Invest, invest, invest. The modern world has no shortage of ways to invest money if you have a little extra cash sitting around: real estate, commodities, stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, and so on. Some specialized firms even invest in money, writing forward contracts to buy or sell currency at a future date, hoping that the value of the currency will decrease or increase in the meantime.

Regardless of an investment’s long-term potential, investors aren’t always patient, prudent, or rational. Investments are vulnerable to the whim of the masses, which is more than enough to send the value of a sound investment up a steep slope and over a cliff. (more...)