CRISIS INVESTING FOR THE REST OF THE '90s

Among the high-profile fortunetellers who profitably dispense doomsday fiscal counsel (Batra, Browne, Granville, Ruff, et al.), Casey ranks as one of the few with real insight. In his 1979 bestseller, Crisis Investing, for example, he urged readers to liquidate real-estate holdings, avoid S&Ls, and accumulate gold. Three years later, in Strategic Investing, he forecast an imminent boom in common stocks and a concurrent bust in bullion—accurate predictions that at the time were considered little short of absurd. Here, Casey offers recommendations that—despite his thoughtful (if rambling) asides on libertarianism and a host of other topics (including a ``Greater Depression'' that he anticipates soon could cause global deflationary chaos)—may strike even true believers as perversely contrarian. Silver and agricultural commodities top Casey's short list of immediate investment possibilities, largely because of their recovery potential, plus the risk of a resurgence in inflation or a monetary panic. He also prescribes being long second-tier gold, oil, and uranium issues while shorting Japanese equities (via closed-end funds) as well as their vulnerable American counterparts. Also covered are opportunities in commercial and residential property located in politically distressed regions, including Eastern Europe. On the minus side of Casey's ledger for current commitments are bonds of any sort, most mutual funds, and base metals. In the context of his dour worldview and exasperation with the socioeconomic havoc wreaked on free markets by so-called New Class elites, the author's advisories are at least logical. Given his record, moreover, they might even prove rewarding, in which case there's cause for real concern in the heartland and on Wall Street. An offbeat investment guide that poses an idiosyncratic challenge to conventional wisdom and pieties. (Helpful charts and tabular material throughout)