Baltimore — (TFN): I stuck to my word and bought gold. If you follow the markets long enough, you earn a full grasp of the psychology behind it all. After a while, you notice the tiny quivers and false starts that signify a move in either direction.

I used this insight and logic to warn investors about an imminent downturn in gold prices earlier this month. I got a lot of “feedback” from disappointed gold bugs. But it didn’t take long for them to eat their words as the price of an ounce of gold fell by nearly 10% in the last month.

Another of our favorite underground investors Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners is sounding the alarm on US Treasurys. He is also pessimistic about retail investors beating the market on their own.

Stocks, base metals and crude oil made further headway last week. Long-term US bond yields came down a bit following a successful 30-year bond auction and some pro-Treasurys comments from Japan’s finance minister. The dollar dipped while commodity-link currencies rallied.

Stock market volatility continues to shock most market participants this fall with enormous swings occurring almost daily. Last Thursday, the Dow was down almost 300 points at its worst levels only to recover with a massive 552-point gain. That’s an incredible 850-point turnaround in the span of just four hours of trading.

Whether you agree with them or not, the bailout programs will keep on coming. Keith Fitz-Gerald looks at the key impact these will have on the dollar, commodities and global stocks. He says we could be in line for a market rebound by mid-2009, and suggests six ways to prepare your portfolio now.

This is what it looks like when the shit hits the proverbial fan. In this case, the shit being one subprime meltdown, eight years of a monkey in the White House and and $1 trillion in chaotic government hand outs. The fan being everything just about everything else. Yesterday, the talismanic Dow plunged 514.