No matter how you look at it, the U.S. dollar is very weak - very close to its all-time lows. If the value of the dollar says anything about the world's confidence in the U.S. economy, the message is quite pessimistic. The only good thing to be said is that there is a lot of bad news that is priced into the dollar. It might be tough for things to get much worse. (Words: 1054; Charts: 7))

There has been a persistent fear among...owners of gold that...their gold will be confiscated by their governments, as was the case in 1933. For very different reasons, we believe that that danger persists and is growing by the day. We feel that because gold is rapidly returning to an active role in the global monetary system...investors should be aware of the conditions in which this would happen. We also indicate what we feel to be a solid solution for protecting yourself against a gold confiscation. (Words: 1581: Charts: 2)

Mexico, with the world's 13th largest GDP, is no longer a "Third World Country", but rather a fast growing, economically secure state. [Mexico is a great place to visit for a week or the winter, take early retirement to, and/or to invest in. This article outlines the new economic reality of the country.] Words: 785

We live very busy lives these days and, as such, often don't have the time to stay informed about developments on the financial, economic and investment scenes as they develop each day. Here are just 10 of the "best of the best" articles that were selected from the 100s posted on the internet this past week. Each article has been edited for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure you a fast and easy read. Enjoy!

I believe it is important to mitigate the risk of loss with your physical bullion by diversifying the locations where you hold it. To this end, I think it is wise to have some bullion on your property, some in secure storage off site, a portion stored with an ETF like CEF and ideally at some stored at a location overseas. In order to obtain the overseas diversification, I [recommend BullionVault because, while their 43,000 customers have already done business with them at some of the lowest costs available, they have just reduced their initial commission fee by 37.5% - from 0.8% to just 0.5%! Let me explain further some of the advantages of doing business with Bullionvault.] Words: 796

The mortgage interest deduction — considered by many to be the sacred cow of tax breaks — has joined the list of possible items on the chopping block in the growing debate between President Obama and Congress about the so-called “fiscal cliff”. [Below is research on the merits of such a tax break elimination, the extent of the income tax increases on different income groups, the possible effects on the home ownership rate, type of houses purchased and house prices in general and their conclusion as to whether or not the elimination of such a tax break would be a sound decision.] Words: 1023

Economics will dictate that you can only build so much storage to avert a price drop from continual over-supply and, right now, the world produces more Oil than it consumes each day, and it has for the past 16 months. This trend will only get worse so expect prices to finally start to address this over-supply issue in the Oil markets in 2013. [Let me explain further.] Words: 1640

[In spite of all that is seemingly wrong with the U.S. economy] I think we are on the verge of entering the euphoria stage of this cyclical bull market where traders become convinced that QE3 is a magic elexir with no unintended consequesnces. [As such,] I see a strong acceleration and a significant and sustained breakout above the S&P 500 September high of 1475. (Words: 264 + 3 charts)

...Fiscal policy, both in the U.S. and in Europe, has already been a drag on economic growth, and it’s extremely likely to continue to be one as politicians begin addressing concerns about long-term debt burdens. The debate about the fiscal cliff deal might revolve around the preferred paths to reducing the nation's long-term debt, but it also will determine just how much fiscal policy will limit growth over the coming months and years. What’s really at stake, in the near term at least, is the answer to two important and interrelated questions: How dysfunctional is our political leadership and how bad is our economy going to be next year? Words: 610

Of the 1000s of financial sites on the internet many contain biased, shallow, unbalanced and uncomplimentary commentary on the state of the Chinese economy and economic system - so much so that the state government has blocked access to said sites. This site prides itself in posting objective, substantive and balanced articles containing insightful analysis of the world's financial affairs including those of China. Check them out.