Baltimore – (TFN): Hallelujah, the markets work! You have no idea how happy I was this morning when I opened the Wall Street Journal and found an article detailing Goldman Sachs shareholder anger at the recent bonus payouts.

Now, I don’t care who makes what. That’s between bosses and their worker bees. But I do get a little peeved when Uncle Sam tries to tell some worker he can’t get paid per his contract.

Before you go shouting about how Washington saved Wall Street and therefore we, as taxpayers, get a say over pay, let me ask you this. Does your mortgage company tell you what color to paint little Johnnie’s room? Does your car loan provider tell you how fast to drive? Does your health insurance provider tell control your diet?

Didn’t think so.

If some congressman came barging in this office right now, demanding I slash my pay, his goons

Lord William Rees-Mogg, driving force behind the biweekly Fleet Street Invest newlsetter, analyzes the current state of the dollar, the euro and the future of gold – and why it will always be an attractive, tangible asset.

Lord William Rees-Mogg (Fleet Street Invest UK): In the last six months there has been a rebound of 50% in the great majority of world stock markets.

There has also been a comparable rebound in the price of oil, with West Texas oil rising very close to $80 a barrel. In the oil market there has been heavy two-way trading in options. There could be a sharp spike in the oil price if speculators have to cover their positions.

At the same time the US dollar has remained weak, and now stands at $1.4886 to the euro and $1.66628 to the pound. This is close to a 14-month low on a trade-weighted basis. The

Chuck Butler, regular analyst at The Daily Reckoning, offers an analysis of why the ‘Audit the Fed’ amendment to a $200 billion deficit plan spooked the currencies markets this week.

Chuck Butler (The Daily Reckoning): As I checked the currencies throughout the day yesterday, I noticed that as the day went on, the non-dollar currencies were stronger, led by the Big Dog, euro (EUR)… But then late last night, and I mean late last night, I checked them, and those gains had been wiped out.

So, when I arrived here this morning, I had one thing on the top of my list of things to do, and that was to find out what happened… Come on, I said to myself, it had to be more than the “risk on, risk off” stuff that’s been hanging over the markets like the Sword of Damocles! But, when you

Don Miller, Associate Editor of Money Morning, reviews the process and implications of the Fed’s possible plan for raising intereste rates without actually raising the rate itself.

Don Miller (Money Morning): The U.S. Federal Reserve may take an unorthodox approach to raising interest rates by paying interest on bank reserves rather than relying on traditional open market remedies, as it exits from its long-term fiscal stimulus programs, Reuters reported today (Tuesday).

Paying interest on reserves is mostly untested and would represent an unexpected twist in the Fed’s response to the financial meltdown.

“In the old days … the Fed controlled the federal funds rate with open market operations,” Antulio Bomfim, a former Fed economist now with Macroeconomic Advisors LLC in Washington told Reuters. “Now, at least in this period when reserves are over-abundant, the way the Fed hopes to raise the federal funds rate will be primarily by raising

Baltimore — (TFN): I am starting to sound like a broken record, bashing the actions of our government every day for the last week, but I don’t care. What these ignoramuses are doing is simply criminal.

It is becoming more and more apparent that today’s breed of politicians is good at only one thing, getting elected.

As folks that have never run a business, never had to tell an employee to clean off his desk or risk any of their own money, our lawmakers should quit pretending like they know what they are doing and let the hard stuff up to the professionals.

Let ‘em outsource the legislation, I say.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my home state of Pennsylvania, but it is run by a gang of numbskulls. By mid-November they have run out of important things to do and are now searching for ways to keep busy.

The state’s auditor

Resident voice of reason at The Daily Reckoning, Bill Bonner takes a hard look at Goldman Sachs and replaces jealousy with admiration. “We pick up sword and shield, ready to fight for Goldman, after reading the Financial Times. The FT has devoted a whole page to Goldman bashing. It’s time someone stood up to say a kind word for the firm.”

Bill Bonner (The Daily Reckoning, UK):

The Lloyd’s Prayer

Our Chairman, who art at Goldman Blankfein be thy name The rally’s come God’s work be done On earth as there’s no fear of correction Give us our daily gains…

Poor Goldman Sachs. Everyone is on its case. Criticizing. Carping. Jealous. Envious.

So, today we rise in defense of the Wall Street giant. Yes, the Goldmen may be shysters. But they are honest shysters…

Besides, it was another slow day on Wall Street. Investors

Doug Hornig, senior prognosticator at The Casey Report, analyzes the alarming trend of U.S. federal debt and its future implications.

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” said Blanche DuBois, in the final words of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Well, don’t we all.

Many citizens probably still cling to the old saw that public debt doesn’t matter because “we owe it to ourselves.” Wrong. Debt always matters. And as for whom we owe it to, it is a lot of kind (or, at least, not yet unkind) strangers.

As recently as 1970, foreign holders of U.S. debt were essentially non-existent. But their slice of our obligation pie has steadily increased, especially over the past two decades, until now foreign governments and international investors hold about 35% of Treasuries, as the following chart reveals.

Baltimore — (TFN): Some good friends of mine recently took their TV out to their front yard, put two high-brass shells in their 12 gauge and pulled the trigger.  They rendered the hunk of glass and plastic useless. Called it Alaskan waste disposal.

After last night, I’m ready to get out the 00 buckshot, myself.

I’ve got my eye out for good intentions, gone bad after spending the last three editions of Notes discussing the idea of financial regulatory reform.

During 52-mile commute home yesterday, they were all over the place, anything from idiotic signs to a couple of state cops setting a trap and writing tickets for not moving to the left lane when passing a stopped emergency vehicle.

The gung-ho troopers had rush-hour traffic slowed for over a mile.

But my mind really started spinning when I passed an out-of-state big rig. I could not help but notice the federal and state ID

Money Morning’s Keith Fitz-Gerald brings us a sobering look at investing in gold. If there is a moral to the story, it’s that nothing is what it seems anymore – not even gold.

Keith Fitz-Gerald (Money Morning): Millions of investors who bought gold in the last 12 months are undoubtedly very happy at the moment – considering that the yellow metal has risen 60% since last November to a recent close of $1,138.60 an ounce on Monday.

But chances are good that many won’t be smiling when they discover just what the taxman has planned for their gains.

Unbeknownst to most investors, gold is considered a collectible not a capital asset. In plain English, this means that despite the fact that many people believe they are investing in gold, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) believes that they are collecting it.

This is no small distinction and hurts investors

The Daily Reckoning’s Puru Saxena examines the ends of U.S. debt and the shifting economic balance of world power to China. Puru Saxena The Daily Reckoning

The 19th century belonged to Britain, the 20th century belonged to America and in the 21st century, China will rule the business world. Whether you like it or not, this transition is already underway and it will intensify over the coming decades.

Throughout history, no empire has managed to rule forever. Instead, empires rise to power, they prosper and spread their influence. Thereafter, they over-extend themselves and then break down in some fashion. In fact, all the glorious empires of history had one thing in common – a spectacular collapse.

Now, there can be no doubt that America ruled the economic world for the better part of the previous century. However, this powerful nation has now entered a terminal decline. The recent credit