U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech to the joint session of Congress this week was a beautiful performance. His language was exquisite, his delivery was superb, his rhetoric – at times – truly uplifting. 

Federal officials are discussing the possibility of converting the U.S. government’s preferred shares of Citigroup Inc. (C) to common stock in a move that would boost taxpayers’ stake in the company to 40%, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Synchronized boom, synchronized bust,” explains our old friend Marc Faber in the Wall Street Journal. Where have you gone Alan Greenspan? Your nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Ou… ou… ou…

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday (Wednesday) released a proposed housing program designed to prevent up to 9 million “at risk” Americans from losing their homes.

Are you a “responsible homeowner?” If so, President Obama has a gift for you.

Investing your money and keeping it safe and sound is crucial, especially during a recession. Money Morning’s Mike Cagesso shows you a few DRIP companies to keep your eye on.

I’m keeping an eye out for financial Black Swans this month — more than usual.

It came as no surprise to me that both gold got sold off a bit the moment that the gold market opened in the Far East on Monday morning. But it didn’t amount to much, because shortly after 2 p.m. in Hong Kong…1:00 a.m. Monday morning N.Y. time…gold began a slow rise that continued right through the London open. This lasted until the silver fix in London (noon) before selling off about ten bucks. But as soon as floor trading opened on the Comex in New York, the price rose…then spiked to its high of the day…before it was gently capped and then got slowly sold off until the end of Globex trading at 5:15 p.m. Eastern time.

It is important that we understand that the stock market is not the economy. Even people who are not investors tend to make this mistake. It’s easier to make that mistake if you’re personally invested. On the surface, however, it’s obvious that economies don’t change as dramatically as the market does. Paper losses can be painful, but they don’t translate directly into the destruction of real assets.

Once upon a time, generous-minded social engineering resulted in the Community Reinvestment Act, which forced banks to lend to disadvantaged borrowers who otherwise couldn’t get mortgages to buy homes.