Three indexes of the Federal Reserve...calculate and report statistical measures of financial stress in the U.S. economy on a regular basis...[and] all three have returned to their pre-recession levels last seen in May 2007. [What does that mean for stock market valuations? Let's take a look.]

In 1975, 8% of all Americans were on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). That percentage is 15% today. Enrollment soared to 47.8 million participants in recent months, an increase of 70%. Below is an interactive graphic showing the number of SNAP recipients in each of the 50 U.S. states.

I don’t think that KWN is doing the Gold community any good by throwing this guy at us and, unfortunately, I don’t think that JS is helping by not ripping this guy apart.

I've become interested in this whole Bitcoin thing, the electronic currency first was issued about 3 years ago, and I think it is fascinating - and troubling. Here's why.

The best way to think of gold is as a non-yielding currency with a special trait: The only way to "print" it is to pull it out of the earth at great cost. As a currency with no yield and limited practical use...gold's investment case largely rests on its ability to insure against currency depreciation. Few people expect to make money by taking out insurance policies. I don't recommend allocating any more than 10% of a portfolio to gold. Words: 610

In volatile markets you must be able to go to cash when markets become dangerous. That is exactly what the momentum selection model does well. It protects your capital on the downside and enables it to grow on the upside! If you insist on staying in the stock market at all times, even perfect foresight cannot protect you. The ability and willingness to periodically run away beats the macho strategy of holding on.

Assume that we are at a point corresponding to the beginning of 2007. How would our investing/trading techniques weather the same conditions represented by this most recent market adjustment? Would we be able to mitigate the losses (or even avoid them)? A traditional buy & hold, diversified investing strategy will be evaluated here.

While $500 silver probably won't happen its rise will be orgasmic - a rapid climax rally followed by a dramatic decline. Gold will be a buy up to $3,500.

My answer to the issue of staying in or getting out of markets is to stay in. This answer is independent of whether a correction is imminent or a few years down the road because we cannot possibly know that information....There will be a time to completely flee markets. It is just not now or at least I don’t believe so.

Comparing the gold or silver price to another assets is a great way to create an understanding of the true value [of each]. The long term charts [below] indicate that this bull market is very strong; the fundamentals keep on strengthening by the day, week, month, year....The wise lesson you can draw from these charts: the trend is your friend.