I'm starting to see infomercials for gold, people freaking out and talking about how much money they've made on oil futures, and things of that nature. All of the buzz is around materials and resources.

Seems to me that loose money went from the market, to real estate, to oil/gold/etc. Some are estimating that close to 30% of the cost of oil futures is related to speculation (talk about ultimately digging your own grave -- didn't we learn this from flipping houses already? I wonder how many of these investors are losing their 'profits' filling their SUVs up).

I've been reading a lot of finance books lately, and when it comes to investing they all say the same thing -- don't follow the crowds. The best buying time is when "blood is running through the streets." So, while it's tempting to chase the short term profits being made on these things, it all seems incredibly similar to the situations that I've read about.

Time to buy the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index. Automate that bad boy and ride this all the way down (and ultimately, out ;)

Anyone disagree? Lots of micro and macro things to consider these days.