Financial Sense Blog

2011 is thus not only the Year of the Hare, following the 12-year zodiac cycle, but also the year of yin metal, following the Wu Xing. As yin is associated with the feminine and the moon, the most prominent yin metal is silver. 2011 is thus not only the Year of the Hare but the year of silver. It should therefore be no surprise to find Chinese jewellers currently offering a range of commemorative silver pendants of hares or of the Chinese language symbol for hare, as shown on the right.

It is fascinating to be living during the greatest PM Bull Market in history – and to be entering its Seasonal Strength as the parabola rushes forward and upward - and I look forward to keeping you informed on a regular basis throughout 2011 as it unfolds.

We seem to have missed the celebration. Forget Christmas. Forget New Year’s Eve. 23 December was the big day, and we should have all been partying. What should we have been celebrating on that day? On 23 December 1913 the Federal Reserve Act was passed by the U.S. Senate, creating the most monumental mistake of governance in 97 years.

It’s safe to say some people just do not like being in cash, hence the reason so many want stock picks and trades all the time. But to be flat out honest, I love being in cash or at least holding a good chunk in cash waiting for a high probability opportunity to pop up on my charts before committing my hard earned cash. It’s better to be wishing you were in a trade than to have all your money tied up in losing positions just because you wanted to be active…

Looking at full-year 2010 returns in hind sight, it may appear as if 2010 was an easy year to make money.

If you missed anything in 2010, pop some corn and wait. We need real creativity. If Burbank and Hollywood are any indication. We may get a remake of "Gone WIth The Wind" with Angelina Jolie as Scarlett, George Clooney as Rhett, and Queen Latifah as Mammy! What we really need here is some new kind of killer application product to be invented here and manufactured here to create jobs!

So what happens in 2011 and how does that affect investment portfolios? From my chair looking out over the world here is what I see happening based on current events. This is the first of three parts. The first will focus on global regional commentary. The second will focus on investment areas and the third will tie the first two together.

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation...

Open up the Sarasota Herald Tribune (December 19-20) and there is a two-part front-page story on a shantytown in Venice, Florida. (If you have a problem with the newspaper’s site, search for “Pirates Cove,” the name of the homeless community in Venice, Fl.) 2011 is the year of contrast in America.

If we really want freedom, we have to embrace the truth.