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Statistical Summary Current Economic Forecast 2009 Real Growth in Gross Domestic Product: -1.0 - -2.0% Inflation: 1-2 % Growth in Corporate Profits: 0- -5% 2010 Real Growth in Gross Domestic Product: +1.0- +2.0% Inflation: 1.5-2.5 % Growth in Corporate...

In This Issue...

* Dollar drifts lower...
* Looking for silver linings...
* NOK to increase rates...
* Aussie dollar continues to move up...

Good day... And good morning to everyone. I wanted to start out this morning's Pfennig by saying my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families of the fallen soldiers and civilian at the tragedy down at Ft. Hood. It is tough enough when we here about losses of our soldiers overseas in the 'combat zones'; but such a large loss of life right here in the US is deeply saddening.

The dollar moved lower throughout the trading day on Thursday as investors felt more confident with the global recovery and the US stock market climbed back above 10,000. Yesterday's weekly jobs numbers were slightly better than expected, and set the market up for this mornings monthly jobs report which will probably show fewer job losses in October compared to September. But there will still be job losses, not gains; and the 'official' unemployment number will inch closer to double digits. We all know if you count those individuals who are underemployed (part time workers who would like full time jobs) and those that have given up on their job search, the actual unemployment number is more like 16%....

Most estate plans are missing a key ingredient. Many estate planners don’t recommend it, and it isn't even mentioned in many estate planning discussions. One reason might be that, despite its importance, the document is not legally binding on...

Subscriber Alert The stock price of Verizon (VZ-$29) has fallen below the lower boundary of its Buy Value Range. Accordingly, VZ is being Removed from the High Yield Buy List. The High Yield Portfolio will continue to Hold this stock. The stock price...

In This Issue..

* Risk players come back out to play...
* Waiting on the Fed's statement...
* Yield differentials come into focus...
* Lisbon Treaty gets signed / ratified...

Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well... Did you see the strong performance that Gold put in yesterday? And it didn't stop yesterday, overnight Gold is up another $7 on top of the +$20 gain it had yesterday... I've got some info on that, we can talk about later...

Oh Shoot Rudy! Let's talk about it right here, right now! It's not every day that Gold not only goes past its previous all-time record high, but obliterates the previous figure! I know you're wanting to take a peek at the price of Gold in the currency round-up portion of the Big Finish, so go ahead, and then come on back... How'd that $1,090 and change price look to you? Pretty sweet, eh? That is as long as you are a Gold holder!...

Economics This Week’s Data October auto sales plunged 33.8%; but that was in line with expectations and reflects the end of the ‘cash for clunkers’ program. http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/11/light-vehicle-sales-105-million-saar...

The Dalbar organization recently completed the 15th update of their landmark Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) Study. As long-time readers know, I have often quoted statistics from these annual updates that show average investors receive inferior long-term returns when compared to gains posted by stock and bond mutual funds. The reason, by and large, is that investors switch from fund to fund chasing hot returns. In doing so, they often end up with low returns, and sometimes even losses. Most interesting, however, is that the 2009 Dalbar QAIB Study update finally comes to the realization that traditional buy-and-hold approaches do not work, and that investors continue to panic and trade out of stocks when losses run high. In other words, emotions often trump rational investor behavior. This week, I'll update you on the most recent Dalbar Study findings, and also discuss our solution to emotional trading that we discovered back in 1995.

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My long time readers are familiar with Jeremy Grantham of GMO as I quote him a lot. He is one of the more brilliant and talented value managers (and I should mention very successful on behalf of his clients). He writes a quarterly letter which I regard as a must read. I have excerpted parts of his recent letter, where the chief investment strategist really takes the current financial system follies to task. Typical of his great writing and thinking is the quote from this week's Outside the Box selection:

'I can imagine the company representatives on the Titanic II design committee repeatedly pointing out that the Titanic I tragedy was a black swan event: utterly unpredictable and completely, emphatically, not caused by any failures of the ship's construction, of the company's policy, or of the captain's competence. 'No one could have seen this coming,' would have been their constant refrain. Their response would have been to spend their time pushing for more and improved lifeboats. In itself this is a good idea, and that is the trap: by working to mitigate the pain of the next catastrophe, we allow ourselves to downplay the real causes of the disaster and thereby invite another one. And so it is today with our efforts to redesign the financial system in order to reduce the number and severity of future crises.'

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