I never thought an 18.6% decline could actually represent good news. But in an example of how desperate we’ve become for it – particularly concerning the U.S. housing market – many have jumped on the fact that it was the first time in 16 months that U.S. home prices didn’t drop by a new record. Wow… where’s that champagne? 

Is there a Sword of Damocles hanging over gold’s head? Here’s why U.S. and IMF gold holdings aren’t as big a deal as some think…

Responding to growing concern about the quality of the Federal Reserve System’s assets, former Federal Reserve Governor Lyle Gramley told reporters last week that “You have to reckon with the fact that one of the Fed’s assets is gold certificates, which are priced, as I remember, at US$42 an ounce, and if we were to price them at market prices, the Fed’s leverage would look a lot less than it is now.”

Humor me. Let’s crunch those numbers.

Those gold certificates have a book value of about US$14 billion, if you include special drawing rights and coin holdings ($1.7 billion). Even if you revalued this inventory, it would still total less than $300 billion, or 12% ofthe Fed’s total assets. So far,…

One of the biggest fears today is that the US is entering a Japanese-like slump that could last a decade. But Justice Litle says we have learned the lessons from that crisis. This time, the government fears doing too little, but gives little thought about the risks of doing too much. And this is why we should be more scared of one day ending up like Zimbabwe…

Gold bugs have suffered one of their worst years in history, says Keith Fitz-Gerald. But the US dollar looks increasingly fragile beyond this period of short-term panic buying. And that means the outlook for gold remains strong. Keith says every investor should ensure gold forms part of their investment strategy for 2009.

Nations do not purchase their prosperity, says Eric Fry. Since this crisis started last year, the government has thrown around $8 trillion at the problem. But these are banknotes that it has manufactured for itself. And that’s why we may soon face a severe threat from inflation.

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) is “quite favorable,” says Gloom, Boom & Doom Report publisher Marc Faber.

“The air will be clean within the next one month and we can get a fairly good rebound starting from the middle of October until the spring of next year,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Faber also warns that AIG (NYSE:AIG) may be a “much bigger problem” than Lehman…

Lets face it, the era of easy money and cheap oil has come to an end.

US consumer price inflation rose at its fastest rate since November 2007 as oil and energy costs continue to soar.

The US Labor Department said prices increased by 0.6% in May, a higher increase than forecast.

John Mauldin examines the causes of inflation in in Outside the Box…

Eurozone inflation measured 3.7% year-on-year in May, the highest rate for 16 years, reports Bloomberg. This increases the likelihood of an interest rate hike by the ECB in July, putting more downward pressure on the US dollar.

Money Morning’s William Patalon III discusses how rising inflation is dominating the news on both sides of the Atlantic:

Undoubtedly, a universal theme is emerging at the Fed and other world central banks: Inflation, Inflation, Inflation.