The Ultimate Money Guide for Bubbles, Busts, Recession and Depression

Having an effective financial plan has always been important; today, it's crucial. In The Ultimate Money Guide for Bubbles, Busts, Recession, and Depression—the updated and revised edition of the bestseller, The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide—author Martin D. Weiss shows readers how to create a safe and effective financial plan for today's unpredictable economic environment.

• Explains why the U.S. economy continues to slump, and how persistently high unemployment and increasing government spending could lead to a far worse, double-dip recession
• Details how investors are missing opportunities by failing to look at overseas investments, specifically in Asia and Latin America
• Reveals what everyone should be doing now to protect their savings, investments, and jobs

The Ultimate Ultimate Money Guide for Bubbles, Busts, Recession, and Depression answers the questions readers have about the new challenges of the "new normal," while also offering strategies to cope with the credit crunch, housing bust, and decline of the U.S. dollar.

Introduction xi

Chapter 1: Why the Tough Times are Just Beginning! 1

How to Reduce Debts in Bad Times 15

How to Protect Your Job in Bad Times 17

Chapter 2: The Government Declares War on the Financial Crisis 23

Chapter 3: Wall Street Deceptions, Cover-Ups, and Lies 38

With Most Corporate and Municipal Bonds Overrated, Here’s What to Do With Them . . . 42

Chapter 4: Housing: How to Escape the Greatest Bust of All Time 54

10 Steps for Selling Your Home in a Weak Market 72

Want to Keep Your House, Come Hell or High Water? Then Here’s How to Cut Expenses or Get Assistance 74

Chapter 5: Common Stocks: How to Avoid Big Risks and Boost Returns 77

How to Get Your 401(k) Out of Danger 86

Chapter 6: How Safe is Your Bank? 91

How to Save in Tough Times 92

What Happens to Your Money If Your Bank Fails 105

How to Check and Monitor the Safety of Your Bank 110

Chapter 7: How to Find Safe Insurance Companies 113

Chapter 8: How to Shop for the Best Life Insurance 121

Chapter 9: How to Find the Best Annuities 133

Chapter 10: The Safest and Most Liquid Place for Your Cash 147

How to Use Treasury Securities for Almost All Your Banking Needs 153

Money Market Funds Investing in Short-Term U.S. Treasury Securities or Equivalent 156

Chapter 11: All-Weather Investments for the Best and the Worst of Times 159

How to Build Your Personal Hedge Program 166

Chapter 12: How to Profit Directly from a Market Decline 174

How to Go for Profits in a Down Market 179

Chapter 13: How to Continue Making Money Even with the Worst Disasters 181

How to Invest in Foreign Currencies 188

Chapter 14: When to Buy the Best Bargains of the Century 189

Basic Principles for Buying at the Bottom 196

Chapter 15: Bonds: Your First Great Income Opportunity 198

How to Maximize Your Yield with Safety 209

Chapter 16: Dividends: Your Second Great Income Opportunity 210

How to Find Stocks with Steadily Rising Dividends 217

Chapter 17: The Great Fork in the Road: Inflation or Deflation? 219

How to Invest in Gold 229

Chapter 18: The Demise of the Dollar? 232

Chapter 19: The Foundation for Recovery 250

Chapter 20: Future Fortunes 257

Five Golden Rules for Building New Fortunes 261

Notes 268

Acknowledgments 274

About the Author 276

Index 279

MARTIN D. WEISS, PHD, is the founder and chairman of Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent rating agency, known for its stellar track record in boldly naming large companies that subsequently failed AND helping investors find those that are truly SAFE! He is the author of two other Wiley bestsellers, including The Ultimate Safe Money Guide: How Everyone 50 and Over Can Protect, Save, and Grow Their Money and Crash Profits: Make Money When Stocks Sink and Soar.

Unless you're a Wall Street banker or a Fortune 500 CEO, times are tough—tougher than they've been in eighty years. But take heart, you can survive and thrive in a global economic meltdown. And you don't need a Ph.D. in economics or a crystal ball. All you need is your own good common sense, plus the knowledge and tools this book gives you to help you protect your assets, boost your income, and build wealth even in the worst of times.

Helping folks persevere through hard times is a Weiss family tradition. J. Irving Weiss, author Martin D. Weiss's father, was a legendary economist and financial advisor who accurately predicted the Great Depression and helped his grateful clients survive—and even thrive—in the worst of times. Likewise, Martin D. Weiss, founder and Chairman of the nation's leading, truly independent rating agency, has helped hundreds of thousands of investors and consumers avoid the financial dangers all around us. He not only predicted the recent debt crisis, but specifically named, well in advance, which large companies were most likely to fail, including Washington Mutual, Wachovia Bank, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, General Motors and even Citigroup.

Yes, the U.S. government bailed out many of the failed companies. But in this book, Weiss shows how those bailouts have created new, even greater risks for investors—unexpected events ahead that you cannot only sidestep, but also turn to your great financial advantage.

In this extensively updated and expanded edition of his recent New York Times bestseller, Martin Weiss offers the same rigorous analysis and spot-on advice with which he's served his clients and subscribers so well for so many years. In plain English, he provides up-to-the-minute coverage of the very latest events sweeping the U.S. and the globe—runaway public deficits, spreading sovereign debt disasters, and the desperate attempts by governments to prop up the world economy. He:

• Exposes the scams and self-serving deceptions brokers, banks, insurance companies, and ratings agencies employ to hide the true risks of investments and rope investors into jeopardizing their financial futures
• Shows how to identify the true value of stocks, bonds, real estate, insurance, and other investments and design a strategy best suited to your goals and budget
• Gives step-by-step advice on stocks, bonds, real estate, and funds, as well as immunizing 401(k)s and annuities
• Explains the excellent investment opportunities available overseas—especially in Asia and Latin America—and how to capitalize on them
• Provides continual support and the latest critical information, online, with follow-up emails (sign up at www.moneyandmarkets.com)
• Gives you a free tool for tracking a truly independent and unbiased rating of YOUR stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), banks, and insurers at www.weisswatchdog.com

Especially in times like these, you are the only one you can trust to protect your financial security. The Ultimate Money Guide for Bubbles, Busts, Recession and Depression arms you with what you need to survive and thrive, no matter what the future brings.