ups and downs

This country's economic crisis has all of us wondering what the future holds. Will President-elect Barack Obama be able to reinvigorate the economy?

When will the housing market rebound? How is the holiday season going to play out in terms of retail sales?

For months, economists have been debating these issues. After all, that's a big part of their job. But for the average investor, it might be better to focus on the past.

I'm not talking about the last couple of years; rather, I'm talking about the past couple hundred years.

Ask may have lost the interest of a lot of people in the search industry, but its parent company, IAC, is still catching investors' eyes.  IAC's third quarter results - the first it's published since spinning off some businesses - represent a curious mixture of ups and downs.

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New York previous metals pushed ahead Thursday with a second day of sharp gains. Futures in silver, gold and platinum were up 9 percent, 4.7 percent, and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Continual concern over the global financial sector and its uncertainly lured investors toward traditional safe-haven gold, but the ride was a roller-coaster with sharp ups and downs.