Well, if we could just shift to production... It's jolly well sealed at the top, after all.

Do the math and it's easy to see why.

Let's say BP could get 60,000 bpd from Macondo. That's $1.75 billion in annual revenue (assuming $80/barrel oil).

If the field lasts five years, that'd go a long way toward paying for BP's Macondo expenses — costs which are not anywhere near being totaled, by the way. These lawsuits and fines will drag out for years (though hopefully not a decade).

And that 60,000 bpd figure is conservative. The nearby Thunderhorse field peaked at around 250,000 bpd in 2009. Those production numbers are spread out among multiple rigs, of course.

If we estimate that Macondo prospect could produce 180k bpd, that's $5.25 billion in revenue per year. That's more than halfway to restoring BP's previous annual $10b/year dividend. And BP has already said it "may" drill into the reservoir again at some point in the future.

Meaning they 100% will if they can.

What I'm wondering is if they'll try to convert those two relief wells into production ones. Must be tempting...

But it all depends on Thad Allen and the administration.

Image source

I started thinking about this when BP did the second static kill from the top. Why kill it when the cap was holding and relief wells were nearly done? The only thing that makes sense (to me anyway) is they will try to shift from "relief" to "production."

Now, I'm not an oil and gas engineer, so maybe there's something I'm missing here... But it does seem odd.

If BP does go to production of the Macondo prospect, expect it to be cotton candy sugar-coated and heavily spun.

Something along these lines:

In order to provide more money to Gulf residents, we plan to monetize this field as safely and thoroughly as possible.

Or maybe:

We have decided that the safest way to kill the well is to drain it dry over the course of 10 years. Then it can never hurt us again.

(By the way, when I write those lines about what BP might be thinking, the voice in my head has a British accent. Strange, I know— especially since the company now has an American CEO, a good ol' boy from the Gulf. In all seriousness though, Dudley does seem to be doing a better job than Hayward was.)

Another Legal Nightmare?

Lawsuits from Gulf residents are obviously not BP's only courtroom concern.

Remember, they don't own 100% of the Macondo prospect; 25% is owned by Anadarko and 10% by Mitsui.

And this is where it gets interesting.

Both partners have refused to help pay for disaster-related costs on the basis that BP was grossly negligent. And they have a pretty good case, from what I've read.

So what happens if/when BP starts producing from Macondo? Will partners demand their share? Or will they try to cut losses and avoid the legal nightmare?

Impossible to say, but it'll be interesting to watch it play out.

One more thing: Is BP a buy on the possibility of restarting production at the Macondo prospect?

Not really. Even if they get $5b/year from Macondo, that's a fraction of their $294b revenue over the past year.

Drilling back into the well from hell would be a tough sell politically. But BP has sweeping political influence worldwide. So if anybody can pull it off, they just might.

If they succeed, here's hoping for no more shortcuts when it comes to drilling operations.

The last thing we need is another blowout.

Colorado Springs shut off a third of its streetlights this past winter, The New York Times reports, in order to save $12 million on electricity. Shortly thereafter, a chain of events convinced Ms. Cunningham she needed to be armed.

"Her tires were slashed, she said. Her car was broken into. Strange men showed up on her porch. Her neighborhood had grown deserted at night..."

Meanwhile, in East St. Louis, Mo., Reverend Joseph Tracy is convinced guns are the problem. (Guns in the hands of criminals, that is.)

"It's open field day now," Tracy says. "The criminals are going to run wild." That dire prediction came from a decision by city council members, as reported on stltoday.com, to reduce the ranks of the East St. Louis police force by 30%.

Alvin Parks, the mayor of East St. Louis, says the city had no choice but to lay off 37 employees, including 19 police officers and 11 firefighters. There was simply not enough money to pay them, and attempts to negotiate with the police and fire unions came to naught.

Officer Michael Hubbard will reportedly be "the lone patrolman for East St. Louis' midnight shift" as a result of the cuts. One lone beat cop, to cover a crime and poverty-stricken region, at the most dangerous time of night. One.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Pa., the "rolling brownout" policy imposed on city fire stations is being questioned in light of a child's death. When the call came to respond to a house fire in which a 12-year old autistic boy died, the nearest station was closed.

When the Money Runs Out

What do the above tales of woe have to do with public pensions? It's simple: Most states and municipalities have balanced budget laws. Unlike the federal government, they are not allowed to run deficits. And so, when the money runs out, services are cut. Budget areas critical to residential safety - like police, fire and street lighting - are not spared the axe.

And when the pension time bomb well and truly explodes, cash-strapped states and cities will find themselves even shorter on cash... with huge payout requirements they can't legally dodge... and the Hobson's choice of slashing services to the bone or going belly up.

As police and fire services are scaled back, some residents arm themselves against the night. Others simply pack up and leave. In Clayton County, a suburb of Atlanta, Ga., evidence of the downward spiral is clear. The county was forced to shut down its public transportation system earlier this year, the NYT reports, for lack of funds to support it. An estimated 8,400 riders were left stranded, two-thirds of them with no car for backup.

When the exodus from a cash-strapped city or county begins, it is typically those with the financial means to leave who hit the exits first. This reduces gross tax revenues, which hurts the budget situation even more.

And all this is happening as public pension recipients gear up for a fight...

The Right to Be Stimulated?

In Milwaukee, Wis., they are not fighting for reinstated police coverage or fully operational fire stations. They are fighting over erectile dysfunction pills.

"With the district in a financial crisis and hundreds of its members facing layoffs," the AP reports, "the Milwaukee teachers union is taking a peculiar stand: fighting to get its taxpayer-funded Viagra back."

The union says the little blue pills are necessary for "an exclusively gender-related condition." The school board retorts that Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and the like are of recreational use and not genuinely necessary.

The insanity of the Viagra fight is elevated (no pun intended) by the fact that Milwaukee educators are losing their jobs. The teachers' union is shortsighted enough to ignore the well-being of Wisconsin children and its own dues-paying members in pursuit of a Quixotic demand.

Sadly, the attitude in Milwaukee is reflective of what's ahead nationwide as underfunded pension budgets collide with reality. For years and years, pensions have been funded on the assumption of completely unrealistic annual returns.

By punching higher than realistic rates of return into their spreadsheets - and getting useless financial consultants to rubber stamp the calculations - states and local municipalities have gotten away with shortchanging the pot year after year. But now, as tens of millions of graying baby boomers reach the age where those pension promises come due, the size of the "hole" is becoming starkly apparent.

According to a study by the Pew Research Center released in February of this year, the fiscal gap between what states have promised and what they can actually pay is on the order of $1 trillion. And according to Northwestern University economist Joshua Rauh, the Pew figures could actually be far too conservative, with the true multiple at least three times that.

Public Versus Private

The animosity could truly get intense when private and public interests clash.

On one side of the divide there will be John Q. Taxpayer, fuming at the deep cuts in services and local tax hikes he has bitterly endured, and at the same time loudly wondering why he should have to pay for fat public pensions - lush promises made in far richer times - while he has no such safety cushion at all.

On the other side of the divide will be public servants - the teachers, cops, firemen and the like whom we have come to regard as salt of the earth - arguing that a deal is a deal, and that decades of honorable service to the community should not go shortchanged.

It will be a brutal clash, and likely one with no true winners.

Personal Implications

And how will all of this affect you?

For one, that depends on where you live - keeping in mind the pension problem is also severe outside the United States. (Says the U.K. Telegraph: "The size of public sector pension liabilities [in Britain] has been estimated at £770bn by the Treasury and £1.18 trillion by actuaries Towers Watson," with inadequate funding compared to "an unstable Ponzi scheme.")

At minimum, you should probably lower your expectations for timely law enforcement help in the event of a crime. In urban areas, police response time could be noticeably extended as fewer cars patrol the streets. And in more rural areas, one might have no realistic hope of a police response at all... or at least, not until the next day.

At the very least, such realities argue for serious consideration of a firearm (if you do not already own one and know how to use it)...

In terms of investing realities, the pension "time bomb" is in some ways less like a bomb and more like a slow-moving glacier. As a fiscal issue, it is massive and chilling and 10 skyscrapers tall... and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it.

Before all is said and done, pension shortfalls could cause multiple U.S. states to fall into the fiscal black hole of de facto bankruptcy, without legal recourse to true bankruptcy. This is a recipe for utter mayhem, with financially aggrieved parties screaming at each other until they are beet red in the face.

It is also a recipe for eventual U.S. state bailouts by Uncle Sam - which takes us to a whole new level of frightening, considering that Social Security, too, is poised to go into the red this year for the first time since 1983.

Dubai, to help with the geography, is one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. It had a spectacular boom, festooned with palm-shaped islands, tall towers and a ski resort in the desert. Of course, it all went to pot, as these things do when they get ridiculous. But Dubai and the UAE are not going away.

"Dubai is still the trading hub of the Middle East," Peter tells us, "and the UAE is its Switzerland, a safe haven in a troubled region." It still has one of the fastest growing airports in the world, as well as one of the fastest growing and largest marine ports at Jebel Ali. The latter has no rival in the Middle East. And I can tell you from personal experience that the infrastructure in Dubai is world-class.

Abu Dhabi is also an incredibly rich place. The per capita wealth is $18 million. That means a family of four is well on its way toward $100 million. Abu Dhabi sits on $3 trillion of proven oil reserves. It has a sovereign wealth fund of over $1 trillion. It has zero debt. As Peter says, "This might be officially classified as a frontier market, but actually, the UAE is more first-world than third-world and has stronger finances than any developed country."

So why now? Peter says there are many signs of a bottom. The UAE 2011 stock market trades for six times earnings. Big positive announcements have no impact on best stock prices. There have been 11 brokers that have closed up shop in 2010, as hot stock market volume is down 90%. It's the classic example of a bombed-out market in which people have given up. "Even the Swiss bankers are very negative," Peter says, "so you know it's time to buy."

As long as oil holds up, the UAE will return. Peter suggests buying the UAE exchange-traded fund from the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. It's easy to buy through an HSBC online trading account. This is a good idea, but a bit of a pain to implement. This next idea, though, is much easier to put in action.

Eric Kraus is our man in Moscow, where he is a money manager. We'd only swapped e-mails before, so I was glad to finally meet him in person in Vancouver. I also liked his presentation, which included some surprising ideas on Russia.

For instance, of all the ballyhooed BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - do you know which market has done the best over the last decade? Russia.

Now, lots of people - including your editor, actually - have some worries about investing in Russian companies. They are not paragons of disclosure, for one thing. And we all remember what happened to Yukos, which collapsed in the blink of an eye as the government went after it for political reasons.

Our Western sensibilities, though, cloud our vision on Russia, says Kraus. A big part of his message in Vancouver was to say that the Western orthodoxy of free markets, democracy and transparency has little to do with picking winners in the market. The chart above makes that clear. As Kraus puts it, "Ideologically driven disinformation can cost you a fortune."

Still, Kraus used a lot of words you don't normally associate with Russia. Kraus describes Russia as "very low risk" with "stable macroeconomics and politics... where reform is going on far faster than Europe, but slower than Asia." Russia is "by far, the wealthiest of the BRIC countries," Kraus says.

He called it "a middle-income, moderately high-growth (5%) middle European country with the world's largest resource base." It has abundant oil and gas, but also lots of farmland and fresh water and hydropower. Once one of the world's largest grain importers, it is now a top exporter. (Well, before very recent events...)

Russia also has plenty of cash - the world's third largest foreign currency reserves. Poverty has been cut way down. So things actually look pretty good for Russia. "Of course, the Western press hates it!" Kraus says. "If you have a long-term time horizon, Russia is a no- brainer. It is the cheapest stock market in the world, at less than 5 times earnings... Cheaper than Pakistan!"

The easiest way to buy Russia is to buy the Market Vectors Russia ETF, which trades under the ticker RSX on the NYSE.

Kraus is particularly bullish on Russia not only because it is cheap, but because he believes the price of many commodities will rise. "Peak Oil is a mathematical certainty," he says. Not in the sense that we are going to run out of oil, but that prices will rise as we reach for more expensive sources of oil.

"And it's not just oil," he continues. "Grades of copper, and nickel and bauxite ores are now being mined, which no one would have bothered digging up a couple of decades ago... Peak water! A lot of places are running dry, and this will have scary effects upon agricultural prices.

"The predominance of the West is an anomaly in history," Kraus goes on. "It ended with the turn of the millennium." It is now a "multipolar world" - in ideas and commodities. Instead of the traditional New York- London axis, the economic world will spin on different poles from Beijing to São Paulo.

I think he's right. It will be a far more complex and interesting world over the next several years as the emerging markets emerge. In the meantime, the market offers up two very cheap emerging markets - the UAE and Russia!

It costs money to support a rat-friendly environment. It costs money to finance bailouts, stimulus packages, liquidity injections, quantitative easings, health care reforms, financial reforms, emergency lending facilities. It costs real money that comes from real people...in some way, shape or form.

To maintain a rat-friendly environment, you've got to raise taxes or print dollars...or both.

Two years ago, most investors cheered the staggeringly expensive bailout schemes of then-Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson. Hank simply reached into his bag of tricks, pulled out a few trillion dollars of bailouts and guarantees and scattered them like pixie dust over lower Manhattan.

Within a few months, the stock market was rallying and the economy was showing signs of life. The crisis was averted and Hank's rescue mission did not seem to cost anything at all. But now we know that this rescue mission cost us everything...or almost everything.

Paulson's bailouts destroyed the nation's balance sheet, while also taking a hatchet to the legal precedents that had nourished American capitalism for more than 200 years. Without one single ounce of Constitutional authority, and without a demi-second of public debate between elected representatives, Paulson dispensed trillions of dollars worth of federal funds and guarantees to a handful of privileged and/or connected corporations. As such, Paulson did not change any longstanding laws or legal precedents, he simply invalidated them. After Paulson, what rules counted? What rules didn't? No one knew? No one knows even now.

And now, nearly two years after Paulson's hyper-active, Constitution- warping activities, what do we, the non-Wall Street portion of the American populace, have to show for the trillions he spent or authorized? An economic recovery?

Hardly.

The Paulson bailouts failed miserably. They double-failed. Paulson spent trillions to buy a feeble one-year economic rebound...while also saddling the nation with debts that will last decades. Even the Home Shopping Network offers better deals than that.

If a friend told you that he had cashed out his IRA and mortgaged his house to throw himself a birthday party, you'd think your friend was an idiot. But when the Treasury Secretary does something similar with the nation's balance sheet we think he is...well...an idiot.

Last week's economic data illustrate that the "Paulson non-recovery" is in full swing. Last Friday, we learned that the US economy shed 131,000 jobs during July. This grim report corroborated equally grim reports on consumer spending, personal income, pending home sales and factory orders.

Personal incomes fell last month for the first time since September. Meanwhile, the savings rate soared to 6.4% - the highest level in a year, as Americans reacquainted themselves with the ancient virtue of thrift.

When folks stop buying things they cannot truly afford, strange things happen. One of those strange things is that consumer spending dries up. Last month, therefore, consumer spending stagnated, while pending home sales tumbled. The National Association of Realtors' index of pending home resales in July dropped to its lowest level since data began in 2001.

Maybe governments can't buy economic growth after all.

By Toby Smith

Growth stock specialist Toby Smith turns to a speculative micro-cap stock for his top pick for 2012:ChinaTel Group, Inc. (Other OTC: CHTL).

With the added disclosue that he personally own shares in CHTL, along with his clients at ChangeWave Research, the advisor looks to the firm's potential role in a new joint venture in the China telecom space.

"Our bullishness is based on a pending China Tel and Chinacomm joint venture as a 'basic telephone service' (BTS) licensed carrier in China. The other BTS carriers are all large companies with $10 billion+ market caps, such as China Mobile, China Netcom and China Unicom. Today's market cap for China Tel is $130 million.

"The Chinacomm/ChinaTel joint venture owns 37,000 kilometers of fiber-optic network and 3.5Ghz spectrum for wireless broadband in 29 of the biggest China cities. That infrastructure alone has a book value of over $1 billion.

"ChinaTel has su?ered a great credibility problem on the Street due to a set of failed capital raising deals that failed to close.

"But the delays in their closing equity financing over the last 18 months has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the potential valuation for the China Wi-Max network has at least doubled since the previous failed deal.

"We have advised clients to be positioned in China Tel now, ahead of what we consider to be imminent PIPE  (private investment in public equity) deal, which CHTL announced in their latest SEC 8K. The size of the PIPE will undoubtedly be larger and at higher value than the failed $3.14 per share Olotoa deal.

"CHTL's announcements in the last few weeks on $500M+ of new private network business alone from the People's Republic of China ministries adds $1 a share (or more) to the $3.20 book value that Olotoa was paying for 49% of CHTL.

"In addition, CHTL just closed stock-only consulting contracts with their key employees on Dec 1. Nobody takes a stock deal in lieu of cash unless they know a lot about the near future of the PIPE transaction.

"Based on our analysis, the PIPE deal o?ers disclosed in Oct 8K are from Asian telco/ high tech firms itching to capitalize on the China Internet miracle - -they are the only market other than India with less than 40% wirless/fixed broadband penetration.

"We believe ChangeWave Research is the only independent research firm following China Tel Group; we rate the stock a 'strong buy' with a $5 a share target for 2012 and a $9-$10 target for 2012."

Top Stocks For 2012: Continental Minterals (KMKCF)

By Tom Bishop

"Continental Minerals (Other OTC: KMKCF), my top pick for 2012, holds high-grade copper and gold deposits that are located in Tibet/China," notes Tom Bishop In his BI Research, an advisory focused on small cap, high growth stocks, he adds, "I also believe the company is a juicy takeover target.

"The company has proven up 220 million tons of measured and indicated reserves in its high grade-porphyry copper-gold Xietongmen deposit grading 0.43% copper and 3.9 grams of gold per ton. This translates into 2 billion pounds of copper and 4.3 million ounces of gold.

"A feasibility study has been completed and the project has received all 16 sub- approvals and is now in for final approval.

"In addition the company’s Newtongmen deposit, a couple thousand feet away and drilled o? more recently, sports another 2.8 billion tons of copper and 2.3 million ounces of gold and 11 million ounces of silver.

"I think signs are abundant that Continental is a takeover target, hopefully in the $3 range:

"For one, the Hunter Dickinson Group, under whose wing the company was formed and nurtured has a long history of buying up unseasoned prospects, financing them, proving them up and then selling them to a major mining company.

"Second, no project makes more sense to go this route given it’s far away in China than this project.

"As an example, we note that a few months ago, the same day Pepsi Bottling company rejected PepsiCo’s takeover o?er and concurrently announced a shareholder rights plan to protect itself in the event of a takeover.

"That takeover has since happened at a better price. Continental coincidentally announced a similar plan. That’s what first made the light bulb come on here. 

"Then a new party suddenly entered the picture when a Chinese mining company, Zinjin, suddenly purchased 21 million shares and was given a seat on the board.  Then I even read that this company had stated that it intended to acquire Continental.

"Also China’s shopping trip for resources all around the globe is well documented and none makes more sense than one owned by a Canadian company right within China's borders.

"Finally the CEO of Continental was redeployed to be the CEO of the latest company birthed by the Hunter Dickinson Group (Heatherdale Resources, also worth a look)… hmmm, odd timing. They say they don’t ring a bell, but I sure hear something."

Top Stocks For 2012: Diamond Foods (DMND)

By Sy Harding

 "Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND), a player in nuts and pop corn, is our top pick for 2012," says Sy Harding. In his The Long & Short Stock Advisor, he explains, "The company seems to have had no problems with the recession or slow economy. 

"The firm processes and markets culinary, snack, and in-shell walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazel nuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, and almonds. It sells snack packages under its Diamond, Emerald, and Pop Secret brand names.

"The company seems to have had no problems with the recession or slow economy. Its sales and earnings remain on a fast growth track.

"In fact, it may well be that the slow economy and high unemployment are a plus for this company, with more people eating at home, watching home movies - and eating snacks.

"The company’s growth is also supported by the growing interest in healthy eating, which includes recommendations from the healthcare industry to include nuts in our daily menus, and to snack on nuts rather than unhealthy fatty-food items.

"In any event, the trend of Diamond’s top and bottom lines are impressive, with gains each of the last four years, in spite of the recession. Value Line estimates earnings in 2012 will be rise another 24% over 2011’s earnings.

"Always positioning for continued growth, the company is working on expanding its distribution network of grocery stores, food processing companies, restaurants, bakeries, and food service companies in over 100 countries. Foreign sales currently account for only 20% of total sales.

"Diamond also continues to introduce add new products to its snack lines, like Cocoa Roasted Almonds, and Sea Salt Cashews, which were added recently.

"At the current price the shares are selling at 18 times estimated 2012 earnings, a relatively low P/E ratio for what appears to be a solid, if small, growth company. Our upside target is $41. We suggest a ‘mental’ protective stop at $25.80."

Top Stocks For 2012: Dollar Tree (DLTR)

By Michael Vodicka

"Discount retailers are in high fashion right now, and 2012 could be a good time to capitalize on the macro-level trend toward value-driven consumption as consumers battle too much debt and a weak labor market," says Michael Vodicka.

To benefit from this trend, the momentum stock strategist for Zacks.com looks to Dollar Tree(NASDAQ: DLTR) as his top pick for the coming year.

"2011 was a year of surprises. Stocks ended up logging a monumental rally that kicked o? in March, most of the major domestic banks have freed themselves from TARP restrictions and the housing market has shown signs of stability.

"But in spite of all these incredible gains, consumers are still struggling with too much debt and high unemployment. This is the ideal consumer environment for an extreme discounter like Dollar Tree.

"Dollar Tree isn’t a new name, the company’s been around since 1986, has a market cap of $4.26 billion and operates more than 3,600 stores in 48 states.

"It carries a wide range of consumer and household products like paper towels, cleaning goods and beauty supplies, all for less than $1.

"The company’s strategic advantage was on full display in 2011, beating the consensus estimate in each quarter by an average of 11%. Its Q4 results from late November, heading into the holiday season included sales growth of 12% from last year.

"The top line growth goes well with gross and operational margin expansion, both on the upswing due to lower commodity costs and process evaluation.  

"Dollar Tree bought back 3.5 million shares in 2011, with $300 million remaining from a $500 million Board approval. The company has been committed to taking advantage of the value-driven consumer environment, opening 94 new stores this year and expanding or relocating another 74.

"But in spite of these moves, Dollar Tree balance sheet still looks strong, with cash and equivalents totaling $342 million against a debt load of $267.5 million, with just $17.6 million current.

"Looking forward, analysts are optimistic about the company’s prospects in 2012, targeting full-year earnings of $3.84 per share. With shares trading at $48, this stock has a forward P/E of just 12.5, a nice discount to the overall market."

Top Stocks For 2012: Emerson Radio (MSN)

By Bill Matthews

"Emerson Radio (NYSE: MSN) is an atttractive, low-priced stock," says Bill Matthews, a specialist in lower-priced issues.

 The advisor, who has been publishing The Cheap Investor for nearly 3 decades, suggests, "The stock has the potential for significant appreciation in 2012."

"In this market, we wanted to recommend a quality low priced stock that is relatively safe, has good increasing revenues and outstanding earnings. We are also looking for a stock that is selling at an attractive low price, and has the potential for significant growth and stock appreciation in 2012. Emerson Radio fits these criteria.

"Emerson Radio is a household name. Together with its subsidiaries, it engages in designing, marketing, selling, and licensing various consumer appliance, electronic and house ware products.

"It products are sold in the United States and internationally. Emerson Radio Corp. markets its products under the Emerson and HH Scott brands.

"The company distributes its products primarily through mass merchandisers, discount retailers, toy retailers, and distributors and specialty catalogers in the United States.

"Emerson has an excellent balance sheet with $29 million or $1.06 per share in cash, a book value of $2.25 per share and less than $6 million in debt. Insiders own 65% of the 27 million total shares outstanding and 22 institutions own 17% of the float. 

"Emerson has excellent financials for the six-month period ended September 30. Revenues are $107 million up from $97 million a year ago. Net income is $4.3 million or $0.16 a share up from a loss of ($242,000) or (.01) a share verses a year ago.

"If you look at Emerson’s stock chart between June 2002 and June 2003, you’ll see that the price soared from $1.50 to $7.50 because of excellent revenue and earnings increases.  We believe, that if Emerson continues its earnings growth, the price could skyrocket again."

Top Stocks For 2012: Ford Motor (F)

By Mark Skousen

"Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is in the driver’s seat when it comes to innovation, cutting costs, and building global demand," says Mark Skousen.

In his Forecasts & Strategies, which this month is celebrating its 30th anniversary, he cautions, "I’ve decided to recommend Ford as the best turnaround speculation for 2012. Bear in mind that this is highly speculative, and not recommended for conservative investors.

"Ford shocked Wall Street and Washington two months ago in reporting its first positive cash-flow quarter in more than two years. Of course, it played some accounting games to do it, but the overall direction is up. 

"Ford made its first billion by successfully increasing domestic sales for the first time in nearly five years, and boosting market share against its chief rivals, Government Motors (GM) and Crying Chrysler. 

"Meanwhile, the #2 auto maker predicted it would turn solidly profitable by 2012 as a result of its cost cutting measures and renegotiations with the unions. 

"Ford is the only major US auto maker not begging for a government bailout last year. This isn’t the first time Ford has broken away from the government trough.  In the early 1980s, Ford executives opposed the call for import quotas on Japanese cars and took on their competitors by raising quality standards. 

"I’ve been a long-time buyer of Ford cars, including two Mustangs, an Explorer truck, and a Lincoln Town Car.  I have enjoyed relatively maintenance free service for years. 

"Maybe my experience is exceptional, but most car rating services, such as Consumer Reports, rank Ford ahead of its domestic competitors. The company is innovative. The hot-selling Ford Taurus just won Kelly Blue Book’s '2012 Best Redesigned Vehicle.'

"Its engineers have developed the first robot (named RUTH) to scientifically test the feel and appearance of switches and surfaces in their automobiles. And Ford's Quick Lane Tire and Auto Centers are expanding rapidly across the country. 

"Ford isn’t out of the woods yet. It still carries an incredible (gulp) $103 billion in debt (it blundered by borrowing billions to buy back its stock at much higher prices) and has been forced to restructure its debt again. Unions are refusing to cut back any further their generous medical and pension benefits. 

"CEO Alan R. Mulally, a turnaround executive from Boeing, deserves high marks for Ford’s latest success.  If anyone can make an elephant dance, he can. 

"The stock price has already tripled in price in 2011, but it is still way below its previous high of $40 a share in the late 1990s, so it has lots of room to grow. It’s selling at 20 times next year’s earnings, and has over $32 billion in cash. 

"We're adding Ford Motor Co. to our growth stock portfolio, with the caveats that the stock does not pay a dividend and is considered high risk. As such, it may not be for everybody."

Top Stocks For 2012: FPL (FPL)

By Vita Nelson

Vita Nelson is well-known as a leading expert on dividend reinvestment plans.

With the caveat that she always recommends portfolio diversification, the editor of The MoneyPaper looks to utility stock FPL (NYSE: FPL) as a top selection for 2012.

"We make a point of recommending that people don't pin their hopes on just one stock (which might underachieve in the short-run).

"Nevertheless, as a top pick for the comin year, I like FPL Group is the parent of Florida Power & Light, a utility that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to 4.5 million customers in a 27,650 square mile area of eastern and southern Florida.

"Its NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary is a non-regulated power generator that produces electricity from nuclear, natural gas, solar, and wind generation.

"It owns 48 wind farms in 15 states producing 4,100 megawatts and could double that output within the next four years.

"The company is expected to earn about $4.15 per share this year and $4.57 in 2012, compared with $3.84 in 2008.

"The dividend has been increased for 15 consecutive years and the annual payout now stands at $1.90 per share, for a yield of about 3.4%."

Top Stocks For 2012: Gafisa (GFA)

By Paul Goodwin

"My pick for the top stock of 2012 is Gafisa (NYSE: GFA), a Brazilian homebuilder and developer," says emerging markets specialist Paul Goodwin.

In his Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report, he explains, "This is an experienced growth company in a country with an excellent economic engine." Here's the advisor's review.

"Gafisa has been growing fast and has a huge future. Brazil doesn’t get much publicity in an investing world focused on China, but its economy is also growing at a sustainable 5% a year and it’s a lot less dependent on exports than China. "Gafisa has completed nearly 1,000 projects and the company is active in 21 of Brazil’s 26 states as it moves outside its traditional markets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. 

"Brazilian interest rates have been coming down and the middle class is growing—up 24% in just the last four years—which will boost demand for housing.

"Gafisa reported a 358% surge in earnings in Q3 on a 128% jump in revenue and the backlog of developments on the board is strong.

"As for the stock, GFA has made a strong recovery from its late-2008 lows, but the stock’s P/E ratio of 21 is still quite reasonable for a strong growth issue.

"The stock has been trading sideways since August 2011, perambulating in a range with a core of support at 30. It looks like an excellent base for a new rally, and 2012 should see the breakout.

"This is an experienced growth company in a country with an excellent economic engine and the stock pays a small dividend—that’s an attractive package!"

In the aftermath of the $19 billion Agricultural Bank of China IPO, the dragon is struggling… and there are plenty of reasons to consider selling.

A few months back we broke down the major China ETFs – FXI, HAO and PGJ. (You can access that piece here.)

Today the technical and fundamental picture looks bearish for all three…

View Larger Chart

The chart above is for the most popular of the three ETFs, the Xinhua China 25 (FXI:NYSE). The red line represents the 200-day exponential moving average, a sort of key waterline for bullish and bearish sentiment. FXI is below that waterline and struggling.

After a sharp upward thrust in June, FXI quickly lost its mojo. A clean break of support in the $38.50 range could invite a new downdraft; on the fundamental side there are very good reasons for this.

A Country of Superlatives

China is, in many ways, a country of superlatives. For instance: Within 20 years, China’s urban areas are expected to swell by another 350 million people – more than the full population of the United States. There will soon be more Christians in China than anywhere else on Earth. And China’s steel consumption is more than twice that of the United States, Europe and Japan put together.

Adding to that list, the International Energy Agency (IEA) now reports that China has become the world’s largest energy user. “In 2000, the U.S. consumed twice as much energy as China,” says IEA chief economist Faith Birol. “Now China consumes more than the U.S.”

Indeed, the dragon is big… but the dragon also has some very big problems, many of which are coming to a head.

Subprime Redux

First and foremost among China’s worries is the growing rottenness of the banking system. Based on the evidence, it is not an exaggeration to say China is repeating the mistakes of the United States and Europe. Chinese banks are making dodgy loans, piling up toxic assets, and using various parlor tricks to keep the dreck off their balance sheets.

(By the way, if you want hear my other reasons to sell China later this week, sign up for Taipan Daily to receive my investment commentary.)

Fitch, one of the big three ratings agencies, released a report last week detailing how China is “distorting credit data.” (You can find a copy of that report here.)

As The New York Times reports, Fitch bluntly charges that “Chinese banks were increasingly engaging in complex deals that hid the size and nature of their lending, obscuring hundreds of billions of dollars in loans and possibly even masking a coming wave of bad real estate and infrastructure loans.”

Hmm. Sound familiar?

Along with that unsavory charge, Fitch further reports that “Chinese regulators understated loan growth in the first half of the year, by 28 percent, or about $190 billion, and that many banks continued to secretly shift loans off the books, creating a ‘pervasive understatement of credit growth and credit exposure.’”

Does human nature ever change? Nope. As Yogi Berra might say, it’s “déjà vu all over again.”

An IPO Hail Mary?

Some in fact argue that the initial public offering (IPO) for AgBank, the Agricultural Bank of China, was in fact something of a desperate cash grab, in the hopes of propping up an increasingly shaky structure. (Prior to the IPO, AgBank was “technically insolvent.”)

“Agricultural Bank of China's $19 billion IPO made a lackluster debut in Shanghai,” Reuters reports, “weighing on the market and underscoring the difficulty other Chinese banks will face tapping investors for billions more.”

"There's a lot profit-taking pressure from investors, who are not optimistic about the long-term prospects of China's economy or the banking sector," said Liu Jun, analyst at Changjiang Securities in Wuhan.

"The debut reflects worries over slower growth and rising bad loans at Chinese lenders, and continued weakness in the stock may prompt a renewed slump in the overall market."

As with the recent Tesla IPO, which put $226 million into the company’s coffers but burned late-to-the-party investors badly, the AgBank offering looks like another example of greater fool theory at work.

And just who are these fool-me-twice investors rushing to buy what insiders are selling? Did they not learn from the infamous Blackstone IPO of 2007, in which the proprietors quite literally top-ticked the market with their cash outs?

If you are, say, the Qatar Investment Authority (who invested $2.8 billion in the Agbank deal), there are at least theoretical reasons to justify participation: Mountains of excess cash, the sovereign relations motive, and so on. But if you are a nimble private investor, why oh why give up your two best edges – flexibility and selectivity – to throw precious capital at such a dog?

Bigger Fish to Fry

If China’s banks were the only reason to worry, the bulls might have a leg to stand on. Beijing is not shy, after all, about blurring the lines between public and private enterprise, and the dragon is theoretically cash-rich enough to absorb a deluge of bad debts.

The trouble, though, is that China’s dodgy banks are only the highly visible tip of a much bigger iceberg… and the macro level problems brewing in housing and labor markets are even more worrisome.

Human nature being what it is, Beijing is following in Washington's footsteps. The mandarins are propping up rotten institutions with public cash, then looking the other way as toxic problems get papered over.

If banks were the only problem, the odds of a "soft landing" for China would be higher. Trillions of dollars in reserves can come in handy for writing off bad debts. Record reserves don't count out the possibility of a crash, however, as we saw with Japan in the late 1980s and the United States prior to 1929.

Apart from the banks, China's big troubles come down to real estate, labor and exports. China's insanely inflated real estate market is tottering... labor costs are rising... and the mighty export machine is under threat.

Home Is Where the Hype Is

"China views soaring house prices as a threat to social stability," the U.K. Telegraph reports, "since workers are shut out of the market. The price-to-earnings ratio is 13 in Beijing and Shanghai, four times Western levels."

Charles Dumas, of Lombard Street Research, argues that real estate has soared because wealthier Chinese investors - the moneyed class - have a distinct lack of options for their cash. Real interest rates in China are "negative," meaning the official rate of interest is below the rate of inflation, and capital controls make it hard to invest abroad. So China's wealthy buy up real estate as a fallback option, and thus create a self-reinforcing feedback loop of rising prices and confidence.

"Wealthier families often hold three, four, or more properties as a hard asset to store wealth," the Telegraph adds, "leaving many vacant. This has disguised the scale of excess inventory..."

It is hard to know just how big the "excess inventory" truly is, but every indication suggests that it is huge. One prominent Chinese economist, as cited by the South China Morning Post, believes there could be as many as 64.5 million dwellings with nobody home:

Yi Xianrong, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank in Beijing, noted estimates from electricity meter readings that there are about 64.5 million empty apartments and houses in urban areas of the country, many of them bought up by people wagering on a constantly rising property market...

Ken Rogoff, a former IMF chief economist known for historical analysis of sovereign debt issues, thinks the Chinese real estate market is already on the verge of imploding. "You're starting to see that collapse in property and it's going to hit the banking system," Rogoff says.

Ah yes, the banking system. Because it's all connected of course...

Not everyone thinks the China real estate bubble is about to burst. Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, publicly argues there is no true bubble at all, because a steady flow of rural Chinese migrating to the cities should prop up demand.

Your humble editor would love to ask Mr. Roach just how these migrants will be able to afford a new home at current sky-high prices. At the height of the U.S. housing bubble, California unveiled the "50-year mortgage" as a way to keep middle-class families from being priced out of the market. Will China do one better and unveil the 100-year mortgage, or even the 150-year mortgage, thus extending the "engagement till death" compact to second and third generations?

The notion that China's bubble can be sustained is madness... but it's an old familiar madness. It is the same combination of blind hope and compromised self interest that has temporarily forestalled collapse so many times before, put forth by those who want to keep the good times going at all costs.

One might further note that Mr. Roach, he of the "no bubble" persuasion, is head of an investment bank division that seeks, above all, to maintain good business relations with China. As Upton Sinclair once said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on not understanding it." That goes triple on Wall Street.

Labor Also Rises

What's more, the bloom is coming off the real estate rose just as labor competition intensifies. As The New York Times reports,

As costs have risen in China, long the world's shop floor, it is slowly losing work to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia - at least for cheaper, labor-intensive goods like casual clothes, toys and simple electronics that do not necessarily require literate workers and can tolerate unreliable transportation systems and electrical grids.

Li & Fung, a Hong Kong company that handles sourcing and apparel manufacturing for companies like Wal-Mart and Liz Claiborne, reported that its production in Bangladesh jumped 20 percent last year, while China, its biggest supplier, slid 5 percent...

Workers in Chinese factories, once cheaper than dirt, are now demanding higher wages. The wage component may still be modest as a function of total production cost, but that can be no comfort to many of China's embattled export companies, who were already working with razor-thin profit margins.

The optimistic argument is that China is merely going through a stretch of growing pains, and that labor hiccups involving strikes and wage increases can be sorted out. It is suggested that wage-sensitive giants, like China's FoxConn, can simply move operations inland, arbitraging cheap labor away from the coasts as general wage pressures rise.

The part about growing pains is undoubtedly true - but it comes at a most delicate time. China may find that its legendary cheap-labor engine is stuttering and backfiring just as a massive property bubble threatens to burst, against a backdrop of creeping global slowdown.

How Much Capacity?

There are other burning questions as to just how export-dependent China really is, and how exposed China might be to capacity investments gone bad. (Picture a billion-dollar factory, built on credit, with half the assembly lines gone dark for lack of demand.) It is no good for the "shop floor to the world" when the world collectively tightens its belt.

Yao Jian, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, warned last week that the export picture would darken. The picture is "still complicated and grim," he said, adding that "the room for the further growth of Chinese exports is limited."

This raises a point of serious concern. Just how much has China already invested in what was once believed to be a rosy growth outlook? How many roads, bridges, highways, factories, ports and so on have been constructed - many of them with stimulus funds - in the assumption that the dragon would soon "grow into" their use?

Consider the stimulative impact of, say, building an eight-lane highway. The actual construction of the highway may create a short-term economic boost. As the highway is being built, contractors and construction workers are being put to work, raw materials are being used, jobs are created and sustained, and so on.

But once the highway is built, then what? If no one is in place to use it, or more importantly enhance their productivity by using it... if there is no positive longer-term economic impact from its creation... then the stimulus effect simply fades away, and the project reverts to an inert slab of concrete. The highway - or factory, or office building, or shopping mall - becomes another empty artifact in an empty landscape, of little more use than a monument to folly.

The views of optimists and pessimists again diverge widely here. Optimists hear all the reports of buildings unused, roads left idle, and cheerily assume that China's economy will quickly "grow into" this shiny new infrastructure, like an energetic young boy growing into his older brother's clothes.

The pessimists, on the other hand, concede that China may eventually grow into the glut of infrastructure it has built - but with the caveat that the process could take years, or even decades, depending on just how badly China overestimated the appetites of its customers.

Meanwhile, the pressures of global economic slowdown, combined with a collapse-prone real estate market and low-end labor competition, mean that the dragon's much-vaunted growth rate could simply fall off a cliff.

The potential for a "numbers shock" lies in the nature of stimulus-supported infrastructure growth, idle production capacity, and thin profit margins on the labor side of the equation. It is all too easy for a small profit, magnified through leverage, to swing to a large loss.

And on the whole, the problems are too big to throw cash at, even with pockets as deep as Beijing's...

But make no mistake...

What I'm about to show you could be the deadliest surprise threat to your money and livelihood of the coming year.

I say "new" because as you'll see there's not much new about it at all — the pressure's been building behind this for the last 1,354 years!

Yet for the first time in history, that pressure has found its release. I’m imagining a volcano of blood.

When it blows, you could see your savings get SLAMMED... the dollar thrown into a TAILSPIN... and, here's what will stun the still-recovering world economy, gas and oil prices doubling or even tripling by sometime early in the coming year.

How on earth is that possible?

It's the last thing most people expect, from market pros to bumbling D.C. bureaucrats... but if nothing changes in what I'm about to show you... this is a page in future history books that's already writing itself.

I'll show you the evidence myself.

If I'm right, as many as eight key Islamic countries are hurtling headlong toward a bloody "new" war — with each other — that's been FOURTEEN CENTURIES in the making.

This could begin as early as the next 12 to 18 months. And with no less than 66% of the world's key energy reserves smack dab in the crosshairs.

Sound impossible?

Even if I'm only half right, and we get an oil-state stalemate unlike anything the world has ever seen — you could see oil soar past the old high of $147.30 per barrel, well on its way to as much as $220... with gasoline bucking against a ceiling of $8 per gallon.

I'll show you how this unfolds below.

You'll see the maps, I'll name the names. And I'll reveal to you the stunning web of "secret revenge" that lies behind it all... waiting over 1,354 years for this moment!

Of course, events like these echo around the world.

And nobody gets the chance to just "sit on the sidelines."

But there's good news too.

Because, you see, just like every major shift of history... deep within every crisis... you'll also find an opportunity to protect yourself. And this event is no exception.

For instance, the last time we saw politics push up the price of petroleum, my readers found strategic gains in a "self-defense" move that shot up by 668%.

In fact, we've used all kinds of moments in flux to make protective and even impressive gains. Take a look at this small sample, drawn straight from our posted track record...

And we continue to post new gains, even now. Some of today's open positions have already shot up 37%... 45%... 46%... 53%... 61%... 64%... 70%... 75%... 128%... 146%... 155%... 160%... 200%... 403%... and 466%... with more to come!

(I can't name those best energy stocks for you right now. That wouldn't be fair to my readers. But I'll tell you how to find out about all of them, right after you finish reading this letter.)

My point is, today's moment is even larger than anything we've seen before. But so are the opportunities I see right now for you to protect yourself. I'd hate for you to miss any of them, while you still have the opportunity to make your move.

Over the next four minutes, I'll show you how.

But before I do, let's step back so I can explain how this "war" begins.

Long before $147 oil... before the war over 9/11 or the war in Afghanistan... before either war in Iraq, the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, or even the oil crisis of 1973.

All the way back to a lamb dinner, served up one evening in the year 629 AD...

The Murder That's About to Change the World

Nobody could have known that the dinner they were about to eat would one day change history. Some say it was goat. Others say it was lamb.

Either way, it was poisoned.

And the guest of honor was Mohammed, the controversial founder of Islam.

It was just one bite, that's all it took. He tasted the poison and immediately spit it out. But it was too late. He would soon die, sparking a bitter and deadly divide. 

See, when Mohammed died nobody could agree on who should take over...

And they've been killing each other as a result ever since.

On the one side, you've got the Sunni Muslims. They're the ones that run Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and many of the other countries in the Middle East.

On the other, you've got the Shia Muslims. It's the Shia that run Iran. And now run Iraq, as well as Lebanon and Syria.

Think Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland... Serbs vs. Croats in Bosnia... or even the religious Thirty Years War that ripped apart Europe in the 16th century.

Only this Sunni-Shia split has built up pressure now for the last 1,354 years.

But it's only now that this pressure has found its ultimate release — with Iran driving a new Shia uprising smack dab in the middle of the most dangerous place on Earth — the oil-soaked Middle East.

Isn't the Middle East already a mess? Yes, it is.

What's different is that too many in the West... right up to the White House and the Pentagon... don't "get" just how deep this Islam divide could go or how far it could run.

Take a look at this map...

The Deadly Sunni-Shia Divide — 2010-2011

If it's black in this map, it's Shia ground. It's also mostly oil heartland
and some of the most strategic territory in the entire Middle East!

One terrorist with a grudge can do a lot of damage.

Iran, all by itself, could even be a deadly force.

But can you imagine what millions of Shiites with a 1,354-year old ax to grind could do?

The 162-Million-Man March

Nobody knows exactly how many Shia there are right now in the Middle East. That's because in all but four Middle Eastern countries, Sunni leaders don't bother to count.

Sunni schools teach that Shiites aren't real Muslims. Shias don't get a seat in government. They can't become judges or even testify in high courts. In Sunni-run Saudi Arabia, Shias and Sunni can't even marry.

For centuries, the Shia have been the underclass.

But now, for the first time in history, they see this as their chance to turn the tide. And how big a tide is it? Hands down, saber-rattling Iran has the most — 70 million Shia.

But then you've got the "liberated" Shia of Iraq — 22 million. Plus as many as 2 million Shia in Iran-backed Lebanon. And up to 4 million Shia in Iran's top ally, Syria.

Then you've got another 700,000 Shia in Kuwait... up to 500,000 Shia in Bahrain... up to 400,000 Shia in the United Arab Emirates... 300,000 Shia in Oman... and around 100,000 Shia in Qatar, according to the Pew Research Center in Washington.

On top of that, as many as 10 million Shia in Yemen... another 7 million Shia in Azerbaijan... and 11 million Shia in Turkey... not to mention the combined 30 million Shia in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Not all Shia want a revolution.

But out of between the 147 million to 162 million Shia spread from Pakistan to Lebanon and Azerbaijan to Yemen, enough do that this is the river of "Secret Revenge" and common blood running through the entire Middle East.

The Sunnis are worried.

Especially in Sunni-run Saudi Arabia.

And especially now.

Here's why...

"New" Oil War Flashpoint #1:
The Real Reason Iran Wants the Bomb

Don't forget, Iran used to be Persia.

At one point Persia was the biggest and most powerful empire in history!

Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Egypt — even Israel — the Persians controlled them all. Along with all of Afghanistan and Pakistan and most of the oil-rich coast of the Caspian.

For 300 years, Persian armies held off the Roman Empire. Their scholars walked with Aristotle and Plato. And influenced Greek art.

It was the Persians who invented chess. And the windmill.

Not to mention bricks, algebra, trigonometry, and wine.

The bottom line is... no Empire forgets its past glory.

The Iranians resent losing theirs.

But now they see a chance to get it back.

The nuclear bomb? Tehran's crackpot leaders don't just want it to scare Israel. They want it so they can throw a dark shadow over their Sunni Arab neighbors, too!

Take a look at this...

Iran's First Move...

With total control of the Hormuz "oil chokepoint" in the Persian Gulf
and new power in "liberated" Iraq, the Iranians have a brand new foothold
for kicking off the long-awaited "Shia Revolution."

You'll notice two things.

First, you'll see how Iran's Shia influence has spilled across the border into southern Iraq. Southern Iraq is where you'll find six of Iraq's eight "Supergiant" oil fields. It's also where you'll find a key border with Shia Islam's mortal enemy — Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

For eight years back in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia helped Iraq wage a bloody war against Iran. Along with other Sunni governments, the Saudis even gave Saddam over $47 billion to launch missiles and nerve gas attacks over the Iranian border.

Iran hasn't forgotten. Or forgiven.

(Imagine if Canada or Mexico had given money to Japan to help them bomb Pearl Harbor. Iran has waited to make the Saudis pay — and now they have their chance.)

The second thing you'll see in the map above is that Iran has almost total control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hormuz is the tight waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. Over 17 million barrels of oil have to pass through Hormuz every day.

That's 40% of all the oil shipped in the world.

And 90% of all the daily oil shipments from the entire Middle East.

With Hormuz alone, Iran could cripple the world overnight.

Today, Iran backs Shia militants in Iraq. They give them money and guns. They've even helped Shia politicians take over the Iraqi government. Why?

Because gaining control in Iraq takes the Iranians one step closer in their twisted plot for secret revenge. For another one of those steps, just look further south... to Yemen.

"New" Oil War Flashpoint #2:Yemen's Ugly Secret

The Pentagon has just tripled its budget on Yemen.

Top U.S. General Patraeus just had a not-so-secret meeting with Yemen's president.

And our own State Department calls Yemen a “threat... to global stability.”

What gives?

Even ABC News just called Yemen the next "top target" in the terror war and a "near-perfect haven for terrorists." Obama just sent Yemen our troops, ships, and weapons.

Yemen's on/off Shia revolution gives and "Gate of Tears" oil chokepoint could soon give Iran a strategic "backdoor" attack point into Saudi Arabia...

Yemen might be a failed country... with a collapsing government, a shrinking oil supply, an exploding population and not much of anything else but lawlessness and chaos.

But what Yemen does have is position.

It sits just on the tip of the Arab peninsula... south of another key Saudi border and on the coast of another key oil strait called Bab-el-Mandeb.

That name means the "Gate of Tears."

And like Hormuz, most oil states on the Red Sea can't get a drop of oil out without shipping it through the Bab-el-Mandeb. Over 3.3 million barrels go through every day.

Blocking this chokepoint alone could slap a $30 "political premium" on the price of every barrel of oil... but there's an even bigger threat taking shape.

For the last six years, Yemen has fought a vicious and bloody war with Shia rebels. These rebels are poor. There's no way, says a Yemen general, these rebels "could fund and fight this war with pomegranates and grapes... no doubt there is Iranian support."

Could it be true? Absolutely.

Iran loves to buy loyalty.

Take the $1 billion Tehran now "donates" every year to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Or the billions they gave Syria's Shia president to build cement factories, car factories, power plants, and storage silos.

In return, Iran gets Hezbollah's Arabic-speaking terrorists to run militant Shia training camps in Iraq. And gets Syria to distribute Iran's money and weapons to others in the Shia network.

The secret money Iran sends to Shia rebels in Yemen could soon have a payoff too — by opening up another route for "backdoor" Shia access into Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's rebels have already hit towns across the Saudi border. And the Saudis have hit back, losing dozens of troops in the process. We’re just in the first innings of this one.

How bad is it? 

So far, 50 Saudi schools along the border have had to close. Another 240 border towns have already been evacuated. And Saudi jets have already dropped bombs in Yemen.

What exactly has the Saudis running scared?

Final Oil War Flashpoint #3:Iran's Final Prize — Saudi Oil

Don't think for a minute that I think Iran's plot for "secret revenge" could succeed.

But the threat alone could be enough to kick oil much higher.

And sooner than you might think.

For instance...

• Our CIA, Britain's M16, and other top spy agencies say Iran could have a working nuclear bomb as soon as April 2011...

• The Times of London uncovered a confidential document that says Iran already has a "neutron initiator" ready to test. That's the part you need to trigger a warhead.

• And Der Spiegel, the German magazine, says Iran may even have the tech and material to build a simple nuclear bomb before the end of THIS year.

But the Bomb is just a beginning.

Even if the go ahead to build a nuke never comes from Iran's top cleric, the more immediate danger is a wildfire of Shia-Sunni unrest... starting in Iran's new hotbeds of Shia support... and spreading across the rest of the Sunni-run oil states... with the richest oil fields in the world's richest oil nation as the final battleground.

Suddenly, Iran has its mortal enemy, Saudi Arabia, surrounded — millions of Shia even live on top of the Saudis OWN biggest oilfields.

As you can see, Saudi Arabia looks like a sitting duck.

Iran has a Shia network that reaches from Afghanistan to Lebanon once again... more connections building along the Persian Gulf... Yemeni Shias to the south... and Shia connections along the oil rich Caspian Sea.

You could see this spread to the nearly two million Shia that live and work on Saudi Arabia's oil fields very soon. Even though that's exactly what the Saudis — and our own Pentagon — hope will never happen.

As you read this, big and small Gulf states are piling up weapons, stocking anti-missile batteries, and sandbagging their oil terminals, ports, and water desalinization plants...

Abu Dhabi alone has already bought $17 billion worth of U.S. anti-missile hardware. And the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia just splurged on weapons, to the tune of $25 billion.

As you read this, our own F-16 fighter jets, Patriot missile systems, giant cruisers and up to 20,000 more U.S. troops are quietly digging in for an epic fight... that could spread past Iraq and Yemen... and even into Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

All to get ready for what could be the fight of a lifetime...

Say Hello to the "Jihad Generation"

It's not just our experts saying it.

Leaders in all three of America's biggest Middle East allied countries — Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia — claim the epic Sunni-Shia showdown is in the cards.

It could start from any one of the flashpoints I just named.

But no matter how it starts, Saudi Arabia is where it's most likely to end up. Why?

Not only is Saudi Arabia home to Mecca, Islam's holiest place... but it's also home to the corrupt and U.S.-allied Royal House of Saud, considered an insult to all Islam.

Think about it.

In a country where they'll cut off your hand for stealing and whip you for holding a glass of whiskey... Saudi princes gorge on cocaine and prostitutes, gambling, palaces, and more.

All while the vast Saudi underclass starves on just $6,000 per year and 30% unemployment. And as many as two million of that underclass is Shia. With a 1,354-year-old ax to grind and billions of dollars in oil revenues as the prize.

It's a near-perfect formula for a FULL-ON war.

And the fuse is already lit.

Iran is ready to assert its place in the world. Think Japan or Germany in the 1930s. The threat is there, it's large, and it's not going away anytime soon.

How the world responds, we can't know. 

But I can tell you how oil could respond... by exploding to new record highs. Possibly as high as $220 per barrel by spring of the coming year... with gas not topping out until it hits as much as $8 per gallon.

That's very bad news for millions around the world.

And yet...

When Historical Shifts Happen, Getting Rich Can Be Your Best Protection

Have no illusions — any military response, on any front — could only accelerate the spike in oil prices. So the first thing you're going to want to do is simply get out of the way.

But you're also going to make defensive moves with your money.

And the best way to defend yourself and your wealth in this kind of crisis couldn't be more obvious — you need to hitch a ride on the prices that will go UP as this unfolds.

In a moment like this, that can be easier than you might think.

Over and over again, throughout history, things that are key to survival are also among the first things to go up in a time of chaos like I foresee ahead.

Not just with oil. But other raw resources that nations, advancing armies, and even innocent bystanders simply can't do without. These are the assets you can see, use, and touch.

Think about it.

What critical resource need helped drive Germany into BOTH world wars... drove Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor... and helped fuel the Allies that crushed them? Oil.

After the Yom Kippur War... during the Iranian hostage crisis... during countless clashes in Palestine and Israel... during both Gulf Wars... we saw oil prices take off.

Couldn't it happen again?

Of course it could.

Like I said, the rising threat alone... so close to nearly 66% of the world's shrinking oil and gas reserves... could be enough to set this price explosion into motion.

When that happens, you could still get very rich...

Take the 174% gain my readers and I recently posted on PetroChina... or our 160% gain on Western Oil Sands... another 182% on Talisman Energy... 104% on the ICON Energy Fund... and 476% so far on Suncor Energy...

And of course, energy's not the only "defensive" power play...

My readers and I also posted 118% gains on the diversified mining company, Anglo American Ltd... plus another 151% gain that we discovered with Tocqueville Gold... our 263% gain with Couer d'Alene, plus another 177% gain on the same stock, a second time around... and another 270% gain that we saw on silver call options...

The bottom line?

Markets, up or down, hate uncertainty.

And that's what you could see driving this shocking new opportunity. That's why I'm URGING you to send for my new FREE 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library.

Inside, I've included five FREE reports — all detailing which special money moves to act on NOW if you want to protect yourself and your money during the crisis ahead.

These reports name 14 plays you could be missing.

I'm offering to share all 14 moves with you FREE — even as I also share these same moves with my paid-up subscribers. And yes, I'll even cover shipping and handling.

The reports are yours, no questions asked.

Let me give you a glimpse of what you'll find inside...

Defensive Energy Power Play #1:
The Single Best Energy Stock For 2011 
to Own Over the Next 20 Years
(Hint: it’s 6,859 miles from the Mid-East…)

One easy way to "get out of the way" and still gain as oil goes up... is simply to go outside of the Middle East to find the best oil providers.

In 1973, the smart money ran from OPEC oil... and into oil opportunities in Canada, Mexico, and the UK. Today you've got even more smart energy "safe havens."

Today that strategy can work even better.

But that's only part of the reason I believe this first major "defensive energy" stock could be the single best oil company opportunity for you to own over the next 20 years.

How so?

Let me take you to a place that's thousands of miles from the Middle East... and well beyond the reach of any crackpot dictator or terrorist.

Yes, it's also an oil field.

Nobody even knew much about it until 2006, the first year they cracked through the field's overlying layer of salt — more than a mile of it — and into dense carbonate rock — and about eight billion barrels of oil.

That's more than the entire proven reserves of Norway.

But then they kept looking and found — in a deposit almost 500 miles long and 100 miles wide — what could be as much as 100 billion barrels of oil.

Easily, that's the biggest single oil-bearing zone anywhere in the world.

Bigger than almost all the oil fields in Iraq, combined. Bigger than all the reserves in Russia. Or Iran, for that matter. Bigger than the Saudi's legendary Ghawar.

Yet, until just recently, nobody even knew it was there...

The Greatest Energy Discovery in 100 Years

See, here's the thing...

This massive new find I'm telling you about — they call it the Tupi Field — isn't really what you picture when you think of a "field" of oil at all.

You can't drive past it. You can't see it. In fact, no human can actually get close to it... and live. You see, the Tupi Field is hidden some two miles below the blackest, roughest seas just about anywhere on the planet...  as far as 240 miles off the coast of Brazil.

It is, in fact, so far below the surface of the ocean that the water pressure alone would crush a steel-fortified Navy sub like you could crush a soda can.

And that's just the ocean floor. You need to go even deeper — 19,000 feet through multi-million year-old anthracite and salt deposits — to get to the beds of ancient limestone that hold the oil.

Crews go out on massive ships to set up the rigs. They use satellite images to find the deposits and then automated underwater robots to lock the drilling equipment into place.

Just tapping the deposit can take as many as three months to set up... at a cost of as much as $600,000 per day. Even to hire a helicopter to fly to the offshore drilling sites can take as long as two-hours over open water and up to $50,000 for the fuel and pilot... for each flight.

You can see why this massive oil deposit took so long to discover.

It wasn't long ago that we had the technology.

Then again, it wasn't long ago that anybody but the energy industry pros understood just how desperate we are to find and tap more and more remote oil discoveries like this one.

They call this kind of oil opportunity "deepwater crude."

This company I'm telling you about dominates this new field. They also have their geologists and engineers looking for even more breakthrough offshore energy discoveries just like this one.

Of course this isn't the only deepwater crude fortune-maker in town.

I've got three more I'd love to show you.

In fact, you'll find the full story in just one of the five special reports I'd like to send you, called Deepwater Crude Bonanza: Four Ways to Get Rich on the New Oil Frontier.

It's included with your free 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library.

Inside, not only do I name the single best energy stock of the next 20 years... but I also give you all my research on three other must-own "deepwater crude" plays, including...

• The cutting-edge American deepwater technology company that has oil majors worldwide lined up to use their specialized rigs. Only a handful of companies worldwide can do what they do. And with up to 300 new deepwater rigs to come online by 2012, this company is lining up contracts by the score — this could be an easy 50% gainer over the 12 to 18 months ahead.

• A trusted family-owned company that you already know, but what you might not know is that they're sitting on top of a second huge "deepwater" deposit almost as big as the one I just mentioned. They're also one of the few companies with the tech-savvy to drill the now-famous Bakken Oil Formation here in the U.S. This one has matched rising oil prices dollar for dollar before... and could triple from where it sits today.

• And finally, what my readers and I now call the "most important oil equipment company in the world." Why? Because right now they're the single largest deepwater equipment supplier not only to the top offshore company I mentioned, but also to the other majors now crowding in — including Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and more. What they make, nobody else can quite do. You'll see why in your free copy of my newest "deepwater" report.

Remember, I don't come at these opportunities like a broker trying to make commissions. This area is my trained specialty. I've spent years as a working oil exploration geologist. I study these opportunities with an understanding of the science and discoveries they're talking about.

And even when you factor that in, I'm convinced this new era in deepwater crude technology is a game changer. Not just the future of Big Oil, but also the single best way for you to get rich during the radical shift in energy politics headed down the pipe.

Once you let me rush you a free copy of Deepwater Crude Bonanza: Four Ways to Get Rich on the New Oil Frontier — one of the five special FREE reports in your 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library — you'll quickly see why.

And then there's more...

Defensive Energy Power Play #2:
Two More Ways to Get Rich...As Shanghai Goes Dark!

Obviously, it's not just the U.S. with an eye on oil anymore. 

Even through the worldwide financial bust, China's kept on growing at a record clip... with oil and other energy needs to match.

Some of what they've done is make deals for more power, including multi-billion dollar deals with our enemies in Iran.

But even then, booming China could go bust if they don't fix their growing energy problems. Take China's situation with coal —– at one point during the winter of this year they were down to a 10-day supply.

The problem for China is that the country uses coal to crank out 80% of its electricity.  For over 1 billion customers, that's a lot of coal. They can't get it out of the ground fast enough. Or safely.

So they're ramping up to go nuclear instead.

As you read this, China has 11 nuclear reactors producing electricity.

They're already building 17 more.

But they want to rocket that number to 124 full capacity reactors over the next several years. By the year 2030, that could pump up their demand for uranium 10 times over.

The last full year on record, China used 769 tons of uranium.

Beijing's new plan would call for 20,000 tons per year.

Yeah, but what about wind, solar, or geothermal?

Not one is nearly as ready for prime time as nuclear.

Think about it. Right now around the world, you've got 436 nuclear reactors up and running. Plus another 50 being built. And another 137 reactors in the blueprint stage. Along with 295 more new reactors on the table for approval.

The U.S. just announced plans to start building more — on top of the 104 reactors we've already got going. In fact, the U.S. already gets about 20% of its power from reactors. And we're on track to make more.

Even Belgium, Sweden, South Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, the U.S., the U.K., and France all get between 23% and 75% of their power from nuke plants. And those numbers are going up too.

According to a study by researchers at MIT, power demand could triple over the coming decades — and a huge portion of that new demand will be met with nuclear power!

That makes the next big question easy...

Who Has Uranium?

First, guess who doesn't. Uranium deposits are hard to come by in the Middle East. Instead, you've got Australia, the U.S., Canada, France, Argentina, Brazil, and India dominating the market. Along with South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, and Gabon.

I'm sure you remember, best nergy stocks for 2011 more than doubled from 2003, during the first half of the second Gulf War. Uranium also shot up from $10 to $130 a pound.

Along with everything else, it crashed in 2008.

Now it's at a bottom price... new uranium production has flat-out stalled... yet all the surging power demands are still there. Especially from China.

Take a look at this chart...

It's not hard to do the math.

China has $1 trillion parked in U.S. dollar reserves. Most of the time, those dollars are a wasting asset. Meanwhile, cheap uranium can meet China's exploding energy needs many times over... compared to increasingly expensive oil.

In their shoes, what would you do?

Shanghai alone has already sucked up most of the energy output of the massive Three Gorges Dam. China's other enormous cities are hungry for cheap power, too. So is their massive industrial machine. And India, with plans to up their nuclear power output eight times over during the next decade, isn't far behind.

That could easily make 2010 the "year for uranium."

And that's why I'd love to share two easy ways for you to gain from the coming reawakening in uranium and nuclear-driven energy stocks for 2011.

One gives you a simple way to move on every uranium sector that could jump higher over the year ahead, from miners and storage, to nuclear equipment, plants, enrichment, and transportation.

It's a single play, tracking the whole uranium boom. Including moves that get you outside of the dollar. Yet you can act on this without sending a nickel outside the U.S.

I'm already sharing this same research with my paid-up Outstanding Investments subscribers. But I'd like to send it to you right now, as part of special invitation, FREE.

You'll find both this special move and a second one in another brand new report I call China's Next Big Crisis: Two Ways to Get Rich... As Shanghai Goes Dark!

It's included as one of five FREE reports you'll get when you give me permission to send you my new 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library.

You'll find everything you need inside, from more on how and why uranium could hit over $60 this year... to why some call for $250 uranium in the near future... plus everything about the only two uranium moves you'll need to make to see huge gains on this, over the months and years ahead.

In just a moment I'll show you how to send for this special report, along with the rest of your FREE library. But first let me ask you an important question...

What's the Single Biggest Secret Behind History's Greatest Fortunes?

Oscar Wilde once said, "Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot."

I don't need to tell you, between plundering banks and blundering bureaucrats, a lot of regular Americans have watched their 401k and retirement "riches" stolen right out from under them, these past couple of years.

But when push comes to shove... in times of historic growth and epic crisis... what's the one thing that's endured? For as long as anybody's kept track, it's "stuff"... real, tangible, usable, tradable, blatantly valuable wealth.

In short, the raw resources you need to thrive and survive.

It's really that simple. It's no accident that's where the smart money flocks in good times and bad. It's also no accident that this is the story of one great fortune after another.

Think about it...

• John D. Rockefeller built a staggering fortune  — worth $212 billion in today's dollars and nearly four times bigger than Bill Gates stash of $57 billion — with Standard Oil.

• Just before the crash of 1929, Rockefeller and other mega-rich investors like J.P. Morgan, Joseph F. Kennedy, and Bernard Baruch ALL shifted out of best energy stocks for 2011 and into gold — getting even richer in the process.

• Andrew Carnegie — who also crushes Gates with a fortune worth nearly $112 billion in today's dollars — got that rich making steel.

• Frederick Weyerhauser, worth more than $72.2 billion in today's money, made all of that after starting out with timber, land, and saw mills.

• Andrew Mellon and his brother Richard each made about $36 billion, in today's terms, by branching out from banking and into oil, steel, aluminum, and coal.

Real assets are more than just the building blocks of great family fortunes, they're also the backbone of history. Not just with oil and the Middle East, but the timber riches that made Europe... the aqueducts that fed Roman fields... and Aztec gold and silver...

Forests that became armadas... coal and iron that made behind England an industrial power... steel that made America... the list goes on. And this has never been more true than right now.

Nearly 42,000 people read my research letter Outstanding Investments and they're already mastering those same cycles, watching resource riches pile up — even now.

Independent industry watchdog, Mark Hulbert, has even ranked us as the #1 Performing Investment Letter of the Last FIVE YEARS... not once but three times, in 2005... 2006... and 2007.

I'm proud of that record.

I'm even more proud of what some of my readers say...

What Others Say

Outstanding Investments reader Jeff Burke wrote in,

"It's difficult to be unhappy when all of the recommendations I hold from Outstanding Investments are up a minimum of 36%!"

Then there's reader Charles Bowman,

"I made a 140% gain with Tocqueville Gold - great pick! And 64% on Northgate, another winner!"

And paid-up reader Garry Coyne wrote,

"On Monday, I sold my last coffee contract for a net profit of 560%... [today] I took another net gain of 652% on two of the soybean contracts you recommended... and a profit of 205% on two soybean oil contracts... I'm absolutely wrapped, as I have never traded commodities until now."

My publisher has a whole pile of reader letters.

Here's a sample from just a few more...

"My stock portfolio has increased 52% in eight months as a result of the insight of Outstanding Investments. I plan to be a subscriber for years to come..."  — paid-up subscriber Fred Hanson.

"I made back the cost of the subscription on my first buy, within about a week... Your newsletter is a great deal!" — paid-up subscriber Adam Dillard.

"Thanks for all the good analysis. Subscribing to Outstanding Investments is one of the best investment decisions I've ever made." — paid-up subscriber Wade George.

I'd love the chance for you to see what everybody's talking about, too. That's why I'd like to invite you to try my research letter Outstanding Investments for yourself.

And you can start FREE, by letting me rush you the entire 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library we talked about. That's yours to keep, at no charge.

Once you've had a chance to look that over, I've got an even better invitation for you. One I think you'll like very much. You'll find the details at the end of this letter.

But first, let me give you another small sample of what you'll discover...

Defensive Energy Power Play #3:  The Gold Secret Nobody's Telling

What's the single best money move you could have made, from 1999 until now?

You must already know... it's gold.

With the yellow metal alone, you could have quadrupled your wealth.

While S&P stocks fell 9.7%... gold shot up 323%.

If that sounds like a fluke, go back over the last 25 years.

You'll find the single best year for best energy stocks was just 31%... while gold's best year topped 100.2%... and precious metal coins did even better, up 198.8%!

But you've got to wonder now...

Has Gold Had Its Run?

From 1979 to 1982, during the Iranian hostage crisis and the worst inflation the U.S. has seen yet, the yellow metal surged 2,329%.

At 323%, we haven't even covered a fraction of that ground.

But all over the news, you can hear mainstreamers call for an "end" to gold's bull run. It's the same message they read back in 2009, during gold's seven corrections that year.

Yet gold prices shot up again each time — and finished the year hundreds of dollars higher than its low. Anyone who listened missed out on all those gains.

Will we see even more corrections? No doubt.

But the bottom line is that just like with oil, instability can drive gold higher.

My Outstanding Investments readers have already seen gains on 12 out of the 14 energy stocks we're tracking right now. And half of those have posted triple-digit gains, as high as 131.4%, 133%, 165%, 167%, 202%, and 557%.

For years, I've helped my Outstanding Investments readers stay ahead of gold and silver markets, too. And right now... I'm still urging them to pay attention.

I hope you're paying attention too.

Because I'm convinced that today's gold story is far from done.

That's why I'd like to include a third FREE report with your 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library. I call this third report, Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse.

Inside, here's just some of what you'll find...

Three Ways You Could Still See Triple Your Money on Gold

What if you could take any remaining move in gold... even a small one... and as much as triple those gains? Because I firmly believe you could, in ways that could soon take even "gold bugs" by surprise.

How?

You can read all about it in another FREE report I'll send you, called Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse.

Take a look...

First, Discover How to Own Gold at Just $174 Per Ounce — The first move I'll show you is easily one of the cheapest ways to get a piece of booming gold ownership, from a company that trades for $174 of market capitalization per ounce of gold. Translation: This senior miner is on track to become the lowest cost gold producer in the world. Big institutions have already soaked up more than half these shares (64%), and some of the best geologists, corporate mining talent and mine managers, are flocking to work with this company.

Then I'll Show You How to Lock in Up To $600 in Gains on Every Ounce — As you read this, the next gold company I reveal for you in this special report is still getting gold out of the ground at less than $400 an ounce. With gold still hovering around the $1,000 threshold... that's like locking in a $600 gain on every ounce. And that just means a fatter gain for shareholders. What's more, this is a miner with a huge cash pile. They're putting that cash to good use too, snapping up other top-performing miners and soaking up their gold and silver reserves.

And Finally, You'll Discover Years of Gains to Come, Thanks to New Breakthroughs in "Deep Gold" — Just as how high-tech breakthroughs now make "deepwater oil" discoveries possible, new tech breakthroughs have also opened up the future of "deep gold." These are the rich veins of yellow metal locked in rock as deep as 16,000 feet down. This top gold producer — with 20 different mining operations in 10 different countries — has perfected the technique. And now they're bringing up the rock nobody else can get... to add to their pile of 229 million ounces of gold resources, another 36 million ounces of silver, and 42 million pounds of uranium. I've been down in their mines myself — and I'm sold, this is one of the best long-haul gold plays you'll ever come across.

Like I said, you'll find all three of these companies covered in deep detail, in your free copy of Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse. You'll find more inside, too.

Including...

• How to lock in as much gold as you like for pennies on the dollar.
• How to pile up your gold and silver gains tax-free.
• How to buy coins and bullion without getting ripped off.
• The absolute two best gold stocks for you to own right now.
• Nine ways to own gold preferred by America's "super rich."
• How to store your metals safely and without management fees.
• The shocking story nobody's telling you about "peak gold."
• How to get Lloyd's of London to insure your gold at no cost.
• Why one gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) beats the others.
• The "bank account" where you can park physical silver and gold.
• "Name Your Price" gold — decide how much you want to pay.
• How to safely collect gains and income on "outside-the-dollar" gold.
• How to pick junior mining shares with much less risk.
• The single easiest way to own either silver or gold.
• Home-run gains on gold at a tiny fraction of spot gold prices.
• How to buy all the gold you want without paying huge brokerage fees.

I hope you'll let me rush you a FREE copy, at my expense... along with a total of NINE free gifts altogether, all yours immediately if you simply accept my invitation below.

Here's what you'll get, once you do...

A Fortress of Protection During the Epic Crisis Ahead

Say yes to a simple trial subscription to Outstanding Investments, and the first thing I'll do is rush you my entire 2010-2011 Crude Awakening Countdown Library — FREE.

Inside you'll get...

FREE REPORT #1:
Crude Awakening: How to Survive the Global Oil War of 2010-2011

Brace yourself for a whole new surge in global oil prices — as a 1,354-year-old schism in Islam fills the vacuum left by war in the Middle East, and spreads like wildfire from one petroleum-producing country to the next. The new Yemen threat, "post-war" bombings in Baghdad, even Iran's race for nukes — it turns out they're all deeply connected to this coming catastrophic political and financial event. Not only does this first FREE report show you at least three market moves that could protect you financially, it shows you how an impending oil spike will change the way the entire world deals with energy over the years ahead (worth $49, but yours FREE).

FREE REPORT #2:
Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse

There's just no way, with near-zero interest rates and trillion-dollar cash injections by the Federal Reserve, to ignore the threat of crushing inflation ahead. Fortunately, there IS a way to protect yourself and even grow your money — with the nine powerful strategies you'll find in this timely FREE report, from how to own "name your price" gold at a fraction of the bullion value... how to pile up precious metal gains tax-free... and how to pick up gold and silver coins at a huge discount... plus, the only mining shares you need to own right now... all in this second FREE report (worth $49, but yours FREE).

FREE REPORT #3:
Deepwater Crude Bonanza: Four Ways to Get Rich on the New Oil Frontier

While the rest of the world was caught up in the financial crisis, the single biggest energy breakthrough in 100 years just took place — nearly five miles below the surface of the sea. Brand new technology finally makes it possible to tap as much as 100 billion barrels of new oil. Yet it's still early enough to make a fortune on the four breakout "deepwater oil" plays you'll find in this special new report (worth $49, but yours FREE).

FREE REPORT #4:
China's Next Big Crisis: Two Ways to Get Rich... As Shanghai Goes Dark!

With just two best energy stocks for 2011, you could get rich — as China's biggest cities go dark. How so? See, China is already so short on coal to fuel their power plants... they have to shut out the lights in Shanghai and other big cities, just to save on electricity! Long-term, that can't work — so they're going nuclear, with plans to build three times as many uranium-fueled power plants. These two best energy stocks for 2011 should both soar. And you can read all about them in this fourth FREE report (worth $49, but yours FREE).

FREE BONUS REPORT #5:
"Tight Gas" and High Yields: The Energy Breakthrough That Can Pay You Double-Digit Dividends

Just added — this fifth extra bonus report reveals the breaking story behind "tight gas" — easily the next big thing in U.S.-based energy. What the experts love is that "tight gas" could be the breakthrough that could cover America's gas needs for decades to come. What my readers and I love is that owning these shares also lets you collect regular double-digit dividend income... while letting you pile up gains on the shares at the same time. You'll find it all in this added extra fifth bonus report (worth $49, but yours FREE).

All together, that's $245 worth of gifts — and it's all yours to keep at no charge, just for agreeing to give my top-ranked advisory newsletter, Outstanding Investments, a try.

And that's just the beginning...

FREE GIFT #6:
Never Miss a Market Move, With Our Members-Only Portfolio Updates and E-Mailed "Hot Opportunities" — Included FREE

Every week, I'd also like to send you a commodities investment update, straight to your e-mail account. You'll read about the best energy stocks for 2011 in my Outstanding Investments model portfolio. Plus, other hot opportunities I have percolating on the stove. No charge whatsoever.

FREE GIFT #7:
Check Up on the Portfolio Anytime You Want, With Our Private Members-Only Website — Also Included at NO Charge

I also want to give you FREE access to my 24-hour Outstanding Investments Web site. This site is strictly members-only and password protected. I'm inviting you to use it whenever you like to look up my newest picks, latest news and more. Also yours at no charge.

FREE GIFT #8:
Yours FREE, One of the World's Most Popular and Well-Written Market Dailies — Praised by the New York Times and Money Magazine

When our friend and New York Times bestselling author Bill Bonner first launched his widely read e-letter The Daily Reckoning, nobody imagined it would one day top over 350,000 readers worldwide. Or that it would win praise from the New York Times Magazine, Money, and The Financial Times. If you're not already a subscriber, my publisher would like to invite you to start receiving it daily at no charge.

FREE GIFT #9:
My Publisher's Special "Executives Only" Resource — Reserved for Paying Subscribers Only and Worth $495, But Yours FREE

I want to make sure we leave no key market detail uncovered, so I've made a special arrangement with my publisher to make SURE that — if you don't already have invited access to their valuable Agora Financial Executive Series service — you'll also get the daily 5 Min. Forecast report, at no additional charge. This is for paid-up subscribers only — and it's yours FREE with your trial invitation.

That's nine free gifts altogether. And again, everything you'll receive is yours to keep, no matter what and with no hidden shipping and handling charges or anything.

You can even download your reports right now and get my full research on all the opportunities we've just talked about immediately if that's what you'd like to do.

Here's the best part...

For Up to a Full Year, Let Me Also GIVE You Our Top-Ranked Investment Insights!

In addition to the nine free gifts, I want to give you Outstanding Investments... absolutely FREE... for up to a full year. Yours to try and evaluate at your own pace.

Here's how it works.

You choose either one year for $49 (12 issues) or two years for $89 (24 issues) of our award-winning advisory letter. Inside every issue, you’ll discover how to pile up a fortune on the explosive resource investments we'll research and cover for you in detail.

Not just blockbuster oil, natural gas or coal investments... but also the moneymakers we continue to find in other vital real resources... like copper, cotton and platinum... gold and silver... and plenty more.

And you risk nothing to give it a try.

You'll even get the first half of either subscription absolutely free. That is, you pay nothing for the first six months of a one-year subscription... or the first 12 months of a two-year subscription. All our research, our best picks and all nine gifts... yours at no charge.

And even then, the remainder of your subscription is still protected by a full and unconditional 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can cancel anytime, even after the trial period of your subscription is over. And get a full refund, no questions asked.

Let me repeat those details...

"Cancel Anytime, Keep Everything."

Imagine if you'd just bought a top-of-the-line Mercedes S600. A year later, you roll back into the dealership, drop the keys on the counter and say you want your money back. You'd get laughed off the lot!

But this is exactly what I'm asking you to do here.

I'm asking you to simply give us a chance to show you how Outstanding Investments earned its ranking in 2005, 2006, and 2007 as the #1 Performing Advisory Letter of the Last Five Years — at no risk to you.

It's like taking a luxury sedan for a lifetime test drive.

Take the FREE reports and other gifts. Get our investing recommendations for a year, or even two years. Half of your subscription is completely free. The other half you can cancel anytime for a complete refund.

Even if you're reading your last issue on the last day of the subscription, you can still change your mind. Cancel on the spot, call me at the number I'll provide and I'll send you a check to cover every penny you paid to sign on. It's that simple.

And of course, you still get to keep all the issues and free gifts I've sent. No questions asked. Maybe that will sound crazy. Maybe someone else will read this offer and start rubbing his hands, knowing full well he could take advantage of me... simply by signing up now, enjoying all the recommendations and then canceling.

But I'm not worried.

I'm confident you'll read the reports I'm ready to send... and all the issues... and you'll see immediately just how valuable this investment research can be. You'll get the chance again and again to rake in returns. And you'll thank me for it long before your subscription ends. Maybe you'll even feel eager to sign on again. That's what I believe will happen. In the meantime, I will do everything I can to meet your high standard of excellence, just to make sure I can count on you coming back for more over the years ahead.

It's that simple.

I hope that sounds fair to you. I also hope it's something you'll decide on quickly. See, a lot of investors think that this last soaring cycle of the commodities market was all we get. We believe there's a whole lot more ahead. But you don't want to wait too long to get in position, or you'll miss out. So don't wait too long to make up your mind.

I call this secret the "slingshot option."

Because, like a regular option play on a best gold stock for 2011, this little-used strategy gives you a way to magnify the forces that lift the gold price — to get an even bigger return, even on small moves.

Almost like a slingshot, propelling your gains forward.

If gold goes up $1, you could see as much as $3.

If it goes up $10, you could see $30.

And so on.

Of course, years of evidence say this could go even higher.

With gains topping 620% or better over the coming year.

I'll show you how I get to that number in just a second.

By the way, don't let me give you the wrong idea...

In no way am I saying that you should not buy gold or that you should do this instead. In fact, I've got a pile of research that proves owning gold right now is a very smart thing to do.

And I'll send you that research, so you can see the proof too.

With the coming dollar wipeout, you'll want to take steps — using gold — to protect your wealth. And the free report full of research I'll give you shows you how — with no fewer than nine different ways you can safely tap the coming new wave of gains in the yellow metal.

But beyond that, this "slingshot option" strategy I'm telling you about is also something you'll want to know how to do — simply for the money-multiplying power it could give you.

Over the next four minutes, I'll show you how.

It's not something complicated.

And it's time-tested, too.

With a historically verifiable track record of gains, in conditions nowhere near as severe but still very similar to the ones we're seeing now... that have run not just 3-to-1, but as high as 433%... 488%... even 5,556%!

How high do I see this going over the months ahead?

• If gold runs to $1,200 per ounce — only 15% above where it is, as I write — this "slingshot option" could soar by 332%.

• If gold runs to $1,500 — both MarketWatch and Merrill Lynch say it could — this "slingshot option" could easily blow past 440%.

• With gold at $1,750 — less than the target named by CNBC — this "slingshot option" could easily hit for gains as high as 530%.

• If gold goes to $2,000 — the call already made in Forbes — you're looking at "slingshot option" gains that could run as high as 620%!

I'll give you all the evidence that backs up those numbers.

You'll see how the higher gold goes, the faster these related "slingshot option" gains could accelerate. Plus, the bigger they're likely to get.

Especially given all the upward pricing tension building under gold itself right now.

What's more, you'll also see how the "slingshot option" — much like the leveraged gains paid out by best gold stock options — lets you tap these gold's coming gains for pennies on the dollar.

And maybe most important, I'll show you one big way my "slingshot option" strategy doesn't act like a regular option play at all. See, for all the wealth-multiplying power of regular options, they've got one big disadvantage: they expire.

Not so for the "slingshot option" on gold moves.

Option-like Gains That Never Expire

See, as I'm sure you know, best gold stock options come with time limits.

That's why not all investors like to use them, even if they can multiply gains on best gold stocks for 2011.

Because if they hold them too long, they risk watching those best gold stock options run down to zero.

But that's not a risk you have using this "slingshot option" to multiply your gains in gold.

Because the "slingshot option" also never expires.

It can't go to zero. Period.

Are there times when the "slingshot option" doesn't pay?

Sure. If gold slows to a trickle, you might see a smaller gain — maybe a double — in this move.

If gold freezes altogether or even backpedals, then you would have to wait a little longer.

But how likely is it that gold's boom freezes up anytime soon?

The reality is, gold's boom is just getting started...

$5,000 Gold?

Priced for inflation, we're nowhere near where gold topped out in January of 1980.

In fact, today's gold price — in real terms — is barely over half as high.

And today isn't 1980.

It's much more serious...

From the collapsing worldwide credibility of the U.S. dollar... to near-zero interest rates... to the billions more in hidden bank losses... to still-soaring unemployment, boatloads of private debt, and exploding foreclosure rates all across America... we've got many miles to go before we're out of the woods on this, no matter what the talking heads and political pundits tell you.

Even the world's second richest man and history's richest investor, Warren Buffet, wrote in the New York Times that about the dollar-devastating risks ahead:

"Enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered... before long, we will need to deal with their side effects... their threat may be as ominous as that posed by the financial crisis itself."

It's also no accident hedge fund manager John Paulson, who made $2.5 billion on the subprime crash, now has nearly 50% of his money in gold or gold-related investments.

Because gold is where the smart money goes when inflation looms.

It's the easy bet. And right now, the smart money is "all-in."

As I said, I can't think of anything smarter for you to do right now — when it comes to safeguarding your wealth — than owning gold in one way or another.

And I'm ready right now to rush you a FREE report that shows you nine different safe and sensible ways to do exactly that — safeguard your wealth with gold.

But this "slingshot option" strategy is a way for you to take those wealth-guarding gold gains and multiply them by three or more times larger. For as long as the gold price keeps rising.

By the way, keep in mind, gold has already shot up an average $87 every year since 2001. That's big. But as central banks blow through more paper, it's a bake sale compared to what's coming.

How much higher could gold go?

Some say $3,000 an ounce. Guru Jim Rogers says $3,500. Famous bear Peter Schiff calls the U.S. dollar the "new peso" and says gold could soar to $5,000 before we're through.

Frankly, I don't see gold running that high. Even so, using this "slingshot option" strategy during smaller moves up in the spot gold price could still make you very rich...

What if gold does go to $5,000?

In that case, a lot of mayhem would have to hit the market... and your dollar-denominated savings would be in serious trouble... but those same forces could drive this "slingshot option" as high as 1,701%, just based on historical averages.

Of course, I can't tell you exactly where all this is going. Nobody can.

But you can look at it this way. There's a train leaving the station, heading to a place where the once-powerful U.S. dollar might mean a lot less than it does right now.

It's happened to other currencies before. And there's no reason to think it can't happen to us now.

Wouldn't you want to act on this while you still have time?

Just be aware, the longer you wait, the less time you'll have to make your move.

Already, others have seen gains pile up.

Just recently, while the dollar was tanking 15%... gold raced ahead 38%. Not bad. But on top of that gain, you could have seen the related "slingshot option" play shoot up nearly 86%.

That was just the beginning.

Because, of course, the "slingshot option" play also crushed every "rebounding" major market index over the same period...

Hands down, this may be the single best way right now to get rich.

What If Gold Doesn't Go Any Higher?

Even if gold doesn't budge, there's still a chance — backed by one of the longest-standing natural market laws in history — you could still see as much as 260% gains on this play.

See, the real driving force behind the "slingshot option" strategy — like those forces driving the price of gold itself — aren't just tied to today's credit crunch.

Soaring deficits and toxic debt? Of course they matter.

So do the moves of Ben Bernanke or the Fed.

But the real reason this "slingshot option" play works goes much deeper than troubled banks... high-risk bets on mortgage-backed-securities... or even disappearing interest rates.

Even the brainy debates over "inflation" or "deflation" are just small potatoes compared to how gold and raw resources and related strategies like this "slingshot option" move have generated fortunes time and time again, throughout history.

When you understand those larger forces — and I'm going to reveal them to you right now — you begin to see how some of the world's richest families have gotten so rich, sometimes regardless of what was going on in the day-to-day marketplace.

You're wondering what I'm talking about.

So I'll explain...

Where Wealth Really Comes From

First, I should introduce myself...

My name is Byron King.

Gold is just one of my passions. And it's what alerted me to the "slingshot option" move I'm ready to share with you today. But the fact is, I've tracked resources of all kinds for years.

In fact, I'm what you might call a "rock hound" — a professional geologist with a Harvard degree, where I got so wrapped up in this stuff, I graduated with honors.

That distinction helped land me a job as an analyst in the exploration division of one of the world's top oil companies. I loved it but decided I wanted a little more adventure.

So I joined the Navy.

After flying over 1,000 total hours as a fighter pilot and landing my share of planes on the decks of carrier ships, I went back to Pittsburgh, my hometown, and logged 17 years as an attorney.

But my fascination for making money in resource markets never went away.

Today, that's what I still do... analyzing gold and metals markets, digging up the names of money-making companies in oil and gas, reporting on copper and steel, studying up on shale gas, uranium, and opportunities in wind and geothermal energy... I could go on forever.

I love it all and it's what I know best.

You may have seen me on CNN or other media outlets, in fact, speaking about all the moneymaking opportunities out there — both right now and for the long-term — in raw resource markets.

It's tangible wealth.

And we've rarely seen a better opportunity — maybe your last opportunity — to get into raw assets in a major way at a still-reasonable price. I feel so strongly about this, I've gone nationwide to speaking engagements, just to talk about it with others just like you.

I'm writing to you today not just to talk to you about gold and related moves, but because I have reason to think you see what I do. And that you're already hearing what I'm hearing too.

Not just the massive dollar flood set to destroy our savings ... or the derivatives time bomb still ticking under Wall Street... and the coming global walkout on U.S. debt... but about the radical shift that's happening between East and West... and the coming battle over the supply and demand of raw resources that will fuel those changes.

These are radical times.

With radical changes ahead.

In many ways, the way you'll make money in the future is about to change forever.

In other ways, it's reverting back to how it's always been.

Let me show you what I mean...

The Big Picture Most People Can't See

See, I believe right now you see what I see... that beyond the hyped-out headlines and chattering "guru" TV... you and I and everyone else with money stand in the vortex of history.

Ask yourself, what's the real force behind building tension in gold markets, for example? Is it really just a temporary accident of bad mortgages and strategic slipups by our Federal Reserve?

Or could it be something much larger?

Something more provable and permanent?

I say that it is. And I'm not alone.

Centuries-old cycles of wealth and opportunity confirm what I'm saying to you right now. Cycles so tightly woven into the fabric of history, only a few are able to step back and see them.

Cycles driven by the simple fact that... long before we had the Bank of America, AIG, or Citigroup... long before the property mania and dotcom bubbles... or many market crashes of the last several decades... something else, something much stronger and more enduring, has always been the real driver of lasting family fortunes... not to mention the fuel for the growth of nations... and the rising tide of history itself.

I'm talking about real assets. Resources.

The kind of tangible, visible wealth you can trade and touch and build upon.

Timber for fuel, land for farming, the aqueducts that fed Roman fields... Aztec gold and silver that funded the Spanish empire. European forests used to build armadas, clipper ships, and navies... the coal and iron behind Britain's Industrial Revolution... the steel that made America.

See, that's what I love now about gold and the related opportunities we've talked about... not to mention tapping the riches of the energy and oil trade... studying surging copper and steel demand... even watching for moves we can make in wheat, soy, sugar, and corn.

Why? Because all my research into these resource cycles confirms everything I'm sure you also know in your gut... that it's these very same thousands-of-years old cycles that keep restoring value and new wealth opportunities to the markets, time after time.

I believe in this so strongly, I've dedicated my time to following it. And I believe you share this same understanding, too. That's why I can't wait to share all my research with you, so you can tap the same stream of potential resource riches I already give regularly to my other readers.

There's so much I can help you discover that way too many others in the markets completely overlook. Especially right now. And this special "slingshot option" strategy we've talked about is the perfect place for us to start.

Which is why I hope you'll let me rush you my research on how simple this is to follow and how well it can work for you, during the wave of inflation and dollar crisis ahead.

It's all detailed in a completely new special report I've put together, called The Slingshot Option: An Extremely Easy Way For You to Triple Your Gains on Gold.

I'll send this to you immediately, at no charge.

Why the "Slingshot Option" Strategy Works, When It Works

Like I said, not every moment is right for the "slingshot option" play you'll read about in your free report. But when the time is right, it can work extremely well.

• During World War I, the U.S. government kept gold prices frozen at $20.67 per ounce, thanks to the Gold Standard Act of 1900. But a kind of "slingshot option" existed even then, and from 1914 to 1919... it shot up 168%.

• During World War II, Franklin Roosevelt's "fix" on gold remained locked in place. But those same forces that would have sent bullion prices soaring send the "slingshot option" play of the day up instead... by over 488%.

• After the OPEC oil crisis of the 1970s, gold — unleashed from the dollar — exploded just under 150% in only four years. But the golden constant commanding the "slingshot options" helped reset the natural balance with a gain of 433%.

• During the most famous gold run of living memory, from 1960 to 1980, the yellow metal exploded for a 2,429% return... but the "slingshot option" position churned out a gain of 5,556%.

In fact, during the 1960s so many investors got rich using the "slingshot option" strategy, President Lyndon Johnson and his cronies actually moved to make it illegal!

Of course, it didn't stick.

As successful as the "slingshot option" I'm telling you about can be, there's no restriction on using it now. And a few savvy players are already using that fact to get very rich.

• Recently, Lewis Walde cashed out one of his "slingshot option" positions for $30,000.

• Vicki Veltkamp tucked away a $60,000 gain on a "slingshot option" play.

• Ronald Clayton used the "slingshot option" to collect $62,000.

• Dean McDonald has already picked up a gain of $119,300.

• Phil Baker exercised one of his "slingshot option" positions for a haul of $216,000.

• And Michael Callanhan walked with a net "slingshot option" take of $422,000!

In your free copy of The Slingshot Option: An Extremely Easy Way For You to Triple Your Gains on Gold, I show you how to get your own "slingshot option" payoff.

I've even included three open "slingshot option" positions you can tap right now.

All three have already crossed a key breakout point... and all three have already started delivering multiplied gains over the rising price of gold.

And as I show you in the report, each is tied to the larger natural resource cycles we've talked about... cycles that span centuries of evidence, proving how reliably resources can build wealth.

In each of the positions I'll show you, you'll see that these plays are already on the move... but you'll also find out why each offers you plenty more room to run higher. 

Your copy of The Slingshot Option: An Extremely Easy Way For You to Triple Your Gains on Gold explains more about each move, including why each one could move a lot higher over the next eight to 12 months ahead.

You'll also read about a special strategy that could let you double your gold holdings at less than half the cost... and you can use this simple move no matter which way gold markets are headed.

I want you to enjoy this report "on me." It's yours free.

In exchange, though, there's one small thing I'd like you to do for me. I'd like you to give me your permission to start sending you my monthly resource newsletter Outstanding Investments for up to a year... and also FREE.

Why Free?

Why would I want to give up to 12 months of my best research at no charge?

Simple. Because I know what you'll find inside every issue.

From more opportunities just like the one you're reading about today... to all kinds of other ways to make gains... not just on gold or silver, but on peak oil and shale gas...

Solar and nuclear power... wind and geothermal power... corn, sugar, and soybeans... copper and steel... and all the game-changing resource demand now coming from Asia...

These are interesting times.

Even while some gold stock investments can crash and fall to zero... even as the world lurches from one bad-news headline to another... the bottom line stays the same. We simply cannot exist without the resources that matter.

Oil to burn... land to stand on... copper pipes and wires in our walls... circuitry in our computers... electricity to power our lights, our appliances and the Internet... lumber, steel and grain... and precious metals like gold and silver to help us protect our wealth.

This is what Outstanding Investments is all about.

And that's why I'd like you to try it FREE for up to 12 months.

Because I'm confident I'm right about you... and I'm even more confident you'll like what you see. Enough that you'll gladly come back for more. It's really that simple.

You don't have to take my word on this.

Just listen to what some of the readers who write to me have to say...

Let me put it this way.

A little while ago, two journalists — Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther — wrote a book called The Wealthy 100. The book lists history's wealthiest people and asks how each made money.

These guys all had one thing in common: they got rich by investing in REAL STUFF.

John Rockefeller — with a fortune in 1937 that would have been worth $212 billion today — got rich not with conventional gold stock investing or by inventing something like computer software... but with Standard Oil.

Andrew Carnegie — worth $112 billion in today's dollars — did it with another vital resource, steel. Frederick Weyerhauser, who made the equivalent of $48 billion in 1914, made it all on land.

Andrew Mellon and his brother Richard each made about $36 billion, by feeding resource investments into the Industrial Revolution.

I'm writing to you because I believe you share our sense of history. And because you instinctively understand what these giants of wealth and industry also lived to prove:

That real assets represent real wealth.

I'm sure you'll agree, that's never been more obvious than right now. As worthless dollars, empty promises, and worthless bank shares pile up... the building blocks of civilization remain intact, moving in a dependable, cyclical flow.  Understand those cycles, and the forces that drive them, and you can get very rich.

I'd like you to join us so you can understand them as we do.

To help you decide, there's something else I'd like to give you...

Ultimate Wealth Protection

As excited as I am about the "slingshot option" over the months ahead, you'll also need a way to protect the money you've already made. That's why I'd like to send you a second free report.

I call it Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse. And it's all about new ways for you to own gold, many that you might not know about.

Why gold and why now?

• Gold demand is higher now than ever, but gold supplies are down. Mine output peaked back in 2001. Now we're digging mines as deep as 13,000 feet to get to new deposits.

• Governments can print money. But they can't print silver or gold. That's why the smart money runs to metals when currency inflation rears its head.

• Gold rises during periods of deflation too, as governments print money in a panic, trying to keep stalled economies from falling apart.

• Gold is "wealth insurance" during wartime and gold stock market crashes, too.

• Gold is back big time on the world stage. No doubt you've heard how Beijing is urging Chinese citizens to buy gold and silver. Hoarding is underway in Russia, India, and elsewhere too.

I could go on.

But like I said, not much of this is news to you.

If you hold dollars, you already know how your buying power has gone down over the last decade. If you held gold, you've seen your buying power rise.

It's really that simple.

And if you still want more proof — along with nine different ways to soak up gains during gold's next boom — let me send you a free copy of Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse so you can see for yourself what I'm talking about.

Inside you'll discover...

• How to lock in as much gold as you like for pennies on the dollar.
• How to pile up both your gold and silver gains tax-free.
• How to buy coins and bullion without getting ripped off.
• The absolute three best gold stocks for you to own right now.
• Nine ways to own gold preferred by America's "super rich."
• How to store your metals safely and without management fees.
• The shocking story nobody's telling you about "peak gold."
• How to get Lloyd's of London to insure your gold at no cost.
• Why one gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) beats the others.
• The "bank account" where you can park physical silver and gold.
• How to safely collect gains and income on "outside-the-dollar" gold.
• How to pick junior mining shares with much less risk.
• The single easiest way to own either silver or gold.
• Home-run gains on gold at a tiny fraction of spot gold prices.
• How to buy all the gold you want without paying huge brokerage fees.

Use the link at the end of this letter to find out how to download or send for your free copy of Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse immediately.

And then I'll also start sending you your free issues of Outstanding Investments...

"Top-Ranked For Performance Three Years in a Row"

In 2005, no-nonsense newsletter industry watchdog, Mark Hulbert, ranked Outstanding Investments the #1 Top-performing Investment Advisory Letter of the Last Five Years.

In 2006, Hulbert put us among his top-ranked performers again. And yet again in 2007.

That makes both my publisher and me proud. But I can't say we didn't see it coming.

Especially with winning picks like our 151% gain on Wheaton River Minerals... 162% gains on Intrepid Minerals... a solid 332% gain on Glamis/Francisco Gold... and 668% gains on Metallica Resources...

Plus, another 105% gain on Gentry Resources... 151% gains on Tocqueville Gold... 228% gains on Niko Resources... and 263% gains on Coeur d'Alene Mines, all in 2003...

Or our 116% gains on Cameco... 174% gains on PetroChina... and 270% gains on the July silver calls, all in 2004... and the 104% gain readers saw on the ICON Energy Fund...

Not to mention the 108% gain we posted in 2005 on Norsk Hydro, plus another 118% gain on Anglo American PLC... 160% gains on Western Oil Sands... and our 182% gain on Talisman Energy...

In 2006 and 2007, we locked in 83% on Placer Dome... 142% on BG Group PLC... 87% gains on Walter Industries... and another 177% gain on Coeur d'Alene Mines...

And in 2008 and so far in 2009, we're looking at 33% on Foundation Coal Holdings... 40% on Alleghany Technologies... 43% on Consol Energy... 96% on Goldcorp...

166% on Newmont Mining... plus open positions already up 37%... 45%... 46%... 53%... 61%... 64%... 70%... 75%... 128%... 146%... 155%... 160%... 200%... 403%... and 466%...

In fact, as of October 1, 2009, our average on open Outstanding Investments plays is already 32%... with a cumulative gain of a market-shattering 1,490%. That's extraordinary.

And, looking back all the way to 2002, our overall portfolio average on just our closed annual portfolios alone is a stunning 61% — without a single negative year in that time!

What's more, right now you'll find we've got 21 different recommendations already posting double-digit returns or higher. And of those, seven now show triple-digit gains... with five of those already posting over 150% returns.

Plus, you'll find at least 26 different shares in the Outstanding Investments portfolio that can pay you income, with 15 of those gladly doling out more than $1 per share.

We've even got a hugely successful takeover play that's already paid out 155% gains since we first mentioned it in one of our Outstanding Investments monthly issues.

I'm confident you can expect to see a lot more of that over the months and years ahead.

So here's what I recommend...

How to Start Making Money Now

To get you started right away, let me rush you a free copy of The Slingshot Option: An Extremely Easy Way For You to Triple Your Gains on Gold.

You'll get everything you need to know about this unique "slingshot strategy" inside.

From how to turn get $3 for every $1 gain in gold prices... and how to pick up 260% more, even if gold doesn't budge... to how to multiply those gains again with three more non-expiring "slingshot option" plays, all detailed in your copy of this report...

You don't have to pay me for this.

It's yours free. I can mail it to you or you can simply download it minutes from now.

You'll have everything to look over tonight.

Then I'd also like to send you the second free report I mentioned, Bullion and Beyond: Ultimate Wealth Protection Against the Coming Dollar Collapse — detailing the nine wealth-protecting gold strategies used by the super-rich all across America.

Including how to lock in gold ounces for pennies on the dollar... how to pile up your gold gains tax-free... and how to get the absolute best deal when buying coins or bullion... plus, the single three best undervalued gold mining shares to own today.

I hope you see how just these two reports combined could both protect your current savings AND start putting thousands of extra dollars into your account over the next few months.

Just one of the "slingshot options" I name could turn every $1,000 into $8,010. And the three other "slingshot option" plays I also name could multiply your gains again, by 3-to-1 or better... even if gold doesn't budge from where it is now.

Plus, I see the three undervalued best gold stocks for 2011 named in your second free report having room to give you at least a double from where they stand right now.

Wall Street brokers and resource companies pay fortunes to the mineral and energy experts that give them this same level of information. I know because, as a Harvard-trained geologist, I'm one of them.

Yet, I want to give you both these reports free.

And there's only one small thing I'd like you to do in return. I'd like you to agree to try Outstanding Investments, my monthly newsletter, risk-free...

My  "Double-Every-Dollar" Guarantee

See, I'm so confident you'll like what you see in the two reports I'll send, I've talked my publisher into backing everything with a special "Double-Every-Dollar" Guarantee.

How's that going to work?

Before I explain, let me also offer you something else. Along with everything above, I'd like to give you up to a full year (12 issues) of my Outstanding Investments newsletter, also free.

Here's what you'll get if you agree...

• Every month, you'll get a brand new issue of Outstanding Investments from me. Gold and silver... oil... platinum... steel and copper... natural gas, cotton, and coal... each issue gives you the best research and recommendations into ways to make money in "stuff" that's real.

• What's more, once a week I also send you a FREE Outstanding Investments portfolio and market update. This goes straight to your e-mail account and tells you everything you need to know about what's happening with the plays we're following... plus everything else I've got lined up for future reports.

• You'll also immediately get FREE access to the members-only Outstanding Investments web site. Your password comes with your welcome kit and lets you tap into the update and newsletter archives at any time, around the clock. Plus you can log in to check the portfolio, instantly pick up your free reports, and more.

• I make sure that every new Outstanding Investments subscriber also gets two extremely valuable resources that I subscribe to myself — the hugely popular Daily Reckoning e-letter from New York Times best-selling author, Bill Bonner and the private members-only dispatch, Agora's 5 Min. Forecast. Both give you research and recommendations you won't find anywhere else. They're both also yours FREE.

• And of course, you'll immediately get a link where you can download — or request printed copies of — the two special new FREE reports we talked about, The Slingshot Option: An Extremely Easy Way For You to Triple Your Gains on Gold and The Ultimate "Dollar Demise" Protection Portfolio — as your combined wealth-protection and gain-multiplying strategy.

Normally, a year of my newsletter is $99. 

That's less than 28 cents per day for research that's helped others see gains of 274% on American Century Global Gold... 286% on Suncor Energy... 235% gains on Niko Resources... and 249% gains on Coeur d'Alene Mines, just to name a few.

But like I said, I've worked out a special deal.

If you'll agree to pay for the second half of your subscription upfront — to cover costs and make it worthwhile for us to keep on sharing this research — my publisher will cover the entire first half of your trial subscription absolutely free.

Sign on for a year (12 issues) and instead of paying $99, you'll pay only $49 — because your first six full issues are included at no charge. Sign on for 24 months — a two-year trial — instead of paying $198, you'll pay just $89. That means you're getting a whole year free.

What's more, even the paid portion of your trial subscription is 100% protected by my "Double-Every-Dollar" Guarantee. If you don't at least see a chance to double every dollar on the "slingshot options" we talked about, you can cancel for a 100% full refund.

This is a lifetime money-back guarantee.

You can change your mind at anytime, for any reason.

And my publisher will send you a 100% refund, guaranteed.

You can still keep everything — the issues, the alerts, and the reports — regardless.

No questions asked and at no cost to you.

Doesn't that sound like a good deal?

Before you answer, hang on...

Because here's something more...

How to Get Rich on the Biggest Oil Breakthrough in 100 Years

On top of what we've already talked about, let me throw in something else to sweeten the deal. It's an incredible chance for you to get rich on the most important oil discovery in decades.

How big?

Imagine owning Exxon twenty years ago, now up 1,208%. Or shares of the world's largest oil company, PetroChina, already up 889% just since the start of this decade.

And the three other "slingshot option" plays I also name could multiply your gains again, by 3-to-1 or better... even if gold doesn't budge from where it is now.

What's more, this massive energy breakthrough just happened... outside of OPEC and thousands of miles from any war zone... in fact, miles from anywhere you'd expect.

Because it happened an amazing 27,000 feet beneath the rolling black surface of the sea. I'm talking, of course, about a stunning new store of "deepwater crude."

27,000 feet is nearly as high as some airlines fly on international flights.

Just five years ago, we didn't have the technology to find oil or even gain access that deep. Now we do. And suddenly a few bold explorers are coming across huge, untapped resources.

But this one I'm telling you about is the mother of all new discoveries.

At almost 500 miles long and 100 miles wide... with an estimated 100 billion barrels of oil... we're looking at the biggest single bed of oil anywhere in the world. Bigger than all the reserves in Iran or Russia. Bigger than the legendary Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia. Bigger than almost all the oil fields in Iraq, put together.

This is a game changer.

Fortunes will be made.

And I'd like to tell you all about it by sending you a third FREE report Deepwater Crude Bonanza: Four Ways to Get Rich on the New Oil Frontier.

I'll throw in a copy with everything we've already talked about, at no extra charge.

Inside, you'll discover three "up-and-comers" of the explosive deepwater energy bonanza... plus the single most important deepwater crude stock for you to own right now.

Again, this copy of Deepwater Crude Bonanza: Four Ways to Get Rich on the New Oil Frontier is also yours FREE, along with your trial subscription and your other reports.

And then there's one more thing I'd also like to add...

Double-Digit Energy Dividends

I also want to give you a fourth FREE report.

It's called "Tight Gas" and High Yields: The Energy Breakthrough That Can Pay You Double-Digit Dividends. I've just revealed this same opportunity to my readers.

If you haven't heard of "tight gas" yet, the big thing you need to know is that this is a breakthrough that could cover America's gas needs for the next several decades.

You'll start reading about it soon in mainstream headlines.

You may even know already about a few of the regular ways to play it.

But I've just discovered an even better move, with all the upside of top "tight gas" stock plays... but outside of conventional gold stocks for 2011... and paying a stunning 11% dividend.

As energy gets even scarcer... and the coming wave of inflation sends resource prices soaring... shares could take off. Meanwhile, you could be pocketing regular income.

This plus your bonus report on "deepwater crude" are both included with everything else we've talked about above, at no extra charge. All together this is an unbeatable deal...

And all you need to do to get everything we've talked about is agree to try my Outstanding Investments newsletter on a trial basis, 100% risk-free.

Look, it's no accident Outstanding Investments wins awards.

It's no accident Hulbert ranked it the No. 1 performing advisory letter of the last five years three years in a row — from 2005 to 2007 — either. See, we're onto something.

I'm confident you'll think so too, just as soon as you've given Outstanding Investments a try.

As long as I keep giving you the best, most profitable market research anywhere... you'll keep coming back for more. I consider that a win-win for everybody. I'm sure you'll agree.

Just listen to what my other readers write in to say:

Davey Dawson, a longtime reader with over 20 years experience in the resource industry, says he locked in 100% gains in six days on one of our gas plays.

Reader Chris Beyer says he pocketed 64% on our Northgate pick and another 140% gain when we recommended Tocqueville Gold. Plus more on Cemex and Newmont Mining.

"On Monday," wrote paid-up subscriber George Clatt, "I sold my last coffee contract for a net profit of 560%... [today] I took another net gain of 652% on two of the soybean contracts you recommended... and a profit of 205% on two soybean oil contracts... I'm absolutely wrapped as I have never traded commodities until now."

Says reader Al Dresden, "I made back the cost of the subscription on my first buy, within about a week... Your newsletter is a great deal!"

Let me remind you too, your entire trial subscription — right up to your last issue — is covered by my one-of-a-kind "Double-Every-Dollar" guarantee.

If you don't see at least one "double-your-money" opportunity thanks to my "slingshot strategy"... or you're not satisfied for any other reason... simply cancel and your entire subscription, including everything else you've received, is yours free.

You keep everything I've already sent. My publisher will rush you a check to cover everything you've paid us to sign on, no matter what. Even the cost of issues you haven't received.

I don't know anybody who offers a stronger satisfaction guarantee.

But then, I also can't imagine a better or bigger opportunity than the one we're seeing right now.

It won't last forever.

The longer you wait, the bigger the chance gold will have already accelerated higher... taking this rare "slingshot option" opportunity higher, too... and then you'll be out of luck.

These are extraordinary times. And this is an extraordinary chance for you to make a lot of money... on a very rare set of market conditions... in a very short time.

I would hate for you to miss it.

It wasn't a world-changing find, but it meant the Russians were the first on the scene of what could become the world's next massive oil resource...

So what did the Russians do?

They immediately moved in and negotiated a Russian-favored pact with the naïve Mongols known as the MongolNeft trust.

What Mongolia thought was going to hand them all the oil they could ever use ended up providing them with a mere 20% of the petroleum they needed for daily operations.

The rest went to Mother Russia.

Stalin and his cohorts had pulled the wool over Mongolia's eyes...

Needless to say, the Russians harbored little respect for the country they viewed as a mere extension of themselves, ripe for the pillaging.

Their epic fleecing of the Mongols even led to the creation of a national joke:

"Kuritsa ne ptitsa, Mongolina ne zagranitsa."

That's Russian written out in English characters, and directly translated, it means: "Chicken is not a bird, and Mongolia is not across the border."

But for all of Russia's dominance, they were about to make an unprecedented mistake.

When oil fields were discovered in closer, more accessible Siberia, the Russians turned their fossil fuel attentions there instead of furthering exploration in Mongolia.

This is where it gets interesting...

Some time after Stalin died, it was determined that Mongolia holds 6 billion barrels of crude oil.

This isn't some wishful prediction, either. According to the Beijing Review, "Mongolia boasts huge verified natural resource reserves: 6 billion barrels of oil."

And recently, the Prime Minister of Mongolia echoed that fact.

Stalin, a man who controlled everything in his path, was too shortsighted to tap into the true heart of Mongolia's petroleum wealth.

In fact, in 19 years of drilling and refining, the Russians only managed to pull a mere 7 million barrels of oil from the ground.

So, whether it was ill-advised exploration due to the authoritative mandates of a proud Stalin, faulty technology, or poor drilling practices...

The Russians left behind a HUGE amount of oil.

And that's why I'm writing to you today...

Because the oil that Stalin didn't drill for is about to make a handful of folks very rich in the coming months...

You see, there's one $1.44-per-share company that has its hands on 91 times more Mongolian oil than Mother Russia ever extracted:

Even better, that 638 million barrels is only a fraction of what this company actually owns.

That figure is just the proven reserves from a single one of their properties.

They also have rights to two other prime chunks of land in addition to the one I've been telling you about — and both have the very same, oil-promising geography as the first.

You see, this company is Mongolian, so they've been getting the choice tracts of land.

So there's no real telling just how much oil they're actually sitting on. It could be 1 billion barrels... 2 billion barrels... or even half of the entire country's reserves.

Either way, just on the proven reserves alone — 10% of all the oil in Mongolia — shares of this company are set to absolutely explode.

Not only that, but this oil could change Mongolia's petroleum future forever...

And I've uncovered the document that proves it...

1991: A history-changing report surfaced in the oil industry

It gave in-depth details of 150 exploratory oil studies conducted by Soviet, Hungarian, Romanian, German, and Polish geologists between 1939 and 1989.

It also showed that these studies were done in a country few people had ever thought to look for oil: Mongolia.

These geologists found that some of the oil-rich sedimentary basins of North China extended across the border and into southern Mongolia.

As you can imagine, a report of this magnitude didn't exactly fly under the radar.

In fact companies lined up in droves to get their hands on this report, despite its extreme price tag...

According to the New York Times: The report, at $45,000 a copy, has become something of a best seller in the oil industry...

Thankfully, I know an insider in the business who was willing to share this report with me so I didn't have to shell out the 45 grand.

Of course, once I had it in hand, reading it was another matter... Turns out, I also needed a translator to help me make out the text:

If you were fluent in Asian languages, this first page of the Mongolian section would have revealed to you the basic timeline of the report's research about the nation's oil reserves...

For years, companies have used the information in this report in attempts to find the biggest oil deposits Mongolia has to offer.

Now, nearly two decades later — after endless data interpretation, area mapping, and 3D seismic surveys — the results are finally in.

And the findings are nothing short of remarkable...

Along the western border of Mongolia sits an oil-rich field roughly the size of Connecticut.

The oil is plentiful and easily accessible. It isn't under 5,000 feet of sea water, buried deep inside a mountain range, or even in hard-to-process oil sands...

It's just below the Earth's surface — in conventional, easy-to-drill deposits.

And here's the real kicker...

One tiny, under-the-radar company owns it all.

That's right. Thanks to early foresight few others had, this $1.44 micro-cap controls every last drop of the 638 million barrels of oil that have been discovered in this region...

They own all the rights to $51 billion worth of easily accessible oil.

For a $1.44-per-share company, it's the discovery of a lifetime.

For you, it could mean earning 180 times your money within the year...

2010: Russia's petroleum chokehold on Mongolia ends...

Once the Russians abandoned the MongolNeft trust and flocked to oil-rich Siberia, Mongolian oil supply went with them.

Even though they were sitting on billions of barrels of their own crude, Mongolia was almost completely reliant on the Russians for oil by 1969.

In fact to this day, Mongolia imports 90% of its oil from a single Russian company.

Talk about having your hands tied.

Over just a three-month period, the company that supplies this oil, Roseneft, increased the price of oil twice — by an average of 20% each time.

"This comes on top of surging prices," reports Michael Auslin of the Wall Street Journal, "that, since 2006, have pushed inflation in Mongolia to over 15% annually."

And that's not even the extent of it. Russia then hits Mongolia with excise taxes, customs taxes, automobile taxes, and transportation and storage costs...

When all is said and done, according to the National Statistics Office, Mongolia spends roughly 28% of ALL its money on oil from Russia.

Put simply, Mongolia spends more on Russian oil each year than it earns from its primary export, copper.

The chokehold Russia has on Mongolia's economy has become so tight the country can barely breathe...

But that's about to change in a hurry.

It's a block of text from the same report I showed you earlier.

It details how the Petroleum Law of Mongolia was ratified in 1991. In the words of the report, this law "established a legal foundation for new development of petroleum exploration in Mongolia."

It was a huge step toward gaining oil independence from Russia.

The best part? This oil is already sold...

And because of this, the small-cap oil company I've just discovered is about to make themselves — and you — quite rich over the coming months.

2011: China has $30 billion on the table for this company's oil

Mongolia isn't the only country that Russia has “held hostage” for oil...

China relies on Russia for 80% of its annual imports — 1.38 billion barrels every year.

In fact China was importing so much Russian oil that they chipped in for a pipeline linking the Russian city of Skovorodino to the northeast city of Daqing, China.

A cheaper alternative, the pipeline will transport 15 million tons of crude annually from Russia to China between now and 2030...

However, even with such a system in place, any oil China could possibly get by cheaper means would be an economic boon for them.

That's why, when Mongolia emerged as having a substantial amount of oil, China immediately jumped into the mix.

According to research of my boots-on-the-ground analyst (whom you're about to meet) has uncovered, I figure they've got as much as $30 billion on the table, just waiting for the Mongolians to begin extracting oil from their fields.

Heck, they've already established an export route for it. Literally seconds after the oil is barreled up, it could be on trucks bound for China.

Once again, it looks like Mongolia is getting played for its oil.

Instead of using the petroleum for their own needs, Mongolia has been lured by big dollar figures to once again part with its much-needed oil.

Whether it's a smart endeavor or another show of Mongolian naiveté remains to be seen...

But one thing is for certain — it's no longer a pipedream on some paper report.

Oil extraction in Mongolia is going to happen.

And now that the frigid Mongolian winter has passed, the tiny oil company I've been telling you about is set to get under way — as early as this month.

But, as soon as people realize what's happening — and early birds start sucking up shares — the "clearance rack" price you have a chance to get in on right now will be gone.

Right now is the time to strike.

Wait so much as a month, and you could find yourself once again wishing you had made a move to capture the incredible oil riches at your fingertips.

That's why, right now, I'm about to tell you exactly who this company is...

Today: You learn the ticker symbol of the Mongolian oil firm that could make you rich

There's one all-encompassing reason this company is positioned to make you wealthy...

Put very simply, they have everything that no one else does.

These guys are sitting on top of $51 billion of what is probably the easiest-to-access oil in the world.

In fact their biggest oil targets have been found to be a mere 500 to 2,000 meters below the earth's surface.

Compare that with the Tupi oil discovery in Brazil several years back...

It was touted as the largest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in the last 30 years.

The thing is, the oil from this particular discovery was much harder to get to than the oil I've been telling you about in Mongolia.

The Tupi oil was more than 2,100 meters under water.

And once you got past that, you'd have had to drill through another 2,000 meters of hardened salt and 4,800 meters of sand and rocks.

That's a process no one would describe as easy or cheap. But it didn't stop people from making dream paydays.

The companies involved made billions — not to mention millions for wise investors.

BG Group, an early player, shot up more than 500% seemingly overnight.

Petrobras went from a lowly $1.90 per share to nearly $72 as investors cashed in left and right.

But even bigger paydays are on the horizon again — in Mongolia.

This time, you could practically get to the oil with a shovel.

That's why...

2,000% gains would be child's play with a stock like this

The thing you have to realize is that while oil exploration in Mongolia is decades old, oil production is not.

While geologists, reports, and exploration results all point to massive oil just below Mongolia's surface, the practice of extracting the oil there is in its infancy.

But as with any massive oil discovery, it's not those who arrive late to the party that rake in all the dough — for themselves and their investors...

It's those who discover the oil and stake a claim to it that stand to hand you 20 times your money — or more.

After all, you can't exactly drill for oil unless you know someone who has the technology to assess where the biggest deposits are...

And even then, they don't exactly give that information out for free.

It costs big bucks to get your hands on someone else's oil.

That's why the exploration companies who find themselves sitting on game-changing oil fields come out far, far ahead of the pack.

Of course, as I told you, the company I'm telling you about isn't sitting on enough oil to put Mongolia atop the list of world's biggest oil reserves...

But they ARE sitting on enough oil to change the course of history — as I've shown you.

And when that happens, everyone makes money.

I mean, take a glance at a company like CGG Veritas.

For years, they've been widely regarded as one of the most prolific oil exploration experts in the world.

But it wasn't always that way...

Much like the company I'm telling you about right now, these guys were once small players in a HUGE market.

Their share price was under $3 as they snuck up on the competition and took advantage of their knowledge during the years of America's shale boom, a situation similar to the period that's looming large in Mongolia right now.

In the blink of an eye, the share price shot up to more than $48 — and some lucky folks who knew what was going to happen found themselves cashing in for astounding 2,422% gains.

The same thing happened in Canada with a company called Smith International.

They were first on the scene in what would eventually become a historic oil discovery — enough petroleum to immediately rank Canada second on the world oil reserves list.

Those who were savvy enough to see this situation coming (or lucky enough to have been tipped off to it) got in on riches so great they could've bought as many houses, boats, and cars as they ever wanted to — even retired decades early.

And it certainly didn't take a big investment... Just a couple hundred bucks out of the savings account could have turned into $92,022 seemingly overnight.

Take a look for yourself:

The stock shot from a mere $0.44 to over $80. That's a gain of 18,304%.

Gains like that turn $200 into $36,809...

$500 into $92,022...

$1,500 into $276,068.

I mean, just think what those who sunk 10 grand into Smith International did with their winnings...

What would you do with an extra $1.8 million dollars?

The thing is, a very similar situation is happening in Mongolia.

 The chance to secure the kinds of riches I've been telling you about are very real...

Right now, just like the savvy Smith International investors, you have a chance to bank 180 times your money

If you didn't already know, my name is Brian Hicks.

I'm the President of Angel Publishing, a Baltimore-based consortium of world-class alternative financial minds that produce a stable of investment research advisory products with a track record that's second to none.

If you've heard my name, it's probably from my frequent appearances on TV as a money and markets commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox News...

Or maybe you've read some of my regular commentary in the Wealth Daily e-letter...

Or perhaps you've read my book, Profit From the Peak.

Now, I bring this all up not to brag; but simply to show you that I've been making a living in the financial research commentary industry for a long time now.

I've been in the trenches of it for more than 15 years, actually.

Over that time, I've learned that of all the ways in the world to make money, the absolute best is locating ridiculously underpriced opportunities...

And the oil situation I've been telling you about just so happens to be one of those opportunities — probably the best I've seen in nearly a decade.

While others are turning their heads, I always make sure I'm looking straight on.

I don't want to miss out on tens (even hundreds) of thousands of dollars because of what everyone else is doing.

That's why I'm pounding the table on the $1.44-per-share company I'm writing to you about...

It's one of the best opportunities I've ever seen to profit from the oil market.

But as I mentioned earlier, once investors start scrambling to grab up shares, some smart folks (like you) could already be in position to make 180 times your money.

The thing you should be asking yourself at this point isn't, "When should I move on this?"

It's "How do I move on this RIGHT NOW?"

Well, that's the easy, fast, and risk-free part.

But before I give you the specifics, I want to tell you...

Why I hired "The Hammer" to find the Mongolian oil play that could pay you 180x returns or more

"The Hammer" may sound like a nickname better suited for a boxing champion than an investment guru...

But if you've ever met the guy, you'd understand how much sense the moniker makes.

His real name is Christian DeHaemer (though I almost never call him that), and his last name actually means "The Hammer" in his ancestors' native tongue.

Whatever you decide to call him, "The Hammer" is a grizzled profit veteran I hired to dig up the inside details on the world's most underground profit stories.

He's a serious man — a U.S. military-trained fortune-seeker with a vast network of worldwide contacts in business and intelligence circles.

I mean, you don't find out "the dirt" on a tiny Mongolian oil company half a world away without having some top notch friends in high places.

And I'm not just saying this...

I have e-mails sitting in my inbox right now that prove how "The Hammer" navigates through his circle of "friends" to obtain the biggest money secrets out there.

I've know the guy for more than 15 years — and I've seen first-hand how he's made his way through hazardous places like Egypt, Cuba, Libya, Israel, and Tunisia in pursuit of profits no one else even knows exist.

He's made tons of cash exploiting opportunities in some of the hottest crisis zones on Earth.

That's why I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, there's no one I'd rather have on this particular story than "The Hammer".

I went so far as to bait him away from the well-known investment research firm he's spent the last 14 years tracking down huge gains for...

And some of those winners are eye-popping:

I know I don't even have to explain how incredible some of those gains are...

And those are just a few of the ones I found when looking over a track record I almost couldn't believe...

Triple-digit win after triple-digit win lined the spreadsheet.

It's why I was thrilled when he called me up (long-distance of course) and told me what he had discovered in Mongolia...

By the time I saw him in the office again, he already had a report written on the matter.

"This was just too good," he told me. "I had to write it up on the plane ride home."

I read it immediately, and I have to agree with "The Hammer"... If all his data is correct — and it always is — this could very well be the oil play of the century.

Forget any amazing rags-to-riches oil tales you've heard before. You could be telling one three times as good by this time next year.

That's because I'd like to share "The Hammer's" report with you, free of charge.

It's called 18,000% Gains: Last-Chance Oil Profits in Mongolia.

And you read that right. I said I'm going to show you this report for FREE.

Why would I disclose such valuable information for nothing?

Well, because...

Uncovering these wealth opportunities as they arise is going to be "The Hammer's" full-time job from now on

When the situation calls for it, I'll fly him into every "hot zone" in the world where the potential for huge gains exists. He'll get the story, boots on the ground...

Then I'm going to publish them in Crisis & Opportunity — a brand-new monthly investment research advisory service launched by Angel Publishing and edited by "The Hammer" himself.

I have zero doubt that in short order, this letter will make its way up the chain of the best performing advisory services in the country.

I fully expect "The Hammer" to replicate the success he's proven he's capable of.

And I'd like you to be one of the first to take a sneak peek at what he has to offer in the brand-new Crisis & Opportunity.

In exchange for your "test-drive" and feedback, I'm going to send you "The Hammer's 18,000% Gains: Last-Chance Oil Profits in Mongolia, absolutely free of charge.

This bulletin, right here, is your chance to take a look at this first-of-its-kind, zero-risk and satisfaction-guaranteed service.

And the free report I'm going to send you isn't all you'll have access to. You'll also have exclusive rights to:

• "The Hammer's" E-alerts — Get breaking news on emerging profit "crisis zone" opportunities, his latest recommendations, and portfolio updates delivered straight to your inbox seconds after they're written.
• The Members-Only Crisis & Opportunity Web Site — This is an online archive of "The Hammer's" commentary, picks, current and past portfolios, plus all new and existing special reports (like the one I'd like to send you free of charge today).
• Outstanding Customer Support — If you ever have any questions or concerns, you can call our Customer Support staff at any time and get immediate, live help between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

And let's not forget the FREE and immediate opportunity to bank 180 times your money courtesy of "The Hammer's" special report, 18,000% Gains: Last-Chance Oil Profits in Mongolia...

Any one of "The Hammer's" profit plays stand to hand you heaps of cash... but as I've said before, the one I've been telling you about could be the play of the century.

Should you decide to take this trial to Crisis & Opportunity (in exchange for the FREE special report), you'll get first crack at the absolutely mammoth profits that could be in store for you — as much as 180 times your money.

Not only that, but you'll have inside access to all the other profit stories "The Hammer" uncovers.

In a second, I'll show you how simple it is to sign up for Crisis & Opportunity and get this FREE report.

It's yours to keep whether you decide to cancel your trial run or subscribe for decades until you don't need any more money...

But remember, for this particular opportunity, YOU MUST MAKE YOUR MOVE NOW.

There's simply no reason not to claim this report right now and get every single detail on how to multiply your cash 180 times over.

It's a time-sensitive situation that requires timely action.

So, without further delay, let me show you exactly what you need to do to claim your FREE special report...

18,000% gains aren't a pipedream when you know what "The Hammer" knows

For most analysts, it would be truly absurd to think they could uncover an opportunity that could legitimately pay you 180 times your money...

But when I say "The Hammer" has uncovered what looks to be the biggest oil story of the last decade, I'm not exaggerating.

This is the best chance I've ever seen at easy, fast profits — especially in a market as unpredictable as oil.

This really could be the score every investor sits around and waits for.

For some, it takes years. For others, decades...

Most will never see it in their lives.

But you will, if you listen to me — and "The Hammer" — today.

I'm serious. Your chance to retire on the spot is staring you right in the face. All you have to do is seize the opportunity and run with it.

It's like something out of a storybook. If I were dreaming up a perfect environment for banking the biggest profits most of us have ever seen...

The current opportunity in Mongolia is damn close to what that dream would look like.

And if you're still reading, you must agree...

You'll also agree that I could justifiably charge an absolute fortune for this information.

Think about it:

How many independent investment research outfits have the connections and clout to arrange short-notice, one-on-one meetings with banking, government, and business insiders in the most lucrative emerging markets on Earth?

Not many — if any.

What do you think a big-name hedge fund manager would charge you for a private consultation revealing what stands to be the most lucrative investment opportunity of our time?

$100,000? Maybe half of that, if you're lucky?

Yes, I know exactly how much I could charge for this information...

I'm WELL aware.

But I'm not going to charge anywhere near that much. It just doesn't make sense to charge an arm and leg just so ten people have access to information that stands to change their lives.

I want everyone to have a fair shot...

So I charge a mere $999.

Of course, I know despite the incredible value here, $999 may still seem like a lot of money...

That's why I'm also offering a special quarterly payment option. 

For just $279 every three months, you can enjoy the very same benefits and receive the very same information I've been telling you about...

But like I also told you before...

You're not on the hook for a thing. This is merely a test-drive.

Should you decide Crisis & Opportunity simply isn't for you, that's fine.

But I'm positive that won't be the case. After all, you'll have 30 days to decide. That's a full month.

Not only will you have full membership privileges to Crisis & Opportunity during that time, but you'll also immediately receive the free report, 18,000% Gains: Last-Chance Oil Profits in Mongolia, straight from the desk of "The Hammer".

Keep in mind that this report, any alerts you receive, and any other intelligence you gather during those 30 days is yours to keep — even in the event that you decide to cancel during your trial period.

It's 100% risk- and obligation-free. There couldn't be a better deal on the table, to be quite honest.

I mean, for the sake of your own future, you must sign up — even if you fully intend to collect the refund — and put some cash into this little-known $1.44 oil company before everyone else does.

THEN you can decide whether or not to stay on for the long haul.

You're not paying a cent for the information that could make you 180 times richer.

You're simply putting $999 on the table and letting me hold it in escrow for a month while you decide if Crisis & Opportunity is worth what we're asking.

But once you see just how rare and insightful "The Hammer's" perspective and analysis are (not to mention how much money his picks make), I'm positive you'll be a Crisis & Opportunity subscriber for life.

That's because there's ALWAYS the chance to make huge gains somewhere in the world on crisis, strife, and political transformations...

And with "The Hammer's" clear and concise instructions, it couldn't be easier to tap into these for riches beyond your wildest dreams.

As I've proven, you can't buy just anywhere the kind of experience, connections, and influence "The Hammer" will wield for you every single day...

I'll bet that in no time, you'll consider it stealing to be paying us only $999 for the Crisis & Opportunity bundle of services and benefits.

There's no gimmick here — no "free prizes." And no fine print, either...

The simple, risk-free guarantee I spelled out for you earlier is just as simple and obligation-free as it sounds.

Just under a thousand bucks buys you the best emerging markets investment analysis and guidance you'll ever receive.

Or you get your money back anytime within 30 days.

I will say this, though: If you knew how much money I've fronted to lure "The Hammer" away from his home of 14 years...

Not to mention the cash I shelled out sending him halfway around the world on a Mongolian profit-finding mission...

You'd understand why I can't guarantee this $999-a-year price on Crisis & Opportunity will stay this low for very long.

Right now, we're offering this as an introductory price. But there's no telling how long this offer will last...

It's the sharpest low-ball offer I can make you — aimed at recruiting serious investors for a lifetime of one-of-a-kind wealth recommendations...

So right now is decision time for you.

I've done everything I can to make that decision a no-brainer.

I've shown you a $1.44-per-share company that owns $51 billion worth of easily accessible oil and how it could help you bank 180 times your money.

I've also offered you 30 full days of risk-free access to all of Crisis & Opportunity's services and benefits — including "The Hammer's" special report, 18,000% Gains: Last-Chance Oil Profits in Mongolia, that I'm going to send you free of charge.

In this letter, I'm going to tell you about five penny stock companies — whose top penny stocks for 2011 are all priced less than $1 per share — that are set to take this energy public in a very aggressive and profitable way.

At the same time, I'm going introduce you to a strategy we've come to rely on that we call the 'MI Investing Advantage' — leveraging military research and intelligence to establish a hugely successful civilian industry.

We've seen it time and again.

I'll show you the examples.

And when we're done, I'm sure you'll agree that you could harness the 'MI Investing Advantage' to get in on the next huge wave of expansion... and propel your investment success forward with alarming speed.

I'm so confident this approach to investing is right for your portfolio, I've developed a very interesting offer I don't think you'll be able to resist. More on that in a minute...

But for now, let me explain what's happening...

There is a secret, carefully guarded "energy discovery site" just 113 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Calif., that anybody who's ever wanted to explore booming energy stocks needs to know about.

The U.S. Navy has given it a code name: "China Lake — Navy One."

It's surrounded by barbed wire. Guards with machine guns watch everybody who comes and goes. And armed Navy jets patrol the skies above.

What could possibly be so secret?

A very rarely talked about and previously untapped new energy resource that's so efficient and abundant, it could — according to our own U.S. Department of Energy — crank out enough power to replace 50,000 times the current usage of all known gas and oil resources... in the world.

That's a huge claim.

But not so huge that privileged investors aren't already making a move on this.

According to Dow Jones, Merrill Lynch's commodities group just earmarked $35 million in private financing for this emerging energy breakthrough. You could have even bought shares in this yourself, during 2007 and...

Every $10,000 you would have put in would have soared to $26,300.

Every $20,000 invested would have returned you a whopping $52,600.

The Navy owns the property where this new resource was discovered and developed. Until now, the Navy has kept it very quiet — top secret, even.

The Navy's mandate, going all the way back to the United States Constitution, is to provide for the national defense. It's one of the largest consumers of energy on the planet... that much is true. But it isn't supposed to make money selling the stuff. That makes this discovery, according to our top former Navy 'insider' and energy expert, one of the best undiscovered moneymaking opportunities in the world of energy investing today... for individuals like you.

In fact, he names five penny stocks for 2011 — all of which should do especially well as this previously unknown information is revealed to the public.

How well could you do? Just one of these tiny, unknown "secret energy discovery" stocks I'm about to disclose to you already skyrocketed 263% during 2007.

And since you could jump in on the ground floor, the opportunity just gets richer from here.

Here's everything you need to know...

Energy costs are rising. You and I both know that. Heck, in the past few months alone, the cost to heat and power my home has gone up by 27%.

The Navy knows that, too.

That's why many years back, Carl F. Austin, a well-known geologist with over 40 years of experience, published a report for the Navy that outlined a new energy plan that could power its entire Naval weapons testing base in California. 

Back when the report was written, the cost of foreign fuel was low enough that the Navy didn't have to act on Austin's energy plan. It planned on using the report as a 'worst-case scenario' only.

But when oil topped $100 per barrel during 2008, the worst-case scenario arrived. The U.S. government knows that we need to reduce our dependence on foreign fuels. And the Navy is taking the lead...

The Navy took Austin's work and immediately went to work. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Navy outlined one simple goal in drilling, testing and extracting its new form of energy:

'[The Navy seeks to] provide an alternative energy source, allowing [it] to reduce overall Navy dependence on fossil fuels, especially imported fuels.'

After decades of testing, the Navy perfected the energy extraction at its secret Naval air warfare site called China Lake.

China Lake sits just 113 miles northeast of Los Angeles on an area of land known as the Coso Hot Springs.

If you were standing in the center of China Lake, you wouldn't have a clue what lies beneath. The earth beneath your feet would be rocky and sandy. If you touched the ground, it would feel exactly like the ground outside your house.

But underneath the ground lies an energy form that can provide energy for 1 million Californians. And that's just from the power stored underneath the Navy's China Lake base alone...

Across the entire United States, 1.7 million people are already benefiting from the recent extraction of this ancient energy source.

And the Department of Energy claims that another 50,000 times the known energy of all known oil and gas resources in the world still lies untapped underneath the earth

When tapped, the potential of this ancient energy could reduce our dependence on fuel from the Middle East — just as the Navy wanted. It could significantly lower our monthly heating bills... and provide as much energy as it would take to power the U.S. for up to 750,000 years.

But the Navy couldn't keep its secret forever... The news has now begun to circulate through the groups of in-the-know energy CEOs.

Several smaller companies are now beginning to get into the business of identifying and extracting the same kind of energy that I call 'China Lake Energy.' You probably don't know this, but they've already begun testing the extraction at sites spread across several Western states...

After researching this new energy form for the past four months, my former Navy 'insider' has found a total of five ways by which you could grab a piece of the profits. Let me explain...

What the Navy discovered was an easy way to harness an energy form so powerful that the U.S. Department of Energy recently conducted a large-scale study on its potential impacts for energy independence in the U.S. The findings surprised everyone...

The Department of Energy found that the known reserves, when tapped, could produce as much energy as it would take to power the U.S. for the next 750,000 years, based on current consumption rates.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted its own study. The result was a massive 3.72-pound document that detailed how this previously unused '[China Lake Energy] could play an important role in our national energy picture as a noncarbon-based energy source.'

The way it works is simple...

The U.S. Navy got lucky. Its China Lake base sits on top of the Coso Hot Springs, one of the hottest land masses in the U.S. It partnered with CalEnergy, a privately held California energy provider, to bring that heat up to the surface. Together, they developed a simple three-stage process for extracting the heat energy out of the ground...

First, they drill a hole deep into the Earth, tapping the area beneath the Earth's surface that produces heat over 400 degrees. Next, they inject water into the hole. The water instantly boils and begins to produce steam that rises out of the hole. After that, they put a large turbine over the hole that captures the steam and turns it into electricity.

The process itself doesn't matter. What does matter is that the energy source that comes out is clean, reliable and best of all, renewable — meaning that, unlike oil and natural gas, the energy source never runs out. The Earth has always and will always produce heat...

The entire process releases three times less carbon dioxide than natural gas... five times less than oil... and seven times less than coal.

The best part is that this energy isn't limited to California. In fact, multiple 'hot spots' exist throughout the Western United States.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada has even said, 'Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of [China Lake Energy]...'

And the U.S. Department of Energy believes that 'China Lake Energy' has the potential to produce 50,000 times the known oil and gas reserves in the world.

The Navy is currently powering its entire China Lake base with this newly tapped source of energy. In fact, it's already generating more power than it can use...

So much power that it's recently begun to sell the "extra" power back to California utility companies. And the Navy is making a fortune doing it.

When the United States Government Accountability Office found out about the Navy's energy extraction, it dug into the accounting books to see what it's worth. What it found was nothing short of amazing...

According to the Accountability Office's data analysis, the Navy has already collected energy royalties in the amount of $194.9 million

Now that it's let the profits out of the bag, public energy companies are scrambling to grab their piece of the payouts.

So what does this mean for you? The public developments are providing a roadmap for people like you and me to follow the energy insiders to our piece of the next $194.9 million payout...

When I first heard about the Navy's secret energy extraction and the potential that it has, I had to learn more.

So I sent our Harvard trained geologist — a gentleman who, by chance, has very close ties to the Naval War College — to research the situation.

After four months of research and over 36,121 miles traveled, eight high-level meetings and over 217 hours with his nose in books, this geologist and former Navy 'insider' has put together all of his findings in a special report, titled The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434.

Before I give you the exact details on how to download your copy, let me show you how much money you could stand to make by grabbing shares of these top penny stocks for 2011...

I'm sure you've heard of nuclear power plants. As I type, 8.4% of the U.S.'s electricity consumption comes from nuclear energy.

Compare that with the small 0.3% that 'China Lake Energy' is currently producing, and it's easy to see that investing in its extraction is a ground-floor opportunity.

Why am I comparing 'China Lake Energy' to nuclear? Because MSNBC recently said that ['China Lake Energy'] production could soon equal that of all 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Back when nuclear technology was new, energy insiders flocked to invest in the new form of power. And during the past few years, nuclear companies have been turning out some serious profits for their shareholders.

Take these companies for example:

• Entergy Corp., a nuclear energy producer based out of New Orleans, has ran up 261% between 2000 and 2006

• During the same time period, Dominion rose from $19.92 per share all the way up to $41.92 per share... showing investors a hefty 110% gain

• A uranium miner that provides the material needed for nuclear power production, named Cameco Corp, returned a whopping 1551% over the same time frame.

If you had bought just 500 shares of each of these three nuclear companies when the technology was on the rise, you would be sitting on $63,359 in pure profits. A larger 1,000 shares in each would have made you $126,717.

And if you took a large 2,000-share stake in each of these three companies, you'd have been able to send all your kids through college, pay off your house and buy a new Corvette on a $253,434 payout.

According to my former Navy 'insider,' if you get in on the right companies now, you could potentially see gains even larger than those early nuclear investors saw...

How? Just look at the advantages of this energy form over nuclear...

'China Lake Energy' Secret #1 — Less Land to Build a Plant:
It takes 5 – 10 acres of land per megawatt to build an operating nuclear power plant, compared with only 1 – 8 acres per megawatt to build a 'new energy' plant. Less required land means the opportunity to build plants in tighter locations...

'China Lake Energy' Secret #2 — More Environmentally Friendly:
Nuclear power produces toxic waste that requires time, energy and money to dispose. Even worse, it hurts the environment. This new energy form is clean and produces no toxic waste. Governments around the world are already begging to mandate that higher percentages of their energy come from environmentally friendly sources. They're even willing to provide substantial tax incentives to companies providing clean energy...

'China Lake Energy' Secret #3: - Cheaper Than Nuclear:
According to inside energy experts, energy from renewable sources like 'China Lake Energy' is cheaper to produce than Nuclear power.

With these advantages in mind, California's state Senate created Senate Bill 1038, which mandated that as much as 20% of the state's energy MUST come from 'clean energy' sources like 'China Lake Energy' by 2017. I expect other states to soon follow California's lead...

And when they do, companies that have perfected the technology should explode, potentially showing investors even bigger gains that the 721% that nuclear energy showed.

With only 0.3% of the U.S.'s energy production coming from 'China Lake Energy,' the time to jump in is now.

And since my former Navy 'insider' and Harvard-trained geologist has been in the business for the past 34 years, he knows exactly how to get your hands on the companies that are set to profit.

After four months of studying all of the Department of Energy reports, visiting the hot spots in person and talking to his friends in the industry, my former Navy 'insider' and Harvard-trained geologist has identified five tiny companies that he wants to tell you about...

Before we get to the details, let me assure you, this isn't the first technology that the U.S. military has discovered. In fact, it's got a long history of inventing technologies that change everyday life. For example...

In the 1950s and 1960s, the military needed to "one-up" its enemies by being able to see in the dark. So it pioneered the way for thermal imaging, an imaging system that cuts through darkness and smoke to show heat sources. The companies that were involved on the ground floor of helping the military develop thermal imaging — Honeywell and Texas Instruments — have now become household names.

During the Gulf War, the U.S. Army needed a system to quickly communicate information from its global positioning systems to the battlefield, allowing it to make instant decisions on where to position the troops. From this technology, the Internet was born, paving the way for companies like Google to shoot up 605%...

Once again, in order to help track the movement of its troops, the U.S. Navy invented the modern-day Global Positioning System. Now almost every car manufacturer includes a version of the technology as a standard feature. Shares of Garmin, the leading GPS company, went from $9.63 per share to over $100 per share — showing investors a 938% gain.

The list goes on and on...The military's invention of the jet engine paved the way for companies like Boeing to profit... their invention of Radar allowed Raytheon Corp. to shoot up 645%.... And the military's use of satellites proved profitable for Lockheed Martin... 

All of these technologies were developed by the military but went on to build fortunes in the public sector. Seeing these opportunities early enough to get in before the mainstream is what I call the 'Military Intelligence Investing Advantage.'

Now the military is ready to do it again. As I pointed out, the Navy has already made $194 million in royalties on this energy. But if the Government Accountability Office has something to say about it... those royalties should be earned in the private sector — not by a branch of the U.S. military.

So the military is going to let this energy loose in the free market. And the following five companies are first in line. They're going to be the companies to bring this technology to market. They should be the beneficiaries of the 'first-mover' advantage in this huge new industry.

And if history of the 'MI Investing Advantage' is any guide, they're going to be the Fortune 500 energy companies of the future.

Let me show you what I mean...

'MI Investing Advantage' Company #1 — With a 20-year Energy Deal:
In 2002, this company acquired the rights to a former Department of Energy production field. It immediately began its testing... and the early numbers have just come in...

A third-party consulting firm estimated that this company could be sitting on enough energy to eventually power 110,000 Idaho residents, year after year. On Sept. 26, 2007, it signed an exclusive 20-year deal with an Idaho energy provider to sell its energy back to the citizens of Idaho.

Now it's in the process of bringing a second location online. The numbers aren't complete yet, but the company has said that its initial tests 'indicate the potential for prolific production...'

'MI Investing Advantage' Company #2 — Currently Sitting at Just 25 Cents per Share:
This company just inked an initial 20-year deal with the state of Nevada to provide energy to 24,000 homes. It owns a 100% stake in a known hot spot area in north-central Nevada with heat reserves close enough to the surface for easy extraction.

Even the U.S. Department of Energy is excited about the potential of the land that this company possess — so excited that it's just awarded a $1.25 million grant to begin extraction.

Based on the numbers, I expect it to at least double in the next 10 months. And best of all, you can still load up on shares of this company for just 25 cents per share...

'MI Investing Advantage' Company #3 — Owns More Than 70,000 Acres of 'Hot Spots':
This company has hot spot projects currently in development and 11 more waiting for test drilling to begin. In total, it has an interest in 70,000 acres of hot spots in California and Nevada.

On Oct. 22, 2007, the company announced that drilling had begun at its exploration well known only as 'Well 56-4.' It believes that 'Well 56-4' alone could have enough heat inside to power 24,000 homes. If all of its other wells produce the same amount, there's no telling how high this best stock can go. Another alternative energy company has shot up over 33% in one day. This one could go up even further when it announces the results of its other heat wells...

To be completely honest, I'm not sure how long these companies will go unnoticed. The major media is just beginning to catch on, and I'm positive that their stock prices will begin to jump any day now...

MarketWatch recently reported that it doesn't know why 'free energy from ['China Lake Energy'] isn't more widely used'... CNN said, 'Just below the Earth's surface is a virtually limitless supply of energy...'... The Economist calls 'China Lake Energy' a 'huge, unrealized potential' source of energy.

To help you get in right away, I've asked my Harvard-trained geologist to write up all of his findings in his new report called The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434.

In this report — which you can have instant access to — he'll tell you the names of these companies, how to buy shares of each of them and what exactly to tell your broker.

But that's only three of the five companies he's found. Let me quickly tell you a little about the other two...

'MI Investing Advantage' Company #4 — Powering 277,000 People in Latin America:
Like the first two companies I've told you about, this company has recently agreed to a 20-year deal to sell its power. But instead of selling it to the U.S., it's providing the power to Latin America.

A recent press release by the company shows that it expect its main energy hot spot to produce enough energy for as many as 277,000 people in Latin America. It wouldn't surprise me if this 34-cent stock shot up 628%, just as Amen Properties, a similar energy provider, did just a few years back.

'MI Investing Advantage' Company #5 — Up 48% Since Aug. 22:
With two major hot spot projects in the works, this company is an industry leader. It has 100% of the rights to a 1,017-acre hot spot located 75 miles north of San Francisco, called the Geysers. The Geysers is the largest active energy-producing field in the entire world. Its second location, located in British Columbia, is estimated to have the potential to supply power to over 80,000 households in western Canada.

News is already getting out on this company. With increased drilling and extraction planned, this is my favorite stock to buy right now...

The best part of this new opportunity... the mainstream hasn't caught on yet... and these companies are all still dirt-cheap. Not one of them costs more than a dollar a share. But they all have the 'first mover' advantage when it comes to taking this military secret into the private sector. The returns on just one of them could be phenomenal. But with all five? Well, we really like our chances of hitting a home run.

Inside your copy of The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434, you'll learn everything you need to know to get in early.

And you can get instant access to this report for FREE. Here's everything you need to know...

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So when Byron first told me about the Navy's energy discovery and the potential for early investors to make $253,434, like the early nuclear investors made, I couldn't wait to start writing this letter to you. But, he told me we couldn't publish the information.

You see, Byron's Outstanding Investments newsletter has over 47,000 subscribers. And these five companies are too simply small to recommend to that many people. The largest of the five trades for just under $1 a share.

He told me that if he recommended these tiny top penny stock companies to his readers, too many people might rush to buy the tiny stocks, and they'd push the prices up too fast. Many readers could get in at artificially inflated highs.

Fact is we are publishing this information for only a small group of readers.

And that's exactly why we've agreed to start Energy & Scarcity Investor — an elite research service comprised of Byron's most serious readers... And those who are interested in his most sensitive recommendations.

To celebrate the launch of his new service, I'd like to send you a FREE copy of The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434. All I ask in return is that you agree to a subscription of his new service, Energy & Scarcity Investor.

Why do we call it Energy & Scarcity Investor? Let me explain...

With each day that passes, the world consumes more oil than it produces. The oil left in the ground is getting scarce, harder to find and extract and far more precious than in the past. Even in a global economic slump, simple economics tells us that when supply is reduced, prices will rise.

The reduction of oil means the opportunity for new energy forms and new technology to power the world.

And that's exactly what Byron will focus on in his new newsletter, Energy & Scarcity Investor. He'll tell you not only how to protect yourself when energy prices start rising again, but how potentially to profit as well.

With a subscription to Energy & Scarcity Investor, you'll receive a free copy of The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434. Then each month after that, Byron will automatically e-mail you an exclusive opportunity on the best way to make money by investing in companies providing the energy and technology needs for the future.

Remember, his recommendations will be small — most will trade for under $10 per share. Almost all of the companies will be ground-floor opportunities. So the gains you stand to see from these recommendations have the potential to trump what he can provide to his other 47,000 readers.

For example, back in August 2005, Byron came across a company named Core Labs. The company provides engineering services for oil resevoir enhancements... and based on Byron's analysis was ready to explode. But at the time, the company was too small to recommend to his weekly readers. So he did the next best thing...

Byron delivered news of the company to a set of 258 conference attendees at our Vancouver Investment Symposium. Even after nearly all top penny stocks for 2011 got clobbered in 2008, this stock is still up 61%. Over time, the amount of the small, previously unpublishable recommendations grew to the point that we asked to start a more elite research service, Energy & Scarcity Investor.

Before I give you details on how to sign up, let me tell you about another opportunity that Byron just uncovered...

Did you know that you could extract oil from used tires?

Each 20-pound tire contains approximately 1.2 gallons of oil... and Byron has found the one company set to rise 209% by extracting the oil.

I call the process 'enhanced oil recovery' because its technology goes beyond the 'standard' recovery into outside-the-box sources — like the 290 million tires that are thrown away each year.

The amount of oil that we currently throw away is shocking...

The 1.2 gallons of oil inside each tire, when recovered, could provide the U.S. with an extra 348 million gallons of oil. With oil prices sitting at $44.30 per barrel, that's an extra $367 million in thrown-away oil.

The company currently has a worth of just $88 million. If it's able to extract oil from just one-half of the tires that are thrown away each year and book the oil profits, it would be set to return you 209%.

Time recently named this company one of the Best Inventions of the Year in the environmental category for its technology of recovering previously lost oil

Its oil extraction technology works on a microwave-like frequency that gasifies the 'hard to extract' oil, collects it and later turns it back into oil.

The public is just starting to catch on. Within four months of its initial stock offering, the stock shot up 358%. According to my numbers, it's got a lot further to go...

And it doesn't just focus on tires. Its microwave extraction is now being used to explore previously 'capped' oil wells, the well-known tar sands in Canada and the oil shale deposits that holds the potential to produce 2 trillion barrels of previously untapped oil.

Like Byron's tiny energy companies, this company trades for under $10 per share, allowing you to load up without having to dip into your retirement savings.

I've asked Byron to write up all of his findings in a report, titled This Under $3 Stock Turns Old Tires Back Into Oil . This report is also FREE with your subscription to Energy & Scarcity Investor.

Before you decide to join Energy & Scarcity Investor, let me quickly tell you a little more about the service...

Byron has more contacts in the natural resource and energy field than I've ever seen. A while back, he discussed the topic of Peak Oil with T. Boone Pickens, the famous oil investor that Forbes named as the 131st richest person in America...

Before that, he had lunch with the U.S. Navy's admiral in charge of nuclear reactors, and they talked about the future of nuclear power. He's met and talked with the geologist who discovered the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska and spent a few days touring the facility with one of the senior geophysicists for British Petroleum.

He's even been asked to provide advice on national energy policy by the U.S. Department of Defense

He's been a part of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for over 30 years, and he's a former member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. In the past 12 months alone, he's traveled over 36,000 miles to uncover hidden natural resource opportunities for his readers.

And during his travels, he personally met all five of the principal players in the five "China lake Energy" companies I told you about earlier.

Each month, he'll use his contacts in the industry to bring you new ways to potentially profit from the natural resource and energy field that you won't hear about in the mainstream news.

He'll tell you which companies have the technology to power the future, he'll tell you who's discovered the newest oil extraction techniques, and he'll deliver to you the secrets behind the latest energy discoveries. All of his recommendations will be simple to carry out through one five-minute call with your broker, if you choose to get in.

So how much does it cost to get started? Well, since we need to keep the number of subscribers small, I can tell you that the price isn't cheap.

But before I tell you the exact amount, let me let give you the details on another opportunity that Byron alerted me about...

Over 217 million ounces of silver have been mined at Keno Hill over the years — making the district the second-largest silver producer in Canada. At current silver prices, that amounts to just over $2.3 billion worth of silver. Now the Canadian government is willing to give away any silver left in the mines... allowing you your chance to get in on a piece of the handouts

How is this possible?

In the 1980s, metal prices fell, forcing the existing Keno Hill mining companies into bankruptcy. They eventually closed the mines in 1989. With silver prices low, it was simply too expensive to get the silver out of the ground. So the mining companies closed up shop and left town.

For years, the property lay abandoned, even though tons of silver might still lie underneath. The mines soon became an environmental hazard and major liability to the Canadian government.

That's why on April 18, 2006, the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory of Canada signed a $50 million deal with a small environmental company to clean up the mines. To sweeten the deal, the government agreed to let the company keep all of the silver left in the mines.

The deal was a win-win for both parties. The government got rid of the environmental liability of the mines and the small environmental company generated cash flow through the cleanup process with a 100% upside of collecting the free silver it's able to mine. The trick to the success is that this tiny environmental company is a cleanup and exploration/mining company combined.

An official Canadian government document reveals that just one site in the Keno Hill region is packed with 17.6 million ounces of silver.

Even if 20 million ounces is all it finds — which I personally doubt, considering the area has already produced 217 million ounces — that could mean a safe 593% rise in its stock price. And that doesn't count the cash flow that the Canadian government is sending its way to clean up the mines...

If you're interested, you can start loading up on shares of this company for just $1.00 per share.

Byron has spent the past two and a half months researching the situation, meeting and talking with company officials and writing up his findings in a special report called The 'Keno Hill Penny Stock' Secret to Collecting Free Silver From the Canadian Government.

As part of your subscription to Energy & Scarcity Investor, I'll also send you this report FREE of charge. But let's get back to the task at hand: 'China Lake Energy.' I want to send you our free report The Five 'China Lake Energy' Companies That Could Make You $253,434.

I'm confident that using the 'MI Investing Advantage' to get in early on the Navy's energy discovery could make you $20,000, $75,000, heck, even $253,434 over the next year.

The technology could significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil some day — and that makes it the most exciting moneymaking opportunity in the world right now. You could get in before your neighbors, friends or even you stock broker know about it. Imagine the gains you could make by getting in before everyone else...

And I'm going to help you by giving you an incredible offer...

Based on the profit potential of 'China Lake Energy,' I could easily charge you $5,000 a year for a subscription to Energy & Scarcity Investor. Even if one of the named companies hits it big, you'd have a chance to make your $5,000 subscription cost back many times over.

But since this a special offer, I'm not going to charge you $5,000...

I'd like to sign you up for 12 months of Energy & Scarcity Investor for just $1,495. But I can't allow this offer to last forever...

I'm going to allow only 2,500 copies to be published. Since these opportunities are small, Byron told me that he can't afford to recommend them to more than 2,500 people. And frankly, I don't want to screw up my first big project on the job...

As I write, over 44% of these reports have already been spoken for, so it is imperative that you act quickly.

I'll also throw in the other two reports I just told you about, The 'Keno Hill Penny Stock' Secret to Collecting Free Silver From the Canadian Government and This Under $3 Stock Turns Old Tires Back Into Oil.

And as a subscriber to Energy & Scarcity Investor, around the second week of the month, Byron will deliver an in-depth monthly issue on what he believes to be the best opportunity to in the energy arena straight to your e-mail box. You'll receive a total of 12 of these ideas a year.

Since the opportunities will be small (most will trade for under $10 per share) and could explode within days of his recommendations, you should be set to read them immediately, consider your financial situation and choose whether and how to act on the recommendations.

If you’re not a subscriber already, I’ll give you a FREE subscription to The Daily Reckoning — a contrarian market e-letter by New York Times best-selling author, Bill Bonner. On top of that, you'll get elite access to the Agora Financial Executive Series. The Executive Series is a members-only dispatch of two profit-laden e-letters, Agora Financial's Executive Reports and the 5 Min. Forecast. These e-letters will alert you to specific investment research and recommendations from across the entire world of investment opportunities that Agora Financial covers.

Is a subscription to Energy & Scarcity Investor worth it? I think so — but that's up to you to decide. So here's what I suggest you do...