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Features of the week

Wow, we've got a lot in store for you in this Friday's edition of our, "Features of the week".

New highs for commodities, a bull market in Africa, interview clips with T. Boone Pickens and Marc Faber, and a whole lot more. So make yourself comfortable, and peruse these latest offerings of financial and cultural news. Enjoy!

1. Germany vs. Liectenstein: "Tax scandal has reached a new level".

For more on this issue, please see the following articles:

"Tax Evasion is German National Sport...", The Economist's report on tax havens and OFCs, "Places in the Sun", Ilana Mercer's, "The War on Tax Havens", Karen De Coster's 2003 article entitled, "Will Liechtenstein's Autonomy prevail?", and, "German Tax Bullies Attack Liechtenstein", from the Offshore Asset Protection blog.

After all, we promised you the bigger picture view.

2. Commodities mark time near peaks, as the CRB hits records highs.

3. Pickens expects oil, natural gas prices to fall. For now, that is. Boone expects oil to be back above $100 by the second half of the year.

4. Ron Paul reactivates GOP candidacy, vows to fight. (LA Times).

5. Marc Faber sees a bright future for Cambodia and investors.

6. If stocks are so cheap, why won't investors buy them?.

7. Africa has enjoyed a bull market in stocks in recent years.

8. Gold bull may have just two to three years left to run, says Paul Walker of GFMS. Hat tip to the Gold Equals Money blog.

9. Pimco's Bill Gross says the US budget deficit will hit $800 billion in due course. Meanwhile, the Mises blog wonders who benefits from all this debt and government spending.

10. Marc Faber tells CNBC Europe that emerging markets may be even more vulnerable to decline than US stocks. Hat tip to reader Diel.

11. Technical or fundamental analysis? Clif Droke offers a view of the markets which incorporates technical analysis, valuation models, and current sentiment.

12. Frank Barbera looks at the Financial Sense Junior Gold Mining Index.

13. The non-core of the issue: Core vs. non-core inflation.

14. "You can't turn back the ocean". Reason magazine interviews MTV's Kurt Loder about the collapse of mainstream media, the encroaching police state, and "the rising tide of free expression that can't be stopped".

That's all for this edition. Thanks for reading Finance Trends Matter.

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See you soon, and enjoy your weekend!

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