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Today I’m not going to write about our country’s economic crisis; everyone else has done that. And I’m not going to reiterate my conviction that the worst of the bear market has passed, and that the future for many stocks will be very good from here. Savvy investors know that the best stocks will lead the way higher long before the man on the street loses his recently reinforced fear of investing.

Today is Columbus Day, the day we honor the man with the courage to venture into the unknown, to do something different. As Americans, we all owe him a debt of gratitude. As investors, we should remember that it’s people like Columbus who have made America great, people who try something new, and create value from nothing. We need more men like him today.

So what’s a potential leader? I could write about some of the (very few) stocks that are hitting new peaks--only 14 stocks hit new peaks on the NYSE and Nasdaq last Thursday, for instance--but instead, I’m highlighting a company with huge growth, a big story, and whose stock is in the sixth week of building a good-looking base.

In my mind, just as the failure of the sub-prime market triggered the collapse of the housing industry, the collapse of the housing industry will trigger the deflation of our debt bubble. Eventually, if all goes well, the end result will be a smaller debt load for the U.S. and a smaller debt load for American consumers as well ... which in my mind means living in houses we can afford.

Whether or not you agree with the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election, there’s one pledge that President-elect Barack Obama made that will benefit all of us, as citizens and investors--his energy plan. For too long, we’ve had administration after administration that failed to recognize the energy problems we are facing now and will face in the future. Finally, we have a leader who is promising to reduce greenhouse gases, get the U.S. off its dependence on foreign oil and create Green jobs.

Three months ago a reader wrote: “Timothy, I look forward to your writings everyday. You are definitely doing your part in the BATTLE TO SAVE AMERICA’S BRAINS!” I responded by saying I liked the phrase and might borrow it. But I’ve never found quite the right place to use it. It’s a bit grand. All I’m trying to do is communicate some intelligent thoughts, get you to think a little, and maybe subscribe to some of our investment advice.

At the beginning of August, Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter featured four buy recommendations that collectively have outperformed the stock market indexes by a noticeable margin. I’m featuring one of the stocks here because it’s still clearly undervalued.

To say that we live in historic times would be an understatement. We’ve all been shaken by more earth-shaking news in just the past few months than we’ve seen in the prior decade. There’s been the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the disappearance of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual and Wachovia, the TARP rescue plan and now the potential bailout of the Detroit automakers. Oh, and did we mention hedge fund redemptions and failures, and now commercial real estate problems?!? And the market, of course, has reacted.

I was lucky when I first began investing. I didn’t learn how to pick stocks from a textbook, or a well-meaning but misinformed professor. No, I first got interested in stocks when my dad subscribed to the Cabot Market Letter back in the mid-1990s, and learned right away the value of doing the right things, and avoiding the wrong things.

Cabot Small-Cap Confidential, a limited subscription newsletter, is one of our newest publications, launched just one year ago. Its focus is on finding undervalued and little-known small-cap companies that are poised to break out in a big way. The number one request Cabot has had over the years has been to find great stocks sooner and with Cabot Small-Cap Confidential, we’re able to do that.

Two weeks ago I wrote here about the massive buildup of both government and individual debt in last 70 years. I noted that this bubble of debt appeared to have popped in the past year. And I speculated that a very long (decades-long) period of debt shrinkage and balance sheet improvement might be in the cards. Then I asked for your opinions.

Today’s main topic is a hot one and a big one ... the question of whether it might be a good idea to reduce the legal drinking age in the U.S. from 21 to 18. The background: a group of 129 presidents and chancellors from colleges and universities have signed the Amethyst Initiative, which states simply that the current legal limit of 21 is not working and asks for an open unbiased discussion of the issue.

I’m concerned about the lack of progress made by our elected officials in Washington on the major issues of the day. Where are the solutions for our energy crisis, social security funding or a cost efficient health care system? We have been patiently waiting for decades to solve each of these, and other, problems.

At the root of creative destruction, according to Joseph Schumpeter, are entrepreneurs, some laboring as individuals and some as employees of forward-looking firms, but all possessing a spirit of innovation that drives economic growth forward by improving on and “destroying” the old. And if the old is a hide-bound, monopolist entity or system that has long been a barrier to progress, so much the better.

The high price of gasoline is one of the biggest concerns of Americans today. Everyone wants to know whether the price will decline, stay up here at $4 a gallon, or climb higher. Well, at Cabot, our very successful growth stock investing system works because we DON’T try to predict the future. Instead, we simply observe trends and invest on the expectation that they will continue.

Most investors, even those with lots of experience, usually do the wrong things and avoid the right things. And the reason isn’t because they’re dumb and I’m smart--it’s because the market is a totally contrary animal, so it works the exact opposite of how any intelligent, reasonable person would expect.

Something I’m always concerned about it how we’re communicating with our readers. One way that I stay informed is by reading blogs. While I was brainstorming about how we can better communicate with you and vice versa, I began to think that a blog might be the way for us to reach out to our readers, while at the same time hearing what you have to say. So after hammering out the details, I am pleased to announce the creation of The Iconoclast Investor (iconoclast-investor.com), a place for the Cabot editors to share their thoughts and you to share yours.

When saving for retirement, most investment gurus tell you to start young, live a disciplined life, diversify and take the long view. But some of us are too old to start young. If you fit into that category, the best way for you to approach investing for retirement might be to allocate some of your portfolio for growth stocks. But make sure you have a system to follow if you choose that path.

Most investors, even those with lots of experience, usually do the wrong things and avoid the right things in the market. The reason isn’t because they’re dumb, it’s because the market is a totally contrary animal, so it works the exact opposite of how any intelligent, reasonable person would expect.

When the technology bubble burst in 2000, many investors held onto their stocks even as they plummeted, believing in the mantra of time, not timing. In the end, it’s market timing indicators and having sell disciplines in place that count.