Base

The market has not changed materially over the past many weeks/months and, as long as the market has not changed, expectations that the price of gold and silver should not change, either. Expectations are future hopes/plans that may or may not ever be realized. Present market conditions are the reality of what is, without getting into the mental gymnastics about the degree of reality reflected in the charts. Market activity trumps everything, and one works with that reality or risks substantial loss by favoring opinion/hopes/expectations. Below is what the charts are saying today.

We look at this market and we see "too much." Too much divergence, too much complacency, too much embedded downside risk…the list goes on and covers many things. Let's make the rounds and see what we find [and what it means for the immediate well-being of the various stock markets.]

The average American eats 5 meals per week in a restaurant but many of those who do don’t understand what’s behind the tip they left on the table. All those tips don’t go to your server as a way of saying ‘thanks’. Many actually go to the employer so that they can pay their servers far less than minimum wage. The infographic below takes a closer look at your tip to figure out if it’s supplementing minimum wages or subsidizing poor ones.

[No wonder you are confused!] Several technical and fundamental indicators have flashed caution to no avail and this has given way to an uncomfortable tension beneath the surface as investors try to find answers while keeping pace with performance. Below are 10 mixed signals about the near-term direction and theme of the markets.

We're doomed! Even if the economy were growing at a faster pace, it wouldn't come close to offsetting the interest payments on our ever-expanding debt. As such, any sort of credit shock - either rising rates or a decline in the rate of debt expansion - will cause the system to implode. Let me explain why that is the case.

Many gold bugs hold out hope that any day now, gold will resume its march upward to $2,000, then $5,000 and then $10,000 per ounce. In answer to the question “How can anyone reasonably calculate what the value of gold is?” I want to put forth in this post a possible model for doing just that. The purpose of the model isn’t to say where gold will go but to look at the underlying factors that drive the price of the precious metal.

In an opposite mode to the very bearish outlook for stock markets, developing evidence suggests that precious metals and in particular gold and gold stocks have completed a bear market low...and have already begun a major bull market.

So much analysis we see and hear lately is concerned with whether the stock market is in a bubble or not. The truth of the matter, however, is that bear markets do not begin due to bubble-level valuations being reached and then bursting, but in anticipation of half a dozen mitigating factors as outlined in this article.

There are a number of potential pitfalls out there for the market but, right now, the behavior of the main catalysts for a major correction suggest that there continues to be more right than wrong with the market. Let me explain.

The stock market has topped. It got stretched too high, for too long, and needs to pull back and wash out some diehard bulls and refresh itself before heading any higher. We are now in a bear market that could last anywhere from 3-10 months and the significance of it all is crucial to not only understanding what is going on, but also to protecting and growing your wealth. This article does just that!