Look at the economic goings-on that take place on this, the third rock from the Sun…The Dow is up again - could this be the beginning of a major rally?…pinning hopes on a stimulus package…much talk of cutting taxes, but not of cutting spending…Find a premise that is wrong, and bet against it…for gold bugs, it’s now or never…and more!

Captain’s Log: Year of our Lord 2009, 6th day…

We have landed on a strange and wonderful watery planet - the third planet in orbit around the sun, a minor star in the Milky Way galaxy. Well, they say it is watery planet. Where we are, it is icy. But the locals say it warms up and the ice melts. We’re suspicious; maybe it’s just hype to attract tourists.

But what is strange about this planet is that its inhabitants all seem to play a game of make-believe, in which they all agree

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This market is so wild, so volatile, that I’m calling it the “Andy Warhol market” — everyone gets a turn to be right, but only for 15 minutes at a time! And right now, there are massive forces lined up that could thrust stocks and commodities to the moon … and an equally formidable array of triggers that could send them tumbling lower. The stocks I’ll leave to others … But let me show you the forces that are pushing around gold and oil. Plus I’ll give you four ways to play these wild swings. Gold-ilocks and The 3 Bears I’m generally bullish on gold, so it’s good to acknowledge the bearish forces as well. While total gold demand rose 18% in the third quarter, the fourth quarter was when ...

The currency markets reaction to the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cuts has ignited a rally in gold, as investors weigh the benefits of owning the yellow metal versus U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. As a result, gold has started to shine again as a stable source of value at a time when the dollar and other commodities – like oil and copper – have fallen hard. The spot price of gold has climbed above $870 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up about 20% from its October lows. Gold has been on roller coaster ride in 2008, moving from its all time high of $1035 in March, to as low as $681 an ounce. Some of that decline occurred during the recent stock market plunge. Many investors were forced to liquidate profitable gold positions in order to raise money to cover ...

HIDDEN VALUE Dear Value Seeker,

We hope you had a happy holiday.

We’re on our way back to our home in Buenos Aires tonight. We’re looking forward to getting back, but not to the nine-hour flight with our nine-month-old son… It’s likely to be grueling.

But at least we’re not in the retail business…

They are likely to be disappointed by the holiday season. According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending fell 0.6% in November, the fifth monthly decline in a row.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 10% to 26% of U.S. retailers are now in danger of filing for Chapter 11 in 2009 or 2010.

That’s up from 4% to 6% of retailers in trouble in the last two years.

It’s no surprise, really.

More Americans are out of work now than at any time since 1982. The number of American’s filing for unemployment for the first time leapt to 586,000

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I’ am no gold analyst but it has always interested & perplexed me. It is supposed be a hedge against inflation as also a savior in bad times – depression/deflation scenarios. A Business Week report explains: “It can be argued that gold's price spike to a record high of almost $1,030 an ounce last March had more to do with a surge of strength in commodities as a whole than anything specific to the yellow metal. Unable to buck the general sell-off in commodities since the summer, gold sank to a low of $680 in November before rebounding above $800 as the end of the year approached. Now that a new era for commodities seems to have begun—one likely to be characterized by greater price stability—any future gains by gold will have to come on its merits as a perceived safe-haven ...

As a tourist site, Federal Reserve is worth its weight in gold

Amid these troubled economic times, a trip to the central bank is an eye-opening glimpse into the world of currency. Plus, don’t you want to see the big vault?

By John Horn, REPORTING FROM NEW YORK 03:22 PM PST, December 24, 2008

The stock market was in the middle of another spectacular gyration — up more than 500 points one day after dropping more than 400 — and President Bush had come to try to calm Wall Street, urging world leaders not to over-regulate free markets. The economic crisis was palpable throughout Manhattan’s downtown financial district, yet the atmosphere inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was eerily serene, almost like a church.

It was fitting, for money is worshiped at the Fed, as the central bank is known, and an

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Gold hit two historic milestones in 2008. First, in early March, the “yellow metal” hit its all-time high of $1,030 an ounce. Just three months later, the price of gold for December delivery had plummeted to $681 an ounce, a 21-month low and 33.9% drop from its record high. Most gold bugs were equal parts puzzled and broken-hearted.

The world’s stock markets tanked, as did some of its biggest economies. In such an environment, they thought, gold should have risen. After all, gold is widely considered to be a safe-haven investment when everything else is spiraling south.

However, Money Morning Contributing Editor Martin Hutchinson – an investment banker with more than 25 years’ experience on Wall Street and a leading expert on the international financial markets – understood perfectly what other investors did not.

“Gold is not a safe haven against recession,” said

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GoldDrivers 2009 – Extraordinary Bullish Outlook for Gold

By: Eric Hommelberg ldSeek.com

Dollar topping out Physical demand skyrocketing Supply chain shutting down COMEX Gold Manipulation exposed Gold shares on the move again

It sure has been a brutal year for gold and its shares and many may wonder if the $1030 top clocked in March 2008 marked the top for the gold bull market that started in April 2001. Despite the fact that many analysts want you to believe that gold has failed to act as a

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Between September 2007 and June 2008, oil prices doubled, gold rose 30% and commodities, in general, advanced by a similar percentage. So why, six months later, when prices have fallen back below last year’s levels, does everybody think they won’t rise again? The difficulties of extraction haven’t gone away, nor have the prospects of increasing consumption in the faster-growing emerging markets such as China. Yes, the prices of commodities are severely affected by marginal moves in supply and demand, but this is ridiculous! Rest assured, commodities prices will rebound in the New Year. The reasons will soon become quite clear. The decline in commodities prices since the summer is broad-based. The Reuters Continuous Commodities Index traded recently at 341, down 25% from a year earlier and off about 45% from its June high. At $48 a barrel, oil is trading at less ...

Gold started up in Hong Kong on Thursday, and continued higher to its peak for the day at nearly $835 right at the New York open, then eased in a series of fits and starts straight through the Globex, finishing at $819.70, up $10.10. Overnight, gold has is trending lower.

Platinum also peaked, at $850, at the start of the Comex, but then it too declined, ending at $836, down $2. Overnight, platinum has fallen off.

Silver notched its high for the day at the New York open also, inching past $10.50 before trading listlessly to the downside through the rest of the day and closing at $10.31, up 12 cents. Overnight, silver has dropped lower. (Click here for charts)

It was a bit of a disappointing day for the precious metals on Thursday, as their pre-New York gains were all capped right there, with all further attempts to push

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