Dear Value Seeker,

Hank Paulson has gone into lame duck mode.

After burning through most of the first half of the bailout fund, the Treasury Secretary says the remaining $410 billion should be held over for the next administration.

Paulson also defended his sudden policy shift to inject capital directly into banks. He told a Congressional committee that buying up $350 billion of distressed assets wouldn’t have made much of a difference after all.

None of this sits well with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They want to use bailout money to shore up the distressed housing market. According to the National Association of Realtors, 35-40% of home sales in Q3 were foreclosures.

What goes up AFTER gold prices rise?

Stocks have been hammered for the past 5 years – down 10% according to the S&P 500 index.

Gold, meanwhile, is up about 100% during that time.

What few Americans realize, however, is that there’s a unique gold investment, created and issued by the U.S. Treasury Dept., which skyrockets AFTER gold prices soar.

Last time conditions were this good, it went up 665%… and it’s beginning to soar again right now.

Click here for full details…

The Detroit automakers are also pleading for government support.

The Big Three have the backing of President elect Barack Obama, but General Motors (NYSE:GM) says it may run out of cash before the end of the year.

As the auto CEOs make their case to Congress, Andrew Snyder at Today’s Financial News says investors can also look to profit from another government handout.

Washington has the chance to send auto-related stocks soaring with news of a bailout. Andrew picks three auto suppliers in line for a major boost if the government intervenes in Detroit.

In the wider market, US stocks have slipped after an early morning jolt. The key benchmarks are sliding back towards last Thursday’s intraday lows.

Sovereign Society Investment Director Eric Roseman says recent volatility suggests “either a bottoming process and then higher stock values, or worse, the next leg down for this bear market.”

Eric says the huge amount of uncertainty makes chasing this market a waste of time.

But Money Morning’s William Patalon III says if you know where the next big market changes are coming from, you can profit by staying ahead of the curve.

His colleague, Shah Gilani outlines five key “aftershocks” to this financial crisis, and how they should affect your portfolio.

Capital & Crises editor Chris Mayer says that attempting to time market tops and bottoms is futile. But he is confident that, in the end, “value will win out.”

The fundamentals of the resource market still look good on a long-term basis. Finite supplies and unquenchable demand will ensure commodity prices rise again at some point. That’s why Chris recommends buying top quality resource stocks at today’s bargain prices.

Finally, Jim Nelson at Whiskey & Gunpowder says investors can stop worrying about wild market swings by focusing on dividend stocks.

He recommends Dividend Retirement Plans (DRIPs) for long-term income investors.

These plans allow investors to both receive regular dividend checks and reinvest in more stock at a discounted price. Jim says it’s like joining an employee benefit scheme at a strong company without ever lifting a finger.

Happy hunting,

Will Bonner,

Publisher,

Hidden Value