First the good news from our friends at U.S. Global Research  on the Domestic Equity Market:

"The figure shows the performance of each sector in the S&P 500 Index for the week. Nine sectors gained with one only sector declining, healthcare which fell less than one percent. The best-performing sector was industrials, up 7 percent. Other better-performing sectors included materials and consumer discretion. The three worst-performing sectors were healthcare, consumer staples and utilities.

"Within the industrials sector the best-performing stock was Textron Inc., up 20 percent. Other top-five performers in the sector were Eaton Corp., Dover Corp., Emerson Electric and Precision Castparts Corp."

Last week, the price of gold again broke below its new base at $1,200, and the U.S. stock market was again under strong pressure, due to a confluence of fears, most of which point to a deflationary double-dip. The fears were fanned by disappointment in the just-released early quarterly results, by the latest CPI reports that show inflation continuing to moderate, and by yet another poll revealing faltering consumer confidence.

The market is also spooked, no doubt, by notes from the latest Fed Beige Book that make it clear that the Fed is (finally) beginning to understand the entrenched and endemic nature of this crisis. While the notes are written in shamanic double-speak, the point is unambiguous – members of the Fed don’t expect the economy to get back on track until 2015 or 2016.

“Participants generally anticipated that, in light of the severity of the economic downturn, it would take some time for the economy to converge fully to its longer-run path as characterized by sustainable rates of output growth, unemployment, and inflation consistent with participants' interpretation of the Federal Reserve's dual objectives; most expected the convergence process to take no more than five to six years.”

Well the President signed "it' into law. "It" is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection financial reform bill which was signed at the Ronald Reagan at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.

This seems so ironic, especially if you saw the gripping documentary movie, "Capitalism...A Love Story". If you haven't, and you have an open mind and a strong stomach, don't hesitate to see it soon. It's a good introduction to the "mysteries" of the financial system and how powerful it truly is.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from the moon and the planet Mars, there was a strange bifurcation of opinions concerning the state of the global economy.

It is said, "When the United States gets a cold, the whole world gets pneumonia", and this chilling metaphor may still be relevant. 

According to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Dr. Ben Bernanke, the economic version of an "upper respiratory  infection" may be giving off many and various "symptoms", which could send feverish chills throughout the rest of planet Earth's susceptible financial infrastructure.

There’s no secret formula to buying low, and we aren’t holding the right hand of Midas, but there are periods when prices tend to be lower than others. And if those tendencies play out, it can give us the opportunity to snag a high-quality asset at a bargain price.

So, how do you get a bargain price? You cheat.