We’ve been musing on the fate of US debt for some time now. It’s no secret that we’re bearish on the fate of US Treasurys and the buck. (It’s no accident, dear reader, that your editor lives outside the US of A. We see the threat of inflation on the horizon, a dark and foreboding cloud, and we don’t like it one bit.) And the mixed signals from China and Russia on their Treasury holdings doesn’t make us sleep any easier at night.

As currencies expert Alex Merk of Merk Mutual Funds wrote recently, “Russian President Medvedev suggests the dollar is on its way out; Russian Finance minister Kudrin says there is no substitute for the dollar. The Chinese see a need to diversify out of the dollar; the Japanese say their trust in the dollar is unshakable.” What’s a poor investor to think?

Merk says Russia’s and China’s – along with

One way to hedge against inflation is to buy gold and silver. This is what hedge fund legends John Paulson and David Einhorn are doing. As Justice Litle pointed out last week in Taipan Daily , Paulson and Einhorn “have gold and gold stock positions running well into the multi-billions for their respective funds.”

Underground investor Christian DeHaemer says junior gold stocks are the ones to watch. In fact, he says this asset class will be “the number one asset class over the next two years.” This means that junior miners could make you more money than any other asset class in the near future. According to DeHaemer, there are several factors contributing to this play (most of which will be familiar to Notes readers).

As the markets would tell it, the swine flu epidemic is little more than a tempest in a teacup. But, sad to say, the danger here remains far greater than it seems…

Before we begin, a word in honor of Monday’s stage-five rocket launch of a rally. Or should I say, rally on top of rally.

As a caveat, these words are being written some two hours and change before market close. Regardless of where that close may be, however, it simply must be said – watching what seemed to be nearly every risk-related asset in the world catch a gigantic bid simultaneously was, in a word, awesome.

(Your humble editor was so transfixed by the sight, he felt verbally transported back to his seventh-grade skateboarding days.)

The world, it seems, is pounding the table for a V-shaped recovery. Maybe even a slightly leftward-tilting V, to

Welcome to Sopranos USA… Can the “junk-stock” rally last? Credit to get worse before it gets better… Feds’ “hair of the dog” recovery plan… Shockwave coming… Jim Rogers on why he’s not buying stocks… Introducing your new Notes tax expert, Raife Neuman… And more!

*** What kind of men have we entrusted to manage our economy? And whose interests do they serve? Get the answer to either of these questions wrong and you’re in for a rough ride as an investor.

*** Consider the facts surrounding the Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill Lynch.

Thanks to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, we know that former Treasury secretary Hank “The Hammer” Paulson and Fed chief Benny “Two Fingers” Bernanke violated U.S. securities law by keeping the huge losses sustained by

These are uncertain and confusing times for investors, says Adam Lass. For those willing to hold for the long-term, Adam says the surviving financials and automakers could one day return huge gains for today’s investors. In the near future, Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) could make investors 75% by the summer as shares soar on the stimulus plan.

This from Taipan Daily:

I’ve got an interesting stat for you concerning unemployment. It doesn’t predict recessions or crashes mind you, just presidential elections.

Seems that our economy has a really tiny window of tolerance in this area. Looking back about as far as the modern records go, I noted that anytime unemployment is over 7% (deflationary) or below 4% (inflationary), the party in power loses the White House.

I was starting to wonder if this rule would hold up, when today’s announcement of 7.2% unemployment came

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Justice Litle thinks Dickens’ classic line  provides an apt description of today’s markets. Sure, this year has been hell. But it has also created some amazing opportunities for contrarian investors. Justice says this is most apparent in the oil and natural gas market, where irrational risk aversion has made most people forget the fundamentals.

This from Taipan Daily:

Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.

— Vice–President-Elect Joe Biden

Just a few weeks ago, Vice–President-elect Joe Biden (back when he was plain old Senator Joe Biden) promised the world that Barack Obama will be “tested” by America’s enemies.

“Remember I said it standing here,” Biden told his Seattle audience, “if you don’t remember