From Tom Petruno's Money & Company blog in the LA Times:

Organized labor might have hoped that the heavy job losses in this deep recession would boost Americans' trust in unions as a counter-balancing force. Instead, just the opposite has happened.

Stock market investment - Two years ago, I talked to a Canadian bank and they swore to me that the subprime crisis which was surfacing in the U.S. at the time wouldn’t touch them. The bank’s shares have since fallen 40 percent. You can run but you can’t hide.

Rick Pendergraft says you shouldn’t underestimate the lift that tumbling gas prices can give consumers in 2009. Compared to the $4 a gallon peak in July, drivers will save $162 billion a year at today’s prices. Add that to a boost in confidence from the Presidential changeover, and Rick says a slow recovery could be on the horizon.

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.