Baltimore — (TFN): Did you feel it? Just a couple of hours ago, you went into debt for another $106. You never signed any paperwork or agreed to it – a handful of unelected officials took care of that for you – but you’re now on the hook for at least another Franklin. Earlier today, the Treasury auctioned off yet another chunk of American debt. This time it offered seven-year bonds to the tune of $32 billion. In all, the nation will go in hock for yet another $118 billion this week. It... Read Full Story

Jeff Clark (Casey’s Gold & Resource Report): As you read this, the Chinese government is doing an extraordinary thing… something nearly unheard of in the modern world. It is encouraging citizens to put at least 5% of their savings into precious metals. The Chinese government is telling people gold and silver are good investments that will safeguard their wealth. After last year’s meltdown in the stock market, people believe it. After all, Chinese citizens don’t rec... Read Full Story

Theo Casey, Investment Director of The Fleet Street Letter and member of The Right Side editorial team, discusses the merits of gold, the bull’s run, and how to get in on the action. Theo Casey (The Right Side, UK): While you were sleeping, gold hit another record high. At last count it was at $1179. So, while my heart tells me it’s time to take some money off the table, my head tells me that’s not the right side of the trade. The gravity-defying gold rush is still on. If you already ... Read Full Story

Bill Bonner, daily commentator and resident voice of reason at The Daily Reckoning, discusses the current economic depression – and why we can’t simply wish it away. Bill Bonner (The Daily Reckoning, UK): The ‘recession’ did more damage than they think Claptrap! Nonsense! Balderdash! Everywhere we look, someone is saying something ridiculous. Which is good news to us. This Daily Reckoning was getting to be serious work…what with the world facing a total financi... Read Full Story

Baltimore — (TFN): One good thing about kids is they are predictable. Give them five bucks and say they’ve got just one hour to spend it or it goes into their savings account and can bet another five bucks the cash will be spent by minute 59. It’s the same way for politicians. Give them some cash and they’ll have it spent in no time flat, even if they can’t find anything worth buying. Take, for example, the infamous Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP in informal nomenclature. Passing t... Read Full Story

Karim Rahemtulla, options expert at Investment U, looks at the near term potential of a gold correction, and how options plays could help maintain a positive portfolio. Karim Rahemtulla (Investment U): Of all the great investments you could have made in 2009, gold is right up there among the best of them. The price of gold has surged this year, taking gold shares upwards with it. Readers of my Xcelerated Profits Report have rung the register with 45% profits on Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) and a tripl... Read Full Story

Rob Parenteau, currency and credit markets expert, and editor of The Richebacher letter, analyzes the current state of the economy, as represented by retail sales. Can retail really drive the recovery? Rob Parenteau (The Daily Reckoning): The U.S. consumer is bound to play only a lackluster role in this recovery. But this has not mattered to buyers of consumer discretionary stocks who are intent on using the typical business cycle recovery playbook in a recovery that is anything but typical... Read Full Story

Baltimore — (TFN): It looks like we found out what President Obama was actually doing in China last week. When he wasn’t bowing to foreign leaders or taking tours of historic China, our leader was giving the Chinese some financial advice. Isn’t that a scary thought? Just a couple of days after Obama touched down in Washington, China makes a very American decree. It’s telling its banks it had better shore up their capital situations or face strong sanctions from the government. They say ... Read Full Story

An interview with Marin Katusa, Casey Research In the past three years, Marin Katusa, senior energy analyst at Casey Research, has become one of the most respected and listened-to authorities in the investment advisory business. He spends the bulk of his time on airplanes and in far-off places studying the future of energy… and the best ways to make money from it. Brian Hunt, editor in chief of Stansberry’s free online investment digest, The Daily Crux, interviewed Marin to get his ta... Read Full Story

Andrew Snyder Baltimore – (TFN): Is the drop in the dollar worth watching? Just like the sun will eventually shine its last ray of light, the mighty dollar will someday buy its last barrel of oil or its final container of Chinese imports. We all know it is going to happen, so why bother discussing it. Right? There is no doubt the world’s currency of choice has more pressure stacked against it than ever before. But even with $12 trillion in debt and nearly a trillion of annual interest paymen... Read Full Story