I often quote Richard Russell, the 85-year-old writer of the Dow Theory Letters, in my blog posts. Although I may not necessarily always agree with his views, they are always stimulating and important to consider when piecing together the financial puzzle.

Here is the latest from the long-timer:

(1) Goldman Sachs, the “smartest guys on Wall Street,” are under siege. What’s the complaint? These guys sold poisoned pill-products to their customers, and then made billions of dollars selling short the products they sold to their customers. Goldman has to decide whether to plead dumb and innocent or smart and sleazy. Of course, they’ll plead dumb and decent (“they had no idea of what was going on”).

(2) Gold is no longer seen as “just another commodity,” but increasingly it is accepted as the “only safe currency” (this is increasingly the big money view).

(3) The Greek situation is far from being solved. Should Europe and the IMF bail out Greece? Germany is taking a hard stand against a bailout without very harsh new disciplines for Greece. Germany’s lady leader, Ms. Merkel, is proving to be one tough baby, and she’ll do what, in the end, is best for the fatherland. If Greece is bailed, will Portugal and Italy and Ireland be next?

….read points 4-12 HERE