The tale of Goldman's fraud charges

In a 22-page complaint filed Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors on real estate securities likely to go bust.
The legal document reads less like a court filing, and more like a twisted story of how actions by Wall Street's most notorious investment bank allegedly caused losses of $1 billion for investors.

Here's what it said:

The opportunity: real estate bubble

In late 2006 and early 2007, when the United States housing market is beginning to show signs of distress, hedge fund Paulson & Co. takes a "bearish view on subprime mortgage loans," according to the SEC complaint.

Gold Is The Best Hedge Against Looming Inflation

You've heard the argument against owning gold a thousand times. It goes something like this: "Gold has little to no utility and doesn't earn any interest, so why own it?" The answer is that you really have no choice but to own it when the government and central bank are destroying the value of your currency.

When interest rates are negative, investors are forced to buy gold. If the interest rate garnered by placing money in a bank or owning government debt is less than the rate of inflation, you must purchase an asset that will maintain its purchasing power. Gold has a 5,000-year history of preserving its value, and that is especially important during times of inflation.

Is gold a bargain, or is it a bubble?

Rarely, if ever, have views on this ancient store of wealth been so mixed. Gold bugs note that at around $1,100 an ounce gold is, on an inflation-adjusted basis, trading at a mere half its all-time high from 1980. What’s more, they argue that the flood of dollars, yen and euros central banks are printing will spark inflation and debase major currencies--risks against which some believe gold provides a hedge.