"We are seeing history in the making. And what's happening in the Middle East is coinciding with some of the mega trends underlying our investment position," note long-standing resource experts Mary Anne and Pamela Aden.

The editors of The Aden Forecast explain, "Here, we review five trends -- related to inflation, interest rates, the U.S. dollar, bonds, and metals -- that should last for many years.

The Financial Times has seen a U.S. diplomatic cable from WikiLeaks that states that Iran has bought significant amounts of gold. The word is that Tehran holds 300 tons of gold, up from 169 tons in 1996.

Gold, oil and the U.S. dollar: The oil-rich Middle East sells oil throughout the world. Oil is priced in dollars. The U.S. dollar is the reserve currency for oil. That means that Mideast countries are loaded with U.S. dollars.

In many parts of Japan, food products jumped. In some areas residents were told not to leave their homes. That alone is enough to create a fearful and hoarding mentality. Traders on the U.S. commodity exchanges didn't take long to work out how to play this. Pretty much across the board, prices rose.

Here are a few late prices:

• WTI crude was up $3.67 per barrel to $101.67. Brent crude rose $2.10 per barrel to $110.62.
• In the grain market, June wheat futures rose 48-2 cents per bushel to $7.10 per bushel.
• Corn futures were up the 30 cent limit to $6.46 per bushel.

The markets were full of contradictions last week. Take for example the turmoil in the Middle East. In past crises, investors flocked to the U.S. dollar. But not this time. The U.S. dollar futures contract fell to 76.41 last week.

Another contradiction: the U.S. jobs report was the best in two years, with 192,000 new jobs added. The stock market should have rallied strongly. Instead the Dow fell 88 points. The crises in Libya and elsewhere overshadowed the favorable jobs picture.

For the past four weeks gold has been in to doldrums, hanging around the $1,330 range. Some hedge funds sold out their positions. Analysts were on the tape saying that gold has lost its luster and is ready for a fall.

Now, today, you look at the gold price and it's up. $15.80 at $1,364 per ounce. And you are wondering what's going on. You look at today's news and you read that China has just raised interest rates. So as a trader you decide to sell the gold short because gold does not like higher interest rates. Wrong! The market turned around like a vengeance. By noon it was up $13.00. It wasn't logical, but it happened anyway. The shorts quickly covered their positions.

Economist Gary Shilling has agreed to share with BloggingStocks his 18 investment strategies for 2011, beginning with Gary Shilling's Investment Strategies for 2011. But he will only be revealing them a little at a time, over the next few weeks, so check back often!

My investment strategies for 2011 are driven by my forecasts for the economies and financial markets here and abroad. In my view, the overarching reality that will dominate 2011 and, indeed, the next decade or so is financial deleveraging, as spelled out in my new book, The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation, which was published in November 2010 by John Wiley & Sons.

Three intermarket commodities are on the move today. The Financial Times reported that the U.S. dollar hit a low against the Swiss franc.

Why is this noteworthy? First the Swiss franc is a separate currency, not part of the euro. With Europe in disarray, the only safe currency is the Swiss franc. Anyone wanting to hedge against the eurozone getting worse would buy the Swiss franc. On the futures market, the March Swiss is trading at 1.05610, up 0.0138 (9:20 EDT). The March U.S. dollar is trading at 80.18, down 0.49.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear on 60 Minutes this Sunday to defend his controversial stimulus package, dubbed QE2, of buying $600 billion of Treasury securities.

In the CBS interview, Bernanke explains his intentions with QE2 and defends the notion that this stimulus will not lead to inflation. He also told CBS that he is not ruling out the purchase of more securities.

Gold prices have marched to a new high of $1,422.45 per troy ounce in London. This marks the fourth day of the gold rally.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) cited that the prime mover was continued worry over European sovereign debt defaults.Traders and investors are riding the bull higher and higher. To help the gold along, the U.S. dollar is weaker, sparking a rally in key commodities like oil and grains. Cotton is also up again.

In an interview with CNBC, Warren Mosler, principal broker dealer with AVM, lays out his argument for the euro's rise to $1.50.

His main argument is that Europe is creating austerity measures that are curbing inflation and thus strengthening the euro. Notwithstanding the fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) is buying bonds from weaker members like Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, these moves will not create inflation. No longer can speculators attack a single country like Greece and in doing so take down the entire eurozone.

William Dudley, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today that further Fed easing is needed if the economy does not improve. That was the trigger for gold and oil, which moved higher. Gold set a new record with the spot price at $1,317.10 in London. The December futures contract is trading at $1,317.10, up $8.20, Reuters reported.

The remark about the possibility of the Fed easing also triggered a sharp drop in the U.S. dollar. December futures are trading at 78.51, down 0.428. In a knee-jerk reaction, November oil spiked to $81.24 per barrel, up $1.27.

Spot gold in London hit $1,299.65. The December gold futures contract traded at $1,301.30, setting new record highs, as reported in Reuters.

Gold resumed its rally mode when the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that it will provide more stimulus to the U.S. economy. That triggered commodities to move higher in anticipation of more inflation.

Gold continues to climb to record highs on Wednesday, boosted by the Federal Reserve's comments that it would continue to ease monetary policy, if needed, to aid the U.S. economy.

While the announcement sent the dollar lower, investors moved into gold and silver, sending gold prices up to $1,296 at one point. The yellow bullion has been a terrific investment this year, with Gold ETFs up about 16%. That beats stocks and bonds.

But what else can investors do to profit?

The price of oil has topped $80 per barrel. Crude for September delivery rose to $80.43, up $1.48. Brent crude rose $1.61 to $78.79. U.S. natural gas shot up over $5 per million British thermal unit (BTU). Oil futures climbed 4.4% in July.

Traders and investors are speculating that China will reverse its policy aimed at slowing growth. Growth in China is at its lowest level in a year. HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics reported that China's purchasing managers index fell to 48.4, from 50.4 in June. The purchasing managers index stood at 51.2 in July.

In 1971, President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard. On that day, world finance changed forever. What that meant is the Fed no longer backed the U.S. currency with gold. Now the currency was free to trade on a relative basis against other world currencies. Eventually, a U.S. dollar index contract was established on the NYMEX. The index is traded against a basket of currencies.

Now, 40 years later, the dollar is still dominant. Our economy went along merrily until we began racking up huge deficits. The deficits have become so great that we face a loss of confidence from investors in our ability to worm our way out of this mess. This year the Fed had to issue between $1.5 to $2 trillion dollars of notes and bonds. Investors are receiving only 4% on the 10-year note, whereas in the past the average yield was 7% to 9%.