Is the rally over? Not at all! The world’s bankers say the economy is recovering. Investors believe them; they’re bidding up stocks.

Reading the obituaries is such a delight. First, it is a relief when you find your name not mentioned. Then, it is a joy when you find those that are. Not that we wish to see any man’s name on the roll of the dead; still, the final audits are always the most revealing. Here on the back page, we admire honest scalawags…and learn from them. Thus was our attention drawn to Mr. Omar Bongo’s exit from the mortal stage on June 8th.

Look at the economic goings-on that take place on this, the third rock from the Sun…The Dow is up again – could this be the beginning of a major rally?…pinning hopes on a stimulus package…much talk of cutting taxes, but not of cutting spending…Find a premise that is wrong, and bet against it…for gold bugs, it’s now or never…and more!

Amid the doom and gloom reports on the economy, Alexander Green says the stock market should perform well in 2009. The market generally recovers long before the wider economy, meaning big gains are possible even during a recession. And for the first time in half a century, stocks are yielding more than US treasuries, marking the return of a strong buy signal for stocks.

The mad rush to US Treasuries has driven yields down to measly levels. But Andrew Gordon says investors can find much better returns with Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Better still, large-cap pipeline MLPs get their revenues from fees, and so are less exposed to wild swings in oil and gas prices.

Gold prices are up slightly again today, to $840 an ounce. The yellow metal has jumped sharply from $750 just weeks ago. Andrew Snyder says a declining dollar and inflation fears will likely propel gold dramatically higher next year. He recommends three ways to profit from this spike.

The incoming Obama administration is expected to launch a stimulus package that could reach up to $1 trillion. Martin Hutchinson says this is a popular – yet high-risk – strategy. In so far as the plan increases the budget deficit and national debt, while crowding out private-sector investment, the long-term damage to the economy could outweigh the stimulus benefits.

Eric Roseman says government intervention should shore up the global banking system in the short term. But the downturn in the real economy is going to persist. The long-term impact of massive public debt creation will be higher interest rates around the globe. Eric says investors should be preparing their portfolio for this post-bailout scenario.

After yesterday’s late-afternoon rout, US stock futures are pointing to another morning of sharp losses. Equity markets in Asia and Europe tanked overnight, ending a week of staggering losses. But here’s the interesting thing: even as stock markets crumble, ’safe haven’ US Treasury bonds yields are up. The government’s desperate rescue efforts are started to raise concerns over the future of US debt…

– Another day another bailout. At 6:30pm yesterday evening on Capitol Hill the government’s plunge protection due Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke announced to lawmakers a plan to plunge $85 billion of taxpayers’ money into insurer AIG (NYSE:AIG) to prevent it from going under. In return, the government will take a 79.9% stake in the company.

– Interests of taxpayers “protected,” according to Fed statement. “Loan is collateralized by all the assets of AIG.” “Loan is expected to be repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the firm’s assets.” 

– “The US government will receive a 79.9 percent equity interest in AIG