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Travel Diary: IIConference Vegas Recap, Thailand, Taiwan, Denver Resource Expo by John Lee, CFA 09/27/2007 Uneventful trips are good trips. Since September 9th, I have been on the road. I first went to Las Vegas for the IIConference (Sep 10, 11), after that I flew to Thailand and Taiwan for a short break, then went straight to Denver for the Denver Resource Expo. IIConference Vegas (Sep 10, 11) 
Last time I was in Vegas was 2 years ago; I arrived to the city on a Saturday. All major shows were sold out, from Celine Dion to Cirque du Soleil. The parties in Vegas are getting bigger and bolder, with many shows bordering a striptease and street banners that are for adults only. On the casino side, forget about $2 tables, at Mandalay Bay hotel, I could not even seem to find $10 black jack tables. The family venues have pretty much disappeared, I went to Circus Circus, and there was literally no one there. There was a 30 min wait at the taxi lines and you wonder who is affected by subprime. Indeed, it goes back to my saying - Paper money is ever growing, there is always a party somewhere. The conference was hosted at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, concurrent with a video gaming conference. Well, guess which conference people went to. The traffic at the conference reminded me of the 2001 flop at the Montreal event organized by Cambridge House - very slow indeed. On Monday, Goldmau hosted a reception atop the Mandalay Bay to which about 20 people showed up. By all accounts it was a successful event and I thank you all for coming. Thailand (Sep 13 - 17) I arrived in Bangkok at midnight on the 14th. The airport is HUGE, what you see below are half the service aisles.  I went to Pattaya, where I stayed on the beach by a quieter district. Things are slow in Pattaya; it is slow season until November. That was good as I got to enjoy some piece of mind? Not really. Within 1km block from my room, there were no fewer than 6 new condo developments, landmarked by 60+ storey development Northpoint: http://www.northpointpattaya.com/ I heard that on the other side of town, they are building a 100+ storey building.  Pattaya City Lights Prices are rising in Pattaya, from food to taxi rides. Food in Thailand is just delicious and reasonable; a big steamed SeaBass can still be had for $10. Pattaya is not alone in its building craze. Bangkok and other Southeast Asian metros are going bangbusters in building high-rises. Property prices have risen about 50-100% from the absolute low five years ago and are now moderating as we are seeing some people cashing out. Medium to long term however, demand for modern condos will only rise, and with loose global monetary policies, the value of paper money will only get thinner. Taiwan (Sep 17-19) I was in Taipei for only 3 days. Taiwan is my home country, and it's always good to be home. Unlike Thailand where landscape is going through massive transformation, Taipei is somewhat stagnant and lacking the vibrancy of Thailand. There was a typhoon so I didn't get to do much however; it was nice to be home.  Airport in Taiwan (Still figuring out how to use my new camera). Denver (Sep 20-22) Denver is a larger version of Calgary; things are well organized and flat. I always enjoy Denver, with the friendly people and clean streets. It was dry and to my surprise near 30°C. It was hot and although it was late September everyone was in T-shirt and shorts. Things in Denver are very slow, which can also be said about the Denver Expo. The conference was organized by Rich Radez, who also organizes the Chicago Conference in October. Denver is one of cities hit hard by subprime and I just think there isn't any dispensable dollars or interests to buy speculative investments. I could tell Rich was disappointed, that at least half of Denver was dead on a weekend, as he spent a lot of promo dollars. On a positive note, I met Bob Moriarty for the first time and appeared on the same panel discussion with him. Vancouver (Sep 23) Good to be back, sipping tea in my yard in Point Roberts, taking a small break before moving on!  Conclusion: It's good to go places and check things out. What I see in Asia is a moderating economy with pent-up demand building. In the US, markets are regional and I don't think it's fair to cast a doom and gloom picture on all of the US. Overall we captured about 30 leads, with a couple of interesting people which we will follow up on. The turnout in Denver and Vegas was as low as I could recall since the gold bull started in 2001! Such low turn out typically signals the bottom of a market, if we can call $700/oz the bottom, it will surely be interesting to see what the top is a year from now. Next I will be off to Chicago in October, I hope to see you there! John Lee, CFA UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS World Alternative Investment Summit, Montreal – Nov 5 - 7 Toronto Resource Investment Conference - Oct 21 – 22 Chicago Natural Resource Conference - Oct 5 – 6
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