Well this could be fun:
Hopefully Sarah Palin realizes she's been invited to Hong Kong as a practical joke.
CLSA, the Asia-focused broker who invited Mrs. Palin as keynote speaker for an Asian investment conference, is well known for their cheeky takes on investment research.
In the past, they've polled Asian fortune tellers for index targets, hired anime cartoonists to draw Japanese research, and generally love to push the boundaries between entertainment and analysis. They are a real research firm, it's just that they love to sprinkle in some hilarity every now and then as a smart marketing gimmick.
I don't know if the practical joke part of this is true, but "Sarah Palin" and "realizing" something seems a bit of a stretch.
I must say, though, that I will be convinced if they announce that Nicolas Sarkozy will be joining her:
Good luck gathering that international cred, you former guv, you!
BTW...She really, really, really claims to be going on this one: