From the Desk of Keith Fitz-Gerald: December 12, 2009

Bring Back Glass-Steagall Good morning. Never one to mince words, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker let loose this week in Sussex England. He spoke at an exclusive meeting of financial regulators and high-level bankers, saying that there is very little evidence that innovation in the financial markets has had any visible effect on economic productivity. Then he told the stunned audience that the single most important contribution any of them had made in the last 25 years was the automatic teller machines which were at least "useful." Go Paul! - I could hardly agree more. In their rush to develop "innovative" new financial products, bankers the world over forgot that they're supposed to be safeguarding our money. They also completely ignored the fact that banks are enablers, not risk-takers. And, in doing so, they became part of the "problem." In reality, we should use banks for three things: Storing reserves Getting loans and Executing financial transactions In that sense, banks are more akin to public utilities than profit institutions - a view incidentally I share with Mr. Volcker, George Soros and a few others. If Washington wants to get serious about avoiding a second bubble and an even "Greater Depression," let's bring back elements of the Glass-Steagall Act which, in case you don't recall your history class, was a Depression-era law that separated Main Street's banking from Wall Street's banking. That way, we specifically limit the kinds of risk taking that Wall Street seems to thrive on by separating it from institutions charged with safeguarding taxpayer deposits. You might not think this is a big deal or that it's a problem in the first place. But it is. Following the global meltdown, the shotgun marriages and bailout legislation, the nation's four biggest banks - JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo - now control more than two-fifths of all bank deposits, more than 66% of all credit card accounts, and over half of all mortgages in this country. They also run trillions of dollars in risky trading ventures that, as things stand, can come right back and blow up in our faces...again. In other words, the risks we face now are actually higher in terms of financial concentration than they were before the crisis. And that's as much as anything what Volcker was driving at when he slammed the bankers for "innovation." I believe we simply need to keep risk where it belongs - on Wall Street - and security where it matters - on Main Street. That way, if the derivatives cowboys want to take obscene risks, they can without driving the rest of us to the brink of financial oblivion. As I have maintained since the beginning of this crisis, "too big to fail" is a myth. The real question is who's too big to survive. Best regards, Keith Editor's Note: In one easy lesson after another, Money Morning's Keith Fitz-Gerald shows you how to profit from the enormous shift in the world economy. His 40-plus "global gainer" starter picks alone is worth the price of admission. Some people already following Keith's advice are making 100% to 500% more than the "ordinary" investor. It makes a great holiday gift!

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What's It Going to Take? Good morning. I can't help but wonder - like many Americans lately - what's it going to take for the US financial industry to show just a little contrition? Granted, the $500 million small business initiative Goldman and Buffett just announced this week is a step in the right direction, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. At this point, I'd settle for just one exec with a backbone who steps up and says "I'm sorry" to both the shareholders of the company he vaporized and to the American public whose trust he's blatantly abused. Instead, big bonuses are back and we're bearing witness to a sort of moral bankruptcy that's hard for millions of hard working men and women to contemplate. That point was brought home to me the other night when our 12 year old son Kuni innocently asked, "why the CEOs of these companies continue to do what they're doing when they know it's wrong." By his reckoning, it just doesn't seem fair that these guys rake in billions when everybody else is struggling. And I've got to say I agree. But how do you explain that to a 12 year old for whom the world is still filled with innocence and wonder? Or to the families that are struggling to make ends meet? Or to the retirees that are effectively "unretiring" just to get by? There are no easy answers. The way I see it, we have reached a point at which the upside we want to achieve must take a back seat to the risks we want to avoid because the risks of success have never been higher than they are today. Neither have the opportunities for failure. You might think I mean the "opportunities for success" and the "risks of failure" but I don't. We're living through a period of unprecedented government intervention and monetary meddling which suggests to me that we must not only plan for profits differently than we have before, but we must be extra diligent about protecting our gains once we've achieved them. As part of that process, we must look to markets that we've never considered before and recognize that formerly emerging markets are rising to new positions of global prominence and strength. Even if our own executives can't seem to look beyond their own greed and avarice... Best regards, Keith Editor's Note: To plan for your profits - and protect your gains- you need to know how to play the new global economy. Keith's just-published book, Fiscal Hangover, shows readers in easy to follow steps exactly what it takes to profit from the "new rules" of making money. Order your copy and save $10 off Amazon's publisher's price by clicking here.

oney Morning : You are receiving this e-mail as a part of your free subscription to The Money Morning E-Letter . Remove your email from this list: Unsubscribe To cancel by mail or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Money Morning Attn: Member Services 105 West Monument Street Baltimore, MD 21201 2009 Money Morning All Rights Reserved Money Morning 105 West Monument Street Baltimore, MD 21201 North America: 1 888 384 8339; Fax: 1 410 223 2650 International: +1 410 230 1200 ; Fax: +1 410 223 2650 Website: http://www.moneymorning.com Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. This Newsletter may only be used pursuant to the subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of: Money Morning. 105 W. Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201.