This only happened once in the four times in the past 30 years.

Each time it happened, investors had the chance to walk away with average gains of 140% in the span of a couple short years.

Now it’s happening all over again. But this time around, due to the crash of 2008 and the ongoing responses to it, the potential gains are even greater.

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“We think the U.S. economy will slow [next year] but narrowly miss an outright recession. We expect the overall stock market to bounce around, as it did this year, and deliver anemic single-digit returns.”

Sound like a reasonable prediction for the 2011?

It would, but it’s not. That was a prediction from Fortune magazine’s The Best Stocks for 2008.

The “best” stocks for 2008 included Merrill Lynch which was rescued by/merged with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) hours before it went bankrupt.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) made the list too. It only remains a conglomerate because of multi-billion dollar behind-the-scenes Fed bailout. Its shares fell nearly 80% after that prediction.

Red-hot Brazilian oil company Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) was the “best” energy play for 2008. That year its shares actually managed to outpace the 70% drop in oil prices.

Making predictions is tough. That’s why we’ve learned the fundamental principles of risk and reward are the key to investment success rather than predicting the near-term future.

This year, however, we are willing to venture one prediction. It’s one that’s a bit contrarian, goes against a very popular trend, and the rewards will far outweigh the risks as this story plays out in the next few weeks.

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By Andrew Mickey, Q1 Publishing

China has been hit with a new commodity shortage.

Forbes reports, “Power cuts and rationing are hitting parts of central and northern China as winter coal supplies fall short of surging energy requirements due to extreme cold and transport disruptions.”

Boring old coal has become the commodity du jour. And investors have been bidding up anything and everything related to coal.

The excitement around coal has been building for months. The recent shortages have only brought more attention - and investment capital – to coal.

But investors who look at recent history will quickly see the coal industry is exceptionally prone to booms and busts. Heck, it just the last 10 years has been through two cycles and started a third.

The current cycle is certainly not different this time. But with the run-up in shares of the big coal miners and a great story to push them to even greater heights, a high-potential (1,000%+ gains) opportunity is being created. It is not, however, going to be where most investors look.

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Think $88 oil is too high?

From the current macro view, it would certainly seem so.

Global GDP growth is expected to come in at a relatively meager 3% next year. Rising commodity prices have dented many consumers’ discretionary incomes. China’s central bank is hiking rates to keep inflation in check. Official unemployment in the world’s largest oil consuming economy is well above 9% and poised to stay there.

It’s not a pretty picture from the top-down. However, one of the best indicators of long run oil prices is signaling $88 is more than justified and reveals why one small sub-sector of the oil industry is growing nearly five times faster than the rest of them.

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The Bernanke Bubble is showing its first weakness in months.

Yeah, I know. Stocks have continued to inch higher almost daily. The volatility of late spring is a distant memory. The only uncertainty for most investors is seemingly how great next year will be.

Two indicators, however, have recently flashed some major warning signs. The last time they did stocks fell 48% and 20% across the board.

That’s why now the prudent move is to take precautionary action, build up some cash, and prepare for a sharp and unexpected (for most investors) dip.

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