Not that many old principles don't apply. Or that you can't make money in things investors have been making fortunes in for the last century.

But timeframes, valuations, and information sources are new. Sure, you could invest the way your father or my father did (or even I did just a few years ago): Pick shares of good bluechip companies... tuck them away for years... buy annuities... insurance...

...and you could still probably get good, solid returns. If you were very, very careful. And willing to wait a very long time.

But that's not where the real "investing" is today. Because today's investors are more demanding. They want 20%, 30%, 50% gains-- and they want them now. (In fact, a young investor I talked to recently called gains of 20% "conservative"! Where I grew up, capital gains of 10% per annum were considered pretty darn good!)

The shrewd investor today has the opportunity to build wealth faster than ever before in history. Why? Because never before has the pace of progress been so fast, and the access to information so available to the average investor.

Just look at multi-billionaire Masayoshi Son. He invests like a maniac. But it's paying off well for him. In just a few years he's gone from less than a billion dollars in wealth to holdings totaling some US$15.8 billion. (I'll tell you more about him later.)

You see, just a few short years ago an investor was well-informed if he read the mainstream financial publications (like Barron's and The Wall Street Journal), subscribed to a couple of newsletters, and regularly checked with his broker for tips, ideas, and strategies.

No more.

Information that's a week or a month old may be completely useless now. Investors need to be wired in to sources that are completely up-to-the-minute.

Or take P/Es. In the "old world," you had to stick to "reasonable" price-earnings ratios, maybe in the range of 10 to 20. Now, I'm not saying you should buy high P/E stocks, but sometimes a high P/E may be justified. Take the "portal" companies that are staking out huge areas of turf on the Internet. Valuations may be high, but there's no doubt that they're becoming the leaders in a field that's going to grow, and grow, and grow, and grow...

Or take timeframes. Information is so readily available -- and the markets are so sophisticated -- that a company's potential is almost instantly factored into the share price.

So you don't have years to buy a good investment. Often, you don't even have months. Or even weeks.

These days, investors are sitting around on piles of cash, pouncing on the good deals. That's why stocks go up so far so fast these days. And to be successful, you need to be ready to act fast also.

(And I'm not talking about day trading. That's a game for professionals only.)

I'm talking about being prepared to make your decisions in a matter of days, and keeping an eye on your investments.

And that means having a powerful source of information. Information that's researched by a team of professionals. With a network that extends around the globe. London, Paris, the Philippines, Israel, Latin America, China... just about anywhere in the world you might imagine a profit opportunity could arise.

In fact, never before in history has it been easier to take advantage of global opportunity. The fall of communism, the opening of global markets to free trade, competition and commerce, the explosive growth and speed of electronic communications technology... all have condensed time and space when it comes to reaping a profit in the world's stock markets.

Our philosophy is that to make the most of this opportunity, you must fully take charge of your investments... free yourself from the sway of the disinformation of the mass media and Wall Street insiders who pump their own interests... navigate the short-term trends of the market and economy... take advantage of the rapid share price movements of today... and evade the wealth-sucking schemes of power-hungry bureaucrats, brokers, and all the crooks of the world.

They began in the 1800s, when the booming European demand for tea created a vast sellers' market for China. But the Chinese would only accept payment in silver.

To obtain silver to pay for tea, many Taipans were involved in running opium from India into China, where they sold it for silver. Then the silver was used to pay the Chinese tea producers, and then the tea was shipped to Europe for huge profits.

Eventually, the Taipans took control of Hong Kong, and many of the families that built fortunes there still have their names on the biggest blue-chips of the Hong Kong market.

The Taipans were independent spirits, with a relentless appetite for profits and new conquests. Of course, history has a number of examples of equally successful entrepreneurs: The East India company, the early traders to North America, the oil wildcatters of the early 1900s, and recently the computer and technology pioneers.

But now, at the dawn of the 21st century, it's time to re-examine the rules. Thanks to the sophistication of world-wide trading and electronic markets, the armchair investor can be just as aggressive as a captain carrying opium to China, tea to Europe, or Bill Gates writing code for the first MS-DOS operating systems.

And now, just in case you aren't really excited about the prospects for building wealth in the next few years, let me give you a glimpse of something that staggers the imagination. Please read on...