Gold as a hedge against a weakening dollar.

All that glitters is gold....

This past week we saw somewhat of a roller-coaster ride in Gold prices. Gold hit $989, then $1002, then fell back down to $940. I think Gold is going to continue its climb, however, despite its recent setbacks. I wouldn't be surprised if we see $1200 Gold by April, 2009. One thing is for sure.. with the stimulus package promising to pump in excess of a trillion dollars into our economy and causing inflation, $2000 gold is inevitable by mid-2010.

Here is a quote from www.goldiras.com

"From January 1st 1999 to December 28th 2008 Gold has gained 320% the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost over 12%. Any person who has Invested $5,000.00 per year over the past 20 years has a tangible portfolio valued in excess of over a half a million dollars at the end of 2008."

On Monday March 2 2009, the Dow fell below 7000 for the first time since 1997. Harry Dent predicts the Dow to tumble to 3800 by 2012, sparking the Greatest Depression in United States history. Gold also fell, but not as dramatically as the stock market has seemed to lately. The verdict? Gold seems to be a good investment by any standard. Historically, what is bad for the U.S. dollar and the stock market is good for Gold.

In the book,"The Great Depression Ahead" by Harry Dent, it is forecasted that the oil and commodity bubble will be the last of the four bubbles to burst during what we are now calling the bubble boom of 1990 to 2010. The first bubble was the tech bubble which burst in 2000. Next we had the housing bubble and then the credit bubble. I think we are going to see gas, gold, and food hit such high prices that our heads are going to spin off...

If you are thinking about buying gold I would recommend Buying American Gold Eagles. They are the most liquid and the most popular.

Dividend Stocks

To Stock, Bond, or Sock(underneath the mattress) that is the question.

This week I would like to focus on stocks. Scary for most, yet important enough to not ignore. Three weeks ago we had an unprecedented event in our lifetime. We had, what the media was coining, bloody Monday. Over 100,000 people were laid off in one day. Unless you were old enough to be employed in the early 1930s, I don't think you or anyone you know have experienced such economic instability or a lack of investor confidence in your lifetime.

Such uncertainty in future outcomes has 76% of us scrambling for ways to either preserve our money or invest it. Yet virtually no one is talking stocks these days.I even read a high profile magazine that recommends we wait before jumping back into the stock market. But is this the best advice? What if we are within 5 years of retiring and have lost a significant amount of our retirement funds in the last year or two? Perhaps we need to be a little more aggressive to try and make up for some lost time.

I have a great recommendation concerning stocks, if you don't mind. Before I reveal this strategy, I just want to say if I have learned anything from watching Jim Cramer over the last few months it is to not invest in any bank stocks at all!! ( Kind of frightening since a major cause of the Great Depression was the ultimate failings of all the banks.) As for the sector that I think is recession proof, for now, is Energy stocks. Not just any energy stocks but what we are looking for are some good high-dividend yielding investment ideas. Stocks are nothing to shy away from especially since most are so beaten down that they are offering incredible value as far as pickings go. Three years ago, every ad on wall street was ATTN: Hedge fund managers wanted!. Now it is a little different, I saw a sign on Wall Street saying HELP: Investors wanted!

Several of my sources are pointing to high dividend yielding stocks in the energy sector.

Harry S Dent Jr.,author of "The Great Depression ahead", is forecasting an energy and commodity bubble that will peak sometime in the beginning of 2010.(more on that topic next week) He recommends we sell all stock, except energy and commodity stocks. Another entity encouraging the examination of energy stocks is the March 2009 edition of Smart Money. They have a section devoted to Dividend Stocks primed for payouts. Most of their recommendations range from 5% to 8.5%. Some are Tobacco stocks, Tech stocks, and drug makers. But The golden child in this article, I think, is BP. Bp is, you guessed it, an energy stock.

Which brings us to this week's assignment. First, are energy stocks the hidden bull market within a bear market? Or just a fad destined to the same fate as pretty much any other stock these days? Second, which dividend stocks look the most lucrative for 2009? Third, I would like to get more in depth on BP. The Wall ST. Journal describes it as a stock that is currently yielding 7.2% and has managed to raise its dividend in all but one year since 1993. It also has strong cash flow and a CEO determined to cut costs. BP is currently trading for around 43 bucks a share. Bargain or pass it by? You decide. See ya next week

Here is a link to Cramer discussing dividend stocks including BP:Cramer.

Where are we Headed in 2009?

Is anybody else as scared as I am?

Usually an optimist, I have grown increasingly worried about the state of the economy and the future of my wife and two kids, Harmony and Blake. I am 31Years old, my wife is 26. My daughter is 5 and my son is 2. We live in San Juan Capistrano, California about 45 miles north of San Diego. I am not an economist or a stock broker, I am not a forecaster or financial advisor. I am a concerned Father and Husband. I have seen layoffs at work and so has my wife. My main concern, and the purpose of this blog, is finding two types of investments.

The first type I would like to focus on is capital preservation. That is the investment strategy designed for protecting various types of savings such as IRAs or college education funds. The second type of investment strategy I wish to discuss is growth. This is going to be attempting to find somewhere in this economic season options that can bring us 7, 10, possibly even 20 per cent returns.

I am spending my time consulting with financial advisers, working parents, economic forecasters, and business owners. I am also doing countless hours of research on the web as well as reading books and magazines. Like I said before I am not a guru or a stock picking wizard. If I make mistakes on this blog or future posts, I would appreciate comments and feed backs. I once read that more millionaires per ca pita were created during the great depression than any other time in history.The times ahead just may end up being very turbulent indeed, but together we can get through it.

Over the next 12 months, once a week I will discuss a new investment strategy. My list is subject to change, and I am open for discussion. Starting next week I will begin our first topic. Over the next year I want to cover most of the following topics:

• stocks
• bonds
• T bills
• real estate
• network marketing and mlm
• 30 year treasury bonds
• commodities

Hopefully I am afforded the opportunity to educate as well as learn a great deal. If the economy turns around within the next 6 months, well then welcome back boom time! But if no bull markets are in our near future, let us brace ourselves for what could possibly be The Great Depression The sequel. All comments are welcome however no spam or mudslinging will be tolerated. Look forward to meeting and discussing. Happy investing!

Here is our first assignment: I found this blog on stockBlogs. Help me research this rising company and possible pros and cons. Our first discussion next week will be stocks. Until then take care.

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