: the sector that profits more than any other from growth in precious metal demand...

Junior mining top stocks.

To see what I mean, just look at some of the recent successes already enjoyed by keen-eyed investors who knew what to look for:

• Decade Resources - 2357% - 1 month hold time
• Ventana Gold - 3297% since Jan. 2009
• Animas Resources - 373% - 6 months hold time
• Victoria Resources - 546% - since Jan. 2009

In the case of Decade resources, a mere four weeks on the market could have turned a $500 investment into $11,785!

And as demand continues to push gold prices up, the opportunity to build a fortune from these aggressively growing micro-cap companies only grows stronger.

Of course, there are many to choose from. And after you've narrowed the list down to an elite group of companies, one stands out — for reasons I'm about to explain...

It's a company I've scrutinized for the last four months.

However, recent developments have turned this prospect into my hottest precious metals recommendation of the year.

You see, this small metals company — trading at just 45-cents as of this morning — now holds title to a gold deposit of legendary proportions... one that's been the stuff of prospector legend since the gold rushes of the 19th century.

And investors just like you are using this remarkable stock to purchase gold at an equivalent of $50.61/ounce...

Idaho's "Gold Renaissance"

I thought I'd made a mistake the first time I crunched the numbers...

But I checked them again, and again, and again... and the figure always came out the same.

It turns out that this small $27 million company is sitting on a gold resource in Idaho worth $727 million.

That means the company's gold resource is worth 27 times the company's total current market value.

So it's clear that the market is grossly undervaluing this company.

But that's less than half of the story...

With a near-target production of 25,000 ounces per year, we're looking at a potential earnings per share (EPS) of $0.27.

Here are a few companies with comparable EPS figures...

• Aurizon Mines LTC (AMEX: AZK) - EPS: $0.29 - Share Price: $4.94
• Dominion Mining (ASX: DOM) - EPS: $0.20 - Share Price: $3.76

With an average P/E ratio of 17 and an expected EPS of $0.14...

My conservative near-term expectation for this company's share price is $4.59.

And with current share prices of just $0.45, that's a gain of 920%!

But now I have even more compelling data I want to share with you.

In fact, it's more than just data — it's as near a guarantee as there is in the business of investing.

Let me explain...

At the close of 2009, this company announced that it had just completed a series of drill tests on their Idaho property.

These tests were limited in scope, consisting of just six drill holes.

But the results were astounding.

And it wasn't even the gram/meter mineral concentration values that made the real difference.

You see, when this company's geologists made their preliminary evaluations of the gold deposits on this property, they were based on drill tests that only went down to 85 meters (283 feet).

Now, in the mining exploration business, when you find something you've been looking for underground, you keep drilling until you don't see any traces of it anymore.

These latest drill tests went down to 121 meters (403 feet).

This means that the latest results on this property show gold present to a depth 29% deeper than before...

Adding about $181 million to the property — with a single drillhole!

When this news came out just last week, it caused the share value to shoot up 47% in a single day.

And this is before a single ounce has even been mined.

How to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck: Multiply Gold by 9.5

For some people, a gold investment that helps to maintain the wealth they've created is already enough.

But some people want more...

If you're the sort of person who wants to make real money investing in gold, riding the price of bullion won't cut it.

To make the big profits off the fewest trades possible, you need to magnify gold's earning potential.

And no stock out there does this better than this new discovery.

But you don't have to take my word for it... the numbers speak for themselves:

Between October 2009 and the first week of January 2010,  gold gained 9%.

In that same timeframe, my new recommendation jumped more than 86%!

That's a percentage gain ratio of 9.5 to 1.

So for every 15% that gold grows, your investment would more than double!

It's exactly the sort of aggressively-minded, wealth-building strategy that my readers have come to expect from me.

But here's the catch:

I usually beat the mainstream media to the punch on these calls by about 14 days.

On average, that's a 2-week advantage that my readers typically have over other investors.

But for my new recommendation — the junior mining company operating in Idaho's prolific Boise Basin — I'm expecting it will catch on in far less time.

A few days at the most... particularly since this operation is right here in the U.S.

In fact, the signs that this one is about to blow are already evident today.

Recent Core Tests Confirm It

Now, as I mentioned earlier, in the closing days of 2009, this company sunk six drill holes into this piece of Idaho real estate.

The core samples, which measured mineral content in the bedrock to a depth of up to 985 feet, represented a limited test...

But in a subsequent press release, management said, "We are extremely pleased with the results..."

And when the results were published two weeks later, the best stock skyrocketed 47%, with the daily volume spiking to over 1000% of its average over the previous three months...

That's on top of the steady climb it's been on since I first recommended it last October!

I've seen this exact phenomenon a couple times in my career.

Exploration companies going from 8 figure no-names to 10 figure players in the space of just a few months.

And all indicators are there that this is where this one is heading right now.

With further drill results imminent, it could happen any day, and it could send this stock well into double-digit gains in hours.

Of course, as the case always is with opportunities like this one, timing is crucial.

And I'll admit that this sort of aggressive investment strategy isn't for everyone...

But it's exactly the kind of thing my readers expect.

If you think it's right for you, read on...

Put my 96% Success Rate to Work for You With These 3 Brand-new Reports...

As soon as you become a subscriber to my Hard Money Millionaire advisory, you'll become one of just 73 new subscribers to receive my most exciting money-making opportunities in this gold bull market.

Everything you need to begin taking advantage is included in my latest research reports:

Research Report #1: My Top Buyout Gold Stock for 2010 — This could be one of the easiest gains you'll make in 2010. It's a small ($75 million) gold company focused on the rapid development of two gold projects with over 1.5 million ounces of gold. The company has just begun to cross some major milestones. And I expect this stock will be bought out by a larger company in the near future... which would mean near-guaranteed gains for today's investors.

Research Report #2: Wall Street's Favorite Silver Stock — One of the best ways to profit from the gold bull market is actually from its sister metal: Silver. Silver consistently outperforms gold during precious metal bull markets. That's why some of the largest and most powerful investment firms are rapidly buying shares of this small American silver stock. In this report, I explain in detail why I think today's investors could be headed for an easy double or triple gain.

And, most importantly...

Research Report #3: The Boise Blowout

This company has two major things going for it:

1. A sizeable gold resource that's worth 27 times the company's market cap.
2. Near-term production that could drive share prices over 920% higher in the next few months.

Armed with this recommendation, you'll get in on the ground floor of a company poised to yield a near 10X return in the short term!

And I'll teach you everything you need to know to hit this million-dollar nail right on the head!

In addition, I'll give you all the information you'll need to safely and consistently profit from hard asset investments in the coming years.

Remember, these reports are free — with no obligation on your part!

Simply test-drive my service.

As a member, you'll get immediate access to my brand new gold play — plus the two bonus reports — not to mention a portfolio with a 96% success rate... that paid out more than 52% in 2009!

Have a look:

Listen... you and I both know investment newsletters are a dime a dozen.

And many of them charge ridiculous fees, even when they underperform...

But I know that when readers find an advisory that consistently makes money in any market... the subscription fee usually pays for itself — and then some.

My record speaks for itself.

In 2009, Hard Money Millionaire performed:

• Twice as well as the NASDAQ...
• Up to five times better than the S&P 500...
• As much as 10 times better than the DOW!

In addition:

• We made gains on 7 out of 7 precious metals investments, including 3 with 100%+ earnings.
• 5 of our 6 energy investments each returned an average gain of almost 70%.
• Our portfolio has returned gains on 5 out of 6 positions that hedge against the devaluation of the U.S. Treasuries and the dollar.

Considering where our new gold play looks like it's headed, even a small investment could pay out generously.

So here's my offer to you:

For an annual investment of just $495 — in addition to the free reports you get just for signing up — you'll join a small group of individual investors quietly but confidently beating Wall Street at its own game.

NOTE: This is 50% off our normal rate of $995, but you still get all of the features that come with our retail-priced subscription.

It's a level of personal service that you won't find anywhere else, and it's the reason I have to limit the number of new subscribers to 73.

Because if I allowed unlimited membership, I know that I will not be able to provide the level of service that my readers are accustomed to.

And just to put my money where my mouth is... If within 30 days, you're not completely satisfied with Hard Money Millionaire...

Or if, for any reason, you feel that it's not worth what you paid... just call in and I'll give you a 100% refund.

You heard me right — every penny of it.

No surcharges... no "restocking fees"... no risk.

I have no reservations making this guarantee to you today because I know that once you see how I can improve your net worth, you won't think twice before renewing once your first year is up.

So, Here's the Final Tally:

For agreeing to test-drive my service today, you get:

• Full member-only access to the Hard Money Millionaire website and archives with 24-hour portfolio availability
• My three brand-new reports, including the 920% Gold Stock
• Updates that include market analysis, portfolio updates, and new recommendations
• E-mail alerts on all trades; we'll tell you exactly when to buy and when to sell

Note to Reader: Because this service is so rare, and because we cannot admit more than 73 new members to the file, we will unfortunately not be able to offer any additional discounts at this time.

Pretty sad, right? These are supposed to be the cream of the crop Wall Street has to offer — the blue chip titans that have made Americans rich for decades. 

And yet all they were able to do for you over the last ten years was lose 15% of your hard-earned nest egg.

Well, here's the even sadder part...

If you'd just used a slightly different approach, over the last 4 years you could have taken that same $5,000 and had scores of opportunities to transform it into $12,050, $14,400, $18,100, $19,550 even $21,500 or more...

And not in years, or even months. In some cases we're talking a matter of weeks, or just days...

All thanks to an investment that 9 out of 10 investors don't even have the guts to touch.

Why?

Because too many "experts" have told people they're not seasoned enough...

Because the talking heads of CNBC or Fox have labeled it a "fringe" investment...

Because scam artists try to charge thousands to "educate" investors on how to use this simple profit tool...

But this is all a bunch of bull. And I'm writing you today to set the record straight.

You CAN trade options. The truth is, you have just as great a shot at grabbing the options profits that are sitting on the table waiting for you as ANY other investor out there today.

All you need is a small amount of safe, simple, and above all PROVEN guidance.

And that's exactly what I'm writing to offer you today. 

Before the next 10 minutes are up, you'll have the answers to most (if not all) of the pressing questions you might have about options trading...

100% FREE of charge or obligation. 

You'll also have a FREE, no-strings-attached options "starter play" given to you in exact detail right here in this letter.

That "starter play" could easily produce up to a 50% gain within the next 8 weeks — a fantastic start to your options career. 

And this isn't the kind of bait-and-switch tactic I'm sure you're used to seeing...

You'll receive the ticker symbol and all, right within this note, without having to buy a thing.

Above all that, you'll be offered the opportunity to be coached every step of the way on your path to becoming a seasoned options profiteer.

But before you decide anything, let me introduce myself and show you exactly why I know — beyond a shadow of a doubt — that I'm the man to set you off and running on your options trading joyride...

With confidence, clarity, and a wealth of great opportunities ready for the taking.

I'm Ready to Transform You Into an Options Trading Pro...

My name is Ian Cooper. For the better part of the last decade, I've been operating outside of Wall Street's reach, mastering the art of turbo-charged options trading.

When I say "turbo-charged" here's what I mean:

•    Fremont General September 2007 puts - 291% in 16 days
•    Lennar January 2008 puts - 279% in 40 days
•    Pulte January 2008 puts - 224% in 40 days
•    New Century January 2008 puts - 214% in 16 days
•    Centex January 2008 puts - 207% in 40 days
•    Countrywide January 2008 puts - 203% in 69 days
•    Thornburg October 20 2007 puts - 188% in 6 days
•    MGIC Investments December puts - 175% in 80 days
•    Capital One January 2008 puts - 160% in 59 days
•    Accredited Home September 2007 puts - 141% in 4 days
•    Hovnanian November 2007 puts - 136% in 13 days
•    Radian Group August 2007 puts - 122% in 19 days
•    Standard Pacific September 2007 puts - 111% in 2 days
•    Autonation January 2008 puts - 105% in 49 days
•    Coca Cola November 2008 puts – 262% in 39 days
•    JA Solar September 2008 calls – 113% in 7 days
•    Lehman Bros January 2009 puts – 208% in 4 days
•    Financial Select Sector January 2009 puts – 221% in 7 days
•    Dendreon Corporation August 2009 calls - an amazing 338% in just 6 days! 

Now, as a newcomer to the options game, the first part of those bullet points might not mean a whole lot to you — words like "puts" and "calls" might be Greek to you at this point...

Don't worry — you'll know what those terms and more mean, shortly.

For now, just focus on the second half, the part I've bolded for you.

These are the kinds of gains that options traders have been making over the last few years, while the rest of the market went to hell in a hand basket. 

It probably happened to a lot of investors you know...

Their portfolios filled with "safe" buy-and-hold stocks self-destructed, losing them untold amounts of money.

But that "1-out-of-10 investor" I mentioned earlier — who took the leap and started trading options — shrugged off the financial crisis and continued padding their bottom line with triple-digit win after triple-digit win.

I'm not trying to brag here, but every one of those potential gains you see above were plays that I recommended to my readers. 

Those readers were all members of my top-of-the-line trading research service, Options Trading Pit. Now, I'm not going to sugarcoat this next part...

If you're new to options, then you're NOT ready to join that service yet.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but I'd hate to see people get in way over their heads before they knew what they were doing.
So that begs the question: How DO you get to know what you're doing?

That's why I decided to create Options Trading Coach, a unique beginners-level options service that teaches you everything you need to know to become an options trading pro...

Beginning a profits joyride of your own — just like the one I showed you above.

Options Trading Coach isn't just a teaching tool, either. If you decide to let me turn you into experienced options trader, you'll also be receiving real, live options trades every month for you to cut your teeth on...

And potentially bank some serious double- to triple-digit gains in the process.

In fact, I'm going to give you your very first trade, that "starter play" that could deliver 50% in just 8 weeks, right here today in this letter — FREE of charge.

PLUS... when you try Options Trading Coach you risk nothing at all — for a full 6 months.

I'll get into all of the specifics of everything I just told you in a moment, but first let me say this is a GREAT moment to start your options trading career.

BusinessWeek has said that "options trading is suddenly catching fire," and they couldn't be more right.

Every year, options trading gets bigger and bigger. In 2008, 3.6 billion options contracts were traded — a full 25% more than 2007, another record year.

And why is this? Three reasons:

1.    Options trades deliver far bigger gains than regular buy-and-sell stock trades.
2.    Your purchase cost is far less than buying a stock; bigger gains for less money: win/win!
3.    You can profit from options in ANY market.

Now, with those three reasons in mind, can you think of a single reason why you wouldn't start trading options?

Well, I can think of one: you simply don't know how. 

So let's make today the LAST day you can say that.

Now I'd imagine your head might be swimming a little... Especially if you've never considered trading options before. 

That's only natural. In fact, it's great. It means you're already on your way to learning how to use options to blast your portfolio into the profits stratosphere. 

So with that being said...

You've Got Questions I'm Sure...

... and what kind of coach would I be if I didn't answer them?

Below are some of the most common questions I get from rookies to the options game. And this is really just the tip of the iceberg. 

But with my help every step of the way, you really don't need to know much more than these basic fundamentals to become an options superstar...

Q: What are options?

A: Might as well start at the beginning right?

An option is a contract that gives you the right — but not the obligation — to buy or sell a stock at a specific price on or before an expiration date. It's that easy.

If you think that best stock for 2010 is going to go up, you'd purchase a "call option," which gives you the right to buy shares at a later date for today's lower price... 

If you think that stock is going to go down, you'd purchase a "put option," which gives you the right to sell shares at a later date at today's higher price...

Either way, you keep the difference in the shares' value. It's easy money and a fraction of the outlay of actual shares for just as much in potential profits. 

You can't do that with regular old buy and sell stock trading. It's also why options can make you money in ANY market!

Which leads us to our next question...

Q: How can options make me more money than regular top stocks to buy?

A: This is what makes it so crucial for you to get started with options if you want to be a successful investor.

The short answer is that options give you leverage.

Say you buy 100 shares of a $20 stock and the stock goes to $30. You've made 50%. A nice gain sure, but...

Let's say you bought an options contract on that $20 stock at around $3 a contract (which is good for 100 shares)... That $10 advancement could triple your investment in one contract. That's the leverage you want in today's market.

Here's a great example: Recently I made a trade on home foreclosures. The underlying stock for the company I bought the option on is only up maybe 5%...

... but the option is up 40%! 

And with the worst of foreclosures still ahead of us, that means more buyers of this stock. 

That means more options contracts for the right to buy more shares — which gives me an even better shot of continuing to make as much as 8 TIMES the profits of investors who simply bought shares. 

Of course, any time you're putting your hard-earned money on the line, you want know how safe it is. And that begs the question...
 
Q: Are options risky?

A: There's risk in any investment you make. Without risk, however, there's no gain.

Warren Buffett, the world's most famous and successful investor understands that... and he often uses options to reduce risk in top stocks and profit from stock fluctuations at a reduced cost. He knows the power options can have when you make a sound decision based on sound analysis.

Just like I offer you as your Options Trading Coach.

But here's the long and short of it...

The biggest risk in options trading that doesn't exist with top stocks for 2011 is the limited lifetime. Options expire. 

This means that your forecast for a stock movement has to happen within the time frame that you choose. This can range from one day to three years with LEAPS — as your coach, I'll explain this all to you in complete detail in just a minute.

So yes, options do present some risk; they shouldn't be approached with any more money than you can afford to lose. I often tell people not to risk the house. You aren't buying a company as a long-term investment. You're betting that a certain event will happen in the market within a specified time frame...

But remember, this is a calculated bet — not a shot in the dark. And as my track record can attest to, we'll win those bets FAR more than we lose them.

Q: In what kind of market do options perform best?

A: The beauty of trading options is that they can be used in any market.

In a down market, you can go on a "put option" shopping spree, making tons of money off the boatload of companies that are losing their shirts.

In a rip-roaring bull market, you'd switch up your strategy and start buying "call options" and watch your bottom line soar along with those top stocks for 2010.

Either way the market is moving, you can hedge your bets. So it wouldn't matter which way a stock or index was headed... You could profit regardless.

That's what makes options such a popular investment with savvy traders. 

Better yet, options can be bought or sold at the fraction of the cost of an actual company's shares in ANY market.

Bottom line: options allow you to control and profit from the underlying stock in any market — without actually owning shares.

Sounding good so far? Well I'm sure you've got more questions...

Q: Are options hard to follow?

A: This is an easy one. Not at all. Options are as easy to follow as stocks.

Especially because with Options Trading Coach, we'll track your trades for you in our online portfolio.

Plus, I'll be in touch with you regularly to tell you exactly when I believe you should buy and sell your contracts. There's no sitting around biting your nails, watching CNBC or Bloomberg tickers like a hawk, trying to decide what to do.

You'll have me and my years of experience giving you precise instructions and education on the steps you need to take — not only to become a successful options trader in the future, but also make money off them RIGHT NOW.

But maybe you're skeptical about needing my guidance and you're wondering...
 
Q: Why do I need a coach to trade options? Can't I just start on my own?

A: Ask yourself this question first...

If you'd never played a hand of poker in your life, would you walk into a casino and throw down $5k on the table for a game — without knowing the rules, odds, or even what the cards themselves mean?

Of course not, because you're not stupid. 

And you're not an Arab sheik, dot-com billionaire, or playing third base for the New York Yankees... more than likely, you can't afford to risk money on things you have no clue about.

Just as you would never ante up to a poker game you have no idea how to play, why would you try to teach yourself the ins and outs of an investment, while at the same time your money is at stake?

That's what Options Trading Coach is here for. 

I'm not offering you some slapped-together DVD or 300-page manual that leaves you to figure out the Greek for yourself.

With Options Trading Coach, we'll hold your hand and walk you through what an option is, how it works, and how you can profit from it. 

And the best part is you earn while you learn! 

I'll issue you 1-2 real, potential triple-digit winning options plays each month. And as I mentioned earlier, you'll be instructed EXACTLY when to buy and sell these contracts.

Nothing is left to chance. So long as you're with us, we're with you.  

If you want to make serious money as an investor, you must know options — and disregard the all-too-common belief that options trading is difficult, risky, speculative, and a complicated way to trade stocks.

It's simply no longer the case.

These days, options trading is quickly becoming the preferred way among savvy investors to make serious gains while limiting risk.

But you can't do it without understanding the ins and outs. If you don't know what you're doing, you WILL get burned — this I guarantee you.

Sure, there's no shortage of options educational services out there...

But every one of them I've seen is part of some sort of "package deal" that costs hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

These packages include DVDs and printed fluff pieces that fail to deliver any gains — except to those who sell them...

Sure, you'll get the background information on options, trade terminology, and a few basic strategies to build your options IQ... but that's about it.

You'll probably receive a PDF of an options trading course that'll conclude with a further offer: "If you join us right now for just $995, we'll walk you through similar trades!"

So you just paid hundreds of dollars — but for what? 

The chance to pay even more money to actually put your education to use? 

That's not a resource. It's a scam. Plain and simple.

You're left wondering what to do next... and how to start making gains on your own.

And that's exactly why Options Trading Coach blows away these other options "education" products.

Every week, we'll alert you to new options trade set-ups and new ideas and strategies...

These are some of the same strategies and insights I recommend in my more advanced Options Trading Pit portfolio — which has returned 9,101% cumulative returns since January 2007.

In fact, I developed Options Trading Coach after many of my readers insisted on such a service.

We've even set up a message board — checked daily by yours truly — where you can dialogue with us directly.

But look, maybe you're still not convinced.

Maybe you're the kind of person who needs to see actual results in front of their eyes...

That's why right here in this letter today, I'm going to give you your first Options Trading Coach trade recommendation...

At no cost to you and with absolutely no strings attached.

The First Mile of Your Options Joyride

Now here's the point in most letters where you'd get the rug pulled out from under you.

The "guru" who's spent the last 10 minutes telling you how they're going to teach you how to get rich and promising to deliver the name of an ABSOLUTELY FREE pick...

All of a sudden asks you to hand over a few hundred bucks before he'll give it to you.

Well that's not the way Options Trading Coach operates. 

Here is all the information you need to know to go ahead and purchase your first options contract:

If you're game, consider buying the Lexmark April 2010 30 put option (LXK100417P00030000) at or near 90 cents. We're looking to book at least a 50% gain on this position. 

A word of warning: I believe this pick could return as much as 50% over the next 8 weeks. However, remember what I told you just a moment ago. Would you go and throw your money into a game you had no idea how to play?

You're more than free to take on this opportunity on your own. In fact it's a great opportunity. 

Of course the only way you'll know how to pinpoint the PRECISE moment when to sell this contract and cash out that maximum gain...

The only way you won't be sweating bullets trying to follow the ticker each day...

The only way you can erase ALL the guesswork, confusion, and just plain fear you may have about purchasing the recommendation above...

Is to allow me to be your options coach. 

Once you're a member of Options Trading Coach, I'll keep you updated on this Lexmark play — and all your plays following this one — constantly. 

I won't leave you to the wolves to figure out what to do on your own, like a lot of other options services do. 

So the choice is yours: Go it on your own... or let me do the heavy lifting for you.

And if you decide to do that, then here's the part I think you'll like best of all... 

It's hardly going to cost you a thing.

The Cheapest (and Most Profitable) Education Out There...

First things first, as I mentioned before, when you sign on with Options Trading Coach, you'll have 6 FULL MONTHS to try the service at no risk whatsoever.

If after that 6 months you haven't made any money, still can't understand options, or just decide that it's not for you...
Then I'll refund every penny.

And you get to keep everything I've sent you and everything you've made off of it.

I'm essentially offering you a guarantee that you'll become 100% competent at options trading. If you don't, then you lose nothing on the deal. 

Also, when you become a member of Options Trading Coach, in addition to teaching you the best options strategies being used today, I'll give you a new trade example every month that could easily lead to solid double- to triple-digit gains...

But that's not all you'll get.

As soon as you agree to try out Options Trading Coach, I'll send you access to my 9 easy-to-follow reports, which I'll tell you about in just a moment.

I suggest reading one per day. Each report takes roughly 15-20 minutes to read through — the same amount of time it takes you to wait in line for a morning to-go coffee.

Then, start following my weekly e-Letter reports so you can trade right alongside me.

I also personally maintain an online forum — available only to Options Trading Coach subscribers — to address all reader questions and concerns.

So by now, you're asking yourself, "How much will this set me back?"

Services like the one I'm offering you today usually cost anywhere between $500-$1,000 a year... and that's WITHOUT the regular recommendations — let alone the "starter play" I've given you today, completely free of charge...

Up until today Options Trading Coach has sold for only $195 a year.

Notice I said, "Up until today... "

My publishers and I have recently decided to really push the envelope to get as many "pupils" into my education service as possible... because we're so confident that once you've started working with us, you'll be hooked for life. 

So in order to fill those spots as quickly as possible and get started on making some real options profits, I've decided to lower the annual price for Options Trading Coach to just $99.

That's it. No catches, no loopholes.

So here's the full tally of what you'll receive for $99:

•    Report # 1: Options 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Trading Options in Today's Markets
•    Report # 2: Selling Covered Call Options: Pocket A "Stealth Dividend" On Stocks You Own
•    Report # 3: Buying Call Options: How to Use the Power of Leverage to Control Shares for Less
•    Report # 4: Buying Put Options: A Better Way to Play the Downside
•    Report # 5: How to Invest in LEAPS Options: Long-Term Security and Ultra-Control
•    Report # 6: Options Glossary: A Handy Reference Guide to Every Option Term You'll Ever Need
•    Report # 7: Master the Straddle Strategy: How to Straddle Both Sides of the Fence Under Any Market Conditions
•    Report # 8: How to Control the Upside and Downside and "Strangle" Profits from Your Stocks
•    Report # 9: The Dynamic "2-In-1" Strategy: It Lowers Your Cost, Hedges Your Risk, and Boosts Your Win Potential

Plus — each week, I'll send you my latest report in which I detail new actionable ideas, strategies, and trades you can make work for you, right away.

In addition, you'll get full access to our members-only website, where you can "beta trade" my recommendations, catch up on our latest (and archived) reports, and dig into our members forum...

... All for less than what you might spend on dinner and a movie for you and a date.

And don't forget: ALL of this is covered by my full Options Trading Coach 6-month money-back guarantee. 

So you risk nothing at all by giving me a chance to make you a confident, successful options trader.

Why not give it a try? 

You've already got a potential 50% winner sitting right under your nose... 

Pick up a few contracts and then follow my coverage of it right up until the precise moment when we cash out for maximum gains. 

Options traders aren't made overnight... But you can start trading them for big profits a lot sooner than you think — with the right guidance.

Stop LOSING money and wasting your portfolio's potential by buying stocks, simply because you don't know a better way...

Let me show you one. I'm 100% confident that I can. 

So if you were Hank Paulson, sitting on 3.23 million shares of Goldman Sachs in 2006, the chance to defer tens of millions of dollars of taxes was a pretty sweet deal. Paulson, along with almost every executive appointee (and their spouses and kids!), have been granted a tax shelter that is totally unattainable for the everyday investor. Section 1043 goes beyond leveling the playing field for public servants. In fact, it incentivizes service. It puts appointed officials on a higher playing field than their constituents.

Many investors will, if they haven’t already, experience a moment where they’re desperate for a free pass out of one investment and into another. Imagine getting willed a million shares of Enron in 1999, or being on the verge of retirement in 2007. Your editor had shares of PNC passed down in his family for decades... Dad took a notable tax hit when he sold before the credit crisis. Too bad he wasn’t Secretary of the Treasury. He could have rolled those shares of PNC into a money market fund – largely what Hank Paulson did – and enjoyed income on subsequent gains BEFORE being taxed on the original investment.

(All of this underscores the oddity of the US capital gains tax. It’s not a tax on gains, but a tax on transactions. What does an investor truly “gain” from moving out of one position and into another? The capital gains tax should only be exacted when an investor truly cashes out of a position. Otherwise, it’s tax on changing your mind. It’s a tax on diversification and rebalancing. In other words, the government is giving you incentive to “buy and hold,” a principle that has been just terrific for American mainstay top stocks like GM, Bank of America or General Electric.)

So what’s a humble investor to do?

If you really feel like wasting your time, write your Congressman. Otherwise, maximize the potential of our absurdly complicated tax code. It’s damn hard, if not illegal, to get a pass on capital gains tax the way Hank Paulson did. But you can take the edge off.

One of the most popular – and legal – ways is giving appreciated stock to your child. Each child can get a “gift” of up to $13,000 a year from each parent, tax free. Unless you’ve got a very entrepreneurial kid, he or she is probably in the lowest tax bracket. So you can give them the stock and they can sell it at a much lower tax rate.

There are other, more complicated ways, too – some of which involve forming corporations or trusts. Charitable remainder trusts, for example, produce tax benefits, while also providing funds for charitable endeavors. Of course the money won’t belong to you anymore, but at least you would have the chance to finance the charities of your choosing, rather than the pork-barrel projects of the government’s choosing.

Either way, don’t just sit back and assume that paying the full tax is the fair consequence of investment success. You’re in this mess to make money for you and the people you care about. Hank Paulson and his executive branch buddies found a shortcut – so should you.

My understanding of American tax law is far from comprehensive. Think of it like skydiving... I’m comfortable explaining the basics, but you wouldn’t want me packing your parachute. If you want to minimize your capital gains taxes, find a good accountant.

So, what critical information regarding the state of the world did we miss while on the flight over here? As near as we can tell, everything is pretty much the same as when we left it. Sure, the micro-term trends change minute to minute...but the longer-term fix is in. The economy is still deleveraging. Corporate growth is stunted. Lending is still largely on hold. Earnings increases derive from cost cutting, not from profit increases. And the battered and bruised American consumer is still hunkered down for what he surely senses are hard times to come.

All this is not to say that there are no meaningful data points worthy of your attention. Only that they don’t usually appear on the front page of the LA Times.

Addison Wiggin, our executive publisher, provided a couple examples of longer-term interest in yesterday’s edition of The 5-Minute Forecast...

Here we go again. The Canadian dollar is rapidly approaching parity with the US variety.

In the last five trading days, Canadians have collectively grown almost 4% richer compared with their slovenly southern neighbors. Over the last 12 months, the loonie is up 22% versus the greenback. At this rate, we won’t be able to tell people when we head off for Vancouver: “Canada, it’s just like the US...only less expensive.”

Add in the hockey game on Sunday...then the following nugget... Canucks have earned some bragging rights this week. But they won’t. From our experience, they’re always so...friendly.

“One of the most important lessons from stock market history is to not buy stocks trading at peak multiples of peak earnings,” Dan Amoss urges, “especially earnings that are driven by cost cutting, rather than revenue growth. Investors should pay high P/E multiples only for 2010 top stocks that they’re highly confident can grow free cash flow at an impressive rate over the next few years.

[Sounds like good advice for confidence in governments, too.]

“Yet in case after case, in the fourth-quarter earnings reports I’ve reviewed, investors persist in awarding lofty multiples to earnings driven largely by cost cutting and temporary inventory rebuilding on the part of their customers. This is typical of market tops. Investors are focusing on what happened in 2009 – which offered an unsustainably good environment for corporate profits – and not worrying enough what earnings might look like three or five years down the road.”

Speaking from personal experience, it's miserable. Some estimates say 20% of AT&T calls are dropped in the Big Apple. The 3G network crawls at times. Check out this spoof AT&T ad about dropped calls (warning: involves explicit language). There's even a Facebook group called AT&T Sucks boasting 445 members.

People aren't happy with slow wireless, and providers are being forced to upgrade to meet demand. The market is projected to grow at an astounding annualized rate of 131% until 2013, as this chart from Cisco shows:

Growth like that should set alarm bells off in your head.

Because certain companies are going to make a killing off this inevitable — and huge — wireless upgrade cycle.

One of them is Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB), and I think it's a buy here. Let me explain why.

First off, Tellabs is a $2.6b company sitting on $1.3b in cash. Debt is minimal at $268m. They're profitable and the company just started paying a dividend this quarter (current yield: 1.2%). Their balance sheet is immaculate. Management has been on a cost-cutting crusade over the past year and is now shifting the company's focus to high-margin products.

Tellabs also happens to be very well-positioned for the wireless data build-out. TLAB sells products that improve data flow — for both wired and wireless markets. They sell products that improve performance and lower costs for mobile carriers, internet service providers, and traditional voice companies.

While TLAB should also benefit from the wired broadband market, wireless is where the real growth is at. Demand for their wireless data management products soared 52% last year. According to Reuters, Tellabs CEO recently said at a recent conference that he expects 60%-70% growth in 2010.

Smart Phone Tsunami

Smart phones like Apple's iPhone are pushing wireless networks to the breaking point. Customers are using more data than expected, earlier than expected.

Apple took the industry by surprise with the iPhone; it was the first mobile product that's truly fun to use on the web. But they're not the only company with a great web phone anymore... Their lead is slipping, and demand on 3G and 4G networks will only get heavier as competitors like Google and PALM catch up.

Tellabs has products to help solve these data problems. One of their new releases — the Smart Internet Breakout Gateway — is a good example. The name is a mouthful, but the product has big potential. The Gateway routes traffic and data more efficiently through mobile networks, saving bandwidth and improving performance. It's currently being tested by major mobile operators.

The company said in a recent press release: "Users want fast mobile data, so operators must prepare their networks for the mobile Internet tsunami," said Rehan Jalil, senior vice president, mobile Internet at Tellabs. "Tellabs' Smart Internet Breakout Gateway enables operators to handle traffic easily while reducing their costs dramatically."

The Whole Package

TLAB has just about everything I look for in a best stock: a rock-solid balance sheet, a strong growth catalyst, and a dividend (albeit a small one).

There's also some buyout potential, but that's not on top of my list. Tellabs has great technology, a portfolio of intellectual property (patents), and a pile of cash. When recently asked about takeovers, the company's CEO said, "There have been inquiries over time but we are still a standalone company and we like it that way and so do our customers."

So a buyout may not be on the table in the immediate future, but it's always a possibility. Small strong companies like TLAB are attractive acquisition targets. Especially with giants like Cisco sitting on $40b in cash...

If the price were right, I'm sure the board would come around.