Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said it was impossible to tell a bubble while you were in it. Well Alan, I’ve got news for you: We’re in one now.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up 58% from its March lows, gold has finally broken through the $1,000-an-ounce level – and may go higher – and bond yields have fallen substantially in spite of the huge U.S. budget deficit.

It’s really not difficult to tell when you’re in a bubble. What’s tough is trying to figure out how to invest while it’s developing.

When current Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke doubled the monetary base in a few weeks last fall, it was pretty obvious that the extra money would appear somewhere, either as zooming asset prices or as surging inflation. After all, the rapid increases in the U.S. money supply after 1995 produced

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Basic Earth Science Systems, Inc. today reported its operating results for the 2nd Quarter ending September 30, 2008. Basic Earth is an independent oil and gas exploration company. Benefitting from higher oil and gasoline prices earlier in 2008, net income rose to $946,000. Oil and gas revenue was $2,697,000. Compared to the same period in 2007, net income was 120% higher and sales revenue was 51% higher.

Asked to comment on the company’s impressive results, Basic’s President, Ray Singleton, said the “combination of high commodity prices and the effect of our new Colorado wells coming on production have certainly supported the results of our second fiscal quarter.” According to Singleton, Basic Earth recognizes that declining oil prices will have a direct impact on future operations. However, he said Basic Earth has prepared a plan for this scenario based on prior experience.

Noting the company has faced

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Hungarian manufacturing continued to contract in October following a shocking performance in September, while exports drop sharply in the midst of a looming global manufacturing recession. All of which indicates that the real economy impacts of the recent financial turbulence is now about to make its presence felt. I think we are in for a real shocker in Hungary. October PMI Down Hungary's manufacturing industry contracted sharply in October, according to the latest PMI reading, which fell 5.2 points to hit 44.7 in October - a historic low, and 0.8 points below the previous worst reading registered in October 1998, according to the latest data from the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (HALPIM). Sharp Industrial Output Contraction In September Hungarian industrial production dropped the most in more than 16 years in September as the global financial crisis hit the economy and slowing growth in western Europe curbed demand for exports. Production ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelona"The Kazakh government is ready to step in,'' Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov said this morning in a telephone interview with Bloomberg "The Kazakh banking system with the support of the government and central bank will fulfill all obligations to international investors.....We have our own specific plan to survive without any external support....I don't think we need support from the International Monetary Fund or overseas.'' Well that is good news, so at least we know that one of the CIS and CEE economies won't be looking to the IMF for bail-out support in this crisis which is presently growing by the day. So Kazakstan, that country which is reputedly host to reserves of approximately 95% of the elements in the periodic table, with a population of around 15 million housed on a surface area greater than the whole of Western Europe, is going to be able to look after itself. But hang on a minute, just where is Kazakhstan, and just what have they been getting up to over there, and why the hell should I take Karim Masimov's word for it, when just about all the other Iceland Look-alike show contestants seem to be saying the same? After all, didn't those extermely bright and able young people over at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto say in a report only last week that, along with Latvia, the country's $100 billion oil-led economy is among the most vulnerable to the present global credit crisis and the skid-row economic trajectories that go with it simply because of its excessive reliance on short-term foreign borrowing. And isn't it the case that the cost of protecting Kazakhstan government debt against default has more than doubled this month - to over 1,000 basis points (or 10%), the level for borrowers that investors term ``distressed,'' according to CMA Datavision credit-default swap prices. Only Ukraine, which as we know is already seeking IMF support, is classified as being a bigger risk among European emerging-market governments. Surely all those highly dedicated, bright, and extremely able young people who are doing all that trading know what they are about, don't they?

German exports declined more than expected in July as the slowdown in Europe's other economies curbed demand for German products. Sales abroad, when adjusted for working days and seasonal factors, fell 1.7 percent from June, according to data out today from the Federal Statistics Office. Year on year, exports rose 7 percent, but imports rose 7.4% from June and were up by an annual 15.7% - remember, July was the month of record oil prices - and hence the net effect of trade on GDP in July will be significantly reduced.German exporters are grappling with a slowdown in the economies of their main trading partners. Europe's gross domestic product shrank 0.2 percent in the second quarter and may not recover in the third, raising the risk of the first zone-wide recession since EMU was launched in 1999. Exports to the all important ...

French business confidence fell to the lowest in more than three years in July as record oil prices and a stronger euro dimmed the outlook for economic growth. An index of sentiment among 4,000 manufacturers dropped to 98 from 101 in June, according to Insee, the Paris-based national statistics office. That was the weakest since May 2005. Insee's sub-index of how executives see the outlook fell to minus 34 from minus 15; a gauge of orders dropped to minus 18 from minus 13; and a measure of foreign orders slipped to minus 14 from minus 7. Adding to signs of a slowdown, France's manufacturing and services industries shrank in July according to the latest flash reading on the Royal Bank of Scotland composite PMI for France dropped to 47, its lowest level in over 6 years. The flash estimate ...

by Edward Hugh: BarcelonaRussia's inflation rate remained tantalisingly frozen at its highest in more than five years in June as energy and food prices continued to move on upwards. Russian consumer prices were up 15.1 percent from a year ago - matching the rate in May- according to data released earlier this week by the Federal Statistics Service.As a result he Russian government is struggling to bring inflation down towards it's 10.5 percent target after increased income from rising global energy prices boosted domestic demand and made possible 300 billion rubles ($13 billion) of extra government spending on items like pensions and state wages in the run up to last December's elections. The result has been a massive surge in consumer spending and construction activity which has pushed the rate of expansion in the Russian economy above its long ...

Russia's inflation rate remained tantalisingly frozen at its highest in more than five years in June as energy and food prices continued to move on upwards. Russian consumer prices were up 15.1 percent from a year ago - matching the rate in May- according to data released earlier this week by the Federal Statistics Service.As a result he Russian government is struggling to bring inflation down towards it's 10.5 percent target after increased income from rising global energy prices boosted domestic demand and made possible 300 billion rubles ($13 billion) of extra government spending on items like pensions and state wages in the run up to last December's elections. The result has been a massive surge in consumer spending and construction activity which has pushed the rate of expansion in the Russian economy above its long term "comfort" capacity level.

In

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NEW YORK - The Dow sank into a bear market on Wednesday as US stocks fell on growing concerns about the toll that record oil prices are taking on the economy and corporate profits. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 166.75 points, or 1.46 per cent, to 11,215.51. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 23.39 points, or 1.82 per cent, to close at 1,261.52, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 53.51 points, or 2.32 per cent, to 2,251.46. LONDON - UK stocks shed 1 per cent, extending the previous session’s sharp losses as miners fell on weaker coal prices and Marks & Spencer slumped after a profit warning, though drugmakers rose. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,426.3 points, down 53.6 or 0.98 per cent. FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 6,305.42 points, down 10.52 or 0.17 per cent. PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 4,296.48 points, down 44.73 or 1.03 per cent. TOKYO ...

By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Spot price of gold eclipsed $935 in trading Monday, its first time above the mark since May 22, as another fresh round of record oil prices exacerbated existing market-wide turmoil. In light of the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates at 2.0% - its first rate freeze since September 2007 - many thought the dollar would rebound, and in turn, sweep the legs out from under gold. But the opposite proved true and gold rallied to its highest price in more than a month. Story continues below… Sign up right now, and we’ll send you an important new report for free: “The Three Best Investments in Asia.” ...