Stocks stage huge rally, but will it hold? Key levels to watch, and some historic perspective… Libor continues to ease; famous Wall Street CEO explains why credit still isn’t flowing… John Williams on the “true cost” of the U.S. financial crisis, with charts to prove it… Byron King with an “exploding” foreign resource market…. Plus, a stinging critique of I.O.U.S.A., and one thing you must do before voting Nov. 4.

After reaching a record level, gold has lost some of its momentum lately. That can be seen in a number of different ways. Gold and Options Trader’s Ed Bugos sees this as only good news. Gold should have another surging summer, and now is the best time for investors to get in by playing the “dips”.

We have set ourselves a mighty task in today’s Daily Reckoning, dear reader. We aim to prove to you how short-sighted, smug, and shallow the mainstream press is. This may not be as big a task as it first sounds, given the quality of a lot of journalism. But we take on one of the central myths of the modern economy today: that consumption leads to prosperity.