The next economic storm and how to prepare for it--from a top decision-maker at BlackRock An economic calamity is already looming on the horizon, and it's going hit the U.S. on a scale equal to the recent mortgage meltdown and liquidity crisis of 2008-2009. In February, President Obama announced that the 2010 budget deficit would surpass $1.5 trillion, an amount greater than the total debt of our nation in its first 200 years of its existence. And things only get worse from here: between 2010 and 2019, America will add one trillion of additional debt every year. In The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble, Russ Koesterich, who manages over $100 billion for the world's largest money management company, offers compelling evidence supporting his prediction that the global economy is on the verge of more, even greater upheaval and provides his unique insight into: The structural weaknesses underlying the economic meltdown Why commodities will be so important in the next economic climate Likely ramifications to the real estate market The best stocks to buy and which ones to avoid Today's investing strategies will be rendered useless in the next storm's wake. Written by one of the most qualified people in the business, The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble offers a plan for protecting your wealth and preserving the power of your savings. Table of Contents Chapter 1. Why Worry About the Deficit? Chapter 2. Why the Deficit Will matter to You Chapter 3. What to Watch Chapter 4. How to Manage Your Cash and Debts Chapter 5. Investing in Bonds in a Rising Rate Environment Chapter 6. Stocks to Buy and Avoid Chapter 7. Why You May Need Commodities Chapter 8. What to do with Real Estate Chapter 9. Putting it All Together Chapter 10. Conclusion: Can We avoid the budget debacle?

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

A sophisticated guide to today?s hottest investment vehicle? exchange traded funds The ETF Strategist is aimed primarily at investment advisers and sophisticated retail investors who are interested in using exchange traded funds, or using them more effectively than they already do. Compared with mutual funds, ETFs can offer a better way to diversify risk, target specific sectors or countries, avoid style drift, and maintain a specific asset allocation that might include real estate or commodities. Previous ETF books have focused on their mechanics, regulation, and other basic information. But The ETF Strategist goes much further, showing how ETFs can improve many aspects of an overall investment strategy. It explores advanced concepts such as alphabeta separation, which basically means ?don?t confuse skill with risk.? And it shows how different ETFs can be combined to find the ideal balance of risk and potential reward.

For most of the past 50 years the simplest asset allocation solution was often the best. A balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds provided the investor with good returns. Unfortunately, this approach is not likely to work as well in the future. Interest rates are close to historic lows, equity valuations and bond prices appear stretched, and global economic growth has slowed. Investors need a new asset allocation solution. In Portfolio Construction for Today's Markets, BlackRock Portfolio Manager and investment expert Russ Koesterich addresses this problem by describing the step-by-step approach to building a portfolio consistent with investor goals and suited to today’s market environment. This portfolio construction process is divided into six stages, beginning with setting objectives and moving through assessing risk tolerance, diversification, the importance of factors, generating return assumptions, and combining assets in a risk-controlled manner. In the final chapter, Mr Koesterich presents a highly useful summary of the five fundamental rules of asset allocation and a five-step checklist to follow when constructing portfolios. For investors and their advisors constructing portfolio in today's markets, this book is an indispensable new guide.

An in-depth guide to making gold a serious part of your portfolio Gold, the long forgotten store of value that was once the center of the global financial system, suddenly matters a great deal again. It has become a leading asset by virtue of its strong performance, and its booming demand has made it the only financial asset that remains in an uninterrupted bull market. And yet gold remains one of the least-owned financial assets in investment portfolios today. Hard Money helps investors move beyond the simple, yet widely accepted notion that gold makes sense in today's financial environment, and explores ways to magnify potential investment returns driven by precious metals. This reliable resource examines the investment vehicles (bullion, stocks, derivatives, and even rare coins) and strategies (aggressive, conservative, passive, and variations) aimed at beating the price of gold as it rises, and ways to protect a portfolio should the metal decline. Identifies five key drivers that should continue to push gold higher in the years ahead Explores the ins and outs of investing in gold and making this precious metal a part of your portfolio Examines the pros and cons of multiple ways to buy gold via coins, ETFs, mining and royalty stocks, and other investment vehicles Author Shayne McGuire is a highly-regarded expert on gold Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Hard Money offers key strategies to enhancing returns with new methods for investing in gold.

The economic tipping point for the United States is no longer theoretical. It is a reality today. The country has gone from the world's largest creditor to its greatest debtor; the value of the dollar is sinking; domestic manufacturing is winding down - and these trends don't seem to be slowing. Peter Schiff casts a sharp, clear-sighted eye on these factors and explains what the possible effects may be and how investors can protect themselves. For more than a decade, Schiff has not only observed the U.S. economy, but also helped his clients reposition their portfolios to reflect his outlook. What he sees is a nation facing an economic storm brought on by growing federal, personal, and corporate debt, too-little savings, a declining dollar, and lack of domestic manufacturing. Crash-Proof is an informed and informative warning of a looming period marked by sizeable tax hikes, loss of retirement benefits, double digit inflation, even - as happened recently in Argentina - the possible collapse of the middle class. However, Schiff does have a survival plan that can provide the protection that readers will need in the coming years.

Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report will study how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today. Technological progress disrupts existing systems. A new social contract is needed to smooth the transition and guard against rising inequality. Significant investments in human capital throughout a person’s lifecycle are vital to this effort. If workers are to stay competitive against machines they need to train or retool existing skills. A social protection system that includes a minimum basic level of protection for workers and citizens can complement new forms of employment. Improved private sector policies to encourage startup activity and competition can help countries compete in the digital age. Governments also need to ensure that firms pay their fair share of taxes, in part to fund this new social contract. The 2019 World Development Report presents an analysis of these issues based upon the available evidence.

The perfect book for investors shaken by recent market turbulence. Investment professional Miller shows how to invest and profit from long-term stocks without anxiety.

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower, a searching and provocative examination of the widespread institutional rot that threatens our collective future What causes rich countries to lose their way? Symptoms of decline are all around us today: slowing growth, crushing debts, increasing inequality, aging populations, antisocial behavior. But what exactly has gone wrong? The answer, Niall Ferguson argues in The Great Degeneration, is that our institutions—the intricate frameworks within which a society can flourish or fail—are degenerating. With characteristic verve and historical insight, Ferguson analyzes the causes of this stagnation and its profound consequences for the future of the West. The Great Degeneration is an incisive indictment of an era of negligence and complacency—and to arrest the breakdown of our civilization, Ferguson warns, will take heroic leadership and radical reform.

A New York Times bestseller The Great Deformation is a searing look at Washington's craven response to the recent myriad of financial crises and fiscal cliffs. It counters conventional wisdom with an eighty-year revisionist history of how the American state -- especially the Federal Reserve -- has fallen prey to the politics of crony capitalism and the ideologies of fiscal stimulus, monetary central planning, and financial bailouts. These forces have left the public sector teetering on the edge of political dysfunction and fiscal collapse and have caused America's private enterprise foundation to morph into a speculative casino that swindles the masses and enriches the few. Defying right- and left-wing boxes, David Stockman provides a catalogue of corrupters and defenders of sound money, fiscal rectitude, and free markets. The former includes Franklin Roosevelt, who fathered crony capitalism; Richard Nixon, who destroyed national financial discipline and the Bretton Woods gold-backed dollar; Fed chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke, who fostered our present scourge of bubble finance and addiction to debt and speculation; George W. Bush, who repudiated fiscal rectitude and ballooned the warfare state via senseless wars; and Barack Obama, who revived failed Keynesian "borrow and spend" policies that have driven the national debt to perilous heights. By contrast, the book also traces a parade of statesmen who championed balanced budgets and financial market discipline including Carter Glass, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Simon, Paul Volcker, Bill Clinton, and Sheila Bair. Stockman's analysis skewers Keynesian spenders and GOP tax-cutters alike, showing how they converged to bloat the welfare state, perpetuate the military-industrial complex, and deplete the revenue base -- even as the Fed's massive money printing allowed politicians to enjoy "deficits without tears." But these policies have also fueled new financial bubbles and favored Wall Street with cheap money and rigged stock and bond markets, while crushing Main Street savers and punishing family budgets with soaring food and energy costs. The Great Deformation explains how we got here and why these warped, crony capitalist policies are an epochal threat to free market prosperity and American political democracy.