It is with that in mind that I proudly invite you to tune in for this LIVE Webcast presentation, titled “ETF Strategies in a Difficult Market.” This presentation will help you gain the knowledge and critical insights you’ll need to make smarter, more informed investment decisions in 2010 and beyond.

Viewing is free, so please click on the link here for more details and to register for this and other live Webcast events, which will come to you from the upcoming World MoneyShow Orlando.

You can also visit MoneyShow.com to see the comprehensive event schedule, and register free to be a part of this all-new for 2010 World MoneyShow Orlando Webcast event series. I look forward to connecting with you.

The budget for fiscal 2011 imposes nearly $1 trillion in tax increases on families with income above $250,000 over the next 10 years, and it does so by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. That’s income, mind you, and not take-home pay or profits. That means a small businessperson with income of $250,000 or more would pay a much bigger portion of that income to Uncle Sam. And because most of the jobs created in this country are created by small business penalized by the new taxes, I think we can safely say that this budget is not conducive to job growth.

How much will taxes go up? Well, the two top income-tax brackets would rise to 36% and 39.6%, from 33% and 35% respectively. For families earning more than that what the president thinks is a mystical sum of $250,000 per year, capital gains and dividend tax rates would rise to 20% from 15%. According to the Wall Street Journal, upper-income families would face $969 billion in higher taxes between 2011 and 2020.

To put it quite simply—the taxes are coming, the taxes are coming, and it’s your job as a smart citizen to make sure you take steps to keep your tax liabilities as low as legally possible.

If you don’t already have a good CPA, then I highly recommend you consult with one soon, especially now that tax season is here.

It would not surprise me in the least if you never have invested in palladium or if you did not know that the exchange-traded fund ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL) hit the market last month. I have not recommended PALL, but I am impressed that its average daily trading volume has soared to 382,000 in less than a month. I normally look to see if a fund has average daily trading volume of at least 100,000 shares before even considering its mention, and PALL is almost four times that level in just over four weeks of existence.

PALL, issued by ETFS Palladium Trust, is designed to reflect the performance of the price of palladium bullion, less the trust’s expenses. The ETF’s shares are aimed at investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest and to gain exposure in palladium, a rare, silvery-white metal that is used in electronics and in catalytic converters for automobiles.

The fund is down slightly since opening at $43.93 on Jan. 14, before closing at $43.25 on Monday, Feb. 1. However, it jumped 3.73% in a single day on Feb. 1. Also on that day, PALL’s percentage gain outstripped the performance of a prominent fund focused on gold, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), up 2.26%, and a fund targeting silver, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), up 2.89%.

Beware that the rise and fall of each precious metals fund does not exactly mirror the performance of the precious metal that it attempts to track. The price of gold on Feb. 1 edged up 2.05% to reach $1,105.20 an ounce for the day, while silver jumped to $16.67 an ounce for a gain of 2.96%. Meanwhile, the actual price of palladium rose to $429, up $15 an ounce, or 3.62%. While those returns are not precise matches with their related funds, they still are reasonably close

This week another political luminary found out that not everyone approves of the job he’s doing. I am speaking here about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Although it looks increasingly as though Mr., Bernanke will be confirmed for a second term as head of the central bank, many in the Senate—Democrats and Republicans—have expressed their lack of confidence in the way the Fed Chairman managed the financial crisis.

And finally we have Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who came under fire today from Democrats and Republicans in Congress for his role in the $180-billion-plus taxpayer bailout of insurance giant American International Group (AIG). Geithner claims he played no role in withholding information about AIG deals with business partners, but in hearing held today on Capitol Hill, one member after another expressed their anger over the sordid situation.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., told Geithner: “It just stinks to the high heaven what happened here. The disclosure was not there at the proper time to tell the American people and tell this Congress what was going on.”

In tonight’s State of the Union address we’re likely to find out just how aggressive President Obama is in combating the tough week he and his administration have had. Already we know the president is going to come out swinging on big banks and Wall Street firms, with new proposed legislation to limit the size and scope of financial institutions.

Hey, when you’re down and out, why not beat up on America’s favorite whipping boy—business. Unfortunately for the president, I think he’s barking up the wrong tree. In fact, I think he’d be better served by redirecting that anger inward.

This week, I will feature ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT), a trust that is designed for use by investors who want a cost-effective way to gain exposure to physical platinum. The shares are issued by ETFS Platinum Trust and are intended to reflect the price of platinum, less the trust’s expenses. It is similar to the high-profile SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), since each actually holds bullion bars of the precious metal that it represents.

PPLT began trading Jan. 8 and it already is racking up a daily trading volume that is averaging close to 300,000 shares a day. It is an impressive start for a new fund. Platinum jumped in value 56% last year. However, PPLT itself is down 2.84% between its opening price on its first day of trading and its closing price on Jan. 26. If the retreat continues for awhile, it would offer you a reduced entry price for buying PPLT. The ETF also is appealing because it has a modest expense ratio of just .60%.

An investment in PPLT is not the only way that you can place a bet on platinum. Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) tied to platinum can be purchased through UBS E-TRACS Long Platinum TR ETN (PTM) and iPath Dow Jones AIG Platinum TR Sub-Index ETN (PGM). However, PPLT stands out as the first platinum investment instrument to be launched on the U.S. exchange-traded fund market. As any reader of my ETF Talk columns quickly learns, I love ETFs for their cost-effectiveness and diversification, among other advantages.

Your father and others of his generation may not have gone any further in buying precious metals other than investing in gold or silver. Gold and silver are as exotic as most investors probably will ever get in buying precious metals. But with the stock market still looking volatile and inflation potentially on the rise as many governments around the word run up big deficits, you may want to include more than just gold and silver in your portfolio to help protect your money. Ever since medieval times, metals have proven their worth as sturdy shields.

But one part of the financial world has not received much scrutiny for its role in the evaporation of investor wealth, and that is the mutual fund industry.

Mutual funds control the majority of Americans’ retirement assets through 401(k)s, IRAs and annuities. Sadly, a gullible public has bought into the idea that steady investments in mutual funds, regardless of market conditions, is the way to make their financial dreams come true. This is one of the biggest fallacies of investing, and why mutual funds are hazardous to your wealth.

In my latest special report entitled, Mutual Funds are Hazardous To Your Wealth, I expose the five serious flaws of these investment vehicles and talk about how exchange traded funds are a far superior alternative.

Why? Because ETFs are less expensive to own than mutual funds and more diversified than individual stocks. For most people looking to grow their serious money over the long term, ETFs are quite simply the best investment vehicles available today.

Click here to download this free special report as a PDF.

As a bonus to this report I would like to offer you a free Mutual Fund Assessment – this includes an in-depth review of your investment goals and analysis of all the funds in your portfolio.

This offer is available for goal-oriented investors with more than $250,000 in their investment portfolios. Contact us for a brief introduction and to schedule a phone call time with you to get some help.

To schedule your free Portfolio Review, call us at 800-391-1118.

Sincerely,
Doug Fabian
President, Fabian Wealth Strategies &
Host, Doug Fabian’s Wealth Strategies Radio Show

Note: Fabian Wealth Strategies, Inc. is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Doug Fabian is a registered investment advisor representative. The information expressed by Fabian Wealth Strategies is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any specific security.

For Q4, 2009, the Mutual Fund Lemon List contains 1,566 mutual funds totaling $651 billion in assets! Now to be classified as a lemon, the fund must pass strict screening criteria: it must underperform its peer group average for the last 12 months, as well as for the last three and five year periods.

Incredibly, out of this quarter’s universe of 1,566 lemon funds, over 38% (a total of 605) actually had negative annualized returns over the past five years.

It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that investors need to wake up to the reality that many mutual funds just can’t perform as well as those exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the same investment objective. Sadly, the result is that many investors are losing money that they really cannot afford to lose.

There really is no reason to continue investing in under-performing mutual funds. To find out if you own a lemon fund, simply click here.

ProShares UltraShort Utilities is a leveraged ETF that seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index.

Indeed, U.S. electricity output fell 3.7% last year to mark its biggest drop since 1938, according to federal statistics. That decline in output comes on the heels of close to a 1% production dip in 2008. Reduced U.S. energy production does not appear to be a fluke. The downward trend in demand and production for energy are attributed to a slow economy, conservation efforts and, at least last year, a relatively mild summer in many parts of the United States. As a result, forecasting demand and revenues is becoming increasingly challenging. Without a clear sign that energy demand will be rebounding, it makes it difficult for utilities and the analysts who follow them to make accurate projections.

The question for investors is whether the energy sector is on the verge of giving up some of the gains that it collected since the market began advancing last March. I currently am not recommending shorting energy stocks; however, a case certainly can be made for doing so.

If you needed to pick the industries that are most vulnerable to a retreat, utilities probably should be on your list. Of course, it does not mean investing in a leveraged short fund will help you to turn quick profits right away. You may want to wait and watch the sector in the coming weeks before deciding whether shorting utilities with a leveraged fund is something that you want to try.

Now, if you didn’t get a chance to call in, then don’t fret. A recording of the call is available now at my Web site. To get your FREE download of this call, click here.

J.P. Morgan appears to be taking notice of steel’s improved outlook. The investment firm recently raised its price targets on three of the industry’s major companies, U.S. Steel (X), AK Steel (AKS) and Arcelor Mittal (MT). The report also mentioned that scrap prices have rebounded by roughly 25% since their mid-November lows and could rise by another 15% due to seasonal supply constraints, strong exports, and low inventory levels at the mills. This data is significant because the price of scrap metal is an economic indicator. When the price of scrap metal rises, the economy typically is on the upswing.

A big reason for the increased demand in steel is the voracious appetite for the metal that is coming from China. The Chinese economy has been growing quickly in recent years, while many other economies around the world have been languishing. China’s surging demand for steel is gaining widened attention.

“Already the world’s largest producer by far, the country is expected to rev up production by nearly 10%, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 11. “But the higher output likely won’t exceed demand, pushing prices higher world-wide for steel, its raw materials and even coal.”

Steelmakers that temporarily closed a number of mills and cut production as economic conditions sagged last year now are boosting production to address the increased demand. Resurgence in the steel industry is lifting the share prices of the public companies that produce steel.

Doug has been writing on the subject of stocks, interest rates, commodities, and currencies for decades and he is presenting a unique opportunity to learn from his expertise. He believes that 2010 will present an entirely new list of winners and losers in the investment markets, but you must be on the call to act on Doug’s advice.

This one hour tele-seminar will be held exclusively for the first 800 registrants. Early registration is your best way to ensure you will have a seat for Doug’s thoughts on the the investment markets.

Five important keys you’ll learn:

• His opinion on the direction of stocks in the New Year.
• What sectors Doug believes show the most potential for profits.
• What you can do to hedge your portfolio against rising interest rates.
• His thoughts on Gold for 2010.
• Which commodity ETFs deserve your attention right now.

The live teleconference will reach capacity because we’ve built an enormous following for this learning series. We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity and reserve your spot today.

Click here to register for this event.

If you read the economic history books, there’s not much fondness for the 1930s. This was the decade of the Great Depression, where unemployment was well over 20% for much of the time. It’s also when food lines literally stretched for miles long as many American citizens could not afford to even eat. Our economy had never seen such economic peril, and the prevailing conditions of the decade shook the very core of our great nation. All of us can only hope that our country never sees such hard times like this again.

Now, by the title of this article, you might assume that I’m going to equate the coming decade with the 1930s. Well, this kind of fear-inspired parable is not my intention. What I do want to do here, however, is to tell you that thinking about those rough times can be inspiring, particularly if we look at the good that came out of it. You see, the sheer resilience and perseverance of those who survived the Great Depression helped to usher in some of the best economic times our country has ever known.

Fast forward past the war years and into the 1950s. The average family had much more wealth than it did in the 1930s, but when it comes to luxury items, the average 1950’s American family had little when compared to today. What they did have was an abundance of time for family, a proper perspective on material goods, and most importantly—minimal or no debt.

Today, many of those luxury items have been purchased with debt. In fact, the average household carries over $8,000 in credit card balances! How much debt do you think the average family carried in the 1950s? I can’t tell you, because it the number wasn’t even measured do to its insignificance.

One of the goals of my company, Miracle Debt Solutions, is to help people go back to the future. I want my clients to have the kind of priorities and debt levels that most American’s had in the 1950s. I also want them to have the resilience and fortitude to prevail whatever the economic circumstances are, the same way the citizens of the 1930s did.

At Miracle Debt Solutions, we offer a number of programs that help people get out of debt once and for all. We can lower your credit card rates down to 0% – 4.99%, and we can work with you to significantly lower your current monthly payments, and possibly get you a loan balance modification. My goal is nothing short of helping people free themselves from burdensome debt.

In 2010, and in the decade ahead, I hope that many of us learn from the past and set our priorities anew. Let’s take control over our personal and financial situations once and for all. Let’s spend our time and treasure on family, friends and faith, rather than debt and materialism that we cannot afford—and that won’t even yield us the happiness and fulfillment we so desire.

Please contact me at 877-332-8650 for a free, confidential, no obligation consultation today. I can also be reached at dave.clarke@miracledebt.com or via my website at www.miracledebt.com.

Here’s to a debt-free decade!

Note: Miracle Debt Solutions is a partner and sponsor of Doug Fabian’s Wealth Strategies radio show.

Now when I say currency upheaval, I am talking largely about the fortunes of the U.S. dollar. To be certain, the dollar has had a lot of upheaval in 2009.

After starting the year with a stout surge, the dollar’s fortunes turned tail in March. And with a few brief periods of sideways movement, the greenback plunged to record lows in late November.

Interestingly, the dollar has been on a sharp run higher since the first week of December. In fact, the dollar recently broke above its short-term, 50-day moving average (blue line), and now appears on route to break above its long-term, 200-day moving average (red line). If the greenback can breach this technical barrier, it could be the start or a protracted bull in the U.S. dollar vs. rival foreign currencies.

This is the kind of currency upheaval I expect will take place in 2010. As more and more countries try to keep the value of their currency low to help stimulate exports, we are likely to see more money move into dollars. Also, the rise in the dollar could mean a pullback in the price of gold.

The price of gold, as represented by the streetTRACKS Gold Trust (GLD), has been on a tear for most of the year. However, since the dollar’s December resurgence, the value of gold has declined precipitously.

I think that the currency upheaval we’re likely to see with the dollar—and with other currencies around the globe—in 2010 will mean opportunities on both sides of the gold trade. It will also mean opportunities on both sides of the international equity market trade, and on both sides of the domestic market trade.

Just about any way you look at it, currency upheaval in 2010 will cause both dislocation and opportunity for investment capital. The trick, of course, is to know which is which, and to be on the right side of the trade.

With investor interest waning in higher-yielding currencies such as the euro, the dollar is ascending. You may recall me voicing my belief in the Dec. 16 ETF Talk that the dollar had fallen below what I viewed as its true value, and that its downward trend was starting to change. Well, that reversal of the dollar’s fortunes appears to be taking hold.

One way to profit from a flagging euro is to invest in the UltraShort Euro ProShares (EUO), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks to replicate, net of expenses, twice the inverse performance of the EUR/USD daily price change. Basically, with EUO, you are betting on the dollar’s rise vs. the euro. Right now, betting against the euro is looking like a shrewd move.

The dollar hit intraday highs against the euro, yen and the Canadian dollar after the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower today. Reports also surfaced this morning that loans to companies in the euro zone fell in November, which put further downward pressure on the euro.

In my experience, currency trends often seem to last longer than they should. With the trend now working in EUO’s favor, the fund could be a place where currency investors may want to put a small percentage of their funds.

With equities and commodities under pressure in recent weeks, the dollar is strengthening at the expense of the euro and other currencies. With the economic recovery in Europe appearing as though it may lag behind other regions of the world, the European Central Bank could be forced to remain in neutral as other central banks look to fend off inflation in the months ahead. If that situation arises, the euro will be vulnerable to further declines.

1. I will prepare my family for an unpredictable economic environment in 2010.
2. I will have a positive increase in my liquid net worth.
3. I will save in excess of 10% of my gross income in my retirement accounts.
4. I will save and safely secure at least three months of living expenses.
5. I will stop losing money on bad investments and/or bad investment advice.

I know these resolutions may seem simple, but honestly, did you accomplish all of these goals last year? If the answer is no, then why not make 2010 the year when you do things right?

There is no time like the beginning of a new year to really focus on your goals, so take control of your financial life and make 2010 the beginning of a wonderfully profitable new decade.

One of the top reasons I love ETFs is their modest cost. ETFs offer low expense ratios, and annual expenses typically are deducted from dividends. ETFs also produce fewer capital gains and are more tax efficient than mutual funds.

In addition, ETFs offer diversification that reduces risk. The funds typically track indexes that are made up of a basket of stocks. Investors can find ETFs that cover every major index, asset class, and sector. Whether you favor commodities, healthcare, technology or real estate, there is a diversified ETF available to you.

ETFs also are transparent, since they are required to disclose their exact holdings and the percentage of each asset that a fund owns. Because ETFs are traded on exchanges just like stocks, the funds provide liquidity to investors who want to buy and sell them in the open market. But remember to be sure a fund’s trading volumes are adequate to provide liquidity. While not a strict rule of mine, I generally do not recommend ETFs that have an average volume of less than 100,000 shares a day.

Finally, I love the simplicity and variety of ETFs. You usually can find a bull market someplace, no matter what markets elsewhere are doing. The challenge is choosing the sector or the region that investors will begin to favor next.

Here’s to a prosperous New Year!

Whether the recent upward trend in the greenback is only short-lived, or the start of a long-term trend remains to be seen. However, currency swings due have a tendency to be sustained longer than most might expect. The latest example is the big drop in the value of the U.S. dollar earlier this year. In my view, this plunge exceeded what reasonably was warranted.

If the dollar continues to rebound, the greenback’s resurgence could offer a nice chance to profit. One of the funds that I have on my radar screen for investing in the dollar is the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP).

Keep in mind that the greenback often is considered a safe-haven currency. When markets are jittery and governments are in danger of defaulting on their debt obligations, the dollar generally rises. A key reason is that investors seek the protection of a currency that is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Yes, Uncle Sam still conjures up images of strength when the rest of the world seems to be falling apart.

The Wall Street Journal wrote a scary story about the outlook for the euro in its Dec. 15 issue. It described how the euro is tumbling as debt woes spread across the euro zone. Greece, for example, appears unable to stem growing fears about its debt problems, despite government pledges of austerity and fiscal rigor. New worries about Austrian banking, after this week’s surprise nationalization of one of the country’s banks at the behest of the European Central Bank, also raised red flags about the euro. Yesterday, the euro dropped to its lowest value since October by falling to $1.4505.

In addition, a German government budget spokesman said this week that exploding budget deficits of economically weak European countries will force his country and other financially strong nations throughout the continent to consider how to support their struggling neighbors. These so-called “PIIGS,” i.e., the countries of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, are weighed down by big budget deficits and discouraging growth prospects.

Without question, the U.S. government is running up record deficits of its own and its economy is not exhibiting robust growth either. But America still has a reputation as a country that has proven its creditworthiness. The reaction of the market during the past week or so confirms the sentiment that the dollar offers a safe harbor in the midst of a brewing financial storm.

I frequently speak with people who fondly remember what their homes were worth two, three and four years ago. Many of them actually think holding their home will soon return to those previous levels. They talk about how that value will inevitably come back, because “real estate always goes up.”

I recall back in March 2000 when I was buying stocks while the NASDAQ was eclipsing 5,000. I just knew that my investments were going to pay off big time, and I knew that this was going to be the easiest money I ever made. Today the NASDAQ sits at 2,172, about 60% below that all-time high.

My point here is that we don’t know if, and/or when, the value of an investment will even stabilize, much less go higher. This is particularly true when it comes to real estate. But what we do know is that the next decade will be much different in terms of opportunity. Going into 2010, we have to ask ourselves what history tells us about where the opportunities will exist.

This is what we do know going into the next decade:

- Mortgage rates remain at all time lows with a conforming 30-year mortgage averaging about 4.75%.

- The federal budget deficit is projected to average $1 trillion annually over the next 10 years.

- The federal government will have to issue massive amounts of new debt to both pay off maturing Treasuries, and to help fund our enormous federal budget deficits.

- To be able to drum up demand for this debt, the government will have to pay an increased interest rate on these new bond issues to entice investors, both domestic and foreign, to continue buying that debt.

- All of this is occurring in one of the worst declining periods in history for the U.S. dollar. This means foreign governments buying our debt have a greater chance of principal loss when buying dollar-denominated debt with foreign currency.

- Mortgage rates historically correlate closely to 10-year Treasury yields.

- Over 10% of every mortgage in this country will switch from a fixed, to a variable rate, within the next 18 months.

All of these known conditions represent the plain and simple truth that mortgage rates are artificially low right now, and they will surely go up—and go up substantially—from where they are now. When will this happen, exactly? No one knows the exact answer, but what we do know is you can take advantage of the current low mortgage rate situation—if you act quickly.

If you have a mortgage rate over 5%, or if you have any risk at all of a rate change at any time during the life of your loan, then you should take complete control of your financial well being today and contact us to get a free assessment of your current situation.

Remember, the risk of rising rates and declining home prices is not the main issue facing many of us today. Rather, it’s the risk of inaction that truly is the biggest nemesis.

To contact me for your FREE mortgage assessment, go to my website at www.mymiraclelending.com, e-mail me at askjohn@miraclecorporation.com, or call me at (888) 536-3453.

P.S. As a special offer to all Doug Fabian Alert readers, if you qualify and lock in a loan with us in December, all points, fees and costs for that loan will be waived.

One of the investment themes I believe will take shape in 2010 has to do with large debt defaults from strong corporate and sovereign institutions that were formerly considered bulletproof. Now, many people here in the United States think we have the worst debt levels in the world. That’s in part why we are seeing the rush to own gold, and the rush to put money to work in international markets. Sure, we do have our debt problems in this country, but they are far from the level of dangerous debt many other countries hold.

A widespread sovereign debt crisis could rock the world’s stock markets, and it could even cause a stampede back into the U.S. dollar. I will be watching this Greek tragedy unfold in the weeks and months ahead, and I promise I will let you know if I think it will affect your investments here at home.

If we do see a sovereign debt meltdown, the crisis it will likely show up first in the bond market. In last week’s radio show, I talked about how investors need to start paying attention to risk. Most people are aware of the risk in the stock market, but when it comes to the bond market, somehow people think that they can’t lose money.

So far this year, investors have poured more then $230 billion into bond funds. This is a huge amount of money, especially when you consider that only a net $2 billion was funneled into stock funds. This tells me that investors now are thinking that they are more properly diversified than they were last year. They reason that if stocks take a hit again, at least their bonds will buoy their portfolio. Well, I think this line of thinking is a big mistake.

Bonds can get hurt in two primary ways. First, if interest rates rise, the value of bonds go down sharply. A 1% rise in long-term interest rates will send bonds down 7-15%, depending on the type of bond. Second, there is credit risk. As I mentioned earlier, we are starting to see things happen in the bond market that rarely happen. A Sovereign country going into default is a risk nobody has really planned for, and a blowup in this market could really send the value of all sorts of bonds lower.

As of right now, the bond market is holding up fine. If, however, interest rates rise, and/or if countries around the world continue having their credit ratings slashed, it could spell bond market trouble.

One indicator of early bond risk is the trend in high-yield corporate bonds, otherwise know as junk bonds. So far junk bonds still are enjoying a solid uptrend. But if this uptrend begins to falter, and if bonds start to lose their luster, then even those “safe” bond positions could be at risk.

If you want to find out how to prepare yourself from the risk of a potentially substantial bond market downturn, then I suggest listening to my radio show last week for more details. To listen to the show, just click here.

By R. Lee Haight, CPA

Year-end tax planning can be very productive, especially this year, because timely actions will result in tax savings that may not be available next year. For individuals these include: the option to deduct state and local sales and use taxes instead of state income taxes; the option to take a standard or itemized deduction for state sales tax and excise tax on the purchase of motor vehicles; the option to take the above-the-line deduction for qualified higher education expenses; the option to tax-free distributions by those age 70 1/2 or older from IRAs for charitable purposes, and the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit (expires for purchases before May 1, 2010).

For business owners, you should consider taking the deduction for 50% bonus first-year depreciation for most new machinery, equipment and software; the ability to expense up to $250,000 on qualified asset purchases; the research tax credit; and the 15-year write-off for qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant buildings and improvements and qualified retail improvements.

Also remember that alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemption amounts for individuals are scheduled to drop drastically next year, and most nonrefundable personal credits won’t be available to offset the AMT.

Higher-income taxpayers and investors should consider the possibility that long-term capital gains rates could go up, so it may make sense for some people to take large profits this year. On the other hand, there will no longer be an income-based reduction of most itemized deductions, nor will there be a phase-out of personal exemptions. Also for next year, traditional IRA to Roth IRA conversions will be allowed regardless of a taxpayer’s income.

Some tax planning ideas for 2009 should include:

• Increasing the amount you set aside for next year in your employer’s health flexible spending account (FSA) if you have set aside too little for this year. If you become eligible to make health savings account (HSA) contributions in December of this year, you can make a full year’s worth of deductible HSA contributions for 2009.
• Realize losses on stock while preserving your investment position. You can sell the original holding, and then buy back the same securities if you choose to, but remember you must wait at least 31 days to repurchase those securities without penalty.
• Postpone income until 2010 and accelerate deductions into 2009 to lower your 2009 tax bill. This strategy may enable you to claim larger deductions, credits and other tax breaks for 2009 that are phased out over varying levels of adjusted gross income.
• If you believe a Roth IRA is better than a traditional IRA, and if you want to remain in the market for the long term, consider converting traditional-IRA money invested in de-valued securities into a Roth IRA if eligible to do so. Such a conversion will increase your adjusted gross income for 2009.
• If you own an interest in a partnership or S corporation you may need to increase your basis in the entity so you can deduct a loss from it for this year.
• Estimate the effect of any year-end planning moves on the alternative minimum tax for 2009, keeping in mind that many tax breaks allowed for purposes of calculating regular taxes are disallowed for AMT purposes.
• Accelerate big ticket purchases into 2009 in order to assure a deduction for sales taxes on the purchases if you will elect to claim a state and local general sales tax deduction instead of a state and local income tax deduction. Be careful to consider the effect caused by the AMT.
• If you are planning to buy a car, do so before year-end for the deduction for state sales tax and excise tax on the purchase.
• Businesses should consider making expenditures that qualify for the business property expensing option, which is up to $250,000 for assets bought and placed in service this year; the maximum expensing amount will drop to $134,000 for assets bought and placed in service next year. Businesses also should consider making expenditures that qualify for 50% bonus first year depreciation if bought and placed in service this year. This bonus write-off generally won’t be available next year.
• If you are self-employed and haven’t done so yet, set up a self-employed retirement plan.
• You can save gift and estate taxes by making gifts sheltered by the annual gift tax exclusion before the end of the year. You can give $13,000 in 2009 to an unlimited number of individuals, but you can’t carry over unused exclusions from one year to the next.

These are just some of the year-end steps that can be taken to save money on your 2009 tax bill.

Lee Haight, and his firm Allen, Haight & Monaghan specialize in high-income and high-net-worth taxpayers that need help with tax planning and liability management. Lee can be contacted at:

Allen Haight & Monaghan, LLP
2603 Main Street, Suite 600
Irvine, CA 92614
Phone: 949.852.9433
Email:rlh@ahmcpas.com
www.ahmcpas.com

The past week has been a lesson in why emerging markets require you to accept a heightened measure of risk. It also shows that emerging markets can be profitable whether you trade them long or short, and if you do so at the right times. With markets generally trending upward in recent months, taking long positions has made sense. If you ever truly know or expect that a crisis is about to unfold, buying a wisely chosen short position can be a good way to turn a quick profit.

Dubai’s move last week to try to delay repaying the debt of its flagship company, Dubai World, scared investors and pushed the markets down. The markets rebounded yesterday when reports surfaced that the Dubai World debt problem only may total $26 billion, rather than the $60 billion initially reported last Thursday. Also yesterday, the Dow industrials rallied 127 points as worry eased generally about the Dubai World debt. The fallout further was limited when leadership of the United Arab Emirates tried to steady the nerves of investors with calming public statements.

I think the worst of this Dubai debt news is behind us. For Dubai itself, there is more than just the future of $26 billion of debt at stake. Although it is quite possible that other companies in Dubai may face similar financial pain, the fallout still unfolding in the Gulf nation likely will not create anything akin to a domino effect that knocks down emerging markets around the world.

For that reason, you may want to consider riding the rebound of emerging markets with a purchase of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) such as the ProShares Ultra MSCI Emerging Markets (EET).

If you want to wait for the next crisis to hit or you anticipate one that you think you can time, the ProShares UltraShort MSCI Emerging Markets (EEV) might be worth buying just before, or just after, news about the next financial calamity. If that crisis is short-lived, you will want to sell this fund quickly.

Please be cautious about any taking any ultra- or ultra-short positions, since they are designed to move double the direction of a non-leveraged ETF. EET is intended to move twice the direction of the daily performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets index, while EEV is created to correspond to twice the inverse performance of the same index.

If you believe stock markets still have room to rise, emerging markets provide the greatest chance for big profits on the short term. However, if you expect the current market rally to fizzle, emerging markets could be among those that pull back the most.

It’s this kind of success story that makes me so very thankful for the work I get to do each and every day. Helping people attain financial peace of mind is the most rewarding aspect of what I do, and that is something I am truly thankful for.

I also am truly thankful for the fact that I was born and raised in a country where I am free to make my own decisions, and where building wealth is chiefly a function of hard work and perseverance.

But what I am truly, truly thankful for this Thanksgiving week—and indeed every week of the year—is you, the reader and investor.

So, this Thanksgiving, while you are giving thanks for all the great things in your life, please know that I will be giving thanks for all of the great things in my life—and that means I am thankful for you.

With the yen appreciating in the face of a weakening U.S. dollar, the Japanese currency could be considered a relatively safe way to protect your money and to give you a chance for a bit of appreciation if stocks pull back significantly. Currency investments typically do not make you rich. However, they do offer a way to invest that is not directly correlated with the direction of the equity markets.

You do not need to think back any further than last fall’s steep market drop to appreciate the value of owning a short-term investment that allows you to sleep at night. Even though the Dow retreated Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week, the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) closed up during that three-day period. It also rose again Monday, as it strengthened against the weakening U.S. dollar, even as the market advanced.

Clearly, the yen offers a way to avoid the fallout of short-term equity pull backs and also lets you escape the downward draft of the dollar.

The dollar traditionally is a currency that is viewed as a source of safety when the markets flounder. With U.S. interest rates about a low as they can go, the dollar is losing value, while the yen and selected other currencies are appreciating. The preceding chart gives a graphic indication of FXY’s upward trend.

With U.S. interest rates among the lowest in the world, U.S. investors who seek the highest rates of return can put their money in foreign currencies such as the yen. This so-called “carry trade” activity further depresses the dollar and boosts the yen. Of course, this situation can reverse, so you need to monitor currency fluctuations closely.

For now, the yen is gaining value. Indeed, the Japan of Bank reported on Nov. 20 that the country’s economy is picking up due to various policy measures taken domestically and abroad. An improving Japanese economy further buoys the yen.

In bull markets, the yen tends to lag behind. In unstable markets, the yen is a defensive buy.

Three important keys you’ll learn:

• How to get defensive with your stocks and mutual funds.
• How to prepare for rising interest rates and how to profit from them.
• Which commodity ETF deserves your attention right now and how much of your portfolio to invest in them.

Simply click here  to access the one-hour audio recording of this call and download my handout to follow along.

Sincerely,

Doug Fabian, President – Fabian Wealth Strategies