I remember buying gold at 550 (the first time round) - thinking it was way too late - and selling it at the top, mid-70's was it?  early 80's?  I wasn't able to do it myself, so my dear papa stood in line for me, for hours, to do it.  I miss him badly.

History does and does not repeat itself.  The form is the same, the specifics are different.

We are deeper in it than ever before.  Derivative positions (=bets), I was reading yesterday, are at an all time high of $516 Trillion.  Yes, trillion with a "T".  More than the GNP of the entire world, many times over.

I have also seen panicked investors pull money out of their good stocks, including their gold stocks, to cover their "bad" debts and miscalculations.  But eventually it caught up.

I don't want a big drop, but I have steadied myself for very big sags in share prices - volatility will be king.

On the positive side, Canadian mortgage lending is on vastly better standards than the US lending - there is no comparison.  We are infected with US subprime mortages held here, but the Canadian mortgages are only just starting to edge into foolishness.

Already the Canadian dollar is losing traction against the Euro.  It's known we catch a cold when the US sneezes - we are in bed with an elephant.

I was intending to wait until Bush was gone, but then I saw we still have 400+ days of him, and it appears that because of the money behind the players, the new Prez will be the same as the old Prez.  So I went long KXL.

Ike was right.