I should say this is not professional advice and all investment suggestions should be gone over by a qualified professional. That having been said...

Buy gold it's the only save place to protect your money from total loss. And, not just paper options get the coins.

US economy suffers sharp nosedive

The US economy shrank at an annual rate of 6.2% in the last three months of 2008 official figures show, a far sharper fall than previously reported.
Plunging exports and the biggest fall in consumer spending in 28 years dragged the annualised figure down from an earlier estimate of 3.8%.

The decline was much worse than analysts had expected, sending US stocks spiraling lower.

In 2008 as a whole, the economy grew by 1.1%, the slowest pace since 2001.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 119.15 points, or 1.66%, to 7,062.93. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 2.36% to 735.09 - a 12-year low.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of domestic economic activity, fell by a rate of 4.3% in the final quarter - the biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980. This was a revision of the earlier figure of 3.5%.

With rising unemployment, sliding home values, increasing numbers of repossessions and the slumping value of investments, observers say many US consumers are hanging on to whatever disposable cash they have.

Meanwhile, exports - which had until recently been supporting the economy - fell at the sharpest rate since 1970 at an annual rate of 23.6%, down from 19.7%.

The latest GDP figures were "just awful" said Matt Esteve, a currency trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington DC. "It shows the weak state of the world's largest economy."

And Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT Forex said there was "doom all over".

“Gold rose above $1,000 an ounce on Friday for the first time since March last year as nervous investors piled into the yellow metal to preserve wealth amid a tumbling stock market.
Long-term inflation worries fanned by the massive U.S. economic stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama this week has driven investors into gold, which is perceived as the most likely asset to hold its value against economic head winds.

"I think there's a little bit of panic out there. Equities are setting new lows and gold is the place to run to. I don't think there's much more than that," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance in Boston.
Bullion continued to appreciate against other asset classes and commodities on Friday amid renewed fears that the U.S. government could be forced to nationalize banks amid a worsening financial crisis.

A ratio of gold against the S&P 500 index rose to its highest level since September 1990, and gold/oil ratio was at its loftiest since December 1998, according to Reuters data.
Gold futures for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $25.70, or 2.6 percent, at $1,002.20 an ounce. They reached a session high of $1,007.70, their highest price since March 2008.
Spot gold hit a peak of $1,005.40, its strongest level since March 18. It was at $993.80 an ounce at 2:42 p.m. EST, up 2.0 percent against $973.75 in New York late on Thursday.

The metal is poised to rise further, possibly targeting last March's all-time high of $1,030.80 an ounce, analysts said.
Gold options market also pointed to sharply higher prices of the metal.

COMEX gold floor trader Mihir Dange said that trading of December $1,200 call options were extremely active and that gold rising to between $1,200 and $1,300 by year end "was not unrealistic by any standard."
Meanwhile, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, the No. 1 gold exchange-traded fund commonly known as GLD, said its holdings rose nearly five tonnes to a record 1,028.98 tonnes on Thursday, while the iShares Silver Trust's silver holdings climbed 18.4 tonnes to an all-time high of 7,892 tonnes.

U.S. equity markets tumbled as much as 3 percent to their weakest levels since November before they partially recovered. Falling stocks boost the appeal of safe-haven assets like gold.”

“Gold Prices have increased substantially since falling towards the $600 per ounce mark in the latter part of last year and an increasing number of commentators have claimed in recent weeks that the yellow metal is in for a strong 2009.

Now Frank Lesh from the Chicago-based firm has explained that, as investors continue to look upon the economic turmoil with fear, gold is one of the only places they are willing to put their money.

He told the news provider: "Worldwide, gold is seen as a safe place to be. It's one of the few assets that made money last year.

"Everybody wonders: 'Where should I go with my money this year?' When you look around, gold is one of the few recipients."”

“The rise in gold, on the other hand, is easily explained: the dollar is rapidly becoming trash, meaning worth little more than the paper on which it is printed, anybody who owns anything denominated in dollars is going to get financially killed, and gold is the only safe place to put money, unless you happen to be one of those fortune tellers who knows what currency and economy will replace the American one.”

“Gold hit $US1005.40 an ounce on Friday, just 2.5% below the record $US1030.80 reached last March.

"Despite the correction going on, it is clear that gold is the only class of assets investors can put their money in,'' said Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co's financial and economic research centre.
"Stocks are hit hard, other commodities are down, and an expected fall in bond prices keeps new money from flowing into bonds,'' he said, referring to a glut of government debt supply in the United States and other countries.

Gold is becoming more attractive compared with US Treasuries, often seen as the least risky asset, as the slide in Treasury yields is no longer sustainable due to an impending surge of bond issues, analysts said.”

“Gold is regaining its safe-haven status as an earthquake rocks financial markets and makes standard investments seem more risky.”

"All currency crises have been caused by excessive debt," McGuire says. "The mere possibility that such a crisis can occur in the dollar makes gold valuable as a hedge."

Maybe there is doom to be seen. At least the experts are saying there is a crisis. And, the bad news. It's going to get worse. I own land, a home,and my cars. I have no debt and yes I can grow food and hunt.

Again, Buy gold it's the only safe place to protect your money from total loss.
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7915040.stm
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE51J3DM20090220
http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/Goldbug/gold_investment/investors_viewing_...
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/safeplace.html
http://business.theage.com.au/business/markets/gold-dips-to-around-us985-20...
http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/stocks/article.aspx?cp-documentid...
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/Why-Do...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJAvraBilH0&feature=related

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I would suggest putting some of it in an RRSP. Planning ahead is usually a good move.
Source(s):
When it matures, oh lalaaa~

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A friend of mine suggested Muni Bonds, so I'm looking into that. I don't want to put all of my eggs into one basket, so I'm looking at a Muni Bond Fund (a collection of Muni bonds). I'll probably invest back into California since I'm a resident...
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I was chatting with a financial adviser who specializes in international investment just two days ago and asked the same question. His answer was gold. Stocks can reduce to zero, but gold will always have value.
Two other things he said that were of interest is that most of the indicators the media pays attention to are one or more month or a quarter out of date and that a good indicator of where things are headed was the Baltic Shipping Index which follows international shipping..if it's up..it means ships are moving stuff around and that's a positive sign, if it's down, nothing's moving ane that's not so good...the index is moving up...
Source(s):
A financial adviser

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Looks like precious metals such as gold have gained 60% in the last 3 months!
ProFunds Precious Metals UltraSector Inv PMPIX 67.90%
ProFunds Precious Metals UltraSector Svc PMPSX 67.37%
Van Eck Intl Investors Gold I INIIX 63.50%
Van Eck Intl Investors Gold A INIVX 62.90%
Van Eck Intl Investors Gold C IIGCX 62.65%

But when everybody is running out, one should get in!
Real estate and Stocks(Good ones ike NFLX!) may be the way to go!!
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Usual financial advice disclaimers, IANAFP, etc.

I've heard several very knowledgeable and savvy folks say that *right now*, your best return on your money will come from investing in yourself, ie. spend a little money on a vacation, get a personal trainer, get that technical certification, buy some books, etc. Self improvement is always a good investment. Given that answer, I guessed that these people (whose opinion I respect greatly) thought very little of our current investment options. With the exception of today, I'd have to agree.

If you are feeling like living on the edge, equities might be a good buy right now. Some folks are saying we might have hit the bottom of the stock market, and there are a TON of good buys relative to the firm's appraised worth.

I'm also told that items like artwork are a good investment, as their intrinsic value is less subject to market forces, and more to popular culture/fashion, so caveat emptor, obviously! I'd say this is only an option for those with actual wealth, and not us regular folk.
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best place to park you money are

mutual funds linked to gold
buy gold
cororate fixed deposits
govt saving schemes or funds
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AMR- great stock at a good price. i would buy and then sell after 2 days....
JPM- A high stock but has been going up the last 4 days.
EBAY- Great price for stock. 11.00 dollars but well worth it. i expect to see it go up....
DEll- a stock that you need to watch. i would do this as a one day trade. buy in the morning before stock market opens and sell within the first 30 min. then buy the next day. if you can look at the graph.... it has a pattern

Hopes it helps and best of luck to you
****Bad spelling had to type fast, at school*****
Source(s):
my experience.... This works for me... hope it does for you

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