“It is possible that some brainless members of the U.S. Congress may have introduced a bill that seeks to nationalize pensions, but I hope that it will not be given serious consideration, even by the liberal Democrat majority now in control.”

Gold prices have fallen sharply to one-month lows this week. This is great news for investors, says Dan Denning. It’s a chance to buy the precious metal at a price that will soon be considered a steal.

U.S. retail sales fell 2.7% last month and will likely continue on a downward trend as job losses mount.  Total retail sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted 343.2 billion last month, the Commerce Department reported. That’s a decrease of 2.7% from the previous month and 9.8% decline from December 2007.

To show how far emerging markets have fallen, and where they are headed for 2009, look no further than the theory of ‘decoupling’, says Irwin Greenstein, writing for Contrarian Profits.

Emerging markets investors have always had famed investor Jim Rogers on their side. Now – after the bubbles of China, India, Latin America and more have popped – they can take comfort in the word of investor Mark Mobius, who said emerging markets are “bottoming” en route to a bull phase in 2009.

Swings in commodity prices are often exaggerated in both directions, says Eric Roseman. And that’s exactly what we have seen with crude oil prices this year. But Eric says most of the destruction in demand is now priced in. But long-term supply will still be tight. That’s why we should be near the bottom of the oil cycle, with potentially massive gains for investors that by now.

The global credit bubble imploded in 2008. And now we are seeing extraordinary efforts to re-inflate it. But Byron King says we can’t go back to the old system now. Investors today need to protect their wealth with gold and cash. But long-term investors should base their strategy on the future scarcity of energy and mineral resources.

Commodities will rebound in the New Year, says Martin Hutchinson. Supply and demand fundamentals remain bullish for natural resources. Even more importantly, massive increases in the money supply will create inflation, against which hard assets are an important hedge. Martin gives five ways to play this trend in 2009.

Some commodities are due a strong rebound, says Manraaj Singh. The underlying fundamentals are largely unchanged from July, when many resources were posting record highs. Manraaj says crude oil prices could double by the end of 2009, while agricultural prices will also soar.

South Africa Cuts Interest Rates; BlackRock Cans 500; Empire Co. Posts 13% Profit; KB Toys Files for Bankruptcy; Citi and UBS to Buy Back $30 Billion in Securities; Bank of America to Cut 35,000 Jobs