Recently a subscriber asked me, "Russell, if you had to make a single prediction, what would it be?"

Here's my answer -- "The standard of living in the United States is, and will be, heading down. Our kids will not have the same luxurious life that we've enjoyed. We've been able to live beyond our means for decades. And it's because we possess the world's reserve currency. We can print the same currency that our debt is denominated in. That won't last. At some point (rather near, I think) the rest of the world will be wary of accepting Federal Reserve Notes. There will be just too many of those notes, and when you create too much of anything, its value sinks.
What do you and I do in the current situation. My answer -- "cash now, gold later."

What about the gold action? Do you remember my writing about how a bear market attempts to lure you in? Well, a bull market does just the opposite. Gold is in a long-term bull market. And gold is acting like most bull markets.

The gold bull market wants to keep you worried and constantly fearful and sceptical. The bull market's best weapon is the correction. Lately, there has been a lot of publicity about gold -- full page ads in the newspapers arrogantly promising "Gold at 2000" and "Gold will protect your assets." Frankly, as a gold bull all this sudden publicity makes me nervous. I prefer quiet bull markets that don't attract the traders and the late-comers.

Meanwhile, the gold-bull has done his job. Gold has corrected down to the high 800s, instead of roaring above 1000 as widely-advertised. Our job is to ignore all the ups and downs and chatter about gold. Our job is to take a position in gold and sit with it -- do nothing. For the average individual, this is hard to do. It's very difficult to sit through the entire length of a bull market. That's the way the bull wants it. The bull wants to worry you and hopefully head higher with as few investors riding on his back as possible. Remember that when you're tempted to take profits in your gold.