(Edit: And as soon as I posted I realized this isn't really about shuffling and I can't edit the title... Sorry!)

So.. I'm reading through the rules, and I'm not sure how to handle investment cards.

Here are the references:

1) Learn to play, Page 5 - This says draw 1 investment card to start the game. This rule is superseded by the actual game rules.

2) Learn to play, Page 9, Step 4 of Demand round - This says all investment cards are shuffled together. Then each player draws two investment cards, chooses one to keep facedown, and returns the other to the top of the investment track. The next round begins.

3) Rules Reference, Page 2, Complete setup step 11 - This says draw two investment cards from the investment deck, place one facedown in play area, and return the remaining card facedown to the top of the investment deck.

4) Rules Reference, Page 10, Section 33, Investment Card - This says during setup and the first 2 demand rounds, each player draws two investment cards and chooses one to keep, discarding the other. 33.2 says Discarded investment cards are shuffled into the investment deck without being revealed.

So here's my question: When do you draw investment cards and what do you do with them?

I see two potential interpretations, both of which can be consistent with these rules.

A) Each player draws 2 investment cards simultaneously. All players evaluate at the same time, then return the discard to the top of the investment phase. Once investments are revealed, everyone takes their investments into one pile and shuffles them. This methodology has the potential to use all 12 investment cards (in a 6 player game).

B) Each player draws 2 investment cards in player order. Each player evaluates and discards before the next player draws and discards. Because of this, the next player would have 1 investment known by the the player to their right, and 1 unknown investment. The bottom of the investment stack wouldn't actually be drawn This would use 7 of the 12 cards in the stack (2 unique for first player, 1 old and 1 new for each player). I could see this being very interesting because of the potential known information - which could be good or bad depending on if they are your rival, or are suspected to be the federalist.

Am I missing something? I really can see both play styles as valid.

I don't think you're missing anything, but after looking it over carefully, and looking at the sequence of play, which simply states each player draws two cards and discards one, I am satisfied that the game intends Option A.

If the designer wanted B, I presume they would be more clear with language like "Each player draws two cards sequentially" or something like that. As that language appears nowhere in the rules, I would lean pretty decisively towards A being correct.