Meanwhile, commerce conducted over the Internet has boomed -- and is expected to continue to grow exponentially. IDC estimates that the percentage of people buying goods and services on the Internet will increase from approximately 28% at the end of 1998 to approximately 40% in 2002. And that over the same period of time, the total value of goods and services purchased over the Internet will increase from approximately US$32.4 billion to approximately US$425.7 billion.

Imagine, just for a moment, getting in on IPOs like Yahoo! at US$13 in 1996. Or buying Lycos at US$16, Excite at US$17, or Infoseek at US$12. Even if you bought in the aftermarket at a slightly higher price, you would be doing pretty well today.

Now, a lot of people think that the steam has come off this sector since a lot of the over-hyped stocks have fallen. But we've never gone with the popular thinking. While most investors were betting the farm on Amazon, eBay (which we recommended during our November 1998 conference) and Netscape...and watching their money come and go with them...we were carefully picking solid performers that brought in all kinds of money.

At Taipan, we believe in the Internet. We believe in the value of the technology for communication -- which is why we've developed our state-of-the-art website. And we believe in the profits that can be made from Internet-related stocks. Let me give you examples of both of these...

Back in March of 1999, we told our readers to buy the Russian telecom giant PLD. Revenues had increased to US$145.4 million over 1997's US$114.4 million. Gross profit landed at US$100 million, and margins were 68.8%, compared to 1997's US$75.2 million and 65.7% margins.

That type of steady growth during Russia's devastating economic turmoil shows the resiliency of this company. Plus, the stock was moving on AT&T takeover rumors and a strong year-end report.

Well, when the stock gapped up, we posted a bulletin on our website to sell. No need to be greedy. For readers who logged on that day, the returns were spectacular.

PLD Telecom was a huge hit. It blew by our nine-month target for a solid 162% gain in less than one month!

Of course, even our readers who are not on-line did just fine. They sold on the signal in the April 1999 issue of Taipan, and still took profits of a tidy 100% gain.

What's more, we believe there'll be another opportunity on this one in the near future. The folks in Russia who can afford cutting-edge information services need them even more during economic catastrophe. This trend, coupled with the resurgence of emerging markets around the globe, allowed us to book a tremendous profit with scarce downside risk.

Taipan editor Chris DeHaemer is confident that PLD will present another buying opportunity soon. It's trading at less than book and at 2/3rds of sales. But you'll have to be a Taipan member to get the signal for when to get back into this one.

But it's not only sell signals. As a Taipan member, you have unlimited access to www.Taipanonline.com -- complete with IPO previews and updates compiled and re-evaluated by Taipan's resident IPO specialist Siu-Yee Ng multiple times a week.

Lots.

There's the biotech revolution. Brian Hicks, our Microcap guru, will tell you about that later.

There's the growth of worldwide commerce. These days you can start a business in Ireland or Thailand and be doing business worldwide in a matter of weeks.

There's technology. Face it, not just in the Internet sector... but communications... transportation... manufacturing... electronics... home appliances... things are changing and developing at an incredible pace.

And then there's the Internet. People talk about a bubble in Internet stocks. That may be -- in some. But maybe you'd like to consider what Masayoshi Son -- the man Forbes magazine calls "Master of the Internet" -- told Forbes recently.

"My philosophy is that the digital revolution will make mankind happier and more productive, and that won't change over the next 300 years."

(Forbes pegs his net worth at US$6.4 billion. Of course, they also say that his unrealized gains in his Internet investments are worth US$15.8 billion. The man must know something...)

Son is backing literally hundreds of Internet companies. One of his managers at a Silicon Valley Internet business incubator said, "We're drinking from a firehose. There are more good opportunities than we can pursue."

Plus, Son puts his money where his mouth is. He's got virtually all his billions invested in Internet-related companies.

Think he's a fool? I don't.

And let's not forget all the other opportunities out there... upswings in emerging markets, undervalued gems from around the world, fast-profit IPOs... zillions of opportunities, many capable of building wealth faster than anyone ever dreamed possible.

But beware -- while the possibilities are great for those who keep ahead of change, the gap between rich and poor will grow wider and wider in the next few years. The middle class is falling... struggling not to slip into the world of the poor. And the poor are getting poorer.

I think what you'll find is a world of investing and opportunity that you perhaps had no idea existed.

A world where we look forward to every new day as a fresh opportunity. A world where you have access to researchers across the globe... researchers who eat, sleep and breathe their jobs. Researchers who can't wait to hear about a new company... a new technology... or a new trend...

A world where you'll get information that makes the pap churned out by most services look like faded old volumes of boring texts. A world where information will be available to you day and night... whenever you need it... via our hotlines or our new mega-website.

A world where we know the key to prosperity and success is seeing ahead...ignoring naysayers and gloom-and-doom muckrakers. We know there's bad news to be dealt with...that's been the way of the world since the beginning of time.

Why should it be different now?

No, what we have control over is our attitude... and the determination we take into every day to make it new, fresh, and purposeful to our goals in life.

Perhaps that's why we have such a strong track record. After all, we built our philosophy on the Taipans of Asia -- fearless traders who let nothing stop them. Not wars... not weather... not failures... nothing. They persevered against all odds until they achieved their goals.

We're a long way from those days of clipper ships and Chinese junks. We live in a totally modern world -- wired to the max with technology and information. And -- just like the days of old -- reliable networks that let us know what's going on in the far corners of the world.

So take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and give the Taipan Group editors a moment to wrap up last year's business... and tell you exactly where they believe the markets and stocks they recommended are heading.

J. Christoph Amberger
Publisher, Taipan

P.S.: This year, we welcome Penny Stock Fortune's editor Adam Lass to our illustrious panel of experts. Also, Charles Wolpoff -- editor of Tax-Wise Money -- will be rounding out the emerging picture with insights from his position at the cutting edge of tax law and politics.