Matt, let me join the market-timing and macro-vision bandwagon on this one.

For all of the fundamental reasons that you mention in your blog and that Roubini has listed, I wholeheartedly agree. It's always a good idea to be aware of what's going on in the world, and to every extent possible, to get the fundamentals on your side. And as I've long discussed in this blog, the fundamentals of the U.S. dollar are TERRIBLE. You've got the towering twin deficits of current accounts and trade in the U.S. coupled with an ever-increasing federal deficit and the fact that China basically owns the U.S. now.

Indeed, the only thing the U.S. has going for it right now is that the global economy has been going to hell in a handbasket. And de-leveraging and the flight to safety (ironically caused by the financial catastrophe brought about by U.S. financials) has been the only thing that has saved the dollar. But there's going to come a day - I don't know when, but it's coming, and it's coming hard - when the dam breaks and the dollar gets crushed. The only benefit for me as mainly a U.S.-dollar-earning European resident is that the scenario for the euro arguably looks even worse.

That doesn't mean you should go out there and pile in on the yuan necessarily, though it seems like the no-brainer trade out there (for the tactical folks out there - who seem to be the buyers of many of the tradable index products at the moment, who KNOW what happens with the Chinese government letting the yuan float or not). And also bear in mind that the boom in the Chinese economy has been largely built on those borrowed U.S. dollars - and that China is getting crushed right now as the export market gets crushed.

All that said ... with the fundamentals the way they are and inflation potentially at some point again on the rise, you've got to like commodities and the commodities-dependent emerging markets, Asian currencies - and my old favorite, gold. And I'd be cautious about the U.S. dollar. You never want to be on the wrong side of a dam bursting. Just ask the British.

Regarding the Claymore, iShares, etc., deals - I'm going to cut out the gossip. I DO think that's a HUGE deal though, that if it goes through, as Matt says, is extremely interesting and could end with Claymore rapidly becoming a top-tier ETF player. I've long really liked a lot of the Rydex product suite and also like the people at Team Claymore ... so we're definitely going to keep our eyes open on that, on the BGI/iShares deal and all the rest.

Have a good weekend, all.