Theo Casey, Investment Director of The Fleet Street Letter and member of The Right Side editorial team, discusses the merits of gold, the bull’s run, and how to get in on the action.

“Beyond the Crisis… With most of the world’s economies officially out of recession, the FT launches a series examining the legacy of worst global economic crisis since the 1930s,” says the FT. But according to the figures below the headline, the crisis wasn’t so bad. The US economy walked backward only 3.5%. Now, it’s making progress again.

The FT editors should keep their eyes on the road. The ‘recession’ did more damage than they think. And it isn’t over… There’s more trouble ahead.

The price of gold has surged this year, taking gold shares upwards with it. Readers of my Xcelerated Profits Report have rung the register with 45% profits on Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) and a triple-digit winner on Golden Star Resources (NYSE: GSS). We’re also up big on Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) at the moment.

All is good, right?

On the surface, perhaps. But not if you believe what the options market is saying…

Rob Parenteau, currency and credit markets expert, and editor of The Richebacher letter, analyzes the current state of the economy, as represented by retail sales. Can retail really drive the recovery?

Brian Hunt, editor in chief of Stansberry’s free online investment digest, The Daily Crux, interviewed Marin [Katusa, Casey Research]to get his take on where oil prices are headed for the long-term… the regions where investors and traders should focus their dollars… and some of his favorite energy companies with massive upside.

Is the drop in the dollar worth watching? Just like the sun will eventually shine its last ray of light, the mighty dollar will someday buy its last barrel of oil or its final container of Chinese imports.

We all know it is going to happen, so why bother discussing it. Right?

Bill Bonner, venerable voice of reason (with a touch of doom), at The Daily Recokoning, looks long term at gold, the markets, and the end of the depression.

The Transportation Sector: The Market’s Most Important Domain

Airlines, railways, package carriers, even oil and gas pipelines are all industries that make up the transportation sector.

But why should you care about it?

Because transportation is actually the most important sector – and for good reason: growth or contraction here serves as a proxy for both U.S. and global economic growth.

The dollar nevertheless remains the world’s leading reserve currency, with the euro in second place. Investors are naturally anxious to protect themselves against markets, including currency markets, which have shown such a high degree of volatility.

The Chinese, who have the greatest number of dollars in their currency reserves, have already suffered substantial losses.

In what amounts to a crisis of the dollar, the euro is in second place as a reserve currency, but there are potential threats to the future of the euro, due to the weak productivity of the Mediterranean economies.

So what was it that spooked the markets… Well… The only thing I can find was the report yesterday about falling Housing Starts that Chris told you about… Did you know that about 14% of US homeowners were either delinquent on their mortgage or in some stage of foreclosure? That is the highest rate since the group started collecting the data in 1972!

But there was something else that was announced as the day went on, that I think probably spooked the markets more than anything else… And that is a key House panel approved two amendments to a sweeping financial-overhaul bill that would give federal watchdogs new authority to audit the Federal Reserve, and would establish a fund of as much as $200 billion to help dissolve large, troubled institutions. Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) offered the amendment seeking to subject the Fed to audits.