Palin's Asia gig might be a gag?

According to an item in Business Insider, Sarah Palin may be getting punk'd by CLSA, the investors' group that has reportedly hired her to deliver the keynote address at its Hong Kong conference near the end of September. According to the post, the group often uses marketing gimmicks to attract attention to its financial analyses, including polling fortune tellers on index targets (which, to us, doesn't sound much less reliable than traditional financial predictions). Read the Insider's post here. Conservatives are calling the piece another attempt to discredit Palin. The blog "Texas for Sarah Palin" has one of the more entertaining versions of the counter-argument, saying basically that that the joke's on her opponents -- that Sarah's going to make some big cash and add another stamp to her passport. Read that take here. We're not sure, but being ridiculed by powerful financial figures while giving an earnest speech to them about things we sincerely care about is not our idea of a good time, six-figure fee or not. Of course, we need to mention that all this talk of a speech is speculation. Palin's camp has issued no statement confirming the gig, and all news of the confirmation has come from CLSA itself. Given the recent proliferation of groups proven wrong in thinking Palin will appear at their functions, we're not holding our breath. If CLSA's aim was publicity, it looks like it worked.