September 2008 will go down in the history books as the month in which the bulls finally looked like losers. It took eight and a half years. March 2000 marked the end of the Reagan stock market boom, although the supposed experts did not see this at the time or thereafter. Even after the NASDAQ had declined 80% by 2003, they still told people that the best strategy is to buy stocks and hold them long-term.

In every economic boom and bust, there are winners and losers. Never before in American history, or any other history, have the winners won so much. The big winners were in the financial industry. They profited enormously from the expansion of the money supply from August 1982 until March 2000. They rose in the corporate ranks during this period.

We were all misled by the assurances of ‘experts’ over this crisis, says Gary North in The Daily Reckoning. The $700 billion Paulson plan will not be the last bailout. And the ever-growing national debt will never be paid off with the US dollar at its present value. Gary says it is time to name and shame those who tried to deceive us…

On August 11, the price of gold collapsed: down over $30. So did the price of silver, platinum, and palladium. A lot of people are asking why.

US retail sales grew by 1% in May, following the distribution of $57 billion in economic stimulus checks, reports CNN.

“The economic stimulus package is flawed policy in the first place”, says MoneyWeek magazine’s Richard Benson.

The US government hopes to revive its ailing economy with tax rebates. But with the cost of living soaring and consumers deep in debt, this will have little effect.