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Features of the week

Ready for this Friday's edition of "Features of the week"? Splendid. Pull up a chair and enjoy these great articles and interview links culled from the web & blogosphere.

1. Gold hits 28-year high as oil surges. Here's some of our past commentary on gold and oil prices.

Plus, a recap of last April's oil price debate between Steve Forbes and T. Boone Pickens.

2. Canadian dollar trades above US $1 mark for the first time in nearly 31 years.

3. John Authers discusses long-term consequences of a dollar decline in this September 20 video update at FT.com.

4. The Big Picture on, "Fear of a dollar collapse - Part II".

5. Sub-Saharan markets attract interest Gulf investors' interest.

6. Worries that Saudi Arabia might end its dollar peg.

7. Jim Rogers and Marc Faber comment on the Fed's recent moves.

8. Wilbur Ross sees value in the wreckage of the mortgage business.

9. Bear Mountain Bull highlights some important charts.

10. New Order fans: one from the jukebox archives. New Order live in-studio session for BBC Radio, 1984.

11. Sir Alan, so good to see you! Jon Stewart puts some interesting questions to former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in this Daily Show interview.

12. The ICI's Civics Literacy Quiz and what the results say about American students' knowledge of civics, history, and the market economy.

13. Eat less to live longer? Why restricting calories may lead to longetivity.

14. Hedge fund chiefs, private equity guys among new entrants to the Forbes 400.

15. So the big angle with this latest Forbes list is that $1 billion is no longer enough to join the ranks of the Forbes 400.

As we noted back in March, when Forbes published their World's Billionaires list, becoming a billionaire is no longer the rare threshold that it once was.

Thank inflation and the steady devaluation of the world's paper currencies. Today's money is backed by nothing of real value and you can print this stuff at will, so what did you expect?

For a look back at the era when having a million dollars meant something (never mind having a billion), check out, "$1 million: What's the infatuation", and, "Tallying up the millionaires".

Thanks for reading Finance Trends Matter. Enjoy your weekend!

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