What's a difference between a trade and a gamble?

James Mound reviews futures and commodities in his weekly report for the week of January 25.

With a deficit of 50% of GDP, the Japanese government walks where angels fear to tread.  Americans aren’t far behind.

Investors are looking for safety in the wrong places. Sell gold?  Buy the dollar? And bonds?

Consumer spending has held up surprisingly well. But with credit contracting and unemployment high and rising, it can’t continue.

Mike Paulenoff takes a big picture look at the U.S. dollar.

You remember, Japan? It's the country with the 20-year on-again, off-again depression.

Depressions take time.  They go away eventually, but not before they’ve done their work.

Will the government actually increase taxes as much as they say, with unemployment still likely to be at 10%? Or will cooler heads prevail?

Back in the '30s, the guys hauled before Congress generally refused blame. They were just doing their jobs. By and large, they were right. Today's bunch today is more media savvy.