As you’re reading this, I am nowhere near my computer. In fact, I’m not even in the office today. I spent the last three days increasing my “wealth.”

We all have different definitions of the word. Some of us give it a strictly monetary connotation. There is nothing wrong with that. In its most straight-forward definition, wealth is the abundance of money.

But if I can take the risk of getting touchy-feely for a minute or two, I’d like to take it a bit further. To me, wealth is the abundance of everything good in our lives.

If that truly is the case then move over Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, I am one wealthy guy. I bet you are too.

Like I said, I just spent the last three days with my beautiful, young bride and her equally stellar mother.

We spent the weekend at the beach. It’s Alaskan mother-in-law’s first trip to waters of the Atlantic. The opportunity to share my life-long passion with somebody that has never witnessed its majesty before is something I wouldn’t trade for even the hottest of stock tips.

But we had to cut our trip short. You see, in just a couple of hours, I’ll get the first snapshot of my largest investment yet (literally and figuratively). My wife is just ten weeks into what is going to be a lifetime love affair. She gets her first sonogram at five this afternoon.

Talk about wealth.

I could go on and on, but you don’t care. What you care about is your own wealth. There has never been a better time for an audit.

With soldiers killing soldiers, hedge fund managers stealing billions, a government that has lost its way and a country that appears to have dropped all moral responsibility, it is vital for folks like you and I to figure out how we value ourselves.

What is it that we want?

Health. Family. Stability. Food. Love. Life. Liberty. Happiness.

Of course, financial wealth plays a large role in all of those things. After all, if money is the root of all evil, isn’t the foliage of that is good?

As so many of us out here in the world of finance fight against Washington’s latest moves, it is important to set the issue of money aside. Too often, our political thoughts hinge on the question, “What’s this going to cost me?”

But what about all those other things?

How is healthcare reform going to affect my unborn child? How is a bigger government going to make it easier for me live a stable life? How are bonus caps going to make it easier for me to stay in love with my wife?

None of those things impact our real “wealth,” yet our government is hell bent on the idea that they are going to make all of our lives better.

Like I said last week. Vote ‘em all out. You’ll be wealthier for it.

With the nation’s unemployment rate officially in double-digit territory and the under-employed rate ready to the 20% mark, the politicians that promised bliss in the days ahead are eating their words today.

And that means Wall Street is eating its recent gains.

For nearly a month, the Dow has hovered around the 10,000 mark. After hundreds of billions of dollars were withdrawn earlier this year, it was relatively easy to put that money back to work and send the equities market higher.

But now that the economic data is showing facts of slower-than-expected expansion rather than “ideas” of growth, investors are forced to explain their logic. The Dow doesn’t want to budge from 10k.

So far, I’ve heard very few reasons for prices to go any higher. Maybe in China or Australia, but certainly not here in the land where everything is changing.

Think about what has occurred over the past twelve months and tell me if you believe today’s companies are worth as much as they were two years ago or even five years ago.

We’ve had government takeovers of major banks, mortgage lenders, auto manufacturers and insurers. Washington has told people how much they can make in a year. Legislators even introduced retroactive taxes.

Then there is the threat of cap and trade blowing energy prices (an input to nearly every American business) sky high. Now it is mandatory healthcare and the risk to corporate payrolls, tax structures and discretionary spending.

After all that, I hate to think about what is next. An assault on allergens?

*** Maybe I’m just being too pessimistic. After all it has been a long week and I spent five hours at the airport in the middle of the night yesterday waiting to pick up my mother-in-law.

Don’t get me wrong. I think there are some fantastic buying opportunities out there. There are just not in the places most Americans are looking.

But since the mother-in-law brought me eighty pounds of fresh Alaskan salmon, halibut and moose meat (she’s as close to Sarah Palin as you can get without committing to Playgirl), I am starting to feel a bit generous today.

That means I’m going to share with you what I am certain will be the biggest gainers of the next twelve months.

First… healthcare. Think about it. Who is easier to rip off than the federal government?

Just ask Haliburton, Goldman Sachs and whoever sold those $750 toilet seats.

Within a year of signing some diluted version of Pelosi-care, the headlines are going to be filled with record-breaking profits out of the nation’s largest healthcare providers and drug companies.

If Wall Street has the nerve to toss out billions in bonuses while the ink on their bailout checks is still drying, imagine the kind of zeroes that will be added to the paychecks of healthcare executives.

I can hear the excuses now. “If we want to save lives, we have to retain the best workers.”

It is going to be a feeding frenzy when Uncle Sam is the third-party payer.

Next, forget about gold.

One reader wrote to me yesterday and said, “I think it will hit $2,000, but it will probably hit $600 first.”

Could not have said it better myself. Gold’s value is too tied up with political moves and currency fluctuations. With one well-timed press release, China can send the price wherever the heck it wants.

I don’t want my wealth facing that kind of risk, especially after we just rammed Beijing with the largest tariffs yet.

That’s why my money is on palladium. It’s much harder to find and has a huge industrial demand.

Palladium is at the heart of the world’s commodity carry trade. I told TFN Strategic Traders to play Stillwater Mining several months ago and the trade nearly doubled in a week. It is still a good buy, especially as China’s auto industry takes shape.

Finally, go short on natural gas. Get as much leverage as you can because prices are about to plummet fast.

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency was one of the first major groups to back my opinion. In a draft of a report due out next week, the influential group warned of a massive glut of natural gas as global demand begins to top off and turn around just as we are pulling more of the stuff out of the ground than ever.

But don’t wait until Tuesday to read the report. You can read my version right now. In it, I recommend three ways to play the situation.

So far, two of the plays would have already doubled your money. All three are well into positive territory. Prices are almost out of my buying range, so do not hesitate to take action.

*** Before I go for the week, I need to make a correction. Yesterday, I inadvertently said the Senate extended unemployment benefits for 14 months. The actual extension is 14 weeks.

I apologize for accidentally releasing my psychic secrets. The 14-month extension won’t come until next spring, when Congress finally makes it illegal to layoff any employee.

Enjoy a great autumn weekend,
Andrew Snyder