The big news that the markets are attempting to digest this week is the €100 billion Spanish bailout. This action and the upcoming Fed FOMC meeting on June 19-20 will dictate the market's action over the next two weeks and possibly for the remainder of the year. [That being said, given what has transpired in Spain this past month, it is evident that the philosophy is to "lie until you are about to die." Let me explain.] Words: 640

I love gold but I've turned bearish. [While I admit] if the Greeks were to quit the euro that gold could face a short-term bull wave I believe gold's fundamentals are [too] weak to support the current price. [Here are 8 solid reasons why.] Words: 685

One moment stock prices rejoice on bailout news for the eurozone… the next moment they collapse....but steering clear of European stocks and bonds doesn't mean you're completely safe. In fact, your portfolio could be loaded with ticking time bombs, set to detonate once second-quarter earnings reporting season begins. Here's why. Words: 611

Demand for lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries over the next 8 years - for use in electric and hybrid cars, smart power grids and mobile consumer devices - is going parabolic. Sales of electic/hybrid cars, for example, will be increasing 5-fold to 4,000,000 over that timeframe and every such car will have 30-110kg of graphite in their batteries, depending on the car, that can not be replaced economically. Forget the common refrain "Got gold?" A more appropriate refrain should be "How much graphite stock do you own?" Learn more about graphite in the infographic below.

As the focus of the euro crisis shifts to Italy, IMF head Christine Lagarde has warned that European leaders have less than three months to save the euro. Meanwhile top economist Nouriel Roubini has called on Berlin to drop its obsession with austerity, proposing that the German government give every household a 1,000 euro [$1,250 US equivalent] voucher to spend on a vacation in Southern Europe. Words: 990

While many investors want to believe that U.S. treasuries are a safe haven, I will use this article to debunk that myth with plain hard evidence...[to support my contention that] holding U.S. bonds is the worst investment going forward. Words: 500

On the heels of Spain asking for $125 billion to bail out their collapsing banking system...there will be a massive worldwide package coming out between the Fed, the ECB, the IMF and other central banks. The money printing is imminent. As I see things, we are on the road to perdition,...there is no exit strategy for the world (to get) out of these problems. There is no solution. If you look at what happened in 2008, people thought that was bad, but what’s going to happen, starting this year and in the next few years, will make 2008 look like a small rehearsal because the real collapse is going to start now.

“The financial markets continue to show extreme volatility as the various institutions and governments deal with the end of their respective roads....Governments, economies and societies are converging on a common dead end, and it is a dead end of historic proportions....There will come a moment when this dysfunctional system can be sustained no longer. It is not inevitable. There is still time for rational behavior and solutions, but that time is short."

Even as I write these words, the world's largest economy — the E.U. — is coming unglued at the seams, the world's second largest — the U.S. — is careening headlong toward a fiscal cliff that promises to gut its GDP, nearly all of Asia — including Japan, China and India — is slowing...and yet most investors still don't get the message. [Let me go on to explain just what that message is.] Words: 1357

LOOK! Everyone needs to see this. United States owes a lot of money. As of 2012, US debt is larger than the size of the economy. The debt ceiling is currently set at $16.394 Trillion, estimated to be hit around Sep 14, 2012. In the infographic below that enormous amount is illustrated in $100 bills. It's frightening! Words: 605