| Dear Reader, Yesterday was another charged up day at the SIC, with every single speaker hitting it out of the park and holding the audience rapt. Day 3 began with Real Vision co-founders Grant Williams and Raoul Pal, who revealed that demographics will be the biggest driver of financial markets going forward. Why? A wave of the first Baby Boomers turn 70 this year, which will flood the market with billions’ worth of equities and bonds from retirement plans. Raoul then donned his Charlie Rose hat to conduct a fascinating interview with Corriente Advisors Chairman Mark Hart, who weighed in on everything from housing to deregulation to bitcoin to the marijuana market. Next up was perennial SIC favorite and Hoisington EVP Lacy Hunt. He warned that the Fed is tightening at a time when the best economic indictor is in a downturn, and that the decline in the monetary base taking place now is unprecedented. Bringing a sunnier outlook to the SIC, BCA Research’s Martin Barnes and ECRI Co-founder Lakshman Achuthan both said that there is no need to ring the alarm bells on a recession in the US for 2018, but that a global industrial downturn is on the longer-term horizon. Next on stage was the legendary Marc Faber, author of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report. He heralded the rise of the East and said he believes we are experiencing the end of Western hegemony in economics and politics. What should investors do? Avoid overvalued and underperforming US markets and look firmly to emerging markets, Marc said. The Boock Report author Peter Boockvar and Jefferies Chief Market Strategist David Zervos then shared their thoughts with the SIC crowd. Boockvar forecast that the Fed is going to stop inflating asset prices and that QE will give way to QT: Quantitative Tightening. Zervos also weighed in on the Fed, saying that we are moving to a higher real-rate economy. Afterwards, the Biotech Panel predictably blew minds. Bexion Pharmaceuticals CEO Dr. Ray Takigiku, Insilico Medicine CEO Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, and BioTime CEO Dr. Michael West discussed the far-reaching implications of aging populations for the economy and the latest discoveries in regenerative medicine and cancer treatment. Bringing attendees back down to earth was Mauldin Economics’ very own Jared Dillian, fresh from his stint DJ’ing at Tuesday’s evening reception. He was joined on stage by Marc Faber, Martin Barnes, and David Zervos for a special, high-powered money-making panel. Dillian said people are hugely underinvested in Europe, with Faber adding that European valuations are much lower than in the US. Regulation was also discussed, with Faber receiving a round of applause for a passionate soliloquy deriding laws and regulations. “It is your duty to fight the government every day,” he said. Day 3 wrapped up with a very special dinner and reception with author and Rational Optimist Matt Ridley. While it’s too late to be at the sold-out SIC with us, you can still be a fly on the wall with us here in Orlando. How You Can Access All the Content from the SIC 2017 With the SIC 2017 Virtual Pass, you’ll have a complete audio/visual record of all the presentations, speeches, and roundtables from the conference for you to download and listen to at your leisure. Simply put, the SIC 2017 Virtual Pass gives you the benefits of attending the year’s most exclusive investment conference, without any of the travel costs or headaches. Side note: every attendee I’ve been speaking with says it’s actually worth many more times the ticket price—with one telling me: “Every single session is so good that I say, ‘I already got my money’s worth, I can go home.’” But to thank you for reading our live blog, I’m pleased to invite you to pre-order your Virtual Pass today for just $350. That’s $100 less than the $450 the Virtual Pass will cost people who didn’t opt-in for a Live Blog Bundle… and a couple of thousand less than a conference ticket. I’m incredibly charged up by the insights and forecasts I’ve heard over the last couple of days. It is probably the most intellectually fired up conference I’ve ever attended. Order your Virtual Pass today, and when you listen in, I’m confident you’ll agree with me. Order my SIC 2017 Audio Pass now Thank you again for your support of the SIC. By reading and weighing in on our live blog, you’ve helped make it our most wonderful conference yet.
Remember, tune in to the live blog today beginning at 8:00 AM (EST) for highlights from the fourth and final day of the SIC 2017! Sincerely, Ed D'Agostino
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