Keith Fitz-Gerald
Investment Director
Money Morning

By now virtually every investor has heard the argument that the U.S. dollar is slated to lose its status as the global reserve currency. And that's good - as far as it goes.

What's bad is that many of these investors have yet to latch onto the fact that this could happen much sooner than many people realize and in a manner that will catch most by surprise.

Shah Gilani
Contributing Writer
Money Morning

Is the government creating another subprime-mortgage bubble?

The first time around, the three-headed federal serpent - the Bush administration, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Federal Reserve - used Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) to "legitimize" trillions of dollars worth of toxic financial waste known as subprime mortgages.

The result was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression - a mess that was global in nature.  And we're now headed for a repeat performance.

When U.S. President Barack Obama late Friday (Sept. 11) signed an order that imposed an additional duty of 35% on tires imported from China, it set up the potential for an old-fashioned trade war. Currently, global trade is down only 20%. During normal times, worldwide commerce would recover on its own. But as most investors understand all too well, these aren't normal times.

Keith Fitz-Gerald
Investment Director
Money Morning

Most Americans will view China’s effort to dethrone the U.S. dollar as the world’s main reserve currency as one of the biggest economic threats that this country will have to face.

But the reality is that this tectonic shift in global finance – and the economic shockwaves that will result – could provide investors with some of the greatest profit plays they’ll ever see in their lifetimes.