On Wednesday, Wells Fargo (WFC) became the latest large financial institution to announce a reshuffle in its policy towards overdraft fees. The bank will eliminate overdraft fees for Wells and Wachovia customers when they overdraw their accounts by $5 or less. Wells will not charge customers more than four overdraft fees per day. In addition, customers will be able to opt out of overdraft coverage. Henceforth, customers can specify that they don't want their transactions authorized into overdraft if funds aren't available to cover the transaction. Wells Fargo is following the footsteps of other large banks, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM). While JP Morgan has decided to automatically remove all its customers from the overdraft service, and allow customers who want that protection to opt in; BofA and Wells Fargo will leave it to customers to opt ...

This post provides links to a number of thought-provoking articles I have read over the past few days that you may also find interesting.

• Byron Wien (Financial Times): Focus on big ideas for the best chance of future returns, September 15, 2009. For some time now I have wondered why investors spend so much time trying to anticipate small changes in corporate performance or economic activity, when it is the big shifts that provide the greatest opportunity to make serious money. Perhaps it is easier to figure out whether a company’s quarterly earnings are going to beat the estimates of security analysts or whether the monthly unemployment rate will be higher or lower than expected, but I believe it is better to spend your time trying to think through important trend changes and then waiting them out.

• Andrew Ross Sorkin (The New York

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Grow Rich Automatically with the World’s Only Gold-Backed “Cash” The U.S. Treasury Dept. has finally approved the new gold-backed “cash.” And according to gold expert Peter Schiff, this new money, called “Gold Dollars,” is not only the best place for your savings today… it could prove very profitable. Why? Because every “dollar” you hold in your bank account is backed by 1 gram of solid gold, held in Fort Knox-like security. So when each gram of gold goes up in value, so does your cash! (Meanwhile, you can spend your money just like you would regular paper dollars.) For Schiff’s full report, please go here.

U.S. President Barack Obama took a swipe at Wall Street yesterday (Wednesday) as he unveiled a sweeping 85-page proposal to reinvigorate government regulation of the U.S. financial markets by giving the Federal Reserve new powers to supervise the economy. The proposal is part of …

Grow Rich Automatically with the World’s Only Gold-Backed “Cash” The U.S. Treasury Dept. has finally approved the new gold-backed “cash.” And according to gold expert Peter Schiff, this new money, called “Gold Dollars,” is not only the best place for your savings today… it could prove very profitable. Why? Because every “dollar” you hold in your bank account is backed by 1 gram of solid gold, held in Fort Knox-like security. So when each gram of gold goes up in value, so does your cash! (Meanwhile, you can spend your money just like you would regular paper dollars.) For Schiff’s full report, please go here.

By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning

U.S. President Barack Obama took a swipe at Wall Street yesterday (Wednesday) as he unveiled a sweeping 85-page proposal to reinvigorate government regulation of the U.S. financial markets by giving the Federal Reserve new powers to supervise the …