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Today's commentary, from "Mestre Socrates," concerned using Fibonacci levels to predict long-term trends in gold.  For the full version of this essay, which was shortened to make it more readable for a general audience, click here.

From our friend and longtime subscriber Jonathan Auerbach of  Auerbach Grayson, a plug for the humble nickel: Ah the 1st of April, the day for fools and the day for traders of gold. The ubiquitous pundits all say that seasonally gold is strong in the April-May period, something to do with Indian weddings (or is that September?), Chinese hoarding (or is that for their New Year?), sun spots (or is that why we have so much rain and cold weather?), manipulation (are seasonal sales of aluminium at their peak?), and my latest 'Fib' report indicating that a correction to 1012 will serve as the launch pad to 1465 by next April 1st. At our morning meeting yesterday I placed several US nickels (a coin with a nominal value of 5 cents) on the table and asked our assembled merry men and women why those particular coins represented value. Well one of America's great philosophers, Yogi Berra, once said, "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore," and former President Richard Nixon is quoted as saying, "Castro couldn't even go to the bathroom unless the Soviet Union put the nickel in the toilet." But I digress; I like basics and the humble Nickel due to its composition of copper and nickel actually costs the US government today 6 cents, a 20% premium to stated value, just to acquire the raw materials. Wow, should you run to your nearest bank and clean out their nickels (be warned, they are really heavy) or as an alternative pocket a mere ounce of gold at 1117.50. So, take this up-coming long weekend celebrating a myriad of what were once allegedly pagan holidays and contemplate what should be in your pocket or as a former Vice President of the United States once said, "What this country needs

I'll be attending a lecture this Friday at CU concerning the use of VIX as a portfolio asset.  To access a paper on this topic authored by three finance professors, click here.

A hoax?  Or is it the answer to mankind's energy needs? This is one of those news stories about which...who knows?  Click here  to access the video.

 I found this Fox interview very informative.  President Obama knows nothing of what is actually in the healthcare bill and is indifferent to the means used to enact it.  "Yes," he said. "It's one sixth of the economy, but we're not going to change everything all at once."  He also had a Tina Fay moment, and apparently confused Hawaii with Haiti in referring to earthquake devastation and exemptions for other states than Louisiana, but Haiti is not a state and Hawaii has not had earthquake devastation. It's unclear to me what he meant.

What you and I have paid into Social Security has long since been spent, leaving only IOUs to fund our retirement.  Those IOUs are now coming due, since, for the first time in a generation, the Social Security system is projected to pay out more than it takes in -- about $29 billion more.  Read the story by clicking  here.

From the Associated Press,  the latest development concerning James Sikes' alleged 94 mph thrill ride: SAN DIEGO — Toyota is casting doubt on a man's claim that his Prius sped out of control, saying that his report is inconsistent with findings of the company's preliminary investigation.Toyota says the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system worked properly. The automaker says the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating but the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition. James Sikes says his car raced to 94 mph (150 kph) on a freeway near San Diego last week. The March 8 incident ended when Sikes stopped the car with help from a California Highway Patrol officer.

In the wake of Dubai's financial plunge, a very bullish picture has emerged from Auerbach Grayson's recent regional equity conference in Sharm el Sheikh.  "There are a lot of things to buy in the Middle East: banks, real estate developers, ceramic makers and white goods producers," writes one of the attendees, Mike Churchill, of Churchill Research. For his account of the big themes to emerge from the conference, click here.  (Our thanks to Jonathan Auerbach for forwarding this report along.)

WE''ve just received the latest report from Auerbach & Grayson from our friend and longtime subscriber Jonathan Aauerbach. It covers the S&P 500,  Gold, Palladium, Crude, VIX, Nordic 30, EURO, GBP, DXY, MS Emerging Index, Dubai, FTSE 100, Russell 2000, CSCO, Retail ETF, NYSE A/D and % of stocks >200 day MA.  Click here to access the pdf file.