The California Gold Rush brought over 300,000 people to The Golden State in the mid-19th century, promising treasures to travelers from other parts of the United States, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China eager to strike it rich.  Unfortunately, the average forty-niner earned little more than they started with.

Up-front warning: This will be the strangest Evergreen Virtual Advisor (EVA) you’ve ever read. Considering some of the far-out stuff I’ve written over the years—such as speculating the Fed was going to violate its charter and buy corporate bonds—that’s quite a declaration.