FreedomFest

My Private Meeting at Donald Trump’s Retreat

Last week, I spent some time one-on-one with Glenn Beck at a private meeting at Donald Trump’s Florida retreat, Mar de Lago. My friend Dan Mangru invited a group of friends to meet Beck and talk about his new non-profit organization, Mercury One.

Glenn still is doing well with his nationwide radio program and his new for-pay television show. He wears glasses all the time now, due to his suffering from macular dystrophy, but his wife told me that his condition has stabilized for now.

What’s Glenn’s outlook for the economy? He remains quite pessimistic, much more than I am at the moment (as subscribers know we are fully invested and beating the market).

His greatest fear is big government. “I’d be fearful of any government that can give out tickets to kids who start a lemonade stand,” he said. He believes that the current debt crisis is leading us to a new kind of French revolution, resulting in a monstrous government where everything either is prohibited, mandated or regulated. “We are close to losing our freedom of speech in America,” he told us.

Glenn Beck Supports FreedomFest

In our private meeting, he expressed strong support for FreedomFest, which is scheduled for July 11-14, in Las Vegas. His torrid schedule has kept him from attending in the past. He hopes to make it this year, and will let me know soon. We will have a major announcement if he comes. We can confirm some pretty big names among our list of speakers: Steve Forbes, John Mackey (CEO, Whole Foods Market), Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, Steve Moore, Yaron Brook, Charles Murray and Floyd Brown, among many others. Plus, our top-notch, three-day investment seminar there will feature Rick Rule, Alex Green, Doug Casey, Jeff Berwick, Frank Trotter, Lenore Hawkins, Frank Holmes, Van Simmons, Martin Truax, Dan Mangru, David McAlvany and Bob Prechter, among others.

FreedomFest, the world’s largest gathering of free minds, is expected to draw more than 2,500 people due to 2012 being an election year. Steve Forbes and John Mackey are co-ambassadors and attend all three days. Come join us!

Note! The early bird special ends TODAY, so call NOW to register and save $100 per person/$200 per couple. Call Tami Holland at 1-866/266-5101 or go to the FreedomFest website.

Be sure to read my feature “You Blew It!” I’ll plan to have a new one for you every week. The purpose is to point out a bad decision, a foolish action or an ill-fated statement by a public official, business leader or investment guru. I have used the phrase within my family for years and they once printed t-shirts for a reunion with those exact words on each one. They learned to take my constructive criticism with a sense of humor and I hope you do, too. My intent is not to ridicule anyone but to point out a mistake that could be corrected, much as advice from a trainer or a coach can turn a faltering athlete into a world champion.

THE RED LIGHT TICKET SCAM“More and more everything is prohibited, mandated, or regulated.”Last week, I was informed that I ran two red lights in Yonkers, New York, and was fined $50 for each alleged infraction. No policeman stopped me; I was the victim of the automatic “red light” ticket scam that cities across the country are setting up.

I talked to several of my friends who drive in Yonkers and discovered and everybody is getting these automatic tickets and paying them without complaint.

It’s highly popular in towns desperate for money and they get away with it by not imposing any points on individual drivers, since in many cases, they only take a picture of the license plate and not the driver, and it’s not reported to your insurance company.

Fortunately, enough citizens are starting to complain, and major cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Houston have shut down their photo ticketing programs because of public outcry and abuses.

Other communities are using speed cameras to ticket motorists in the same way. Questions have arisen about the accuracy of the technology that is used to generate the tickets that are arriving in the mailboxes of motorists.

Read More about it here.

UPCOMING APPEARANCES

Investment U “Bullet Proof Your Portfolio” Conference, March 21-24, Grand Del Mar Resort, San Diego, California: http://oxfordclub.com/oxf-research/Events/IUConf2012.html, or call Agora Opportunity Travel at 1-800/926-6575.

Las Vegas Money Show, May 14-17, Caesar’s Palace: To register, call 1-800/970-4355 and mention priority code 026653 or click here.

FreedomFest, “The World’s Largest Gathering of Free Minds,” July 11-14, Bally’s/Paris Resort, Las Vegas: To register, call 1-866/266-5101 or go to www.freedomfest.com. The early bird special to register ends March 15, so you’ll want to act quickly.

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Home Run Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/