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Despite its history of gains, and 5,000 years of tradition behind it, gold is rapidly becoming one of the most widely despised assets. Before we pronounce it dead and write the final gold eulogy, however, let’s consider the following:

Predicting what the stock market will do in the next 12 months is tantamount to predicting coin flips. Here's more proof that past stock market performance tells you nothing about future results — literally nothing.

4 patterns are developing that also happened just prior to the great financial crisis of 2008 and, as such, provide strong evidence that a deflationary financial collapse is right around the corner.

Canadian households are heavily leveraged and with their level of debt in proportion to income now hovering at record levels, they are vulnerable to a range of economic shocks that could create a financial crisis. I am of the opinion, however, that the range of variables at play discussed in this article would mitigate any possibility of a meltdown of Canada's financial system. Let me explain.

This chart from Morgan Stanley using World Gold Council data shows which countries, central banks and funds are hoarding the greatest amount of gold:

Here's an updated look at U.S. market valuations which suggest they remain at or above the levels that prevailed before previous major corrections.

Where will the dollar go from here? My answer: Though currency market volatility is likely to continue, I still see a stronger dollar over the longer term. Here's why:

What Mr. Armstrong writes in his articles is done so poorly it is almost always confusing and often virtually incomprehensible but it has a way of providing cover for what he says. A case in point is the inference in an article last week that gold had bottomed, would begin to rise substantially sometime after Oct. 1st and eventually reach $5,000+ sometime during 2016. His latest article disclaims those inferences. Here's what he now says by way of clarification:

I was re-reading Art of War recently, and I couldn’t help noticing how Sun Tzu’s approach to military strategy applies to investing. As he said 2,500 years ago, “he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.” Below are 6 quotes well worth applying as a result of the present financial chaos we find ourselves in.

The American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction - to Canada, no less!