As the protracted correction and consolidation in precious metals continues, what better time to brush up on the history of the gold standard to give proper context to gold’s demand today and potential role in a future currency to replace the dollar.

A change in monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policy is necessary to beat back the forces of recession and deflation. If the messages of falling gold prices and falling interest rates are not enough to gain the attention of policy makers, I suspect that the specter of future falling stock prices throughout the world will be. That is what is in store for us if the recessionary/deflationary bias in the world economy that gold and bonds are signaling, reasserts itself.

When there is lots of economic activity, there is lots of money changing hands. When there is not very much economic activity, the pace at which money circulates through our system slows down. That is why what is happening in the U.S. right now is so troubling. Let me explain.

Gold and silver have been all over the map in 2014. To figure out what’s next for the metals this article assesses their deep and long term status as speculative assets and the relationship between the two metals and determines what must happen to reverse their continuing decline. Read on!

Silver has now dropped to $19 and is down 3.1% for the year. Unfortunately, the pain is probably not over - yet.

I believe that the inflation and price charts paint a clear picture, and that until inflation in the world picks up significantly, there will be no meaningful rallies in precious metals...[While] I am bullish on gold and silver long term, the short-term pressure is still evident and might take them lower in the next couple of months.

In the last few years a new “advisor” has entered the fray – the robo advisor, now being called “automated investment services”. Automated investment services are platforms that automate your investment portfolio and try to help you reduce fees, increase efficiencies and streamline your process through a simple computerized interface. Here's a look at 4 primary benefits and 4 potential problems to help you decide if such a service is for you.

TIPS are telling us that the market is quite pessimistic about the prospects for real growth, but not concerned at all about the outlook for inflation.

With gold’s current setup, we’ve finally reached a significant cycle pivot…and I believe that we are likely to be treated to a very surprising turn of events. Directly ahead, I believe, is a major turn and rally for gold.

With the gold price in dollars breaking decisively the 200 day moving average but with volatility across a broad range of asset classes close to, or at, historic lows...this article looks at what patterns occur in equity and gold prices during both up and down trends and how to adjust your portfolio accordingly.