The tough thing about buying stocks is, you never know when they’ll appreciate in price (and you’ll make a profit). The other tough thing is, no matter how much homework you’ve done, there’s always a risk that something will go terribly wrong (fraud, accident, etc.) and your position will be wiped out. There are no guarantees when it comes to buying equity.

The surest sign of a civilization in decline is inflation. Governments throughout history have resorted to debasing their currencies to meet their expenditures beyond tax receipts. We hardly think twice about inflation anymore. After 70 years of this kind of cheating, we’ve come to expect it.

The next president will face soaring foreclosures, insolvency at Freddie and Fannie, street protests against foreclosures, and a growing number of bank failures. It’s not too hard to guess what’s likely to happen next, is it?

Everyone knows markets hate uncertainty. Nowhere is that borne out more than in biotech.

Learning to truly enjoy bear markets – to lust for them – is not easy.

Looking at the credit data, it seems people have begun to stop paying their bills in order, from most expensive to least. Houses came first – that’s the most expensive bill. Autos came second.

Weekend Edition The Best of The S&A Digest

Goldsmith has compiled a recession-proof portfolio in his S&A Dividend Grabber. He has recently recommended a world-class health care company, a blue-chip food producer, and the only mortgage REIT currently beating the market.