Some of the Best Ideas and Trades of 2007

One affordable way to honor the splendid swine is with a position in silver pigs as minted by Australia's Perth Mint. Legal tender under the Australian Currency Act of 1965, these sharp-looking coins are available through most bullion dealers, including Richard Smith's Only Gold, at premium to the ever-changing spot price of silver. Only 500,000 of the half-ounce and 300,000 of the one-ounce coins were produced, giving them a numismatic worth beyond their silver content.

And while silver prices have outpaced the S&P 500 in 2007, these coins, like all physical bullion holdings, should be seen as long-term investments and not short-term trades.

The fact that you're reading SmartMoney.com now and not Socialist Party USA would lead one to believe you have interest in money. Millions of successful businesspeople, including names like Mark Cuban and Monroe Trout, have been inspired by the work of Ayn Rand, whose philosophy of Objectivism explains the morality of capitalism.

So at a time in which bankers such as Countrywide's (CFC) Angelo Mozilo or investment firms like Goldman Sachs (GS) are increasingly vilified for creating wealth, you'll certainly enjoy picking up a copy of The Objective Standard, a quarterly journal that relates Rand's philosophy to current events. Although technically launched a year earlier, TOS's lively and thought-provoking content was the best I read in 2007 as well.

The best movie of 2007 was "Helvetica", a feature-length documentary film about typography and visual culture that celebrates the now ubiquitous font that's literally everywhere. American Airlines (AMR), American Apparel (APP), Toyota (TM), Microsoft (MSFT) and Panasonic are among the well-known companies that use Helvetica as their signature cue. Now available on DVD, this is a lively and well-scored treat for any child of the computer age.