By all reasonable measures, we are already in a recession, says Shah Gilani. Deflation has become today’s number one threat. But massive government rescues mean another bout of inflation looms on the horizon. Shah says investors should look to short vulnerable stocks in 2009. But in 12-18 months, they should be prepared for a “generational opportunity” to make a fortune.

Consumer Confidence at All-Time Low; Home Prices Continue Collapse; OPEC Still Not Satisfied; Whirlpool Circles the Drain; Optimistic Wall Street; Banks Balk on Buyout; Stop the Presses?

Shares of Bank of American Corp. (BAC) fell more than 26% during trading yesterday (Tuesday) as investors reacted to the company’s disclosure that it was cutting its dividend after its third-quarter earnings plunged a stunning 68%.

Despite a $700 billion bailout plan and huge injections of liquidity, money markets are frozen. Today, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which measures the cost of lending between banks, hit new record highs for all currencies.

Money Morning’s Keith Fitz-Gerald says this shows the worst is still to come in this credit crisis.

Keith has three recommendations for investors: 1) Hold T-bills; 2) Look for inverse investments; and 3) Include hard assets and inflationary hedges in your portfolio.

Fortis (FORB) just sold itself to three different European governments. The company lost its deal with China’s Ping An Insurance, and its sale to Deutsche Bank is being held captive by the Dutch Central Bank. But FORB is up 12% today. The hits just keep on coming, but the stock price is still rising.

Yesterday, central banks launched a coordinated effort to flood global money markets with U.S. dollars in hopes of easing strained financial systems in danger of freezing up entirely. However, many analysts see this as only a short-term solution that will lower overnight lending rates but fail to assist financial institutions with longer-term cash needs, says Jason Simpkins  in Money Morning.

Slim Bites Into Big Apple Daily; Campbell’s Earnings Mmm, Mmm Good; King’s Alpharma Bid Heats Up; Conflicting Crude Trader Findings; WSJ: BAC to Buy Lehman; Bristol Doesn’t Budge; Sun Setting on Sunrise; Deutsche Bank Ready to Compete for Postbank

After declining for 15 years, U.S. natural gas production is finally on the rise, thanks to new technological developments that make it possible to draw large amounts of gas from deposits previously thought to be unreachable. An increase in natural gas production of the magnitude many industry insiders predict could do wonders for business, the environment and even U.S. energy independence.

Money Morning’s William Patalon III says comments by Ben Bernanke at the end of the week show he continues to prioritise economic growth over inflation. This means no rate hikes in the near future. But despite falling commodity prices, William says the threat of stagflation is growing…

The base metals were all in positive territory on Tuesday. Copper noodled around unchanged until mid-morning, when it took off and climbed steeply, then held to finish just off its intraday high at $3.4736/lb., up nearly 10½ cents.