Doug Casey is an American free-market market economist, financial author and entrepreneur. He has been writing a monthly investment newsletter, the International Speculator since 1979 and I always find his ideas quite refreshing.

I the paragraphs below, he is interviewed by Louis James, editor of the International Speculator.

L: So, Doug, it’s well known that in addition to investing in resource stocks, especially gold juniors, you also have a passion for playing the real estate market. What can you tell us about real estate in today’s world?

Doug: Real estate has been very, very good to me. The reason that’s true is that I buy only things that I like myself. I don’t try to second-guess what other people may want. If you do that, you’re guaranteed to wind up with mediocre stuff that nobody really wants. I have an inclination

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Keith Fitz-gerald (Whiskey & Gunpowder): Everything we know about classic economic theory suggests the U.S. economy should be experiencing Zimbabwe-like hyperinflation right now, thanks to the nearly $2.2 trillion the U.S. Federal Reserve has pumped into the system.

But we’re not…yet.

Classic economic theory says that money supply can be used to stimulate the economy and our central bankers seem to agree. That’s why they’ve pumped more than $1 trillion dollars into the economy, engineered countless bailout bonanzas for zombie institutions, put Detroit on life support, and delivered a bunch of financial Band-Aids to the trauma ward — all in a desperate bid to make Americans feel better about the global financial crisis.

To their way of thinking, the trillions of dollars have been a success. That’s why any meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) nations looks more like a mutual affection society with central bankers anxious to claim

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CHIP, ENZ, HYTM, IWEB, ONEZ, PHC, SIHI, SRCO

Markets continued their strong performance this week in the absence of any major market driving earnings or economic reports, as the broad based buying that characterized the previous week continued and led to gains in all of the major indices. All told, the Dow added 2.5% on the week, gaining 247 points to close at 10,270, up 17.0% on the year. The Nasdaq posted a 2.6% gain on the week, closing at 2,167 to extend its yearly gains to 37.5%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.3% and 1.0% respectively, bringing their yearly gains to 21.1% and 17.4%.

Equity markets carried the momentum from the previous week’s session, as the thin economic calendar and lack of significant earnings reports provided little incentive for investors to slow their buying activities.

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American Axle (AXL) posted a net loss of 18 cents before special items in the third quarter of the year. This is better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 37 cents per share. Net sales dipped 22% to $409.6 million. However, in absolute terms, it is the highest quarterly sales of the year. The lower sales were on the back of a 18% decline in customer production volumes for the North American light truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) programs that American Axle currently supports for GM and Chrysler. American Axle’s content-per-vehicle (measured by the dollar value of its product sales supporting GM's North American light truck and SUV programs and Chrysler's Heavy Duty Dodge Ram pickup trucks) fell to $1,396 from $1,453 in the third quarter of 2008. Non-GM sales constituted 18.3% of total sales in the reported quarter. The company’s non-GM ...

The driving philosophy of corporate America used to be based on the principle of in-house development. If it wasn’t made in-house, companies simply weren’t interested. Companies wanted things over which they had full control, and from which they could enjoy 100% of the profits. Total independence. Total control. If a good idea came along that wasn’t developed in-house, the temptation was to find some way to tweak it and claim that it was developed in-house.

All of this led to some pretty nasty lawsuits. One of the best known cases, popularized in the movie Flash Of Genius, was that of Robert Kearns. Kearns was a Detroit engineer who developed the electronic intermittent windshield wiper for automobiles, getting his first patent for it in 1967. When he failed to get the major automakers to buy his idea and then saw them come

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One great thing about my position here as Director of Marketing is my extensive contact list. I say that because I have access to thousands of excellent traders, investors, and economists at my finger tips! So when things around the world catch my attention, I can quickly find someone who can give me the skinny on what’s really going down. One of my contacts is Nicholas Vardy, Editor, The Global Guru, and he’s got a MUCH better pulse on the world aboard then I do. That’s why I asked him to give us his reasons why the markets outside the US are doing so well and WHY!

He told me he’d love to get feedback from the Trader’s Blog readers, so let’s not let him down! You can also visit The Global Guru to get his new report on his favorite global picks.

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Make Your Fortune from the

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Let China’s Middle Class Lead You Into Luxury

Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

According to the World Bank, the global middle class could grow to 1.15 billion in 2030 – a huge jump from the 430 million middle class folks in 2000.

Driving the extraordinary growth is… you guessed it, the emerging “BRIC” nations. In 2000, developing countries like China, Brazil and India accounted for 56% of that number. But by 2030, analysts expect it to climb as high as 93%… with China alone accounting for 52% of the expected increase.

This represents a tremendous amount of wealth. A Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) executive compared it to adding a city the size of New York to the world… every three months.

Needless to say, that opens up amazing opportunities. But in order to succeed, companies who want to profit from this

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Labor unrest at Ford’s (F) auto supplier plant in India has prompted the company to shut down its Oakville, Ontario, plant for the week, which employs 3,000 workers in two shifts. The closure would cost Ford 5,000 vehicles. The idled employees would get 65% of regular pay from a combination of funding from the company and employment insurance.  The strike at Rico Auto Industries in the state of Haryana in India turned violent after an employee died recently during a protest. It has triggered a shortage of transmission parts to the Canadian plant. The plant produces Edge SUV, the Flex and Lincoln MKT seven-passenger vehicle and the Lincoln MKX.  Last week, labor trouble had erupted at some of Ford’s plants when some members of United Auto Workers (UAW) declined to ratify the modifications to its 2007 labor contract. The modifications include banning strikes over wages or ...

Compuware Corp. (CPWR) yesterday reported revenues of $217.9 million in its fiscal second quarter, down 19.2% year over year but up 1.6% sequentially.

Software license fees grew 18.7% year over year to $50.1 million. Maintenance fees declined 12.0% year over year to $109.7 million. Revenues from professional services came in at $58.1 million compared to $102.9 million in the same quarter last year. Compuware plans to have a smaller but more profitable Professional Services Business going forward.

Operating margin improved to 19% from 10% in the year-ago quarter due to a 27% decrease in operating expenses. The company has divested a few of its peripheral products and services (Quality family of products and DevPartner software) thereby reducing unprofitable revenue streams and increasing margins. The company plans to concentrate on its software business and deliver superior end-to-end application performance, which the company calls Business Service Delivery. 

These divestitures have reduced the top-line by

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Ford Motor Co. (F) has finally reached a tentative national agreement with 250 leaders of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on modifications to its 2007 labor contract. The deal, which runs until 2011, will help Ford end its cost disadvantage while securing jobs for the union workers at the same time. However, the deal has yet to be approved by the 41,000 UAW members at Ford. Voting will begin this week. Ford was upset with its higher labor costs compared to its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Chrysler. Both of those companies were given concessions as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year. However, the deal will enable the automaker to lower the labor costs to match those of its rivals. If the members ratify the agreement, they will be given bonuses and additional work with investments at some factories. The $1,000 bonus is payable ...