Are you sold on gold? The precious metal outperformed every major equity index in the world in 2008. The question is, can gold—and other precious metals—keep on flying? Or would buying today be buying high and selling low?

Precious metals have always been intriguing to investors because they tend to hold their value. In times of geopolitical crisis or currency devaluation, for example, the value of paper money might fluctuate, but a hard asset will always be worth something. As a result, historically, precious metals have been considered a “safe haven” in times of economic and financial instability.

That brings us to why gold is on a tear today. It declined in 2008 and early 2009 as panicked investors rushed into cash…

There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

The Swiss franc is still a good currency relative to the majority of paper trash still circulating in the world, but it isn’t quite the beacon of strength it once was…

U.S. banks are going bad as quickly as a bunch of over-ripe peaches in the summer heat. On the heels of the Colonial Bank failure comes another sizable bank failure.

A new Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  (FDIC) plan to offload busted banks to vulture investors strikes an uneven balance between private equity players and public taxpayers and may inadvertently sow the seeds for another round of bank failures.

All the factors that set the fertilizer bull market in motion in the first place are still here. Populations are still growing. Diets are shifting toward more fruits, vegetables and meats — all fertilizer intensive. As Potash CEO Bill Doyle says, “This will continue to put pressure on global grain supplies, as farmers are being challenged to produce more with land and water resources that are shrinking on a per capita basis.”

Bernanke sticks to the script…  Pound sterling comes under pressure…  China starts shopping for assets…  BRIC MarketSafe lights up the phones… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Oil dropped well over a dollar to below $62 a barrel on Wednesday, placing it on course for a sixth consecutive fall and the longest losing streak since mid-December, after U.S. data showed a big rise in fuel stocks.