Dom Rich says the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s estimates of the taxpayer losses from the bailout of Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) are implausibly conservative.

The real estate bubble of this decade was the biggest of any asset class in history. Rather than the CBO’s $25 billion figure, Dom says the real cost is at least $1.3 trillion, and could be as high as $2.5 trillion.

And this doesn’t even account for the inflationary consequences of rescuing Wall Street. The Fed is on a money printing binge session, and anyone holding dollars will be picking up the tab…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded world growth to 3.9% this year, from last month’s estimate of 4.1%. Next year’s outlook is also down - from 3.9% to 3.7%.

The Sovereign Society’s Eric Roseman predicts a far harsher global outlook. He says the world economy is staring down the barrel of the worst recession in 20 years.

This means it’s time to shift your focus to the securities that can protect your wealth from deflation. Eric says gold, high-quality Treasury bonds, non-financial A and AA corporate bonds and the U.S. dollar are your best bets…

If you own gold or are thinking of buying gold, David Galland’s latest article for The Daily Reckoning is a must-read.

Gold is starting to climb northwards from its nine-month low reached on August 15. But at just under $832 an ounce this morning in London trade, the yellow metal is still way off its March high of  $1,032.70.

Dave says two important events mean the recent setback in gold prices will not last long. The first of these is soaring inflation in the U.S. - which, if calculated by pre-Clinton metrics, is now running at 13.6%. The second is the failure of the euro as an alternative to the dollar…

It was when “official government-approved” inflation figures were released that The Mogambo Guru really lost it last week. The official rate of inflation is now a staggering 5.6%. This is Terrible, Terrible News (TTN)…

Most people know the largest economy and most widely held currency in the world are in trouble, says spy-turned-newsletter-editor Fitzroy McLean.

As Byron King said recently in Penny Sleuth, the Bush administration has presided over a massive expansion of government’s role in finance - a new era of bailouts.

These bailouts will have a disastrous long-term effect on the dollar. Fitzroy recommends two currency plays to best protect your portfolio from the buck’s ultimate devaluation…