no one killed in these different incidents but dozens injured. airline spokesman calls the invest gatien routine. friends and family mourning the death of a california school official who was murdered, execution style in mexico. 3 -year-old roberto salcedo none at bobby one of six people kimd in an area plagued with drug violence. in el monte city, california, salcedo was in mexico with his wife visiting family and friends. and year after year, so many of us find that despite our very best efforts we spend too much over the holidays. so what is the best way to dig yourself out of the hole? we will ask the dole dolans, du the 2:00 hour eastern time. stay tuned for that and stay tuned to cnn with all the breaking news. "your $$$$$" starts right now. 2009. the year of the financial hangover. a toxic cocktail of rising

unemployment and falling home prices left us in a world of economic hurt. wall street is feeling okay, but only because they took their medicine early in the year. in the form of a bailout and stimulus elixir brewed up by the federal government. the bill went to the taxpayers, and we'll be paying it for years to come. so what about this year? are good times just around the corner? what will the new year bring for your job, your home, your savings and your debt? bring out the crystal ball. it's time to talk "your $$$$$" in 2010. okay. where do we go from here? hello everyone. welcome to a special edition of "your $$$$$'s" 2010 predictions. i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm christine romans. it was the year of the financial hangover, year of the layoff. 2009 saw the highest unem ploemt rate at a quarter century and while the pace of job cutbacks and slowdowns were far off pre-recession levels. look at this. since the recession started we've gone from 4.9% unemployment all the way to 10%.

>> the question is where is unemployment headed this year? we asked our guests to bring crystal balls. i see none with a crystal ball. the managing editor of the financial time. joann, former editor and chief of condy nast port follow and joining us, a good friend and author joe. all of you, welcome back to the smoep let's talk about what this is going to do. first, talk about the politics of it. is this economy where we are right now and what's happening right now going to help or hurt the democrats, because we've got elections in 2010. >> it's going to hurt them. economy is weak. the chart you showed was really, really telling. from 4.9% to 10% is a big drop and it's going to take a lot to go back up. people are still going to be feeling the pain. >> joann? >> it is all about jobs. as you pointed out. jobs, jobs, jobs. as long as unemployment is there we'll have a lot of disaffection among voters and not only that, another really important issue that's going to come up in 2010

is going to be the foreclosure rate. right? you've got something like 14% of people who are already behind in their mortgages or in foreclosure. when people see their neighbors turned out of their homes losing homes, that's going to become a real political issue. >> and those are tight. ob obviously. the more people lose their jobs the more homes get foreclosed. >> unemployment goes down slightly. democrats get hurt in 2010 but obama doesn't care about 2010. he care answer 2012. the classic political role as you take your recession in your first year. second year you start to come out. third year you're out, the fourth year the economy's booming and you get re-elected. that's a cynical way to look at it, but that's the history of the united states. >> jobs so interesting, end of 2009, starting to see temp rare hiring. which is something that the ceo of oh deco says that's the first place to see a glimmer of states. 36 states saw unemployment rates drob drop.

no one's getting a job tomorrow but the blood-letting is over. >> the temporary hiring seems to be converting to full time jobs more slowly than in past recessions. part of what i think we're seeing now is a two-speed recovery. businesses are recovering more quickly than households. kpip, starting to do really well. partly because they're so efficient. >> but what's happening is it's weighing down on the president's ability to get things done because it's weighing down on this popularity. let's look at the poll of polls which looks at the president's overall rating. back in early november, his favorables 53%. performance rating, approval rating 53%. mid-november dropped to 48%. now this is interesting. early december, up a little bit. and now up a little bit. look, these are very small numbers to be comparing, but the bottom line, joann, the president's ability to get things done does to a great degree depnd on at least half of people in this country supporting what he does. >> absolutely right. we'll see numbers erode further i would think, because

unemployment figure can actually go up before they go down. everything is in the wrong direction for the president as we head towards the mid-term elections. for the first time year hearing people compare this year to perhaps 1994. a frightening thought. 1994 when clinton lost control of the house. and so you know, if things continue in that direction, the president's ability to carry through on his ambitious agenda is hurt that much the more. it's going to be so much more difficult for him to achieve what he wants. >> since you brought up history, look at george w. bush, 2001 approval rating, 86%. >> around the same time. clinton '93, approval rating 54%. george h.w. bush, '89, 17%. reagan, back in '81, approval rating of 49%. all gallup polls i think. cnn "usa today" gallup polls. it's got to be causing some, some pand wringing in the wus?

>> the only one that's relevant. because with george bush -- >> reagan number opinion 49%. >> yeah. dealing with, he's dealing with the fallout from the carter years. you have 18 1/2% interest rates. so that's a relevant number. clinton's number completely irrelevant. he inherited george bush's bull market. the economy's booming. the george bush number is completely irrelevant because of 9/11. none of the numbers vaguely comparable. the only one comparable, herbert hoover what obama's dealing with. obama dealt one of the worst hands in the history of the countries. go back and look at abraham lincoln's approval ratings which were terribly low and that's what's relevant. the other things are, those number, completely irrelevant. >> what has been dealt now, he has to partner with wall street, right, and the banking system to try to get it out. >> some of that partnering or talk of it is not in wall street in the good for his numbers. >> not going so hot. >> is fat cats better for husband numbers.

>> not sure. speaking of fat cats roman newspaper rag, average 2008 pay of the banks who received the bailout money. that's 2008. 2009 we're hearing some giving up a bonus, some restructuring, some of them are not going to allow cash compensation for the highest paid people. does america, i guess and the white house, is their relationship with the banking industry getting better? in 2010? >> couldn't get worse. but, no. i do think that a new element has entered american politics, which hasn't really been there arguably since the great depression which is this real populist rage at wall street nap hasn't been there for a really long time. america was different from, say, europe, with, because ordinary people were quite happy for rich people to be really rich. a sense of -- >> a fact you might join into those ranks i. think that's changed because there's a sense particularly when it comes to wall street these are, this is unfair compensation, and that

it's a one-way bet. you win in good times. when bad times come the taxpayer bails you out. >> jobs the single biggest issue. unep employment 4.9% as opposed to 10% we wouldn't care with the fat cats as much. >> totally agree, ali. the one way banks, bankers can get out of the dog house. it our economy improves at such a rapid clip no one will care. that issue will completely recede if all boats are lifted and everyone feels like they're doing well again. >> the bankers this year are like the drug company ceos four, five years ago and everyone complaining about high drug prices opinion serious. >> or in uncertain times -- wlnchts they didn't show up because they said it snowed, didn't show up they insulted the american people. obama should say i'm inviting you back down and will send a cab for each of you. they can -- >> he's a gracious guy. he will get them in the end. what i find weird about this, though, is the idea of, i never

thought i would live to see a time in the united states where the republicans are attacking the fat cat bankers. it's like the revolt -- the roles have been completely reversed. i must say, it ring as bit hollow. it does, when republicans attack the bankers. it does. >> i just think it's surprising how tin eared the bankers have been. >> facingating, yeah. >> very, very smart guys. >> doing god's work. don't be too hard. >> and i think there is a calculation, actually, in some of the wall street firms that it actually doesn't matter. we're making money. our shareholders are happy. we're going to ride this out. >> to not get it, the people are -- >> could be both. you know, no one electses them and i think they figure, that ride through. >> when we come back what that might get them. what that arrogance might get them and other things happening. 2009 is, well, it likely ended better than it started, for your involvements. i hope it did. what's 201020 bring?

grab a pen and tape. you and your portfolio won't want to miss this.

last march we hit bottom on the dow. since then an upward trend. if you invested in gold in early 2009. wow, doing well by the end of the year. >> at the same time a tough year for the american dollar and

china's economic growth is challenging americans dominance. what does it mean for next year? stephen leeb, author of "gain over" and a chief economist. we'll bring in stephen, love to talk to him about gold. quite a ride leer. even as we saw a decade horrible for stock investors you see gold doing very, very well. does this last? >> i think it does. i mean, you know, if you compare it to the 1970s-'80 when gold hit $800 at the beginning of 1980 that marked the end of something. paul volcker had taken control of the economy and vowed he's going to kill inflation no matter what happens. now no one's taking control. we just have this massive flood of money. not only from america, but from europe, from all the developing countries, and gold has a 5,000-year history of being a stored value. i know doesn't have industrial uses but it didn't have industrial uses when trading at $ 250.

one other quick point. it's not a short-term thing, gold. between 1971 and today, if you look at gold versus the s&p 500, guess blah? they're almost the say. including dividends. gold is actually outperformed liquidity. i don't want to sound like a gold bug. let me end it by saying i hope i'm dead wrong, but when i look at the flooding of occurrence currencies in these developing country, you have to own some gold, the bull market is likely to continue. >> diane? >> i stay away from gold. it doesn't have industrial use. makes nice wedding rings, i've had a few. holding on to the last one a nice christmas present. not something i can buy. you know, as an investment, because i don't understand its investment value. that, many people have made money in it. many people have made money on a lot of false profits as well. i'm not as much into gold. i think inflation, if you're concerned about inflation, you should be buying tips. a good market over the last year. i don't think inflation is a near-term problem bought five to

ten-year if a non nom in a. all the money dropped from helicopters is stuck in the top of trees. can't reach it. when it falling to the ground, don't have to worry about inflation. when it does hit the ground, we do have to worry about inflation. >> it's bonds you buy, return changes based on inflation. >> on the gold thing, just from a personal -- my husband lost his weddig ring. i said, do it when precious metals aren't at a record high? really, really. let's see what's going to happen. >> worried about inflation, how does that work into concern about the dollar and what do you do about it as an investors? >> tough. the dollar changed its correlations quite a bit over the last year. we've seen all kinds of movements in the dollar. the dollar appreciated 21% during the height of the crisis, depreciated over ever the past year. any time we get scares like greece, ireland or dubai, we get a rally in the dollar. it's hard to play as a currency now given the high level of uncertainty out there. i'd be careful on that, although i think the trend will be downward on the dollar.

it's still a reserve currency. having that status has given enormous privileges in the world. we may be whittling away at it not thinking about the deficit. for the moment that uncertainty.the rest of the world is to our advantage. a dangerous play, over the course of the year. you could get pops in the dollar as uncertainty creeps up because we're not through the crisis and the after shocks of the storm that hit us. >> showing you devalue of the dollar versus one euro, and the dollar intext and a lot of other gamps people look at to show this period of dollar weak pz's in some say it's because of the dollar, now that the, the crisis is over -- >> other things to invest in. >> exactly. exactly. and the better interest rates abroad than in the u.s. as the u.s. comes back and the rest of the world looks weaker you could see reversal there. i'm not predicting that but the risk high enough i wouldn't bet on currencies. i'd vote on export relating companies in the u.s. >> i take a different

perspective. look how the dollar performed. you just can't say blanketly it was up or down. i mean, the storm currencies last we're were the brazilian rial and dollar. they're both resource-rich countries. the dollar was somewhere near the bottom, but it did outperform other currencies. it was about eve win the indian rupee, which is not a resource-rich country, and if you see, you know, brazil rial you see australian dollar, gold in there, you see the canadian dollar and you see our dollar. we're not a resource-rich country, and i really think that that is what's calling the shots now. resource richness or how independent you are in terms of resources. >> right. diane, let me ask you about stocks. most watching are not going to invest in currencies. be honest, looking at 401(k) and their own exposure to the stock market. the last ten years the worst years for stock investors in some 200 years. if you're in nor 30s or in the end of your working career, this

has been -- >> bad decade four. >> horrible. >> no one's retiring. >> is next year better for stock investors and for the stock portion of their pot folio? >> a huge run-up from the lows we saw. i think we've gotten a little heady recently but overall, still good in the next year and year-end comparisons frankly good. we'll see upward momentum in stock but it's time to be choosing pip i'm very much into 23ds fundamentals. no way to get out of this situation except exporting aggressively. producers, old line, midwest manufacturing industries and big into tech. on the press pes precipice of a new technology revolution. i never ever bet tech in the 1990s. didn't understand the dotcom movement, no fundamentals opinion the move from the information to the knowledge age. smart technologies those cameras that take pictures and get license plates and get the tickets out there, and pay for themselves, those are the way of the future and they are happening quickly. a lot of technology is going to be moving very much next year. >> unfortunately, those same

cameras that diane is talking about, i agree with her proliferation, they also require natural resources namely silver. and there's going to be precious little silver in the world. every time you build a gigabyte of solar energy it requires 50 to 80 tons of silver. i don't think we have enough, and i think that's one reason the economy and the market are going to struggle thex year. oil right now is up 100% from its lows. we've never had that kind of move in oil. at least since 1973, without their being some pressure upon the stock market, some pressure on the economy. so i don't see a big up move in the stock market, but at the same time, coming back to what diane said, helicopter bend, will continue to flood this economy with money. and that should keep the market in a trading range, but i think with that trading range, i expect commodities and materials to really be the leaders. >> talking about -- >> can you do by the way in stocks opinion useful to know, you're right, most won't buy

currencies invest in stocks and commodity increases. >> and for example, can you by eps on both brazil and australia. >> right. >> stephen lee, game over, a friend of ben bernanke. helicopter ben bernanke the fed chief. famous said if we run out of money i'll drop it out of a helicopter. >> and they will. >> and no defense against deflation, by the way. the comment was not meant to fuel bubbles opinion meant to defend the economy against a false reading. >> historian diane, chicago. thanks so much. from wall street to the your street and your wallet, the best places to invest your money in 2010. that's next. i have been congested for the last 10 days

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way up, since it's low last march, is now the time to buy or to sell? or to hold? and one of the best investments you could make in 2010. here to help us navigate the market good friends ryan mackey, president of optimum captain management and doug flynn certified financial manager. gentlemen, you've been with us

through this entire financial crisis, through the recession and now into the recovery. some people were smart. well invested. might have been so lucky you first bought stocks march 9, 2009, right at the bo um and ridden it all way up. most people are not that lucky. they're either still carrying a big loss from the highs of the market in 2007, or they're not invested. doug what do you do now? >> you should have been adding all along is what you do, but when you look at where e we are now in terms ever after the fallout from lehman, you're going to get the market back on a sounder footing almost racing that huge blip downward and back up. what that means is you take away that extreme, the world coming to an end and back to we have a recession, working out of it. a lot of opportunities. the market's getting back to solid footing higher than now with good long-term insurance. >> talk about a one-year, five-year and ten-year time horiz horizon. what do you do jrnlgs one-year you can't be involved in the market.

money markets or ultra short-term bonds at most. onesy get into five year bring in stocks, bonds, and want to have the alternative space. alternatives we mean commodities irk talking gold, oil, all of those thing this in sma space. a mixture of stocks bonds and commodities opinion ten years or longer, as much inatic kuwaits as you can sleep at night comfortably with and a quarter of the difference in alternatives and commodities things like that. much less for a ten-year time horizon or longer. >> you both share a view for the investor who doesn't think of themselves at highly sophisticated. stock investment really think of at mutual funds generally speaking opinion buying stocks you don't know how to buy stocks. a mutual fund. one for 2010? >> t. rowe price. they give you access to broad diversification. the t. rowe price mutual fund has a $2,500 minimum investment however brian rogers since 1985,

repped name in the industry. high yield, yield solid returns, curbing risk and remaining diverse. most of their holdings have more mon that are 4% equity rating, most about a 1% rating. for that individual investor that wants to be a little more conservative, target some very diversified funds as well ahigh dividend yield in stocks rate companies as well, a great deal. >> both of you do have clients who would like to buy stocks and you're not scared of the markets. if somebody wants to buy a particular stock, do your research and know whether you're in the right position to buy it, but you have an interesting tip for 2010. >> yes. well rogers communications. went to canada for this one. this is a great company. end of the day, diversified communications and media company located in canada. as far as their industries, two years behind u.s. industry. 90% the cell phone penetration 90% in the u.s. versus 70% in canada. >> room for growth. >> a little slipup in terms of additional subscriber but a lot

of room for additional growth in that area. wireless ability, superior cableability. a great fund and 4% yield on top of it. not phenomenal returns but the 4% yield on that, should about great company. >> what i like about what ryan is saying talking about large caps, more established names, international companies, canada is international from the u.s. but those kind of theme, very important as we move on it's going to be more of that and the dividend yield and all those things people look for i think is part of the foundation of what you want to do with the core part of the portfolio. >> both saying for investors, our viewers, 2010 is going to about year of opportunity. a little bit of homework will help you figure what's going on. great to see you both. christine? starting this year no matter what your income level you can convert that i.r.a. into a roth i.r.a. so is converting in 2010 the right choice for you? joining us now, walter updegrade at "money" magazine.

guru of retirement. what's the difference between a traditional i.r.a. and roth i.r.a.? >> with a traditional i.r.a. you have pre-tax dollars, when you pull that money out it is taxed. with a roth i.r.a. you're restricting after tax dollars money you've already paid tax upon when you pull the money out, the money isn't taxed. contribution isn't taxed nor all the earnings taxed. >> some people are eyeing changing their traditional i.r.a. converting it into a roth i.r.a. new rule ace lew people who it's appropriate to do that? >> right. if you're modified adjusted gross income was greater than $100,000 you weren't allowed to convert a traditional to a roth. starting in 2010, that restriction is going to be eliminated. you can convert regardless of income. >> who is this appropriate for? >> generally speaking, if you think you'll be in the same or a higher tax bracket, when you pull the money out of the converted roth i.r.a. compared to what your tax rate, when you do the conversion, it's a better deal to do the roth conversion. it's also, can about good idea if you're, want to leave a

tax-free legacy to your heirs because once the money is in the roth account, it's not going to be taxed. and another good thing is, what i like to call tax diversification. if you convert just some of the money into a roth, can you have a pot of money that is in a traditional i.r.a. that money will be taxed. then money in a roth i.r.a. that won't be taxed. maybe some in a taxable account taxed in the long-term capital gains rate. in effect you're diversifying your tax exposure much like you diversify with stocks an bonds. >> all right. walter updegrade, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. next, the housing market. it's been all over the map in 2009. conflicting reports every month about the health of sector. will the value of your home rides or fall in 2010? hey, who's this?

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one week you see home sales perking up a little bit and then new data showing new construction is down. foreclosures plague hundreds of thousands of homeowners each month. >> but then there have been low interest rates and this first-time home buyers credit leped people get into the housing market. last year's numbers. home prices down as of october down 6 poirn 8% from a year earlier. check out home sales. now sales. hard to sgish distinguish that line bus but it's actually up 2712 21.4%. >> what can we expect this year? chris is the professor of real estate at columbia business school. he joins us now. thank you for joeng us. >> that doesn't like like columbia. just saying. >> doesn't the all. >> neither here nor there. >> let me ask you if the value of our big et asset, our home if you are a current homeowner, does the value of your asset get better next year and is it

easier to sell a house next year in 2010? >> i think it's probably going to be a little easier than it was this year. i wouldn't expect you know, a v-shaped recovery in terms of home prices going up a lot, but i think in selected markets, we're certainly starting to see things stabilize. i'm out in california, and this is sorts of one of those places where i think there are really, there are signs of stabilities and, you know, occasional pockets where prices are, you know, ticking up a little bit. >> occasional pockets? that doesn't sound like a bull market. >> it does strike me, chris, i've been saying this for a while. depending where you live. it you live in -- eliminate the pockets really bad. for the rest of us, these 5%-ish mortgage rates ind dhat if you're the average american who take as mortgage for 15 or 30 years this might about very good time to buy. do you agree with that statement? >> absolutely completely agree, ali. this is a wonderful time to buy a home to lock in prices whether

we're at the bottom or whether they're going to fall a little bit further. you're going to lock in a mortgage rate that is very close to 60-year lows. >> yeah. >> and you know, that mortgage rate stays with you no matter what. i think if you -- >> could it go up next year? is this a window of nice low mortgage rates? will the rates rise eventually? >> there is risk. the federal reserve announced in the first quarter of next year it will stop buying mortgage backed security. it took on 1.25 trillion of those. helicopter ben is not going to be dropping quite as much of the goodies in terms of growth rate. >> a mattive effect. the day they decided to put a lot of money is when mortgage rates went down nap could happen. i don't know about the same effect but it could cause mortgage rates to increase? >> the estimates are sort of modest increases about a another half percent higher, but you know, if the ten-year treasury goes up, if we see -- if we see

signs of inflation, or issues of the dollar or other things, i think the risk on mortgage rates is almost all lopside risk. it's hard to imagine rates are going to be much lower. they certainly could be, you know, half a percent or a percent higher. >> right. >> a year from now. >> which for your long-term calculations, lots of calcula calculators on the line to do the calculations. i would say it's not the reason to run out at buy a house right now. it's the reason to rediscuss it with your family if you're thinking about it. >> absolutely right. maybe it means also people who have been desperately trying to sell their home, move for a new job. able to do it. and thank you, in california this morning. not at ohio's columbia school of business. and in 2010, gas prices. what that means for you at the pump.

next on our list of predictions for 2010, oil and gas prices. to better understand where prices may go we have to look back where they've been. oil hit a record high about a year and a half ago on july 3, 2008. just about $145 a barrel. that coincided with the economy starting to slow down. you can see oil went down by about february of 2009 to the

low that we've had in the last year, $33.98. over the course of the year, oil prices gained hovering around the $70 a barrel mark by about the end of 2009. the question is, where will the economy go in 2010? what effect is that going to have on oil prices and the price that you pay at the pump? christine? >> hmm. we're going to peer into that barrel of crude and see where it's going to go. christopher steiner author of "$20 per gallon" how the rise in the price of gasoline will change our lives for the bert and steve hargreaves from cnnmoney.com be, right here. let me talk to you first, krit fer. you think oil drieses are going higher. why? >> three reasons. one is supply. if you talk about the developing world, it's not so much the price that matters in the u.s. you talk about china and india. we've all heard cliches about the rising middle classes. that's true. a billion who lives like like

americans do. long-term oil prices and demand are going to go up. secondly, supply. the aj says we have to find three saudi arabia's by 2030 to just keep up with current demand to keep up with future demand we'd have to fine six saudi arabia's by 2030 because of the decline rates we see giant fields in mexico and saudi arabia. and thirdly the dollar. the dollar has to fall further. we have $14 billion in debt, sorry, $12 trillion in debt right now out there. american debt, and the current deficit for this year is $1.4 trillion. the dollar is due to be valued further that means of course oil will cost more. >> you think oil will be, if talking about the dollar, and hedge for dollar, heapings that oil, should be gold. talking oil. >> interesting. it's hard to argue those points, christopher, but steve hargreaves actually does from

"money.com. an article cites people saying that's not going to happen. not going to see oil going up in that price. >> three points people point to. one is supply. a lot of new supply has come on. high prices back in 2008. spurred a lot of investment. supplies from the gulf of mexico, saudi arabia, security situations improving in iraq. supply is one. two is efficiency. consumers have actually responded to high prices in 2008. people actually bought smaller cars. >> running out of oil, which one of the things christopher talk absence decline in supply. a lot of people say that's not actually a precursor for the end the world? >> right. well, some people say that you know, the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. it are transition to a new energy source before we actually run out of crude. >> you say u.s. oil demand may have already peaked and point out the economy remains fragile. we saw oil prices go down when the economy went into a tailspin. can the economy -- still a weak

economy. you know, can you have $100 oil with an economy so weak? >> people say it's not going to recover as past fast as some people. advances we're making in fishssy, if the economy doesn't take off, at least in 2010 you might see prices at $ 0, $70 a bearing. >> one thing, that $4 a gallon sgas and $140 a garral barrel did, it did something no amount of taxes or fuel efficiency standards in the u.s. was able to do. drove people away from massive consumption of fuel. >> a tripping point for the american puck lib, clearly. the americans drove $100 billion less miles in 2008 than in 2007. we've never seen a drop like that. purely because of the price of gas. >> $20 gas, aren't we all going to walk everywhere or discovering having solar panels in our heads, wheels on our feet? >> figures a few decades out. you have to realize hyperbole for the title of the book. long term we'll see higher oil prices. >> i want to ask you both quickly, a point about right now

a billion people in this, americans and christopher eventually 3. people live like americans. quickly. can 3 billion live like americans or do americans have to live more energy efficiently? >> we will live that way but slow gains opinion usually we contain about 2% in efficiency every year. don't see 10% or 20% gains. looking out, must more efficient, as it is. we have to be to mitigate our use of oil. >> if we live like new yorkers not a bad example. we can actually -- new yorkers live nor efficiently. >> a lot depends on technology. electric cars, other things come in, maybe we can. if not, step back. >> steve, and christopher, the book is "$20 per gallon" thanks 20 goethe of you for joining us. getting bold, our guests try to predict your money's future and a prize prediction you're not going to want to miss.

well, it's time to make bold predictions for your money in 2010. back with us, managing editor of the financial time opinions joann, and sat tirist and author joe queenen. your predictions, please, ladies and gentlemen. >> talk to joann. she has three. >> first of all, the villains of 2010, good-bye bankers, hello health insurance company ps ip think our health insurance costs are going way up for you consumers. second, i would say conspicuous consumption make as comeback. >> wow. >> i think so. look, americans in 2010, i think you're going to be tired of restraint. they're going to be itching to use the credit cards again. >> the shortest lived new concept ever. >> where are they getting the money? >> they're going to uses the

credit cards again. every time there's a frugal period it is followed by a burst of conspicuous consumption. we are really getting ready for that. >> we are tacky in america. >> some of us. >> so, and -- and third i think on the heels of the "time" magazine naming ben bernanke the man the year i think "people" magazine is probably on its way to naming tim geithner sexiest man alive. >> oh! that is a bold prediction. >> christine what do you think? >> my big prediction is next year is going to be the year of the deficit. we've been talking about spending money, government money, our own household money. next year is going to be the year that everyone focuses on needing to pay down the debt and on higher taxes. second prediction, innovation going to continue to be in the tech seconder. it's going to continue to be the year of all sorts of fun gadgets, and the mainsfreem getting into gadgetland. and third prediction -- more and more bankers are going

to be moving to china. hong kong. >> interesting. more and more bankers speak chinese now. you're finding senior executives with training, find executives mandarin. interesting. what do you think? >> we use some of that t.a.r.p. money to get bin laden. we bring him back and then 2010, those democrats do just fine in the mid-term elections. that's what i would like them to do with the t.a.r.p. money, get bin laden. my other prediction is tim geithner will not be named sexian man alive and eagles win the super bowl and donovan mcnabb will be the most valuable player and he will ask rush limbaugh, "what do you think of me now?" >> we were just talking about 2010. my money prediction is i'm going to be in a movie. "boys on the bus."

it comes out in the spring. >> are you going to walk the red carpet? >> i hope so. if you're not on vacation that week so you can fill in for me. >> he didn't ask me to go, you notice. >> it's going to be one way or the other, a lot of people think it's going to be a better year. if you take return of conspicuous consumption and combine it with the year of fun gadgetry. >> that's what we spend it on. >> but higher taxes. >> i think so, too. people with money are going to find ways to start feeling better about things. people who don't have money will be deleveraging. >> and we'll talk about predictions of real estate and the price of gold and oil. >> and we'll turn to a professional next, a true professional to predict the future. these people are never wrong. %%

you might think by this time of the show we predicted everything there is to predict about your money. we haven't. we need to ask our good friend richard quest what he thinks 2010 holds for the economy. richard joins us from a land far, far away, britain, that is,

to make his prediction. he sounds good when he says it because he is so emphatic. >> and the accent makes him sound so much smarter. this is our panel still here. we are not psychics. richard is not a psychic. we can only make educated guesses, so we will turn it over to a professional in this manner, i want to be clear, roxanne does not use tarot cards or crystal balls. you say you will let the angels guide you. we have specific questions for them through you. what do you think will happen in the markets in the year 2010? >> well, what i have been channelling is that gold looks very good. silver also looks very good, a very good stock to invest in.

commodities are great. oil will fluctuate up and down, and then it will literally go through the roof to all-time highs, more than we've ever seen it before. >> an oil prediction. >> interestingly enough, you've also got a prediction about water. you think there will be big profits in water. >> yes, i do. in 2010, it is a very idea to invest in water because there will be problems connected to water, and anything with advanced techniques to clean the water system is a great idea. food because food prices will go up. that's another stock that will be a good thing to invest in. >> let's take richard quest joining us from london. what are you thinking about the future? what are your predictions for 2010 when it comes to people's money? >> i have two predictions that will happen in 2010. the first is that the g-20 will

be proved to be the relatively useless bunch they have perhaps been until the crisis itself came along. having weathered and come together and have coordination across the 20, they will go back to irrelevant. >> that's not nice. they'll meet in my home country of canada this year. >> that may well be the case, but the reality is the g-20 will not manage to continue their policy of coordination with any degree of success as different countries come to different points of the exit strategy, and my second big prediction. forget all those doomsayers, i think 2010, the new year of the decade is going to be a better year on growth, on markets, lower unemployment than the experts are saying. when you and i are reviewing

next year, we are going to be talking about how things were much better than people thought. >> richard, the angels told you that or your own educated assumption? >> no. it was a bit of indigestion over lunch. no, seriously. we are already starting to see some signs of it. the markets come back, yes. we are also -- a third prediction, a third prediction, we are all going to be paying higher taxes. that is not a prediction in the uk, that is a certainty. let nobody believe their neighbor is going to be better whether it's france, germany, uk or your good selves in the u.s. >> it might be interesting for americans to look at what's going on in uk to have some understanding of taxes. this is going to be the year of

talking about debt. >> to richard's point earlier though, i think that the comparison actually for the first quarter should looks pretty good. i do think it's going to be a rough year for unemployment, gdp and everything else, but short term, people will be relatively. if you recall a year ago first quarter, we were in basically freefall. i do think we are going to have a relatively good-looking first quarter. >> joe, last word to you. >> i'm waiting for that motorola stock to move. >> we'll be all back in six months to see how these predictions have done. >> we'll check in on the eagles' prediction. >> thank you for joining us for this special edition of "2010 predictions." >> you can follow us on facebook and twitter and make sure you join us every week for "your money."