"THE BEST PLAY FOR THE REST OF THIS DECADE." That's what I called commodities more than four years ago in my True Wealth newsletter.

The headline to that issue was "The End of the 100-Year Bear Market." Commodities have soared in price since: Gold is up 150%, silver's up almost 200%, and oil's up about 250%. But when I wrote about it, nobody listened. Nobody wanted to hear it.

Today, I'd like to share with you the next great asset class... an asset that over the next five to 10 years has the potential to do the same thing commodities have done in the last few years.

Backing up for a moment... It is hard to put into words the sheer disdain that investors had for commodities just five years ago. Professional investors looked at the last 20 years of asset returns and laughed at me for even considering commodities in a "legitimate" portfolio. Mom and Pop America had no interest whatsoever.

Here's what I wrote over four years ago to my paid subscribers. I want you to read this because I feel the story is similar to what I'll share with you today:

I think commodities will turn out to be a fantastic place to invest for the rest of this decade. Returns in commodities should easily beat stocks and bonds for the next five years. It happened in the 1970s, as the table shows, and it'll happen again...

What I like about it even more is that nobody is interested in commodities... yet. Go to MSN's MoneyCentral, or Yahoo's Finance page, and try to get a quote on gold or oil, and you'll see what I mean. Nobody cares yet. Nobody has commodities as part of their portfolio asset allocation yet... and I love it!

People are ignoring this new asset class now – professional investors would snicker – but you could make a lot of money over five to 10 years. So what is this new asset? High-end collectibles and memorabilia. (Go ahead, scoff... giggle... get it out of the way... but keep reading!)

Last night I had dinner with Paul Fraser, founder of Fraser's Autographs. Paul has bought and sold more than 100,000 autographs in his career.

The "Fraser's 100 Autograph Index" actually appears on Bloomberg machines, which are on most Wall Street desks (not that any professional investors have bothered to look).

The Fraser's 100 index goes back to 1997. From the end of 1997 until yesterday, the S&P 500 stock index is up less than 40%. Yet the Fraser's 100 is up more than 250% from the end of 1997 until its most recent calculation (end of 2007). Some individual autographs are up more... Elvis and Napoleon are up 500%. Paul McCartney is up more than 1,000%.

Stock investors can scoff, snicker, and giggle about collectibles all they want. But investors in high-end collectibles have the last laugh... they've made fortunes.

And despite good gains recently, I think the big moves are still ahead of us...

Legendary American collector David Hall once told me a big secret about collectibles: He said, "The big moves come when price guides first appear for a collectible."

The reason, David explained, is before the price guide, you have to be an expert. You have to devote a ridiculous amount of time to becoming an expert... tracking the auctions, talking to dealers, and figuring out what is important. But once the price guide comes out, the playing field is leveled significantly.

Fraser's Autographs has been around since 1978. It just released its first autograph price guide in the last few months. It's filled with thousands of autographs and their values, and published by Stanley Gibbons (which has been publishing stamp price guides for more than 100 years). I think it has to be an important moment in the autographs market.

But nobody cares. Nobody's paying attention... And just like commodities earlier in this decade, that's exactly where you'll find the next 250% gain.

Good investing,

Steve

P.S. For more information about investing in autographs, visit Fraser's site. And as I've written before, I also think stamps are a great way to invest in collectibles right now. Click here to read my latest essay about how to buy investment-grade stamps.

Editor's note: Steve Sjuggerud is a regular contributor to DailyWealth, a free investment newsletter focused on the world's best contrarian opportunities. We write with a simple belief in mind: You don't have to take big risks to make big money with your investments.

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