If similarities between the 5 major spikes in the price of gold since 2001 were applied to the 5th price spike (August, 2011) going forward it would not be unreasonable to expect a spike to $2,600 in June or July of this year and another spike - to somewhere between $4,700 and $5,050 - in January/February of 2015.

This infographic highlight changes in economic indicators, reports relevant news stories, reveals commodity and financial trends, provides technical analysis and looks at the recent price of gold and real interest rates with relevant charts.

On average the most energy intensive process in mining operations is comminution and with rising energy prices and decreasing ore grades, this is an area that smart producers are focusing on. Benefits of improving comminution efficiency include higher potential earnings, better overall environmental impact, and increased outputs as the very enlightening infographic below illustrates.

It’s that time again. The Dow surpassed its all-time high and the S&P 500 is not that far from the tops of 1553 on March 24, 2000 and 1576 on October 9, 2007. Just as in 2000 and 2007, the economic, valuation and political background does not support the budding euphoria. [Let us explain precisely why that is the case.] Words: 680

The mainstream financial press would like us to believe that because the S&P 500 and Dow 30 are at or near their record highs that it must mean we're nearing the end of the current bull market and, as such, now must be a terrible time to buy stocks. Let's not jump to any conclusions, though. Instead, let's do our own due diligence to find out. Hint: If you've been stuffing cash under the mattress since the last market crash, you might want to finally go deposit it in your brokerage account. Here's why... Words: 420

We had previously speculated that the 30-year bond rate would continue downward to around 2% based upon a number of very long-term charts. Short-term charts, however, are showing strong technical evidence that interest rates may be turning up in the long term. Words: 267; Charts: 2

I believe Americans feel that investing in the stock market today is counterintuitive because of unemployment statistics, dysfunction in Washington and ongoing negative news about the U.S. economy....Take a visual look at what investors may be feeling in our new infographic...and you can see some of the reasons investors have thrown in the towel.

The euphoria, New Year’s Eve at the Big Casino, continues but the price will be high when it all ends and it will end because it is not this or that asset class that is in a bubble but the entire world that is a giant soap bubble that will float until the heat of the sun pops the thing in one ugly mess. I fear that subprime loans, dot.com fantasies, and the S&L crisis will pale when we are done with this party because, my friends, the bill for the festivities must get paid.

I don't relish the job of constantly pointing out the risks to the equity markets but since few on Wall Street seem willing (or able) to do this, I'm "making the call" for a market correction, as enough variables have aligned to indicate a high likelihood of stocks heading downwards from here. Words: 1203; Charts: 6

[In spite of the Dow now being at] a record high the Risk Premium Factor (RPF) Valuation Model shows that the broader market, based on S&P 500, is still undervalued by about 5%. [Let me explain further.] Words: 550; Charts: 1