I disagree with your stock argument. Take Enron, CIT Group, Worldcom, Lehman Brothers and numerous others as my examples. If you don't hold it in your hands, you don't own it. Shares in GLD, for instance, are leveraged 100:1. Even your "cash" at financial institutions isn't yours. Look at MF Global and those crooks. That's where you should be spending your time. How much did Corzine walk away with?