@miscreanity:  you know, i haven't read a post of yours for a long while now that i agree with more.  everything you said in that last post is true and we agree on alot of things.

where we do disagree though is what you said yourself. we're in a new age of volatility where i think markets will prevent the Fed and gov't from walking the thin narrow line you think they'll be able to in order to achieve price stability.  that would be too easy.  i believe in cycles where markets swing from extreme to extreme, ie, boom bust, panic to greed, giddiness to despair.  this is how traders make money.  they will force these swings to strip the little guys of their money.  we're at a price peak now; we'll be at a price trough in a few years.