The International Monetary Fund (IMF) painted a stark picture of the global economy this week slashing the outlook for world growth while forecasting a damaging recession in Europe that will leave no country, including Canada and the U.S., unscathed. The report stated that financial conditions have deteriorated, growth prospects have dimmed, and downside risks have escalated and, as such, policymakers must immediately move forward together to save the world economy from falling into a 1930s-style death spiral because the longer corrective action is put off the worse it will actually get. Words: 640

$10,000 (U.S.) gold [is] a gold bug’s dream come true [but] investors would be wise to have far have more modest expectations. [Let me explain why.] Words: 1000

Due to high unemployment and a weak recovery world central bankers are focused on weakening their currencies to boost exports. [As such,] I think [even more] quantitative easing and other currency intervention is in our future...[and this will further increase]...both inflation and the price of gold. Let me explain with a few charts.] Words: 350

The question most often asked of gold bulls is, “At what price will you take your profits?” It is a question that betrays a lack of understanding about why anyone should [want to] own gold [in the first place]. Nevertheless, the simple answer must be, “When paper money stops losing its value”. This response should alert anyone who asks this question to the idea that owning fiat cash is the speculative position, not ownership of precious metals. [Let me explain.] Words: 1184

Economists are telling central banks to accelerate monetary growth even faster...to avoid a bank balance sheet implosion with all the deflationary consequences that implies. [As such,] the prospects for 2012, and thereafter, are for Total Money Supply to continue its hyperbolic trend - and when such a trend becomes established it becomes almost impossible to stop because the whole debt-based economy and the banking system would collapse. [Let me explain further.] Words: 550

Short-term volatile moves in Gold, as we have seen over the past few months, do not affect our projections for the future price of Gold based on our fractal (pattern) "model" off the late 70's Gold Bull. Just as we correctly projected the $1,920 high in our April article entitled Goldrunner: Gold on track to Reach $1860 to $,920 by Mid-year (gold reached $1,917.20 in late August and $1,923.70 in early September, 2011), our current analysis indicates that Gold will enter a range between $3,000 and $3,500 by mid-year 2012. Words: 975

This post initiates what I hope will become a multi-year tradition of listing what, according to munKNEE.com readers, were the most read articles from a longer term perspective which makes all of them still VERY relevent today. Interestingly, the 12 most popular articles as determined by you, the visitor, covered the full spectrum of what munKNEE.com covers, i.e. the Economy; the Financial Crisis; the U.S. Dollar and the future of Gold and Silver. Introductory paragraphs and links to each article are provided in descending order of popularity. Enjoy!

As economic and political matters become more desperate in the U.S., so will what the government considers acceptable. If a debt default cannot be engineered via continuous inflation as the Fed's current money-printing is attempting to do, it will occur via a direct repudiation of obligations or a quasi-surreptitious one such the hypothetical one I present in this article. Here is... a look (not a prediction) at a series of not improbable events that could develop [and which] would change our economic world overnight[ - and your financial well-being too]. Words: 1365

Once this present correction in gold has been completed it should [undergo] the largest and strongest wave in the entire gold bull market...to around $4,500 with only two 13% corrections along the way. [Let me explain how I came to that conclusion.] Words: 1900

From questions whether gold is in a bubble to predictions that soaring prices are just around the corner, one thing is clear: a new phase of awareness for gold is upon us. How far might it move before these troubling times are over? [Let's take a close look at a variety of factors and scenarios before coming to a conclusion.] Words: 5717