Gold gained yet another powerful ally yesterday — hedge fund icon Paul Tudor Jones. The man who famously called Black Monday in 1987 and the Nikkei crash a few years later now thinks “gold appears to be cheap.” In a note to his investors, Tudor said, “I have never been a gold bug. It is just an asset that, like everything else in life, has its time and place. And now is that time… gold’s value should increase as its scarcity relative to printed currencies increases.”

Baltimore (TFN): Welcome to Notes version 2.0. As Will moves on to his next successful endeavor at the family office, I could not be more pleased and nervous to be at the helm. After all, he set the bar high.

Well, so far this year the S&P and Nasdaq are both in positive territory, the S&P by a little and the Nasdaq by 10 percent.  It has been a strange path to get to this positive territory with a huge drop in January and February and then a monstrous rally since then.

Only one of the 19 financial institutions that received a bank stress test would require additional capital, the controversial government initiative has reportedly concluded.

If the Aussie market follows the U.S. lead today, look out. Before we break for lunch here in Colorado, stocks in New York are taking a beating. The Dow Jones Industrials are down nearly 200 points. And it’s such a nice day out, too.

Look at a nationwide map of foreclosures, and you just might be looking at a hollowed-out future of exurban America. I alluded to this phenomenon a couple of days ago in musing over Sen. Obama’s ill-considered remarks that implied giving the developing world effective veto power over American driving and dietary habits.

Things continue to slip, slide, and shift strangely Out There.