L: Doug, last time we spoke, you said quite a bit about debt, in the context of your expectation that the euro is on its way out. At the end of that conversation, you mentioned, of course, that the problem is not limited to Greece, nor the eurozone. America as a country has become a world-class debtor, and many Americans seem to think a maxed-out credit card is a reason to get a higher credit limit, not to economize. It’s like a global epidemic. Let’s talk about debt.

Fun fact, half the world's lithium is in Bolivia of all places.  Always looking for the "next big thing" I had looked into lithium investments in the past due to the potential of large scale increase usage, but outside of Sociedad Quimica Y Minera de Chile (SQM) - a hybrid fertilizer / lithium play - there were not really any decent sized investment candidates I could find.  [Jul 11, 2008: Let's Talk About Sociedad Quimica Y Minera de Chile (SQM)]  Judging fro

For the past few months, all eyes have been on Greece and Dubai as the two countries struggle to deal with a growing debt crisis. Fears of insolvency have abated somewhat with recent, but vague, promises of support from other EU nations in the case of Greece, and the delivery of a massive bailout to Dubai from fellow United Arab Emirates nation, Abu Dhabi.

This new-found confidence has helped push emerging-market stocks to a six-week high. Commodities have also rebounded with a corresponding increase in the currencies of those nations exporting oil and metals.

We've been keeping a close eye on copper of late. [Feb 2, 2010: Trader Who Called 1996 Crash in Copper Says Prepare for Another - "Catastrophe" Awaits]   Funny thing, is despite rampant inventory build the earthquake in Chile (one of the world's largest producers of copper) allowed an opportunity for speculators to run in and ramp up the price Monday, even though the mines where copper is sourced were not near the earthquake zone, and were only offline for a day or two.  B

What an interesting mix of guests were booked for the most recent episode of “Turning Hard Times Into Good Times”. We had a well educated author that believes our universities are turning our people into non thinking socialists. Also, a precious metals coin dealer and a president of a junior coal miner.

Since Nixon took us off the international gold standard in 1971, spending by the U.S. government as well as individuals and corporations has run amok.