GOLD: Should you involve yourself?

Many people have been proclaiming that gold/silver is going to be the "new bull market" for 2009. They state that "fiat currencies, have always in the entire history of the world failed". (that bit is actually true) They say that the Fed/Treasury is pushing unGodly amounts of cash into the economy (true) and that ben's helicopter is going to splash so much cash on to the world economy that Gold as a the old "reserve currency" will make a comeback. They say that (eventually) inflation will make the value of gold rise in comparison to it's fiat counterpart. (false, for the near/medium term).

Lets get beyond the bs. The bottom line is this. Monetary inflation may give some bouyancy to precious metals, but the FACT is that gold is only a good hedge against GEOPOLITICAL RISK. Many gold bugs fail to point out that the 1980's gold spike corresponded with the Iran hostage crisis, and they fail to note that gold's decline followed when the Iran hostage situation began to end, in ~1981. If you have been following gold/silver lately you should be able to note that the spikes have come when geopolitical tensions flared i.e. Russie/Georgia, India/Pakistan, Israel/Palestine. AND Besides, we are entering what looks to be a Deflationary (with a capital D) depression (start thinking that the best investment may be the bank of Sealy).

The reality for the vast majority if people is this, the best investment for 2009 will be very simple in comparison to previous years, the best investment will be 1. holding on to your cash and 2. keeping your job. I will delve into the fundamental reasons why these two options are by far your best financial issues to focus on. Prudence, saving, and your grandparent's wisdom will come back with a vengeance in '09 and the ones that heeded this advice will be thankful. This I can promise with a large degree of certainty.

THERE WILL BE A TIME TO JUMP ON TO THE NEXT BULL MARKET BUT THE TIME IS NOT NOW.