Gold has busted up on the open to take out the $1300 resistance. This article explains the reasoning for that move, why it is so pivotal in nature and what to expect in gold pricing action over the short term.

Is gold undervalued or overvalued?...[Unfortunately,] there's no good way - and definitely no universally accepted way - to determine a "fair value" for gold. Unlike a stock, gold doesn't have a price-to-earnings ratio that we can easily compare to the market. [That being said, I offer in this article] a logical, real-world price target. Words: 700

This summer we are nearing a possible inflection point in terms of Fed actions. The mere suggestion from the Fed that something is going to change is enough to supercharge markets, either up or down....Will markets go to 20,000 or to 5,000? That depends upon the Fed and how much they debauch the currency.......Stay tuned, this story has hardly begun.

It seems that the past few years of falling interest rates have lulled a big part of the global economy into financing with variable-rate debt...[As such,] when interest rates go up (as they did last week), there’s a world-wide reset in interest costs that, best case, amounts to a tax increase on individuals and businesses and, worst-case, threatens to blow up the whole system.

In this irreverent clip - satire at its best - Jason Jones from Daily Show teaches regulation-loving Canadian bankers the advantages of harmless American free-market fun or, more accurately, highlights the differences between the American and Canadian banking systems and their respective perceptions on the meaning of the word "greed". Enjoy!

It’s been a tough road for precious metals but the path ahead has strong potential of being significantly profitable and in a short period of time. The buying opportunity that we’ve spoken of for months could be days away. When precious metals equities rebound, they rebound violently.

Ronald Stoeferle takes an holistic view on the latest developments in the gold market laying out the fundamental arguments why the gold bull market remains intact and concluding, based on conservative assumptions, that the long-term price target for gold is $2,230.

If yields on U.S. Treasury bonds keep rising, things are going to get very messy. What we are ultimately looking at is a sell-off very similar to 2008, only this time we will have to deal with rising interest rates at the same time. The conditions for a "perfect storm" are rapidly developing, and if something is not done we could eventually have a credit crunch unlike anything that we have ever seen before in modern times. Let me explain.

Stocks are up. Bonds are expensive. Dollar cash is unlikely to preserve purchasing power in an environment of negative real rates. Diversifying to a basket of hard currencies might help to mitigate some of the risks out there. It clearly adds currency risk but in an environment where there may not be such a thing as a risk free asset, it might be a risk worth pursuing...

The Tokyo Nikkei Average rose +82% in just six months in a parabolic move that was doomed from the start. They almost always are. When a parabolic move breaks, as it did in May, the speed of the decline can be catastrophic and has fallen 22% to date. The downside expectation is for prices to return to the level of the basing pattern that preceded it. In this case between 8300 to 9100. That is not a prediction, just the level we at which we might expect to start looking for a tradable bottom.