Happy Thanksgiving

I started writing my "Rant of the Week" eight years ago, so I've had many opportunities to bring you my Thanksgiving message and remind you to be thankful for the many blessings in your lives. It's been a tough year for many of us, but the trials we've endured can help open our eyes to all of the things we can be grateful for.

This Thanksgiving, I think it may be more important than ever to serve a little humanity alongside the turkey. And I have always thought one of God's greatest gifts was a healthy dose of humility, and this year we all might want to serve ourselves up an extra piece of humble pie.

Toby

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What I'm Thankful For This Year

I know that the past year has been hard for many of you, but I find that it's during the rough patches that I'm most grateful for the people, places, events and things in my life that make even the toughest times bearable.

I am eternally grateful for the 20,000 volunteers that make up the ChangeWave Alliance Research Network. In early January, they warned us that the U.S. economy was headed for recession and a pre-recession bear market.

While it may not be polite to talk money at Thanksgiving, I know that I, along with thousands of ChangeWave Investing members, were grateful for this knowledge. It prompted us to get defensive and focus on capital preservation long before the rest of the world came to the conclusion that 2008 was going to be an awful year for stocks.

I must also give thanks for the ChangeWave Alliance survey team led by Dr. Paul Carton. They have created a unique and deadly accurate macroeconomic and microeconomic forecasting system that's second to none. If only the Fed and Treasury Secretary Paulson had read these survey results -- we might not be in this mess.

I am very grateful for the new 2x bear market ETFs that have allowed us to preserve our retirement funds (and, in some cases, make some pretty nice coin) putting our recession/bear market outlook to work.

And when the Alliance tells us that the economic contraction is about to end, we will use the new 3x bull market ETFs to help people turn their 201(k) back into a 401(k).

I am thankful for my colleague, Michael Shulman, who leads the ChangeWave Shorts service. He has enthusiastically and accurately turned our recession surveys into big profits for his subscribers.

I am thankful for my three favorite gadgets: my Bose noise-cancelling headphones, my Apple (AAPL) iPod Touch and my new BlackBerry Bold. 

Without my music, Lewis Black comedy albums and pictures of all my adventures from the past few years, my life would certainly be less rich.

I am also thankful for Facebook and Google's (GOOG) Picasa.

Facebook allows me to keep in touch with old and new friends all over the world. Plus, I love it when Fox News fans add me to their list of friends -- it puts a face to the work we do for people every day.

And Picasa is simply the best way to share pictures with friends. Plus, Google means I never lose a bet with a Fox News anchor again.

Speaking of Fox, I am so grateful that Rupert Murdoch has the stones to let us build Fox Business into a truly competitive alternative to CNBC. If I have to watch Charles Gasparino for more than a few minutes a day, I lose the will to live.

And I'm especially grateful to David Asman for letting me host his "America's Nightly Scoreboard" show once in a while.

I'm deeply grateful for the men and women who serve and protect this country from our enemies near and far. I honor my friend, Capt. Peter Sinclair, who paid the ultimate price this year defending our freedom. I also am thankful for the men and women dedicated to helping our heroes heal the psychological wounds inflicted by combat that have gone ignored for too long.

I'm thankful for my safe travels this year. Eight countries, 10 states and 50 weekly commutes to New York City is a lot, but that's what it takes to keep ahead of this crazy financial world.

Finally, I'm most grateful for the Lord's mercy in bringing my mom, Pat Smith, to heaven and removing her from the darkness she lived in during the last few years.

She was the provider of the overwhelming and unconditional love that has sustained me for 50 years and counting. No words come close to expressing the love and gratitude I feel toward the ultimate "kids first" mom.

Those who know and love her are very grateful that she passed this week to a far better place.

Looking Ahead

I am confident that 2009 will be a better year -- it would be hard for us to screw up a year more than we did 2008. We are in the process of "rebooting" our economic system, and we will be better off for it.

Toby

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Ask Toby: Could the Amero Work?

Watch.
Or listen.

In today's video, Toby gives his take on the idea of a single North American currency, and what it would mean for the United States and its neighbors to the north and south.

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Watch 'Bulls & Bears' on Fox News

Be sure to tune in to Fox News Channel this weekend and join Toby and the crew on "Bulls & Bears" for their weekly market roundtable as they kick off the Fox News Channel business block on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 10 a.m. Eastern. ("Bulls & Bears" replays at 4 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, Nov. 30, and 4 a.m. Eastern, Monday, Dec. 1.) Or you can catch the show Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. Eastern on the Fox Business Network.

Wine Find: A Tough Turkey Call

When it comes to a turkey dinner, I love Zinfandel and Pinot. It's a tough call.

However, the Martinelli Winery has great examples of both. I'd try the Jackass Hill Zinfandel or the Bondi Home Ranch Pinot Noir.

The Jackass (love that name) is hard to come by, but it's never too early to start planning next year's feast.

As for the Pinot Noir, I like the 2004 vintage. It's complex with earth and cherry flavors that can hang with turkey and gravy.

Whichever type of wine you prefer on Turkey Day, if you haven't discovered Martenelli, you're missing out on some great vino.

To share your favorite wine or food experience, e-mail me through the form at: www.changewave.com.