The big news this week is that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the central bank will be aggressive on lowering interest rates to prevent the U.S. from sinking into a recession.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Ben! The U.S. economy is already sunk.

Here are the telltale signs that clued us in long before Ben joined the party:

• The housing recession drags on.
• Consumers are resolving to get their budgets under control and spend less while their confidence continues to weaken.
• Employment numbers came to a halt in December while the number of workers on unemployment rose.
• Plus, the stock market had a rotten start to the new year as oil prices and gold went up. Mrs. Bernanke better take Ben to the grocery store next time she shops for food!

What to Do Now

Yes, we know the stock market moved sharply higher on Bernanke's announcement, but stocks are the last thing you want to be in when reality sets in. We suggest you get out now on this uptick.

What looks more promising in these conditions? Gold pushed closer to the $900 an ounce we predicted about $50 ago at the start of the year! Buy gold, but put no more than 10% to 15% of your portfolio into it.

The rest of your assets should be in cash, but not necessarily all of it in U.S. dollars. Here's what we did recently:

Earlier this week, we bought shares in two exchange traded portfolios: the Rydex CurrencyShares Australian Dollar (symbol FXA) and the Rydex CurrencyShares Swiss Franc (symbol FXF). We already own euros, but we do not recommend you invest in euros now because as our recession sets in deeper, the European economies will also slow.

Thanks, Ben. You've now set us on a course for the worst recession in decades. We'll get through it together, so be sure check back often to Dolans.com for our continuing advice on how to weather what looks to be a doozy of a storm on the horizon.