I am semi-retired, I love my life, and I love my wife; a recipe for pure happiness, believe me.

My only problem is a universal problem; money. I have a Mensa IQ and (a generally) reliable ability to reject bull shit and value true intelligence and honesty in others.

I am a private investor. At first, (March 2009), I read just a little and was lucky with my investments, but then on advice, I took some professional guidance and lost some. Lesson learnt: Do your own research.

I decided I needed to understand the market better and I started to read the more interesting financial blogs (Seeking Alpha was and is the best!). I now read maybe five hours a day, every day. I'm looking for the well informed logical trend, I don't want to follow the pack, as someone cleverer than me once said: Buy when everyone else is selling, sell when everyone one else is buying....take note!

Over the last few months I have refined my portfolio to reflect my new understanding and this strategy is proving very successful. Main conclusions:

1.) Fiat banking is headed for a deserved big demise

2.) A rush to quality today means buying precious metals and mining stocks

3.) Gold and Silver ETF's are just paper - avoid them

I am a Gold and Silver convert,I agree that the Gold and Silver markets have been fixed by US Government proxies to maintain the value of the dollar internationally and that this scenario is about to fold.

I prefer mining shares, especially SLW.

Welcome to my world.