Is this stock market decline the "real deal" (that is, the start of a serious correction of 10% or more) or is it just another garden-variety dip in the long-running Bull market?

2014 could end up being the turnaround year for precious metals and a bull market ascent could develop in 2015 - especially so in gold shares. Here's why.

Brace yourself! The stock market is ripe for a nasty selloff according to a number of politicians and even more market pundits - but not so fast. Two very reliable long-term recession indicators strongly suggest that a correction – or worse, the end of the bull market - is highly unlikely given the current state of the economy. Let me explain.

An Argentine friend queried me about Argentina's debt default yesterday asking me for my thoughts on the subject. Here is my reply in the form of an open letter to my friend and to the Argentina government should they be interested. They should.

This eye-opening article explains how China is influencing gold demand and prices and what it means for Western investors. Readers will discover how much gold China is really buying and steps they are taking to undermine the U.S. Dollar as the world reserve currency. It even includes a prediction for gold prices. It’s a must-read for any precious metals investor.

If you thought the Eurozone crisis was in the past, think again...It’s a near mathematical impossibility that its weakest members can grow their way out of their debt and if deflation takes hold—as it has already in Greece and Cyprus, and is close in Portugal, Spain, and Italy—all bets are off.

Despite a long list of major risks to the global economy, the trend for the stock market is still UP until proven otherwise. At this stage it is absolutely critical to be cautious and watch for signs of a market correction or peak, but it is our view that a recession won't take hold until the following 6 key indicators are triggered.

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.