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. He is also somewhat of a perma gold bull, but nevertheless argues his case convincingly, as gleaned from the interview below with Louis James, editor of the International Speculator.

But before getting stuck in the discussion, Adam Hewison’s (INO.com) has just produced a short technical analysis of the short-term direction of gold. Click here to access the presentation.

Here is the first section of Casey’s interview:

L: Doug, we’ve talked about cars, cows, and cash, but the investment world thinks of you as a gold bug, so let’s give that a go; why gold?

Doug: Sure. First of all, it’s because gold is actually money. It’s an

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The inflation/deflation debate is hot… It crackles and pops like a pine fire. But it gives off little helpful light. Abe Lincoln may have read by the light of an open fire. But when we tried it, we singed our eyebrows. It made us suspicious of Old Abe; maybe he wasn’t quite as truthful as he pretended to be. Later, we realized he was a mountebank. But that’s another story…

Today, we light a candle and try to interpret the shadows on the wall…

Yesterday, the Dow fell 81 points. Gold dropped $5 to $1009.

Will the feds succeed in causing inflation? Or will they fail? Will the dollar continue to go down? Or will it prove to be a safe haven currency in a time of deflationary trouble?

According to the papers, the feds have already done it. “Fed says recovery underway,” says a headline from yesterday’s press.

Another headline tells us that

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The following is a press release being distributed today on behalf of the Mikhail Khodorkovsky defense team:

OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VOTE TO SUPPORT MIKHAIL KHORDOKOVSKY

Rome, September 23, 2009 - The Italian parliament today voted in favour of a motion urging the Italian Government "to activate all diplomatic channels, together with other European partners, to guarantee the respect for human rights and the right of defence for Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev and for all Russian citizens". The motion, presented at the Lower Chamber by Pier Ferdinando Casini, leader of the Christian Democrat Party (UDC), received overwhelming support: out of 478 MPs attending the plenary session, 430 voted in favour. During the debate, Alfredo Mantica, Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed support for the motion on behalf of the Government and called for unanimous adoption

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Non-dollar currencies give back very little…The Unemployed are remaining unemployed… FOMC puts away the board games today… China invokes a “Public Morals” defense…

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Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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FIG is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $31.0 billion in assets under management (fee paying) as of June 30, 2009. FIG is headquartered in New York and has affiliates with offices in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New Canaan, Rome, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.

**FIG’s Board of Directors elected not to pay a dividend in the third quarter of 2009, to retain capital for potential future investment opportunities and for working

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 Goldman Sachs Would Have Collapsed If Not For Henry Paulson.

The Dow slipped a bit yesterday – only 39 points. Everyone is watching. They want to see how far this rally carries on. Many think it is more than a bear market bounce; they think it is for real.

The prevailing opinion is that quick action by the feds avoided a more serious meltdown. Ben Bernanke says he was working to prevent a “second great depression.”

And now that the crisis is past, the economy is slowly climbing out of its hole. The second quarter showed GDP falling at 1% per year in the US… rather than the 6.4% rate recorded earlier in the year. Housing sales have perked up. Oil is trading above $71 – a sign of renewed economic activity. And gold seems to be getting ready for another assault on the $1,000 mark – a sign of growing inflation pressures.

At

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Though this paper bears a date of "June 2009," I have just now come across it.  Stanislav Secrieru of the excellent Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) has a piece which considers whether or not the economic crisis and lower oil prices will motivate Russia to scale back its more aggressive foreign policy ambitions.  Secrieru envisions two scenarios:  one in which a more compliant Kremlin seeks to bridge the gap with the West, or second, that things remain the same with Russia maintaining its normative independence in foreign policy making.Below is a quote, download the 10-page paper here:

Rationalists argue that power capabilities define the actors' foreign policy goals. Accordingly, they assume that a decline in state resources will compel Russia to scale down its international ambitions. There are expectations that, as the crisis strikes with full force, ...

Last month the first ETF adhering to strict Islamic beliefs, Dow Jones Islamic Market International (NYSE: JVS), began trading.  Following Shariah law, the index excludes anything close to investing in “sin stocks” or firms that produce or market alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, or pornography.

Investors are further assured that the stocks held in the index have nothing to do with borrowing or lending, women’s fashions, cosmetics, modern cinema, popular music, or pork.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch this fund with a barge pole. It is virtually guaranteed to earn sub-par returns.

Here’s why…

Investing in Sin Stocks vs. Socially Responsible Stocks

If you were given the choice six years ago between investing in the environmentally and socially responsible Sierra Club Stock Fund (Nasdaq: SCFSX) or investing in sin stocks with the Vice Fund (Nasdaq: VICEX), which invests primarily in tobacco, alcohol, defense and gambling, which would you have chosen?

I’ll give you a hint.

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Investing in Sin Stocks: How to Oppose Radical Islam in Your Portfolio

by Alexander Green, Advisory Panelist

Last month the first ETF adhering to strict Islamic beliefs, Dow Jones Islamic Market International (NYSE: JVS), began trading.

Following Shariah law, the index excludes anything close to investing in “sin stocks” or firms that produce or market alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, or pornography.

Investors are further assured that the stocks held in the index have nothing to do with borrowing or lending, women’s fashions, cosmetics, modern cinema, popular music, or pork.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch this fund with a barge pole. It is virtually guaranteed to earn sub-par returns.

Here’s why…

Investing in Sin Stocks vs. Socially Responsible Stocks

If you were given the choice six years ago between investing in the environmentally and socially responsible Sierra Club Stock Fund (Nasdaq: SCFSX) or investing in sin stocks with

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You might call them “free-form” merchants. They did a little bit of everything, as opportunities presented themselves. In the 18th century, you could find such merchants in seaports up and down the East Coast, from Boston to Charleston. Such a merchant might arrange voyages to Africa or the Far East - hire a captain, underwrite the insurance and divvy up the profits. He might deal in shares of land companies or bonds. He might lend money, trade grains, sell lottery tickets - whatever. These merchants were not committed to a single business. They would go where the best of it looked to be. They were opportunists in the best sense of the word.

Throughout financial history, you can find their likeness all over the world - even as far back as ancient Rome and Greece…or ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia. And in more modern times, you find their likeness

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