It’s time to roll up our sleeves, put on our waders and plunge into the inflation-deflation question once again. It’s going to get messy. But it’s probably the most important question to answer for investors right now. That’s because the price direction of almost every asset on the planet depends on these monetary forces.

Given the implicit government guarantees, Eric Roseman says it is likely that investors will soon start to switch from low-yielding Treasury bonds to high-grade corporate debt. The Fed’s balance sheet is now polluted by the toxic debt it has taken on from banks. And demand for Treasuries will not keep pace with the deluge of supply in the coming year. Eric says this could make investment grade corporate debt the new safe haven in bonds in 2009.

While the market panics about deflation, Eric Fry says forward-looking investors can profit by swimming against the tide. The Inflation-protected Treasury bond ETF (NYSE:TIP) has never been cheaper, meaning a great chance for gains as the government’s mega bailouts feed through to higher prices.