Top Stocks For 2011, Best Stock Investments For 2011, Hot Stocks For 2011

We went to our last summer soiree last night. It took place at a neighbor's chateau, where a large, ancient stone barn had been transformed into a dining room for 100 people.

"We're screwed...so are you..." said a friend.

First, an update from Wall Street: the Dow was unable to sustain a bounce yesterday. It fell 74 points. Gold dropped $3.

Hiring...house sales...the latest news confirms that there is no real recovery going on. And now this from the AP:

I was sitting in the office of a billion-dollar hedge fund manager, and good friend, a couple of months ago comparing notes.

The mood was casual... until I mentioned a side project of mine.

I had found a 39-year-old glitch in the federal accounting system.

Not only that, but I figured out how to exploit this error to make as much as $3,750 every month.

The truth is I sold my best stock portfolio in May 2007 and was using this glitch as my only way to make money.

My strategy is so foolproof, when the best stock market dropped 36% in just over a year, I kept every penny of my wealth intact.

My friend pleaded with me to keep the details of my strategy between us. He even offered me a large sum of money to do so.

But, I wasn't interested in keeping it to myself.

That's why I'm writing you today. As a Taipan Publishing Group subscriber, I want to give you first crack at this incredible moneymaking opportunity.

Editor Zach Scheidt is sitting in today for Adam Lass, who's on vacation. Adam will be back on Thursday. But in the meantime, please check out Zach's look into today's "Global Cash War" and what it means to your portfolio.

In the current global cash war, many less-than-savvy investors are likely to see the true value of their hard-earned capital diminish. Unfortunately, most will never know the difference because the nominal value of their investment accounts may remain stable.

But in the end, the true value of a nest egg lies in the purchasing power of that capital. What if your investment account grows in dollars but fails to grow in value? Does your investment strategy include a plan to grow the real value of your retirement dollars even while the global cash war diminishes the purchasing power of paper currencies?

The Problem With Paper Currencies

If you've been following any of the commentary from our editors over the past several months, you know that a number of us are concerned with the prospects for paper currencies (including not only the U.S. dollar but a number of other global currencies as well).

The United States experienced another interesting first on Wednesday. For the first time in the history of our union, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against a State. The powers that be in New Jersey had been deceiving and misleading investors in regards to the fiscal well-being of the Garden State, and the SEC busted 'em. Bravo.

That's where the good news ends.

But first, the Cliff's Notes to this mess, according to the SEC's allegations:

In 2001, New Jersey increased pension benefits for state employees without having the funds to cover new benefit expenses. For the next six years, at least, the state continued to underfund the pension system - but hid that information from municipal bond investors. On 79 separate occasions the state sold a total of $26 billion in bonds while "withholding and misrepresenting pertinent information about its financial situation," said SEC director of enforcement Robert Khuzami.

It's always a little tricky to know exactly what an economic recovery looks like. But it's usually pretty easy to know what it doesn't look like...and it doesn't look anything like the chart below:

An economic recovery doesn't look anything like this either: