Gold bugs have suffered one of their worst years in history, says Keith Fitz-Gerald. But the US dollar looks increasingly fragile beyond this period of short-term panic buying. And that means the outlook for gold remains strong. Keith says every investor should ensure gold forms part of their investment strategy for 2009.

Banking bailouts are nothing new. Starting with the “panic of 1792?, there have been many examples of government financial rescues. Keith Fitz-Gerald says the success of these past bailouts is mixed. And they nearly always cost far more than originally thought…

The buzz on Capitol Hill is that Congress could pass an updated version of the bailout bill before the end of the week. But Shah Gilani in Money Morning says taxpayers are being “force-fed a political solution, instead of a sound economic market-based solution to a financial crisis.” He says the the bailout bill has eight key failings.

What most people just don’t get, says Chuck Butler is that the bailout “constitutes the single greatest case of ignoring the free market in modern history.” And there is actually little justification for it.

The US economy shrank in the third quarter, says Bloomberg, and “a further contraction is likely in the next two quarters…which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82.”

Taipan Publishing editor Justice Litle says Buffett’s backing is particularly significant. It shows there are still a lot of very powerful people, not to mention sovereign wealth funds and foreign governments, willing to back Uncle Sam.

No, you didn’t read that headline wrong. According to Forbes.com, the $700 billion price tag on Hank Paulson’s bailout plan for the US financial markets wasn’t based on “any specific data point.” It just seemed like a nice big number.

It’s inflate or die for Western capitalism,” says The Sovereign Society investment director, Eric Roseman. It may take a while but, according to Eric, Hank Paulson’s attempt to rescue the financial system will send inflation soaring and the US dollar tumbling.

Hank Paulson, current Treasury Secretary and former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, would like to have an unlimited amount of money with no oversight so he can do what he pleases with it. Wouldn't we all?

Unfortunately for him, everyone knows that he is a grifter who would like to give the money to his buddies and stick the taxpayer with huge losses.

Just how much of your money has the government flung at Wall Street? $1,164 billion so far: $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $150 billion in “stimulus”checks; $85 billion for AIG; $29 billion for Bear Stearns.

Justice Litle says the plan is a minefield for investors. He says there are five things you need to know about the government bailout and what it means for your portfolio.

The Unholy trinity - the Federal Reserve, SEC and Treasury - has pulled out all the stops this time. But while US stocks soar, Justice Litle says the government’s bailouts are a death blow for the dollar.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the two last major investment banks left standing after the carnage Wall Street, have ended the era of investment banking by changing their status to bank holding companies. The change means the two firms can now create commercial banks that will be able to take deposits.

Lately Hank Paulson has drawn a line in the sand - no more bailouts - no more "moral hazard." The reasoning is, if market participants think the government will bail them out of their mistakes, they will become reckless, which is moral hazard. I disagree.

“All this debt […] has to be paid back,” says currency expert Chris Gaffney. “And how does the government plan to do this? With cheaper dollars…”