Growing up in a depressed mining area (coal mining isn’t profitable for anyone but the mine owners) teaches you things you would never learn otherwise. This is the only advantage of growing up economically challenged. The word poor is so not cool anymore.

Unfortunately, while I am exactly like the Federal Reserve in that we are both total, complete failures at our jobs, mostly through sheer stupidity, the repercussions are quite different.

You probably know John Maynard Keynes as an economist, but may not know that he was also a great investor, maybe the most the successful of the Great Depression era. And for that reason, given all that our own markets are going through, it may be a good time to look at his investment career.

If you’ve made your way over to Europe in the last few years, you may recall being inundated with flyers, billboard messages and seminar advertisements for Spanish property, particularly if you were in the UK. British buyers were scooping up ”cheap” homes in Spain at a blistering rate, reenacting the turn-of-millennium Florida boom.

Warren Buffet has shown the prowess of his trading strategy once again. Not only did he walk away with over $1.5 billion in his pocket earlier this week, but now his prized investment in Coca-Cola (NYSE:CCE) is jumping in value.

In 2009, investors will get a second chance at a massive growth story, says Lynn Carpenter. Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) is down over 50% this year, but with founder Howard Schultz back in charge, it is likely to recover its momentum in the New Year. Lynn says investors could double their money with Starbucks within a year.

I recently endured a showing of Kung Fu Panda, as part of my son Calvin’s 10-year birthday party. Surprisingly, however, this made-for-kids movie contained a couple of sophisticated insights, like this one from the old turtle, Master Oogway: “Your mind is like water. When it’s agitated you can barely see clearly. But once you become quiet and are in peace, then everything becomes clear…”

At an Oxford Club chapter meeting in Asheville, NC last summer, an attendee asked me what I thought about Wall Street’s much-ballyhooed “structured products.” My answer was brief. “Not much.”

Warren Buffett says buy. Jeremy Grantham says it will get worse. Both are celebrated value investors. Who is right? It all depends upon your view of the third derivative of investing. Today we look at valuations in the stock market. This is the second part of a speech I have given in the past few weeks in California and Stockholm. I am updating the numbers, as the target keeps moving.

The situation is grim for home furnishing retailers… Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Tuesday Morning, and just about every company that supplies furniture and home accessories has been crushed.