A currency war is a battle, supposedly an economic policy to cheapen a country's currency compared to that of others, to promote exports but the real reason, the one that’s less talked about, is that countries actually want to import inflation - a way of creating monetary ease and importing inflation. Let me explain.

Investment “rules” that were relevant for a century are obsolete. They were based on a world where economies grew, people’s standard of living increased and outcomes tomorrow better than today. Arguably each of these conditions will not hold in the future but if they don't, neither do the rules of thumb that guided investing last century. These guiding principles developed and worked in a world that that no longer exists but applying them in the future will result in devastating financial outcomes. [Let me explain.] Words: 1261

If you had invested in gold in 2004 you would have earned about 10.4%, annualized. I am writing this article, though, to say that you should not consider gold to be a good long-term investment and you should not have a significant proportion of your portfolio in gold. Let me explain.

Financial Repression is a form of wealth confiscation and redistribution that is in some ways as effective as taxation - but the government never directly calls it that. It never appears in the budget (directly), and while it is dependent on a comprehensive network of laws and regulations - none of those go through the legislature with a stated intention of creating Financial Repression. So while the economic net effects are similar to a huge and comprehensive set of investor taxes being used to pay down the national debt, the "taxes" are never a campaign issue because voters and investors don't understand what is happening - they only feel the results. [In this article I lay out for you what is slowly developing and expected to escalate dramatically in the next few years.] Words: 5800

I put almost all of my eggs in one basket - precious metals, energy and agriculture - with the bulk being in precious metals 10 years ago. These investments are diversified only in that they span physical, geography and company size. What I did has stood the test of time and, I expect, will hold me in good stead whatever happens in the years to come. Let me explain why I thought it was a good idea back then and still think it is today.

Staying ahead of inflation is hard enough but even trying to tread water, to stay even with inflation, becomes extremely difficult when you have the lead weight of inflation taxes around your neck, pulling you down.

Dozens of “analysts are convinced that the U.S. economy is going to hell in a hand basket – and soon. How sound are their analyses of the current economic situation? Will they be proven to be very insightful or nothing less than fear mongers looking for attention? Their views are all here. You be the judge.

Here are the predictions of all the pundits on record as to how high and how soon (with rationale as to why) gold is expected to go before the bubble bursts.

Optimism, hype, wishful thinking, hope - call it what you will (unabashed cheerleading?) - abounds regarding the future for the price of both gold and silver. Below are just a few such views.

Though the river of gold market analysis runs wide and deep on the Internet, precious little of that content is devoted directly to the most basic rationale for gold ownership. Here we fill that void in chart form – a quick reference for the first-time investor.