| Dear Friend, I have two very important SIC announcements to make today. First, I’ll start with a matter of some urgency. Registration for SIC 2019 closes at midnight on Saturday, March 16 That’s just three days from now. There are only 41 seats left before the conference is officially sold out. And we may have to close registration even sooner if the remaining seats are sold before the March 16 deadline. If you’ve been thinking about attending, register now before the very last seats are gone. I recorded a short video to give you a feel for some of the many benefits you’ll enjoy when you attend SIC. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it right here. It’s less than 90 seconds, so I don’t think you’ll find it too long to sit through. My second announcement is one I’m very excited about. Kyle Bass, founder and chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management, has just confirmed he will speak at SIC 2019. Kyle is one of the most respected men in the hedge fund world. And I’m happy to say, he’s also a good friend of mine. He’s widely known for his talent zeroing in on global event-driven opportunities—like his successful calls on the subprime credit crisis, the pharmaceutical industry, and Asia. He’s testified as an expert witness before the US House of Representatives, US Senate, and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Hearing what he has to say is a true privilege. I could go on, but suffice it to say, Kyle’s qualifications make him uniquely suited to sit on our just-finalized China panel at SIC 2019. Which takes me to something extra I’d like to share with you today… Our Newest SIC Panel: How Much of a Danger Is China’s Economy? One of the key problems with China is that it's not especially transparent. Not only are the official statistics often padded, we also know the government creates artificial demand while state-owned banks extend loans or tighten the purse strings at the government’s behest. At SIC 2019, some of the world’s foremost authorities on China, trade, and geopolitics will share their insights with you as they pierce China’s murky exterior and get to the real tensions, pain points, and issues. After all, many aspects of China's growth are very real despite government obfuscations. It has a robust export economy, a large manufacturing base, and little regulation. It also has a large population that's rapidly evolving into a large consumer base. The problem is trying to figure out what kind of risk the central government is really taking. How much growth is genuine? How much has been faked? What happens in China affects us all, so to cut through the noise, we have five distinguished guests with deep knowledge of the nation. Kyle Bass I’ve mentioned already, of course. Before the age of 35, Kyle founded Hayman Capital Management. A full-cycle contrarian who successfully predicted and bet against the US subprime mortgage crisis and who’s made prominent bets on Japan, European sovereign debt, and China is someone I want on my China panel. Felix Zulauf is president of Zulauf Asset Management and has been a member of the Barron’s Roundtable for over 20 years. As an international investment manager, he’s keenly focused on events in the world’s second-largest economy. That includes the dangers and opportunities from China’s financial system as loan activity sputters. Felix is joined by Louis Gave, the co-founder and CEO of Gavekal Research. Louis specializes in uncovering game-changing policy shifts and massive social changes underway in China and the world. Most in the West don’t appreciate this, but China is investing at least as much in artificial intelligence, robotics, and Big Data as the West. Leland Miller is a leading authority on China's economy and financial system. He helps chief investment officers and corporate boards mitigate long-term risks using his China Beige Book's™ proprietary forecasting platform. He’s exactly the guy you want to explain how China will meet its challenges in substantially different ways than we see in the West. And Simon Hunt is the author of Frontline China, an advisory that focuses on the country’s political, economic, and financial outlook. He visits the country for two to four months every year and is perfectly positioned to give us a “boots on the ground” assessment of what’s really happening. It was a real coup to get these five wickedly brilliant individuals to come to the SIC. If you want expert insight into the social changes happening in China, and what they mean for us, this is a “can’t miss” event. That’s all for now, but I’ll remind you once more that the SIC is almost sold out. If you want to be part of the SIC experience, you’ve got to act quickly to get one of the last 41 seats. You really don’t want to miss people getting together, talking about ideas, sharing opportunities, and making great things happen. This may be the most important year yet to join me at the SIC. I hope you do. Please go here right now to get one of the last remaining seats before they’re gone. Your excited for an intellectually thrilling three days in Dallas analyst,
John Mauldin
Chairman, Mauldin Economics
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