On Tuesday, both gold and silver started to decline at one of their usual times…about 3:00 a.m. New York time on Tuesday morning…with the bottom coming at the close of London trading. The price managed to recover somewhat after that…but once again (at 3:00 a.m. New York time on Wednesday morning) gold and silver prices began to decline. There was a temporary bottom at the London close again yesterday, but the recovery was short-lived, and both metals were taken down right into the close of after-hours trading on the Globex.

Andrew Snyder says this credit crisis could eventually go down as one of the most profitable periods in US history. The country’s biggest and oldest companies are selling at an unprecedented discount. Andrew selects four blue chip stocks set to make huge recovery profits over the next two years.

Visa and MasterCard Settle Up; Daimler’s Plant Closures; Apple’s Christmas Bargain; Johnson Controls’ Weak Outlook; Gas Prices Down 23% From July; U.S. Budget Deficit the Highest Ever; Pepsi Fizzles

Daily Reckoning editor Bill Bonner says irrational investment decisions are driven by two emotions: fear and greed. For the last few years, greed has dominated financial markets. But times have changed. Panic is sweeping the markets. Fear is now in control. Bill says fear is every investor’s worst enemy. And gold should be every investor’s best friend.

Bristol Myers Moves for ImClone; Kodak Earnings Fade; Diana Shipping Doubles Earnings; Crude Stumbles Again; Google to Start VC Fund; Primetime Ad Drama; MasterCard Slumps on Less Spending; S&P Says U.S. Car Companies are “Junk”

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) yesterday (Thursday) offered $4.5 billion in cash for biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL), the Associated Press reported. ImClone’s board has yet to comment on the proposal, which offers its stockholders $60 per share, a 30% premium to its Wednesday closing price of $46.44. Bristol-Myers already owns about 17% of ImClone.

• Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) said yesterday (Thursday) that second-quarter profit fell, as traditional film-based revenue slumped 14% to $847 million. Sales climbed 1% from $2.47 billion to $2.49 billion, and revenue from digital businesses rose 10%…

Small online businesses are in for a serious wake-up call in 2011, says Mark Nestmann in The Sovereign Society. This is because it will then become mandatory for all electronic payment systems to report sales data to the IRS. The agency will then be able to check these records against filed tax returns from business owners.

New Home Sales Plummet; Mexico Staves off U.S. Slowdown; Monsanto Reaps Big Rewards; MasterCard Pays AmEx $1.8 Billion; Buffett Concerned About Stagflation; Reduced Damages for Exxon; Nike Strong in Asia; More Cuts for Penney’s.

With earnings season starting to wind down, investors are not anticipating many new surprises.

Consumer Confidence Hits 5-Year Low; Citi to Offer $3 Billion in Common Stock; Denny’s Satisfied by 1Q Earnings; IBM Bumps Dividend; Merck Drops on FDA Rejection; Airline Shares Take-off; MasterCard’s “Priceless” Quarter; Gildan Shares Sacked for a 30% Loss.

The U.S. buyout market is about to enter a new phase, as corporate takeovers pick up where private-equity firms left off last fall. The deal-making market is a key to the health of the U.S. stock market.