Ha, ha. I figured you survived the flu and the gold correction! Welcome back PYW!
Over here the U.S Mint can't strike ASE's and AGE's fast enough. I can't see that much has changed in the U.S. The rot still hangs in mid-air so maybe 2010 will be an even better year for metals.
Maybe you remember this passage in Atlas Shrugged. It's reminds me of the mighty dollar--just a hollowed out shell waiting for a black swan down draft to knock it over:
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"He felt safe in the oak tree's presence; it was a thing that
nothing could change or threaten; it was his greatest symbol of
strength.
One night, lightning struck the oak tree. Eddie saw it the next
morning. It lay broken in half, and he looked into its trunk as
into the mouth of a black tunnel. The trunk was only an empty shell;
its heart had rotted away long ago; there was nothing inside--just a
thin gray dust that was being dispersed by the whim of the faintest
wind. The living power had gone, and the shape it left had not
been able to stand without it."
Atlas Shrugged--Ayn Rand
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And after that we'll go eat those two gerbils.
