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Dear Diary,

The Dow fell 268 points yesterday. Gold lost $4 an ounce.

Chris has more on what that means in today's Market Insight.

Today, we're going to ignore the news. Instead, we will be giving you a crash course on money.

Over the next few days, we'll talk about what we know… or think we know… on the subject.

Money has its digital side. In one sense, it is pure numbers… as boring and as predictable as long division.

But there's a snakier side to it… and an underbelly as nuanced and subtle as humanity itself.

Few subjects – save perhaps religion and politics – are as full of puerile balderdash and self-serving claptrap.

But neither religion nor politics produces such clear winners. When it comes to wealth, just look at who has the most money!

What We'll Cover…

Today, we'll look at money in the broadest possible way.

What is it? Where does it come from? If you want more of it, where can you get it?

In the days that follow we'll take up some other issues too:

1. The macro context – What kind of a financial world do we live in now? How did it get this way; where is it going?

2. Investing in stocks – What do we really know about stock market investing? Are there proven techniques you can use to earn safe, above-market gains? Or are you better off just sticking with the indexes?

We've covered this in previous Diary entries. But we're going to revisit it just to make sure we got it right. We'll also point you to the most successful stock-pickers in our business.

3. Investing for income – Not everyone wants capital growth. Some people are more interested in income. How do you make your capital work overtime for you?

4. A five-minute retirement financing audit – We'll figure out (a) how much you need, (b) how to get it, and (c) how to make sure it doesn't run out before you do.