As previously stated by Vokain, a very relevant question is:
Quote "Looking back, was it better or worse to tie your time and money with Armstrong?"   The answer for me personally is that financially it was worth the effort.

Looking forward I would add:

Does anybody here believe that we are not heading into a very serious economic situation sometime in the fairly near future?

Does anybody here not believe that huge economies such as Japan and particularly Europe are in very serious and more imminent trouble and are likely to crash before the US does?

Does anybody here not believe that, if the above statement is true, much of the big money fleeing Europe, Japan etc will end up moving into the US?

Does anybody here believe that it is not in their best interests to try to protect themselves by following where the big money is going and/or getting some of their investments off the grid etc?

The above questions, I believe, reflect some of the very basics of what MA is talking about. I am sure he is not the only one stating these things but he has been pretty consistent about it over quite a long period of time. His shorter term timing (at least as stated in his blog) isn't necessarily reliable enough to risk your hard earned money on. His main overall views, longer term trends etc, I would humbly suggest, are worth paying serious attention to though. Take what he offers and make the best use of it, is my approach.

Fred