The DealFlow team was in Punta Mita Mexico recently looking at real estate investment. Punta Mita is a gated community on the spectacular Riviera Nayarit, a length of Pacific Ocean coastline that must be seen.

From Tracy’s surfing lesson with “El Tigre” on the Sayulita beach to learning about the different grades of tequila, we both pursed our respective down time interests. Oh and we met some pretty interesting people along the way!

We stayed on the coast in a Four Seasons Resort private villa. Not the normal DealFlow on the road accommodation, it had five large bedroom suites and all the amenities of a large house plus an infinity pool overlooking the coastline. The sunset over the Pacific was, well....look at the picture.

It wasn’t all play but Tracy did see a tennis court and we had to stop. Not fully outfitted, she still took on the club pro!

We were soon back to work interviewing and fact finding, between meals and sunset champagne ceremonies at the St. Regis Resort. Every day at sundown the Krug flows for their fortunate guests.

Mexico is a beautiful place with warm friendly people. And here’s a tip from Emma of Punta Mita Properties who helped with arrangements, translation and was our friend (and sometimes songstress) for the week. The burritos at the street vendor’s in Sayulita are the best I have ever had!

Congratulations. If you read our weekly WaterCooler Confessions, today you will get a real holiday present: how to secure the information to really need to make money in the junior exploration and mining industry. As you know, unless someone is listening, no one is buying.

Every day I listen to people who invest and make money. And yes, there are tricks of the trade, for instance if I get Graeme Irvine of the London Irvine Report (www.londonirvinereport.com) to take an interest in a good company, chances are we can increase the positive response from Michael Berry, PhD (www.discoveryinvesting.com) in NYC to review a story. And so on and so forth and so the domino pile up of active interest rises, as we work with the client towards achieving effective market valuation.

It does not matter if we have the best story in the world, if no one is listening. So for those of you sitting on a great story with the naiveté that people will just find you because you are the best – good luck celebrating the holidays trading at a deep discount. There is no static anything in this universe and the newsletter writers are only 1 variable of many that should be considered in a good IR program. But here are Tracy’s Top 10 Newsletters Writers in the Exploration and Mining Industry for 2009. Clearly I welcome debate and for those of you I did not include, we are always watching as nothing stays the same in this industry. Again, my feelings are a small part of this analysis as there are some writers I adore who are not included like Victor Gonzalez of the WCMS Newsletter (www.wcmsnewsletter.ca) who is rising through the ranks.

Congratulations to my Top 10 as I perceive these newsletters and writers to have the most substantial and influential investment audience in the existing market with the end equation being investors not only listening, but buying.

10.  Mickey Fulp, The Mercenary Geologist (www.mercenarygeologist.com) -- Singlehandedly responsible for making Pro-edge Consultants (www.pro-edge.com) more money than any of the next 9 writers, he is only listed 10th because we perceive his primary readership to be hard core industry insiders. As his audience expands, so will his rankings. There is no denying he knows his geology, but I have never embraced the name of his newsletter and when he postulates on his life he drives me to drinking...

9. Jay Taylor, Mining Stocks (www.miningstock.com): Jay’s audience for speaking engagements continues to rise and so anytime we can secure Jay’s ear for anything – we rise to attention. Jay can write, hence his audience following. But I used to like Jay better, as his hard core sales team and entourage make it impossible to reach him now, and none of us like to leave a dozen messages to ‘get lucky’ and speak with level 3 and then have them explain that they own an IR firm on the side. While I appreciate that Jay’s empire needs to make money, he was more fun when he acted bohemian.

8. Brent Cook, Exploration Insights (www.explorationinsights.com) – Jay gets trounced by Brent because even though Brent’s subscriber dbase would undeniably be smaller: they are smart. Brent attracts real industry players that have significant capital and a real understanding of the industry. If you have made $10M plus in this industry, you not only know Brent – you trust him. If Brent places his name and reputation on a property, it means that the stock has a good chance of responding positively, growing upward at a clip that doesn’t make the investor seasick and for the record, the rest of the newsletter writers DO follow him. Rarely do I hear “Brent was wrong”. So for anyone who really wants to really learn, and can hold stock more than 2 weeks – reading Brent regularly is a win-win.

7. Peter Grandich, The Grandich Report (http://grandich.agoracom.com) - I liked Peter better when he wasn’t writing for Agoracom, but Agoracom has online infrastructure that offered greater distribution for his readers. Sharp, insightful and well respected by the brokers, Grandich offers an ability to cover a story and ‘stir the pond’. No one dislikes Peter and his respect is far reaching in the industry.

6. John Kaiser, Bottom Fish Report (www.kaiserbottomfish.com) – Now here is a man that I would enjoy seeing his bottom-line stats of winners he has selected. If you want a company and a story that is good that no one has ever heard about, John is the man. If it’s a penny stock that begs to be discovered, this is the main place to start. Thorough, articulate, understated and dangerously on target with his picks, he is a star in our industry.

5. Gene Arensberg, Got Gold Report (www.goldnewsletter.com) – He is simply my favourite writer on the circuit because I like him the best. His use of more in-depth market reports that include charts I understand to back up his data allows me to follow him with confidence and ease. He writes for Gold Newsletter, which is edited and published by Brien Lundin’s Jefferson companies, which host the New Orleans Investment Conferences.

4. Thom Calandra, TickerTrax (www.tickertrax.com) - Watch out for Thom, he knows how to make people believe. Anyone recalling his previous nearly 2 million readers in mainstream America a few years back, he built an audience of readers that would cling to his every word. While some industry purists chide his more emotive style – um, this is exactly why they should watch out for Thom. Thom has the strength of character that will inevitably shock his competitors by how fast his following will rise as people discover that this previously retired journalist has returned to the fold. My money is on Thom, but because he is not securing the impact that the next 3 does, he takes position 4 in 2009. Anticipate a rise in ranking in the next year.

3. Agora Financial (www.agorafinancial.com) – I do NOT like this newsletter on any level, never have. You have piles of day traders clinging tenaciously to the data that they shove out. Very ‘hype’ written text, if you want to get whiplash: this is a perfect source. Perhaps I am jealous or too snotty to be able to subscribe to a site that advertises how you could’ve made $1M off of $5,000 in the last 5 years. Yes, hindsight is 20-20 and I could’ve been happier without husband #1...no one can argue with results though. So because our investors tout Agora, swear by it – this may singlehandedly be the best source for being able to pick, recommend and move small caps in our business.

2. Jim Dines, Dines Newsletter (www.dinesletter.com) – Ah, Mr. Dines as anyone close addresses him; you singlehandedly created an entire rare metal market this year. Kudos! We all made money directly and indirectly from you! We know, that if you recommend a company, the stock moves north...and you may singlehandedly have the most faithful audience...but alas...I need to be medicated for your writing to make sense.

1. Doug Casey, The Casey Report (www.caseyresearch.com) - Congratulations Doug, you are by far the most revered newsletter writer in our industry. There are more people in a year in our industry that quote you, tout you and believe that you are the leader in selecting junior exploration and mining industry plays. Securing your interest by a junior company equals success! We would also like to commend Louis James who is the editor of your Casey’s International Speculator as he may arguable deserve his own position. The bottom-line is that investors stop, drop and buy from the Casey recommendations: so if you can only buy one subscription in 2010, The Casey Report is it.

Congratulations Doug Casey and Louis James of the Casey Research team, you win Tracy’s Top 10 Newsletter Writers for the Junior Exploration and Mining Industry for 2009.

Having just lost $50 on a bet, I believed that the Tiger Woods dream team would have wrapped up the damage control on his sexual addiction and had him well on his way for recovery and sipping tea by the end of the week with Billy Graham by his side. In fact, I was betting that Nike would roll in their international marketing and PR machine and had paid off every alleged whim from his self gratification tour by young lady #7...

Already pushing #9 and moving steady, I have lost count of the multitudes of email jokes that have been hitting my inbox since last week. Personally, Fred’s commentary on how the real issue here is why was Tiger driving a Cadillac instead of a Buick and why did his air bag not save him from the damage to his face shows clearly how this story managed to capture all age categories...

Why does everyone care? To me, the answer is cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most powerful psychological contradictions and affects all of our lives. For instance, Tiger is such a GOOD person that finding out that he is “immoral” (just throwing this out for example reasons) creates a strong contradictory element in the audience’s mind, which is why people are so interested in this. No one can remedy the clean boy image of Tiger with the dirty boy reality unless they worked in the music business where this is the daily grind. In fact, in the music biz many bad boy artists are actually Disney film watching home bodies with several sets of slippers...

What is this cognitive dissonance? A feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time, clearly no one can figure out how Tiger managed to portray such a good guy image when he was so "available". Dissonance increases with: 1) the importance of the subject to us (everyone knows Tiger) 2) How strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict (reflected in the media as the epitomized perfect husband, father and good guy, so how does a porn star fit into this equation?) and 3) Our inability to rationalize and explain away the conflict (we could rationalize 1, 2 or maybe even 4…but 9???)

All joking aside, having been on the road more than many; I have witnessed how people behave...this clearly does not make me raise an eyebrow but it certainly makes me think I should contact Gloria Allreid immediately and start dropping names...

Tracy requested that I put up this confidential e-mail that Fred sent our team as a joke last week claiming to be his weekly contribution to the content of the “WaterCooler Confessions” while he is out of town. You see, we all participate in a weekly newsletter titled “WaterCooler Confessions” (subscribe, click here) and we have a ‘She Said’, ‘He Said’ and a ‘Director’s Cut’. I write a small summary at the bottom with the usual theme of ‘what the heck’...

I guess she hasn’t seen Fred in a couple of weeks due to travel, and feeling that Fred’s reputation as a writer was being perceived as “dry”; this is our effort to share how Fred is actually darn amusing when he wants to be. This was sent around the office 2 weeks ago, when Tracy had some sad news and he was trying to make her laugh. He will probably kill us when he discovers that we have posted this...or as Tracy commented, maybe he will start writing again... 

Fred's take on the balloon incident (disclaimer: a sarcastic amusing parody only meant for entertainment):

"I have to confess that the idea of making a large balloon out of plastic tarpaulins and aluminum foil has been on my mind. The publicity garnered by the family in Colorado with the contraption held together with spit and duct tape not only captured international media attention but will probably help the reality TV careers of each and every member of this now famous family. I have media envy. 

So here's the plan I will shop at Canadian Tire for the various construction materials. We might as well make this truly Canadian eh? The thing I always thought of as a basket that I now know is the Control Box can be made of plywood and cardboard - people will buy that. The trick is getting Tracy out of public view long enough to convince the CBC that she is in the thing.

Oh, and the launch will be quiet but from the CN Tower, of course.

Now Tracy is very trim and has been taking flying lessons. This is the key thread of plausibility here so pay close attention. I will tell the CBC, probably through one of the Dragon's Den people, that Tracy is up in the "Space Balloon" on a test flight and appears to have lost control.

See how this is going and so believable? Tracy's desperate plight will catch first Mississauga and then parts of Toronto by storm. CBC in Sudbury will pick up the story if the wind is right too!

Bottom line when all is said and done and the debris has been recovered, Tracy will "reappear" wearing something fabulous and safe. We will not make the mistake of leaving the balloon intact and Tracy will have a great story to tell the Toronto Star and CP24 when they come begging for interviews.

Tracy, just kidding about this being my contribution......smile. Happy Sunday All!"

Raving about Brien Lundin’s 2009 New Orleans Investment Conference in this week’s WaterCooler Confessions (www.ir-blog.com) I described this event as one where you can literally stretch your arms out and touch wall-to-wall intellectual star power. I highlighted Thom Calandra, Rick Rule, Brien Lundin, Gene Arensberg, Doug Casey, former Governor Howard Dean and former White House strategist Karl Rove in this edition, but I guess I missed a few as one reader wrote me -- “What about the real star power that spoke: Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, Karl Rove, Howard Dean, Rick Santelli, Charles Krauthammer, Peter Schiff, Frank Holmes, Wayne Root, etc, etc?” (eye roll)

With this said, one of my favorites moments was with a couple that had been married a ‘few’ times before. Apparently they had been high school sweethearts and 30-years later when they had a chance to reconnect had committed to never letting each other go. Both respectively hot for their ages; they were radiating happiness over their upcoming engagement and were a genuine pleasure to be around.

As an aside, how many people are so darn miserable or all business like? Personally, I prefer doing business with people that are fun and exude energy, life and happiness! These people are waking up in the morning happy to be alive and well, what better way to do this then with someone you love.

What can I say, I am a romantic; but equally as important, I am and have been seeking more information on what I refer to as the “X,Y,Z Factor” – what really makes us happy. I threw in this Jim Morrison quote in this week’s WaterCooler Confessions for a reason – “I think the highest and lowest points are the important ones. Anything else is just...in between. "

Let me explain…

This last Friday one of my closest friends whose battle with cancer has left her exhausted was desperately trying to understand why she was still single and simultaneously I was dealing with the sadness of my son’s loneliness relating to his Asperger’s; I considered flying home, but as a single parent, reminded myself that I was there to work…
 
But it was a conversation with an investor that same day attending this event that showed how the power of a single moment can change your life. How a tidal wave of negative energy may be met by positive. How many times have you experienced your worse moment and greatest moment the same day? This was one of those days... 

Having been working on a book that a friend of mine Mike Lipkin wrote called One Meeting, One Life; I have recently been considering the impact that we have on others in every conversation. A local physician who likes to invest he overheard my discussion on my “X,Y,Z Principle”, a book idea I have been thinking about for this last year when he joined this conversation. He was looking around the exhibition hall, killing time before the infamous Casey, Dean and Rove debate on medicare/health care reform. Realizing his watch had stopped for no apparent reason (later he told me he had just had it fixed and had picked it up the day before) I gave him a card.

The X,Y, Z Principle, or Factor or whatever I call it when I actually get this all into text is in my mind the secret to happiness. I have written about this before. X is what we want in a partner, Y is what we are will to give and Z is everything in between from job happiness to our overall life objectives -- what we want to give to the universe. I came up with this idea a year and half ago after our DealFlow Rekyvik episode. For no practical reason I went to Iceland a happy person and returned realizing I wanted more and in fact, I wanted a family, a partner – someone to share my life with.

I started with the existing boyfriend. Needless to say the relationship dissolved months later as we respectfully came to the realization that we wanted different things. So I dated for awhile when I ran into an ex. Please understand that I believe one should never ever date an ex, and let’s just leave it at that other than to say that he has agreed to give me positive references and I the same (smile) for future life partners. I hired a coach to force me to make a list of what I was really looking for, and equally important; what I was willing to give.

24 hours later I had agreed to meet this investor after he had promised to rescue me from an evening of business and take me to see the band Truth & Salvage at the House of Blues. Music lovers, surfing enthusiasts and seemingly seeking the same thing out of life; my home was filled with the fragrance of a dozen long stem roses yesterday…and a promise to surf in the future. So what was the worst day, also has become the greatest day and let’s just leave it at that…;-)

While in North America there is a sceptical view by many of the potential for widespread use of electric cars, in parts of the world where gasoline is expensive plans are moving ahead. Through our DealFlow television series (www.dealflowtv.com) we have seen plans for adoption of electric cars and infrastructure investment in both Denmark and Israel for launch in 2011. Ireland has also developed a programme all of which should mean a respectable market for Renault Nissan as well as other manufacturers.

This week, the government of France announced a 1.5 billion euro investment to bring 2 million electric and hybrid cars to market in that country by 2020. This will include infrastructure and incentives to both manufacturers and buyers of clean vehicles. Renault Nissan will certainly be a beneficiary as its battery plant near Fins has been specifically mentioned in the news coverage.

For the AFP article dated October 1, 2009, please click here.

Right now everything in my life works. I do not have a blouse without a button, a shoe without a heel or a broken gadget in my home. Suitcases cleaned out and ready to go, home clean from top to bottom; if you really want to feel free, then get rid of controllable problems has always been a formula I subscribe to. I do not understand the whiners on our planet or people that claim to suffer from issues which are so easily corrected by simply having them get out of bed early for a week or two.

My best friend was in the hospital again yesterday and frankly I went to bed worried and upset. He has real problems and they go a lot deeper than issues related to money or relationships - he has health issues. Caught in a gravel crusher in a mining accident over two decades ago now, he is the symbol of how in one instance your life can change forever. His coveralls were caught in the machine and he was pulled in - arm torn off, 14 bones broken, head cracked open and half a lung crushed. Met him when he was the music director of a rock radio station called "the Bear" in Edmonton and he is my inspiration by the way he lives.he never, ever complains - plus we like the same music.

On my way to London yesterday, I was trying to read a friend's book about how to build joy in life through one conversation at a time. His life changed after experiencing a controversial electric shock treatment in the early 90's and now, speaking in over 4 dozen countries around the world - after that one instance, his life was never to be the same. While many of us may not have that "one moment in time", we undoubtedly have a collection that has brought us to where we are now. Today I am in London and am heading to an infamous racquetball re-match at 4 PM between the guy I wrote about that professed to killing a black mambo with a sword and a Bay St. investor that is here at the World Nuclear Association conference...I am pitching DealFlow to advertising agencies...